• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.333-340
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• 2016

An alkaline protease was purified and characterized from an alkalophilic microorganism, Bacillus sp. DK1122, isolated from soil in central Korea. The optimum temperature and pH for the growth of the producer strain were 40℃ and pH 9.0, respectively. The protease was produced aerobically at 40℃ after 24 h incubation in modified Horikoshi I medium (pH 9.0) containing 0.5% (w/v) glucose, 0.8% (w/v) yeast extract, 0.5% (w/v) polypeptone, 0.1% (w/v) K₂HPO₄, 0.02% (w/v) MgSO₄·7H₂O, 1% (w/v) Na₂CO₃, and 3% (w/v) NaCl. The alkaline protease was purified by 70% ammonium sulfate precipitation of the culture supernatant of Bacillus sp. DK1122, followed by CM-Sepharose chromatography. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 27 kDa on the basis of SDS-PAGE. The optimum temperature and pH for the protease activity were 60℃ and pH 9.0, respectively. Addition of CaCl₂ increased the thermal stability of the purified protease, where 90% of protease activity was retained at 60℃ for up to 3 h. Consequently, it is expected that the alkaline protease from this study, exhibiting stability at pH 7–9 and 60℃, may be promising for application in the food and detergent industries.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.394-408
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• 2002

Nanostructured high strength metastable Al-, Mg- and Ti-based alloys containing different amorphous, quasicrystalline and nanocrystalline phases are synthesized by non-equilibrium processing techniques. Such alloys can be prepared by quenching from the melt or by powder metallurgy techniques. This paper focuses on one hand on mechanically alloyed and ball milled powders containing different volume fractions of amorphous or nano-(quasi)crystalline phases, consolidated bulk specimens and, on the other hand. on cast specimens containing different constituent phases with different length-scale. As one example. $Mg_{55}Y_{15}Cu_{30}$- based metallic glass matrix composites are produced by mechanical alloying of elemental powder mixtures containing up to 30 vol.% $Y_2O_3$ particles. The comparison with the particle-free metallic glass reveals that the nanosized second phase oxide particles do not significantly affect the glass-forming ability upon mechanical alloying despite some limited particle dissolution. A supercooled liquid region with an extension of about 50 K can be maintained in the presence of the oxides. The distinct viscosity decrease in the supercooled liquid regime allows to consolidate the powders into bulk samples by uniaxial hot pressing. The $Y_2O_3$ additions increase the mechanical strength of the composites compared to the $Mg_{55}Y_{15}Cu_{30}$ metallic glass. The second example deals with Al-Mn-Ce and Al-Cu-Fe composites with quasicrystalline particles as reinforcements, which are prepared by quenching from the melt and by powder metallurgy. $Al_{98-x}Mn_xCe_2$ (x =5,6,7) melt-spun ribbons containing a major quasicrystalline phase coexisting with an Al-matrix on a nanometer scale are pulverized by ball milling. The powders are consolidated by hot extrusion. Grain growth during consolidation causes the formation of a micrometer-scale microstructure. Mechanical alloying of $Al_{63}Cu_{25}Fe_{12}$ leads to single-phase quasicrystalline powders. which are blended with different volume fractions of pure Al-powder and hot extruded forming $Al_{100-x}$$(Al_{0.63}Cu_{0.25}Fe_{0.12})_x$ (x = 40,50,60,80) micrometer-scale composites. Compression test data reveal a high yield strength of ${\sigma}_y{\geq}$700 MPa and a ductility of ${\varepsilon}_{pl}{\geq}$5% for than the Al-Mn-Ce bulk samples. The strength level of the Al-Cu-Fe alloys is ${\sigma}_y{\leq}$550 MPa significantly lower. By the addition of different amounts of aluminum, the mechanical properties can be tuned to a wide range. Finally, a bulk metallic glass-forming Ti-Cu-Ni-Sn alloy with in situ formed composite microstructure prepared by both centrifugal and injection casting presents more than 6% plastic strain under compressive stress at room temperature. The in situ formed composite contains dendritic hcp Ti solid solution precipitates and a few $Ti_3Sn,\;{\beta}$-(Cu, Sn) grains dispersed in a glassy matrix. The composite micro- structure can avoid the development of the highly localized shear bands typical for the room temperature defor-mation of monolithic glasses. Instead, widely developed shear bands with evident protuberance are observed. resulting in significant yielding and homogeneous plastic deformation over the entire sample.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1532-1539
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• 2012

