• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.595-603
• /
• 2016

(E)-3-Phenyl-1-(2-pyrrolyl)-2-propenone (PPP) is a pyrrole derivative of chalcone, in which the B-ring of chalcone linked to ${\beta}$-carbon is replaced by pyrrole group. While pyrrole has been studied for possible Src inhibition activity, chalcone, especially the substituents on the B-ring, has shown pharmaceutical, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant properties via inhibition of NF-${\kappa}B$ activity. Our study is aimed to investigate whether this novel synthetic compound retains or enhances the pharmaceutically beneficial activities from the both structures. For this purpose, inflammatory responses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW264.7 cells were analyzed. Nitric oxide (NO) production, inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) mRNA expression, and the intracellular inflammatory signaling cascade were measured. Interestingly, PPP strongly inhibited NO release in a dose-dependent manner. To further investigate this anti-inflammatory activity, we identified molecular pathways by immunoblot analyses of nuclear fractions and whole cell lysates prepared from LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells with or without PPP pretreatment. The nuclear levels of p50, c-Jun, and c-Fos were significantly inhibited when cells were exposed to PPP. Moreover, according to the luciferase reporter gene assay after cotransfection with either TRIF or MyD88 in HEK293 cells, NF-${\kappa}B$-mediated luciferase activity dose-dependently diminished. Additionally, it was confirmed that PPP dampens the upstream signaling cascade of NF-${\kappa}B$ and AP-1 activation. Thus, PPP inhibited Syk, Src, and TAK1 activities induced by LPS or induced by overexpression of these genes. Therefore, our results suggest that PPP displays anti-inflammatory activity via inhibition of Syk, Src, and TAK1 activity, which may be developed as a novel anti-inflammatory drug.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.24 no.5
• /
• pp.32-38
• /
• 2010

Multi-dimensional fire dynamics were studied numerically with the change in ventilation conditions in a full-scale ISO 9705 room. Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) was used for the identical conditions conducted in previous experiments. Flow rate and doorway width were changed to create over-ventilated fire (OVF) and under-ventilated fire (UVF). From the numerical simulation, it was found that the internal flow pattern rotated in the opposite direction for the UVF relative to the OVF so that a portion of products recirculated to the inside of compartment. Significant change in flow pattern with ventilation conditions may affect changes in the complex process of CO and soot formation inside the compartment due to increase in the residence time of high-temperature products. The fire behavior in the UVF created complex 3D characteristics of species distribution as well as thermal and flow structures. In particular, additional burning near the side wall inside the compartment significantly affected the flow pattern and CO production. The distribution of CO inside the compartment was explained with 3D $O_2$ distribution and flow patterns. It was observed that gas sampling at local positions in the upper layer were insufficient to completely characterize the internal structure of the compartment fire.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.207-215
• /
• 2004

As the sea connecting with the East Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk is the most potential area of gas hydrates in the world. In other to examine geophysical structures of gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the Sea of Okhotsk, the CHAOS (hydro-Carbon Hydrate Accumulation in the Okhotsk) international research expedition was carried out in August 2003. In the expedition, high-resolution seismic and geochemical survey was also conducted. Sparker seismic profiles show only diffusive high-amplitude reflections without BSRs at BSR depth. It means that BSR appears to be completely different images on seismic profiles obtained using different frequencies. Many gas chimneys rise up from BSR depth to seafloor. The chimneys can be divided into two groups with different seismic characteristics; wipe-out (WO) and enhanced reflection (ER) chimneys. Different seismic responses in the chimneys would be caused by amount of gas and gas hydrates filling in the chimneys. In hydroacoustic data, a lot of gas flares rise up several hundreds meters from seafloor to the water column. All flares took placed at the depths within gas hydrate stability zone. It is interpreted that gas hydrate-bearing sediments with low porosity and permeability due to gas hydrate filling in the pore space make good pipe around gas chimneys in which gas is migrating up without loss of amount. Therefore, large-scale gas flare at the site on gas chimney releases into the water column.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.657-665
• /
• 2013

