• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.47-53
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• 2018

Various types of robotic arms are being used for industrial purposes, particularly with the small production of multi-products, and the importance of the gripper, which can be used in industrial fields, is increasing. This study evaluated a variable stiffness mechanism gripper that can change the stiffness using the nonlinearity of a flexible material. A prototype of the gripper was fabricated and examined to confirm the change in stiffness. The previous gripper was unable to grip objects in some situations with three variable stiffness mechanism. In addition, these mechanisms were not balanced and rarely rotated when the object was gripped. Therefore, a new type of gripper was needed to solve this problem. Inspired by the movements of the human palm and Venus Flytrap, a new type of a variable stiffness soft robot hand was designed. The possibility of grasping could be increased by interlocking the palm folding mechanism by pulling the tendon attached to the variable stiffness mechanism. The soft robotic hand was used to grasp objects of various shapes and weights more stably than the previous variable stiffness mechanism gripper. This new variable stiffness soft robot hand can be used selectively depending on the application and environment to be used.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.334-339
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• 2008

Recently electro spinning is a widely used simple technique to prepared micro- to nanometer-sized fiber of various polymers. In general, a normal multiple-nozzle electro spinning system has been difficult to achieve high production-rate fabricating micro/nanofibers due to the interference of electric field between individual nozzles in the process. To reduce the interference effect of electric field between nozzles, we developed a multi-nozzle electrospinning system supplemented with auxiliary electrodes. Poly($\varepsilon$-carprolactone)(PCL), which has good mechanical property and biocompatibility, was electrospun by the multi-nozzle electro spinning system. Electrospinnability, product rate, and size uniformity of spun fibers for the system with and without auxiliary electrodes were characterized. As a result, the multi-nozzle electrospinning system supplemented with auxiliary electrodes provides excellently stable processability and showed high mass productivity of PCL-nanofibers relative to a normal multi-nozzle electro spinning system.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2015

Simple poor-cosolvent casting was used to surface treat biodegradable elastic poly(L-lactide-co-${\varepsilon}$-caprolactone) (PLCL; 50:50) copolymer films that presented lotus-leaf-like structures. We evaluated whether the lotus-leaflike-structured PLCL (L-PLCL) films could be used as a biomaterial for artificial vascular grafts. The surface morphology, hydrophobicity, and antithrombotic efficiency of the films were examined while immersed in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a contact angle meter. The recovery and crystallinity of the films were measured using a tensile-strength testing machine and an X-ray diffractometer, respectively. The solvent containing acetic acid, as a poor co-solvent, and methylene chloride mixed in a 1:2 ratio produced an optimal PLCL film with a water contact angle of approximately $124^{\circ}$. Furthermore, the surface of the L-PLCL films immersed in PRP showed a lower rate of platelet adhesion (<10%) than that of the surface of an untreated PLCL film immersed in PRP.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.389-390
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• 2012

In this study, we fabricate a superhydrophobic surface made of hierarchical nanostructures that combine wax crystalline structure with moth-eye structure using vacuum cluster system and measure their hydrophobicity and durability. Since the lotus effect was found, much work has been done on studying self-cleaning surface for decades. The surface of lotus leaf consists of multi-level layers of micro scale papillose epidermal cells and epicuticular wax crystalloids [1]. This hierarchical structure has superhydrophobic property because the sufficiently rough surface allows air pockets to form easily below the liquid, the so-called Cassie state, so that the relatively small area of water/solid interface makes the energetic cost associated with corresponding water/air interfaces smaller than the energy gained [2]. Various nanostructures have been reported for fabricating the self-cleaning surface but in general, they have the problem of low durability. More than two nanostructures on a surface can be integrated together to increase hydrophobicity and durability of the surface as in the lotus leaf [3,5]. As one of the bio-inspired nanostructures, we introduce a hierarchical nanostructure fabricated with a high vacuum cluster system. A hierarchical nanostructure is a combination of moth-eye structure with an average pitch of 300 nm and height of 700 nm, and the wax crystalline structure with an average width and height of 200 nm. The moth-eye structure is fabricated with deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process. $SiO_2$ layer is initially deposited on a glass substrate using PECVD in the cluster system. Then, Au seed layer is deposited for a few second using DC sputtering process to provide stochastic mask for etching the underlying $SiO_2$ layer with ICP-RIE so that moth-eye structure can be fabricated. Additionally, n-hexatriacontane paraffin wax ($C_{36}H_{74}$) is deposited on the moth-eye structure in a thermal evaporator and self-recrystallized at $40^{\circ}C$ for 4h [4]. All of steps are conducted utilizing vacuum cluster system to minimize the contamination. The water contact angles are measured by tensiometer. The morphology of the surface is characterized using SEM and AFM and the reflectance is measured by spectrophotometer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.70-70
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• 2011