The ${\alpha}$-galactosidase-coding gene agaAJB13 was cloned from Sphingomonas sp. JB13 showing 16S rDNA (1,343 bp) identities of ${\leq}97.2%$ with other identified Sphingomonas strains. agaAJB13 (2,217 bp; 64.9% GC content) encodes a 738-residue polypeptide (AgaAJB13) with a calculated mass of 82.3 kDa. AgaAJB13 showed the highest identity of 61.4% with the putative glycosyl hydrolase family 36 ${\alpha}$-galactosidase from Granulicella mallensis MP5ACTX8 (EFI56085). AgaAJB13 also showed <37% identities with reported protease-resistant or Sphingomonas ${\alpha}$-galactosidases. A sequence analysis revealed different catalytic motifs between reported Sphingomonas ${\alpha}$-galactosidases (KXD and RXXXD) and AgaAJB13 (KWD and SDXXDXXXR). Recombinant AgaAJB13 (rAgaAJB13) was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The purified rAgaAJB13 was characterized using p-nitrophenyl-${\alpha}$-D-galactopyranoside as the substrate and showed an apparent optimum at pH 5.0 and $60^{\circ}C$ and strong resistance to trypsin and proteinase K digestion. Compared with reported proteaseresistant ${\alpha}$-galactosidases showing thermolability at $50^{\circ}C$ or $60^{\circ}C$ and specific activities of <71 U/mg with or without protease treatments, rAgaAJB13 exhibited a better thermal stability (half-life of >60 min at $60^{\circ}C$) and higher specific activities (225.0-256.5 U/mg). These sequence and enzymatic properties suggest AgaAJB13 is the first identified and characterized Sphingomonas ${\alpha}$-galactosidase, and shows novel protease resistance with a potential value for basic research and industrial applications.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.65-74
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• 2013

The through-silicon via (TSV) technology is essential for 3-dimensional integrated packaging. TSV technology, however, is still facing several reliability issues including interfacial delamination, crack generation and Cu protrusion. These reliability issues are attributed to themo-mechanical stress mainly caused by a large CTE mismatch between Cu via and surrounding Si. In this study, the thermo-mechanical reliability of copper TSV technology is investigated using numerical analysis. Finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted to analyze three dimensional distribution of the thermal stress and strain near the TSV and the silicon wafer. Several parametric studies were conducted, including the effect of via diameter, via-to-via spacing, and via density on TSV stress. In addition, effects of annealing temperature and via size on Cu protrusion were analyzed. To improve the reliability of the Cu TSV, small diameter via and less via density with proper via-to-via spacing were desirable. To reduce Cu protrusion, smaller via and lower fabrication temperature were recommended. These simulation results will help to understand the thermo-mechanical reliability issues, and provide the design guideline of TSV structure.

• Composites Research
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.335-341
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• 2019

In this study, an acrylic acid (AAc) was grafted on a polypropylene (PP) nonwoven fabric using electron beam irradiation. Electron beam grafting was carried out under various conditions to produce AAc grafted PP (PP-g-AAc) nonwoven fabric having a grafting yield of about 50% at radiation dose of 100 kGy and a monomer concentration of 60%. The physical and chemical properties of PP-g-AAc nonwoven fabric were evaluated by SEM, ATR-FTIR, thermal analysis and tensile strength. The morphology of PP and PP-g-AAc nonwoven fabric confirmed by SEM showed no significant change, and it was judged that AAc was introduced into PP nonwoven fabric from ATR-FTIR. PP-g-AAc nonwoven fabric showed an increase in tensile strength and a decrease in tensile strain compared to PP nonwoven fabric. However, since change of value is not significant, it is considered that there is no significant influence on the physical characterization. Adsorption experiments of PP-g-AAc nonwoven fabric on various ions showed selective adsorption behavior for lead ion. In conclusion, the electron beam radiation-induced PP-g-AAc nonwoven fabric is expected to be applied as an effective adsorbent for the adsorption of lead ions.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.221-228
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• 2004

