• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2021

Edwardsiella piscicida is a significant cause of hemorrhagic septicemia in fish and gastrointestinal infections in humans. Survival bacteria require specialized mechanisms to adapt to environmental fluctuations. Hence, to understand the mechanism through which E. piscicida senses and responds to environmental osmolarity changes, we determined the protein expression profile and physiological properties under various salinity conditions in this study. The OmpR protein is a part of the Env-ZOmpR two-component system that has been implicated in sensing salt stress in bacteria. However, the physiological role played by this protein in E. piscicida remains to be elucidated. Therefore, in this work, the function of the OmpR protein in response to salt stress was investigated. Phenotypic analysis revealed that, in the mutant, three of the biochemical phenotypes were different from the wild type, including, citrate utilization, hydrogen sulfide, and indole production. Introduction of the plasmid containing the entire ompR gene to the mutant strain returned it to its parental phenotype. The retarded growth rate also partially recovered. Furthermore, in our studies, OmpR was not found to be related to cell motility. Taken together, our results from the mutational analysis, the growth assay, MALDI-TOF MS, qRT-PCR, and the phenotype studies suggest that the OmpR of E. piscicida is implicated in osmoregulation, growth, expression of porins (ETAE_1826), virulence-related genes (EseC, EseD and EvpC), and certain genes of unknown function (ETAE_1540 and ETAE_2706).

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.255-263
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• 2021

In this study, we assessed the technological characteristics and safety of 88 Enterococcus faecium strains isolated from meju; the strains possess the glutamate decarboxylase gene gadA/B involved in γ-aminobutyric acid production. The study was conducted to evaluate the possibility of introducing E. faecium meju isolates as food fermentation starters. We observed that a NaCl concentration of 6% (w/v) facilitated the growth and acid production of all strains. At a NaCl concentration of 7%, 21 strains (24%) exhibited a low growth rate, 72 strains (82%) a weak acid production, and 16 strains (18%) showed no acid production. All strains exhibited protease activity at a NaCl concentration of 4%. At a NaCl concentration of 5%, 86 strains exhibited weak activity, and one strain showed no protease activity. We could not detect any lipase activity in the investigated strains. None of the strains exhibited an acquired antibiotic resistance to the seven antibiotics tested in the present study, namely ampicillin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, penicillin G, tetracycline, and vancomycin. We could identify the Enterococcus endocarditis antigen gene efaA and the tyrosine decarboxylase gene tdc contributing to tyramine production, in 88 meju isolates. We could not detect the Enterococcus surface protein gene esp, which is specifically possessed by human-originated E. faecium strains, in any of the 88 strains tested in the study.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.719-730
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• 2021

We have demonstrated a sandwich-type ZnO-based piezoelectric energy harvesting nanogenerator, namely ZCZ-NG device, composed of symmetrically stacked layers of ZnO/carbon tape/ZnO structure. Especially, we have adopted a conductive double-sided adhesive carbon tape in an effort to fabricate a high-quality ZCZ-NG device, leading to its superior output performance in terms of the peak-to-peak output voltage. Effects of the device size, ZnO layer thickness, and bending strain rate on the device performance have been investigated by measuring the output voltage. Moreover, to evaluate the effectiveness of the fabricated ZCZ-NG devices, we have experimentally implemented a sensor network testbed which can utilize the output voltages of ZCZ-NG devices. This sensor network testbed consists of several components such as Arduino-based transmitter and receiver nodes, wirelessly transmitting the sensed information of each node. We hope that this research combining the ZnO-based energy harvesting devices and IoT sensor networks will contribute to the development of more advanced energy harvester-driven IoT sensor networks in the future.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.135-146
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• 2020

In the strawberry cultivation areas and domestic farms, two-spotted spider mites are the most serious pests. It decreases the product yield due to the direct feeding of chlorophyll by the mites resulting in reduced photosynthetic ability of host plant. In this study, a simplified acaricidal effect evaluation system (SAEES) was employed to choose the effective acaricidal products among 10 items based on leaf-dipping bioassay methods. SAEES had the advantage of being able to screen four commercial products with three replications at the same time in the recommended concentration. The susceptible strains (SL_YS) showed a high mortality rate of about 90-100%, whereas the mortality of local strains was differed by each acaricides. It suggests that the acaricide responses of field populations might differ due to spray frequencies and acaricide product. An efficacy index (0.8-1.0) was determined based on the mortality of susceptible strain, which would allow the most effective commercial products to be selected by the range of this index. In summary, SAEES will enable the selection of effective commercial products and contribute to increasing control against T. urticae in strawberries.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.277-282
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• 2022

In this study, a smart material applicable to speed bumps was developed using low-cost starch and waterbased suspensions, and their properties were investigated. Viscosity and shear stress according to the shear rate was measured by a rheometer to observe shear thickening behavior according to starch concentration. The shear thickening phenomenon and applicability to speed bumps were identified macroscopically via drop weight test and bike driving test, measuring the vibration after impact with a driving speed of 5-25 km/h. As a result of the viscosity measurement, shear thickening occurred after the shear thinning region at the beginning, and the critical strain causing the shear thickening phenomenon decreased as the concentration of starch increased. Also, the viscosity and shear stress increased significantly with the increase of the starch concentration. As a result of the drop weight test and the bike driving test, the suspension was changed to a solid-like state in a short time, and the impact energy was absorbed in the fluid. The shear thickening phenomenon easily occurred as the concentration of the fluid and the applied impact (velocity) increased. Therefore, it can be proposed the development of a smart speed bump material that operates in the range of 5-25 km/h with a Non-Newtonian fluid based on water and starch.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.373-385
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• 2022