The prospects of current and coming solar-photovoltaic (PV) technologies are envisioned, arguing this solar-electricity source is beyond a tipping point in the complex worldwide energy outlook. Truly, a revolution in both the technological advancements of solar PV and the deployment of this energy technology is underway; PV is no longer an outlier. The birth of modern photovoltaics (PV) traces only to the mid-1950s, with the Bell Telephone Laboratories' development of an efficient, single-crystal Si solar cell. Since then, Si has dominated the technology and the markets, from space through terrestrial applications. Recently, some significant shift toward technology diversity have taken place. Some focus of this presentation will be directed toward PV R&D and technology advances, with indications of the limitations and relative strengths of crystalline (Si and GaAs) and thin-film (a-Si:H, Si, Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2, CdTe). Recent advances, contributions, industry growth, and technological pathways for transformational now and near-term technologies (Si and primarily thin films) and status and forecasts for next-generation PV (nanotechnologies and non-conventional and "new-physics" approaches) are evaluated. The need for R&D accelerating the now and imminent (evolutionary) technologies balanced with work in mid-term (disruptive) approaches is highlighted. Moreover, technology progress and ownership for next generation solar PV mandates a balanced investment in research on longer-term (the revolution needs revolutionary approaches to sustain itself) technologies (quantum dots, multi-multijunctions, intermediate-band concepts, nanotubes, bio-inspired, thermophotonics, ${\ldots}$ and solar hydrogen) having high-risk, but extremely high performance and cost returns for our next generations of energy consumers. This presentation provides insights to the reasons for PV technology emergence, how these technologies have to be developed (an appreciation of the history of solar PV)-and where we can expect to be by this mid-21st century.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.655-663
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• 2020

Background: Korean Red Ginseng is known to exhibit immune-enhancing and anti-inflammatory properties. The immune-enhancing effects of the nonsaponin fraction (NSF) of Korean Red Ginseng have been studied in many reports. However, the gastroprotective effect of this fraction is not fully understood. In this study, we demonstrate the activities of NSF for gastrointestinal protection and its related critical factor. Methods: The in vitro and in vivo regulatory functions of NSF on cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) messenger RNA and protein levels were examined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting analyses. Gastroprotective effects of NSF were investigated by histological score, gastric juice pH, and myeloperoxidase activity on indomethacin-induced, cold stress-induced, and acetylsalicylic acid-induced gastritis and dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in in vivo mouse models. Results: NSF did not show cytotoxicity, and it increased COX-1 messenger RNA expression and protein levels in RAW264.7 cells. This upregulation was also observed in colitis and gastritis in vivo models. In addition, NSF treatment in mice ameliorated the symptoms of gastrointestinal inflammation, including histological score, colon length, gastric juice pH, gastric wall thickness, and myeloperoxidase activity. Conclusion: These results suggest that NSF has gastroprotective effects on gastritis and colitis in in vivo mouse models through COX-1 upregulation.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.67-75
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• 2010