The purpose of this study is the basic research of self-compacting concrete using Alkali-Activated Slag (AAS) binder in order to emphasize the durability of structures and facilitate casting the fresh concrete in field. The AAS binder emitted low carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) is eco friendly material of new concept because AAS products not only emit little $CO_2$ during production but also reuse the industrial by-products such as ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) of the steel mill. Until now, almost of domestic and foreign research are using Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) for self-compacting concrete, and also, nonexistent research about AAS. The self-compacting concrete must get the performance of flowability, segregation resistance, filling and passing ability. Nine concrete mixes were prepared with the main parameter of unit amount of binder (400, 500, 600 $kg/m^3$) and 3 types of water-binder (W/B) ratio. The results of test were that fresh concretes were satisfied with flowability, segregation resistance, and filling ability of JSCE. But the passing ability was not meet the criteria of EFNARC because of higher viscosity of AAS paste than OPC. This high viscosity of AAS paste enables the manufacturing of self compacting concrete, segregation of which does not occur without the using of viscosity agent. It is necessary that the development of high fluidity AAS binders of higher strength and the study of better passing ability of AAS concrete mixes in order to use self compacting AAS concrete in field.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.36 no.8
• /
• pp.881-887
• /
• 2012

CFRP composite materials have been widely used in various fields of engineering because of their excellent properties. They show high specific stiffness and specific strength compared with metallic materiasl. Woven CFRP composite materials are fabricated from carbon fibers with two orientation angles ($0^{\circ}/90^{\circ}$), which influences the mechanical properties. Therefore, woven CFRP composite materials show different types of fracture behavior according to the load direction. Therefore, the fracture behavior of these materials needs to be evaluated according to the load direction when designing structures using these materials. In this study, we evaluate the fracture strength of plain-woven CFRP composite materials according to the load direction. We performed tests for six different angles (load direction: $0^{\circ}/90^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}/-60^{\circ}$, $+45^{\circ}/-45^{\circ}$) and estimated the fracture strength for an arbitrary fiber angle by using the modified Tan's theory and harmonic function.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.18 no.10
• /
• pp.69-74
• /
• 2017

In this study, cholesteryl 4-n-alkoxybenzoates (Chol-n), with alkyl groups used for controlling the temperature of transition to the liquid crystal phase, were synthesized, and the effects of the length of the alkyl groups on the physical properties of the liquid crystal compounds were investigated. The chemical structures and thermal and liquid crystalline properties of the synthesized compounds were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ($^1H$-NMR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and polarizing optical microscopy (POM). The synthesized compounds showed melting transition temperatures ($T_m$) in the range of $103^{\circ}C$ to $143^{\circ}C$ and all of the compounds except Chol-6 exhibited a wide liquid crystal phase temperature range of about $60^{\circ}C$ to $100^{\circ}C$. No correlation between the number of carbon atoms in the molecule and the thermal properties of the compounds was found. All of the synthesized compounds showed an enantiotropic cholesteric phase, which was accompanied by a chiral smectic phase in the compounds Chol-6, Chol-8, Chol-9, and Chol-10. All of the compounds exhibited thermochromism in the liquid crystal state, and their color changed from red to blue as the temperature was increased.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.191-200
• /
• 2014