The drum cutter, which is used in the form of an attachment of a excavator, is very useful in that it can be used in connection with a excavator that can perform various tasks in the field. This study estimated the load and torque acting on the drum cutter attachment by measuring the hydraulic pressure and strain that appear during excavation on the exposed rock slope using the drum cutter installed in the excavator. Working conditions such as the operation angle between the boom and arm of the excavator were divided into eight working modes. And as a result of analyzing the variations in hydraulic pressure and action force according to the working mode, it was confirmed that the hydraulic pressure and flow rate can be driven without any problems within the range considered in the manufacturing specifications of the drum cutter. The average load and torque acting on the drum cutter were within the range of the manufacturing specifications, but the maximum load was up to four times the specification. Because sumping was not properly performed due to the high ground strength and the ground included discontinuous surfaces in some locations, no trend of load and torque was found depending on the angle between the boom and arm of the excavator. However, it is believed that this result can be used to determine the range of loads and torques that appear on the drum cutter when excavating a high-intensity rock.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.247-253
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• 1997

Development of soybean cultivars with great nodulation and high nitrogen fixation activity, derived mostly from mutagenesis, may decrease inputs of chemical fertilizer nitrogen into the soil-plant system. Soybean seeds (cv. Jangyupkong, Hwanggeumkong, and Geomjungkong 1) were treated with three different levels of EMS (ethyl methanesulfonate) concentration(30, 50, and 70mM). Increasing the doses of EMS resulted in decreased field emergence rate of seeds, whereas it did not increase M$_2$ mutation frequencies. This indicated that the most efficient concentration of EMS was 30mM for generating mutants. Extensive mutagenesis of Sinpaldalkong 2 with 30mM EMS was undertaken to isolate soybean mutants with greater nodulation. Approximately 8, 200 M$_2$ families were screened for greater nodulation on 5 mM nitrate after inoculation with Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain YCK213-KFCC-10728. Mutant SS-2 nodulated more than the wild type. Comparison of supernodulation between SS-2 and two nts mutants(nts 1007 and nts 1116) revealed that SS-2 showed the supernodulation character at an earlier growth stage than the two nts mutants. Further studies should be needed to characterize the difference in timing of nodulation between SS-2 and nts mutants.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.572-581
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to improve the irregularity of the stress-strain curve and to ensure accuracy when calculating the damping effect by preventing members from moving in the off-plane direction due to eccentricity when loads are applied. Method: The specifications of the steel strips used in this study are the same, but the curvature of the strips to constitute each damper is different. Each steel strip with different curvature was arranged in an triangle, three dampers with different curvature were made, and repeated load tests were conducted, and the amount of energy dissipation was calculated to measure the performance of the damper. Result: The amount of energy dissipation significantly decreases compared to the case where there is no initial curvature, and the change in the test energy dissipation amount according to the size of the curvature is not large, and the presence or absence of the hyperbolic rate is considered an important variable. Conclusion: The period is about 78.7% longer from T=0.3 to T=0.536sec, and the response spectrum acceleration is reduced from Sa=0.54g to Sa=0.229g, so the damping effect of the damper is sufficient.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2023

In order to improve the durability of the PEMFC(Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells) polymer membrane, a radical scavenger and a support are used. In this study, the durability of membranes containing fucoidan extracted from seaweeds and tannic acid serving as a crosslinking agent is evaluated to improve chemical and physical durability. Physical durability is evaluated by measuring tensile strength, and chemical durability is measured by Fenton experiment. Membrane and electrode assembly (MEA) is prepared and mechanical and chemical durability are measured through accelerated durability evaluation in the cell. The tensile strength measurement showed that fucoidan and tannic acid can improve the mechanical durability of the membrane by improving the strain rate and yield strength. It is shown in Fenton experiment that fucoidan acts as a radical scavenger. As a result of the accelerated durability test in the unit cell, fucoidan improved both chemical and mechanical durability, increasing the accelerated durability evaluation time by 38.1% compared to the additive-free membrane. When tannic acid is added, the durability of the polymer membrane is improved by 13.9% by improving the mechanical durability.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.23-32
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• 2010

This study was especially conducted to find out the characteristics of the lightweight air-mixed soil (slurry density 10 kN/$m^3$) containing silt related to water. Compression strength, permeability, and capillary height of the lightweight air-mixed soil were studied, and also to support these studies, the structure of that soil was analyzed in detail. Air bubbles of various sizes are inside the lightweight air-mixed soil, and its distribution in a location is almost constant. A numerous tiny pores are inside the air bubbles so that the lightweight air-mixed soil can be saturated with water. Porosity is also estimated through the image analysis. Peak strength of the lightweight air-mixed soil is not dependent on water, but behavior of stress-strain is affected by the water. Permeability is about $4.857{\times}10^{-6}cm/sec$, which is a little bit higher than the clay's permeability. Capillary rise occurs rapidly at the beginning of the test until the lapse of 100 minutes and then its increase rate becomes slow. The capillary rise causes the increase of the density of the lightweight air-mixed soil, and thus it is required to pay attention to this phenomenon during structure design and maintenance of the lightweight air-mixed soil.