• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2024

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by neuronal cell death and memory impairment. Corticosterone (CORT) is a glucocorticoid hormone produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in response to a stressful condition. Excessive stress and high CORT levels are known to cause neurotoxicity and aggravate various diseases, whereas mild stress and low CORT levels exert beneficial actions under pathophysiological conditions. However, the effects of mild stress on AD have not been clearly elucidated yet. In this study, the effects of low (3 and 30 nM) CORT concentration on Aβ_25-35-induced neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells and underlying molecular mechanisms have been investigated. Cytotoxicity caused by Aβ_25-35 was significantly inhibited by the low concentration of CORT treatment in the cells. Furthermore, CORT pretreatment significantly reduced Aβ_25-35-mediated pro-apoptotic signals, such as increased Bim/Bcl-2 ratio and caspase-3 cleavage. Moreover, low concentration of CORT treatment inhibited the Aβ_25-35-induced cyclooxygenase-2 and pro-inflammatory cytokine expressions, including tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β. Aβ_25-35 resulted in intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation, which were effectively reduced by the low CORT concentration. As a molecular mechanism, low CORT concentration activated the nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2, a redox-sensitive transcription factor mediating cellular defense and upregulating the expression of antioxidant enzymes, such as NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase, glutamylcysteine synthetase, and manganese superoxide dismutase. These findings suggest that low CORT concentration exerts protective actions against Aβ_25-35-induced neurotoxicity and might be used to treat and/or prevent AD.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.249-261
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• 2023

Aerodynamic force coefficients are generally prescribed by an ensemble average of ten and/or twenty 10-minute samples. However, this makes it difficult to identify the exact probability distribution and exceedance probability of the prescribed values. In this study, 12,600 10-minute samples on three tall buildings were measured, and the probability distributions were first identified and the aerodynamic force coefficients corresponding to the specific non-exceedance probabilities (cumulative probabilities) of wind load were then evaluated. It was found that the probability distributions of the mean and fluctuating aerodynamic force coefficients followed a normal distribution. The ratios of aerodynamic force coefficients corresponding to the specific non-exceedance probabilities (C_f,Non) to the ensemble average of 12,600 samples (C_f,Ens), which was defined as an adjusting factor (C_f,Non/C_f,Ens), were less than 2%. The effect of coefficient of variation of wind speed on the adjusting factor is larger than that of the annual non-exceedance probability of wind load. The non-exceedance probabilities of the aerodynamic force coefficient is between P_C,nonex = 50% and 60% regardless of force components and aspect ratios. The adjusting factors from the Gumbel distribution were larger than those from the normal distribution.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.68-75
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• 2023

This paper proposes a three-phase single-stage AC-DC converter for the small wind generation system. Input power factor improvement and insulated output can be implemented with the proposed three-phase single-stage AC-DC converter under the wide power generation voltage (80-260 V_ac) and frequency (10-42 Hz) in a small wind power generation (WPG) system. The proposed converter is also capable of zero-voltage switching in the primary-side switches and zero-current switching in the secondary-side diodes by phase-shift control at a fixed switching frequency. In addition, it is possible to control a wide output voltage (V_o: 39 V_DC-60 V_DC) by varying the link voltage and improving the input power factor (PF) and the total harmonic distortion factor (THD_i). Simulation and experimental results verified the validity of the proposed converter.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.99-102
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• 2020

I show that when the observables (π_E, t_E, θ_E, π_s, µ_s) are well measured up to a discrete degeneracy in the microlensing parallax vector π_E, the relative likelihood of the different solutions can be written in closed form P_i = KH_iB_i, where H_i is the number of stars (potential lenses) having the mass and kinematics of the inferred parameters of solution i and B_i is an additional factor that is formally derived from the Jacobian of the transformation from Galactic to microlensing parameters. Here t_E is the Einstein timescale, θ_E is the angular Einstein radius, and (π_s, µ_s) are the (parallax, proper motion) of the microlensed source. The Jacobian term B_i constitutes an explicit evaluation of the "Rich Argument", i.e., that there is an extra geometric factor disfavoring large-parallax solutions in addition to the reduced frequency of lenses given by H_i. I also discuss how this analytic expression degrades in the presence of finite errors in the measured observables.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.327-335
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• 2021