Basic properties of artificial lightweight aggregate by using waste dusts and strength properties of LWA concrete were studied. Bulk specific gravity and water absorption of artificial lightweight aggregates varied from 1.4 to 1.7 and 13 to 16%, respectively. Crushing ratio of artificial lightweight aggregate was above 10% higher than that of crushed stone or gravel. As a result of TCLP leaching test, the leaching amount of tested heavy metal element was below the leaching standard of hazardous material. Slump, compressive strength and stress-strain properties of LWA concrete made of artificial lightweight aggregate were tested. Concrete samples derived from LWA substitution ratio of 30 vol% and W/C ratio of 45 wt% showed the best properties overall. Thermal insulation and sound insulation characteristics of light weight concrete panel with the optimum concrete proportion were tested. Average overall heat transmission of 3.293W/㎡$^{\circ}C$ was observed. It was higher by about 15% than those of normal concrete made by crushed stone. Sound transmission loss of 50.9 ㏈ in frequency of 500 ㎐ was observed. It was higher by about 13% than standard transmission loss.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.327.1-327.1
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• 2014

Nitrides-on-silicon structures are considered to be an excellent candidate for unique design architectures and creating devices for high-power applications. Therefore, a lot of effort has been concentrating on growing high-quality III-nitrides on Si substrates, mostly Si(111) and Si(001) substrates. However, there are several fundamental problems in the growth of nitride compound semiconductors on silicon. First, the large difference in lattice constants and thermal expansion coefficients will lead to misfit dislocation and stress in the epitaxial films. Second, the growth of polar compounds on a non-polar substrate can lead to antiphase domains or other defective structures. Even though the lattice mismatches are reached to 16.9 % to GaN and 19 % to AlN and a number of dislocations are originated, Si(111) has been selected as the substrate for the epitaxial growth of nitrides because it is always favored due to its three-fold symmetry at the surface, which gives a good rotational matching for the six-fold symmetry of the wurtzite structure of nitrides. Also, Si(001) has been used for the growth of nitrides due to a possible integration of nitride devices with silicon technology despite a four-fold symmetry and a surface reconstruction. Moreover, Si(110), one of surface orientations used in the silicon technology, begins to attract attention as a substrate for the epitaxial growth of nitrides due to an interesting interface structure. In this system, the close lattice match along the [-1100]AlN/[001]Si direction promotes the faster growth along a particular crystal orientation. However, there are insufficient until now on the studies for the growth of nitride compound semiconductors on Si(110) substrate from a microstructural point of view. In this work, the microstructural properties of nitride thin layers grown on Si(110) have been characterized using various TEM techniques. The main purpose of this study was to understand the atomic structure and the strain behavior of III-nitrides grown on Si(110) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Insight gained at the microscopic level regarding how thin layer grows at the interface is essential for the growth of high quality thin films for various applications.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.352-360
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• 2012