Gas hydrates play a significant role in the global carbon cycle and climate change because methane, a greenhouse gas, can be released from the dissociation of gas hydrate. Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is an important process that consumes more than 90% of the methane released into the hydrosphere and atmosphere. In this study, the microbial community associated with the methane gas hydrate sediment in the Ulleung basin, East Sea of Korea (UBGH) was analyzed by phylogenetic analysis of the mcrA and 16S rRNA gene libraries. A vertical stratification of the dominating anaerobic methane oxidizer (ANME)-1 group was observed at the surface and the sulfate methane transition zone (SMTZ). The ANME-2c group was found to be dominant in the high methane layer. The archaea of marine benthic group B, which is commonly observed in the AOM region, accounted for more than 50% of the identifications in all sediments. Nitrate reducing bacteria were predominant at SMTZ (Halomonas: 56.5%) and high methane layer (Achromobacter: 52.6%), while sulfate reducing bacteria were not found in UBGH sediments. These results suggest that the AOM process may be carried out by a syntrophic consortium of ANME and nitrate reducing bacteria in the gas hydrates of the Ulleung Basin of the East Sea.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.60-66
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate potential application of Lightweight Piezo-composite Actuator (LIPCA) to suppress vibrations of structures. The LIPCA, consisting of a piezoelectric layer, a carbon/epoxy layer and glass/epoxy layers, has advantages in terms of high performance, durability and reliability, compared to the bare piezoelectric ceramic (PZT) actuator. We performed two kinds of experiments on static actuation and active vibration suppression to investigate the actuation performances of the LIPCA and the bare PZT. We attached the actuator on one side and a strain gage on the other side of an aluminum beam. In the static actuation test, we evaluated the performance by comparing equivalent actuation moments of the LIPCA and the bare PZT due to the applied voltage. In the active vibration control test, control signals were generated to suppress the vibration of the beam by the PID control algorithm based on the measured strain signals. The performances were estimated based on settling times of the strain responses. It can be concluded that the LIPCA has better actuation performances than the bare PZT in active control of free vibration as well as static actuation.

• Journal of Conservation Science
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.433-442
• /
• 2018

In this study, metal properties were compared by preparingthree iron knives from steel ingots produced via traditional iron-making, and ingot which jointed the steel of modern times. Metal microscope and SEM-EDS analysis revealed fine ferrite and pearlite structures of the hypo-eutectoid steel of Fe-C alloys. All samples also exhibited martensite on the blade of the knife. By Vicker's hardness analysis, the hardness of the sand iron knife (K1) was 533.38 HV, sand iron-nickel steel knife (K3) was 514.8 HV, and sand iron-carbon steel knife (K2) was 477.02 HV. The mass reduction due to wear was 0.058% for K1, 0.059% for K3, and 0.144% for K2. EPMA(Electron probe micro-analyzer) analysis of the surface pattern of the specimens confirmed that the patterns were exposed due to differences in the content of C or the chemical composition. Additional research on heat treatment processes is needed to increase the abrasion resistance of blades. Traditional steel ingots could produce high-quality steel if combined with nickel steel.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.217-226
• /
• 2006

Image processing by ultra high voltage electron microscopy (UHVEM) and tomography has offered major contributions to research in the field of cellular ultrastructure. Furthermore, such advancements also have enabled the improved analysis of three-dimensional cellular structures in botany. In the present study. using UHVEM and tomography, we attempted to reconstruct the three-dimensional images of plastid inclusions that probably differentiate during photosynthesis. The foliar tissues were studied Primarily with the TEM and further examined with UHVEM. The spatial relationship between tubular elements and the thylakoidal membrane and/or starch grains within plastids mainly have been investigated in CAM-performing Sedum as well as in $C_4$ Salsola species. The inclusion bodies were found to occur only in early development in the former, while they were found only in mesophyll cells in the latter. The specimens were tilted every two degrees to obtain two-dimensional images with UHVEM and subsequently comparison has been made between the two types. Digital image processing was performed on the elements of the inclusion body using tilting, tomography, and IMOD program to generate and reconstruct three-dimensional images on the cellular level. In Sedum plastids, the inclusion bodies consisted of tubular elements exhibiting about 20 nm distance between elements. However, in Salsola, plastid inclusion bodies demonstrated quite different element structure, displaying pattern, and origin relative to those of the Sedum. The inclusion bodies had an integrative relationship with the starch grains in both species.