Microcracks can rapidly grow and develop in high-strength steels used in offshore structures. It is important to render these microcracks harmless to ensure the safety and reliability of offshore structures. Here, the dependence of the aspect ratio (As) of the maximum depth of harmless crack (a_hlm) was evaluated under three different conditions considering the threshold stress intensity factor (Δk_th) and residual stress of offshore structural steel F690. The threshold stress intensity factor and fatigue limit of fatigue crack propagation, dependent on crack dimensions, were evaluated using Ando's equation, which considers the plastic behavior of fatigue and the stress ratio. a_hlm by peening was analyzed using the relationship between Δk_th obtained by Ando's equation and Δk_th obtained by the sum of applied stress and residual stress. The plate specimen had a width 2W = 12 mm and thickness t = 20 mm, and four value of As were considered: 1.0, 0.6, 0.3, and 0.1. The a_hlm was larger as the compressive residual stress distribution increased. Additionally, an increase in the values of As and Δk_th(l) led to a larger a_hlm. With a safety factor (N) of 2.0, the long-term safety and reliability of structures constructed using F690 can be secured with needle peening. It is necessary to apply a more sensitive non-destructive inspection technique as a non-destructive inspection method for crack detection could not be used to observe fatigue cracks that reduced the fatigue limit of smooth specimens by 50% in the three types of residual stresses considered. The usefulness of non-destructive inspection and non-damaging techniques was reviewed based on the relationship between a_hlm, a_NDI (minimum crack depth detectable in non-destructive inspection), a_{cr N} (crack depth that reduces the fatigue limit to 1/N), and As.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.191-196
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• 2023

In this paper, for the application of ultrasonic cleaners for cleaning dentures and transparent braces, Pb(Mn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-Pb(Ni_1/3 Nb_2/3)O₃-Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ [PMN-PNN-PZT] system ceramics were manufactured and their dielectric and piezoelectric properties were investigated. Overall the best properties suitable for the device applications such as ultrasonic cleaner were obtained from the ceramics sintered at 920℃: bulk density of 7.8 g/cm³, the dielectric constant (ε_r) of 1,689, piezoelectric charge constant (d₃₃) of 433 pC/N, planar electromechanical coupling factor (k_p) of 0.64, mechanical quality factor (Qm) of 835, S₁₁^E of 13.37 (10^-12 N/m²), and Curie temperature of 315℃ By using the physical properties of this composition, the ultrasonic cleaner was designed and simulated using the commercial ATILA software. For the three-layered ceramics with the dimension of 25 mm × 25 mm × 2.5mm, an excellent displacement of 8.998 10^-3 m) and the sound pressure of 147.68 dB were recorded.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.999-1006
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• 2014

$CO_2$ emission factor for earthwork equipment was made based on fuel consumption quantity using IPCC carbon emission factor. This is presented through the carbon emission estimating guideline each facilities by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation in 2011. However, this method has the defect which don't apply the various condition of site. Therefor it needs the new emission factor supplemented these defects. This study will tries to estimate $CO_2$ emission with the direct measurement method using concentration flow velocity measurement (C-FVM) for earth work equipment and present the new $CO_2$ emission factor for earth work equipment after compare with emission factor of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.175-180
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• 2008

In this study, the thermoelectric power and resistivity of the perovskite manganite $La_{0.75}Ba_{0.25}MnO_3$ were investigated in the temperature range 300K-1200K. The electrical resistivity and thermoelectric power indicate a transport mechanism dominated by adiabatic small-polaron hopping. The power factor increases from $2{\times}10^{-6}W/mK^2$ to $1{\times}10^{-5}W/mK^2$ as to the temperature increases from 400K to 1200K, which indicates that the compound is highly feasible as a thermoelectric material at high temperatures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.838-844
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to examine whether personality and reward affect PSM of new maritime police officer recruits. Results are as follows. First, among the personality factors, the neuroticism sub-factor had significant positive effect on PSM sub-factors favorable perception towards public policy, commitment to public interest, and empathy. Also, the extroversion sub-factor had significant effect only on the self-sacrifice sub-factor of PSM. Second, the reward factor mostly didn't have significant effect on PSM. The internal reward sub-factor had significant effect on the empathy sub-factor of PSM. These results confirm that personality factors have significant impact on public service motivation. This implicates the need for policy improvements to reflect this result, and further empirical studies on the relationship between reward and public service motivation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.617-621
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• 2010

($K_{0.5}Na_{0.5}$)($Nb_{0.96}Sb_{0.04}$)$O_3$+1.2 mol% $K_4CuNb_8O_{23}$ ceramics doped with iron oxide ($Fe_2O_3$) were prepared by a conventional mixed oxide method. And then, their piezoelectric and dielectric properties were investigated as a function of $Fe_2O_3$ addition. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that $Fe^{3+}$ diffuses into the NKN lattices to form a solid solution with a pure perovskite structure at room temperature. At the sintering temperature of $1,060^{\circ}C$, when 0.2 mol% $Fe_2O_3$ was doped, the piezoelectric constant ($d_{33}$), electromechanical coupling factor (Kp), and mechanical quality factor ($Q_m$) showed the excellent values of 131.67 pC/N, 0.436, and 696.36, respectively. Results show that $Fe_2O_3$ deped ($K_{0.5}Na_{0.5}$)($Nb_{0.96}Sb_{0.04}$)$O_3$+1.2 mol% $K_4CuNb_8O_{23}$ lead-free piezoelectric ceramics are a promising lead free material for piezoelectric transformer applications.