Bacillus clausii I-52 which produced SDS- and $H_2O_2$-tolerant extracellular alkaline protease (BCAP) was isolated from heavily polluted tidal mud flat of West Sea in Incheon, Korea and stable strain (transformant C5) of B. clausii I-52 harboring another copy of BCAP gene in the chromosome was developed using the chromosome integration vector, pHPS9-fuBCAP. When investigated the production of BCAP using B. clausii transformant C5 through pilot-scale submerged fermentation (500 L) at $37^{\circ}C$ for 30 h with an aeration rate of 1 vvm and agitation rate of 250 rpm, protease yield of approximately 105,700 U/mL was achieved using an optimized medium (soybean meal 2%, wheat flour 1%, sodium citrate 0.5%, $K_2HPO_4$ 0.4%, $Na_2HPO_4$ 0.1%, NaCl 0.4%, $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$ 0.01%, $FeSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$ 0.05%, liquid maltose 2.5%, $Na_2CO_3$ 0.6%). The enzyme stability of BCAP was increased by addition of polyols (10%, v/v) and also, the stabilities of BCAP towards not only the thermal-induced inactivation at $50^{\circ}C$ but also the SDS and $H_2O_2$-induced inactivation at $50^{\circ}C$ were enhanced. Among the polyols examined, the best result was obtained with propylene glycol (10%, v/v). The BCAP supplemented with propylene glycol exhibited extreme stability against not only the detergent components such as ${\alpha}$-orephin sulfonate (AOS) and zeolite but also the commercial detergent preparations. The granulized enzyme of BCAP was prepared with approximately 1,310,000 U/g of granule. Wash performance analysis using EMPA test fabrics revealed that BCAP granule exhibited high efficiency for removal of protein stains in the presence of anionic surfactants as well as bleaching agents. When compared to Savinase 6T$^{(R)}$ and Everlase 6T$^{(R)}$ manufactured by Novozymes, BCAP under this study probably showed similar or higher efficiency for the removal of protein stains. These results suggest that the alkaline protease produced from B. clausii transformant C5 showing high stability against detergents and high wash performance has significant potential and a promising candidate for use as a detergent additive.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 2017

To replace phthalate plasticizer for PVC, acetylated monoglyceride (AMG) plasticizers were prepared from plant oil and their plasticization effects were also investigated. Transesterification of coconut oil by glycerol followed by acetylation with acetic anhydride gave AMG-CoCo (Coco : Coconut Oil). In addition, AMG-GMO (GMO : Glycerol monooleate) and AMG-GMO-Epoxy were synthesized by acetylation and epoxidation with glycerol monooleate. It was found that the thermal stability of AMG plasticizers increased in the following order: AMG-GMO-Epoxy > AMG-GMO > AMG-CoCo and all three plasticizers were thermally more stable than those of common petroleum-based plasticizer DOP (Dioctyl phthalate). The tensile strain values of the PVC containing AMG compounds were ca. 770~810%, while tensile strength values were ca. 19~22 MPa, which were higher than those of PVC containing DOP. DMA (Dynamic Mechanical Analysis) results showed that the miscibility of AMG-GMO-Epoxy in PVC was excellent and the $T_g$ of PVC containing AMG-GMO-Epoxy at 50 phr decreased down to $24^{\circ}C$. Finally, the leaching experiment result showed that the weight loss values of PVC containing AMG-GMO and AMG-GMO-Epoxy at 50 phr were as low as 2 and 1%, respectively, indicating that they have high water migration resistance. The above findings suggested that AMG-GMO-Epoxy could be one of plant oil-based PVC plasticizers to replace DOP.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.591-599
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• 2017

It is well established that endurance performance is negatively affected by environmental heat stress. Numerous scientific investigations have attempted to improve performance in the heat with pre-cooling and per-cooling for endurance athletes. Some cooling strategies are more logistically challenging than others, and thus are often impractical for use in training or competition. The purpose of this study was to review the literature on the use of cooling interventions in the improvement of performance and recovery from exercise-induced heat stress. We undertook an examination that focused on the effects of pre-cooling and per-cooling on the improvement in endurance performance and the effects of post-exercise cooling on recovery. The benefits for pre-cooling and per-cooling strategies undertaken in the laboratory setting could be employed by athletes who compete in hot environmental conditions to improve performance. Most laboratory studies have shown improvements in endurance performance following pre-cooling and per-cooling, and in recovery following post-cooling. Cooling strategies such as cooling vest, neck cooling collar, menthol and ice slurry are practically relevant to sports field. Cooling interventions that can be applied frequently to reduce thermal strain prior to, during and directly after training appear to be the best effective strategy to improve performance and recovery. Future research is warranted to investigate the effectiveness of practical pre-cooling and per-cooling strategies in competition or field settings.