This paper proposes a bacteria cooperative optimization (BCO) method applying individuals's speed for the performance improvements. All individuals in existing BCO methods move the same length at the same time because their speeds are constant. These methods had the problem that the individuals couldn't find the global optimum effectively because good individuals and bad individuals had same speeds. In order to overcome this problem, we applied the speed concept to the BCO algorithm that individuals moved different lengths according to their speeds assigned by the ranks of individuals according to the fitness of individuals. That is to say, we provide high speeds to bad individuals with low fitness in order to fast move to the areas with high fitness and provide low speeds to good individuals with high fitness because they may be near global optimum. It was found from experimental results of four function optimization problems that the proposed method outperformed the existing methods. Our method showed better performances even than the rank replacement method. This means that applying speed concepts to the individuals for BCO is very effective and efficient.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.38C no.1
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• pp.131-140
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• 2013

Due to the limitations of the existing indoor positioning system depending on the radio wave, at present, it is required to introduce a new method in order to improve the accuracy in indoor environment. Recently, bio-inspired technology has become the future core technology. Thus, this study examined the accurate positioning method applying the abilities that animals with homing instinct measure their position by searching geomagnetic field with the use of their biomagnets. In order to confirm the applicability of geomagnetic field, a new source for indoor positioning, this study separated the constituent materials and building structure and designed the structures that can carry the actual magnetic field sensor and the data collection module. Subsequently, this study investigated the applicability of geomagnetic field as a positioning source by establishing the positioning system of Fingerprint method. In performance evaluation of the positioning system, the geomagnetic strength-based positioning system was similar to or approximately 20 percent higher than the wireless LAN-based positioning system in the buildings with the existing wireless LAN. Thus, in the environment without infrastructure for indoor positioning, the geomagnetic, an independent earth resource, can make it possible to realize the indoor positioning.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.371-384
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• 2019

Motion perception has been tremendously improved in neuroscience and computer vision. The baseline motion perception model is mediated by the dorsal visual pathway involving the cortex areas the primary visual cortex (V1) and the middle temporal (V5 or MT) visual area. However, few works have been done on the extension of neural models to improve the efficacy and robustness of motion perception of real sequences. To overcome shortcomings in situations, such as varying illumination and large displacement, an adaptive V1-MT motion perception (Ad-V1MTMP) algorithm enriched to deal with real sequences is proposed and analyzed. First, the total variation semi-norm model based on Gabor functions (TV-Gabor) for structure-texture decomposition is performed to manage the illumination and color changes. And then, we study the impact of image local context, which is processed in extra-striate visual areas II (V2), on spatial motion integration by MT neurons, and propose a V1-V2 method to extract the image contrast information at a given location. Furthermore, we take feedback inputs from V2 into account during the polling stage. To use the algorithm on natural scenes, finally, multi-scale approach has been used to handle the frequency range, and adaptive pyramidal decomposition and decomposed spatio-temporal filters have been used to diminish computational cost. Theoretical analysis and experimental results suggest the new Ad-V1MTMP algorithm which mimics human primary motion pathway has universal, effective and robust performance.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.154-160
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• 2019

Background: Compound K (CK) is an active metabolite of ginseng saponin, ginsenoside Rb1, that has been shown to have ameliorative properties in various diseases. However, its role in inflammation and the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. In this report, the antiinflammatory role of CK was investigated in macrophage-like cells. Methods: The CK-mediated antiinflammatory mechanism was explored in RAW264.7 and HEK293 cells that were activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or exhibited overexpression of known activation proteins. The mRNA levels of inflammatory genes and the activation levels of target proteins were identified by quantitative and semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Results: CK significantly inhibited the mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ and morphological changes in LPS-activated RAW264.7 cells under noncytotoxic concentrations. CK downregulated the phosphorylation of AKT1, but not AKT2, in LPS-activated RAW264.7 cells. Similarly, CK reduced the AKT1 overexpression-induced expression of aldehyde oxidase 1, interleukin-$1{\beta}$, interferon-${\beta}$, and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion: Our results suggest that CK plays an antiinflammatory role during macrophage-mediated inflammatory actions by specifically targeting the AKT1-mediated signaling pathway.