• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.175-191
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The scientific evidence of a sodium-obesity association is limited by sodium intake assessments. Our specific aim is to synthesize the association between dietary sodium intake and obesity across the sodium intake assessments as evidenced by systematic reviews in adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A systematic search identified systematic reviews comparing the association of dietary sodium intakes with obesity-related outcomes such as body mass index (BMI), body weight, waist circumference, and risk of (abdominal) obesity. We searched PubMed on October 24, 2022. To assess the Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS), we employed the ROBIS tool. RESULTS: This review included 3 systematic reviews, consisting of 39 unique observational studies (35 cross-sectional studies and 4 longitudinal studies) and 15 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We found consistently positive associations between dietary sodium intake and obesity-related outcomes in cross-sectional studies. Studies that used 24-h urine collection indicated a greater BMI for those with higher sodium intake (mean difference = 2.27 kg/m²; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.59-2.51; P < 0.001; I² = 77%) compared to studies that used spot urine (mean difference = 1.34 kg/m²; 95% CI, 1.13-1.55; P < 0.001; I² = 95%) and dietary methods (mean difference = 0.85 kg/m²; 95% CI, 0.1-1.51; P < 0.05; I² = 95%). CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative synthesis of the systematic reviews has shown that cross-sectional associations between dietary sodium intake and obesity outcomes were substantially different across the sodium intake assessments. We need more high-quality prospective cohort studies and RCTs using 24-h urine collection to examine the causal effects of sodium intake on obesity.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

Purpose: This systematic review aims to determine whether robot-assisted training is more effective in gait training for persons with subacute hemiparetic stroke. Methods: This study adopted a systematic review study design focused on subacute hemiparetic stroke, and four core academic databases were searched until June 11, 2021, for relevant studies, including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ProQuest Central. The review included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effects of robotic-assisted training on gait performance in persons with a diagnosis of subacute hemiparetic stroke. The selected RCT studies were qualitatively synthesized based on the population, intervention, comparison, outcome, settings, and study design (PICOS-SD). Results: The study selected five RCTs involving 253 subacute hemiparetic stroke patients and performing robotic-assisted gait training using the following devices: the Lokomat, Morning Walk, Walkbot, ProStep Plus, or Gait Trainer II. Five RCTs were eligible for the meta-analysis after quantitative synthesis, and the results showed that the robot-assisted gait training group had a greater gait performance than the control group based on the 10-meter walk test, Berg balance scale, Rivermed mobility index, functional ambulation category, and modified Barthel index. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the gait performance of subacute hemiparetic stroke patients changes throughout robot-assisted gait training, but there were no indications that any of the clinically relevant effects of robot-assisted training are greater than those of conventional gait training. Further, the small sample size and different therapeutic intensities indicate that definitive conclusions could not be made.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.465-475
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• 2023

In this study, we demonstrated a silica nanofibrous membrane based on the electrospinning process and evaluated its DNA isolation and purification performance in PCR pretreatment. Generally, silica membranes made of non-woven fabric are used for PCR pretreatment, but this study aimed to improve the efficiency of the pretreatment process by developing a nanofiber-type silica membrane with high specific surface area and porosity. In order to manufacture a nanofiber-shaped silica film while maintaining the original physical properties of silica, nanofiber membranes produced by adding various concentrations of PEO (5 wt%, 8 wt%, and 10 wt%) to silica prepared by the sol-gel method were compared. In terms of nanofiber membrane production, the higher the PEO concentration, the more effective it was in producing nanofiber membranes. The produced silica nanofiber membrane was inserted to a pretreatment device used in commercial PCR equipment, and the pretreatment performance was compared and verified using Salmonella bacteria. When Salmonella was used, samples containing 5 wt% PEO showed superior PCR efficiency compared to samples containing 8 wt% and 10 wt% PEO. These results show that adding 5 wt% of PEO can effectively improve DNA purification and separation by producing a nanofiber-shaped silica film while maintaining the physical properties of silica. We expect that this study will contribute to the development of effective PCR pretreatment technology essential for various molecular biology applications.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.140-145
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• 2024

High temperature co-electrolysis of H₂O-CO₂ mixtures using solid oxide cells has attracted attention as promising CO₂ utilization technology for production of syngas (H₂/CO), feedstock for E-fuel synthesis. For direct supply to E-fuel production such as hydrocarbon and methanol, the outlet gas ratio (H₂/CO/CO₂) of co-electrolysis should be controlled. In this work, current voltage characteristic test and product gas analysis were carried out under various reaction conditions which could attain proper syngas ratio.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.111-118
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• 2014

The electrochemical properties using the cells assembled with the synthesized $LiCoO_2$(LCO) were evaluated in this study. The LCO was synthesized from high-purity cobalt sulfate($CoSO_4$) which is recovered from the cathode scrap in the wastes lithium ion secondary battery(LIB). The leaching process for dissolving the metallic elements from the LCO scrap was controlled by the quantities of the sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The metal precipitation to remove the impurities was controlled by the pH value using the caustic soda. And also, D2EHPA and $CYANEX^{(R)}272$ were used in the solvent extraction process in order to remove the impurities again. The high-purity $CoSO_4$ solution was recovered by the processes mentioned above. We made the 6 wt.% $CoSO_4$ solution mixed with distilled water. And the 6 wt.% $CoSO_4$ solution was mixed with oxalic acid by the stirring method and dried in oven. $LiCoO_2$ as a cathode material for LIB was formed by the calcination after the drying and synthesis with the $Li_2CO_3$ powder. We assembled the cells using the $LiCoO_2$ powders and evaluated the electrochemical properties. And then, we confirmed possibility of the recyclability about the cathode materials for LIBs.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.31-37
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• 2017

Recently, there has been substantial interest in flexible and wearable devices whose properties and performances are close to conventional devices on hard substrates. Despite the advancement on flexible devices with organic semiconductors or carbon nanotube films, their performances are limited by the carrier scattering at the molecular to molecular or nanotube-to-nanotube junctions. Here in this study, we demonstrate on the vertical semiconductor crystal array embedded in flexible polymer matrix. Such structures can relieve the strain effectively, thereby accommodating large flexural deformation. To achieve such structure, we first established a low-temperature solution-phase synthesis of single crystalline 3D architectures consisting of epitaxially grown ZnO constituent crystals by position and growth direction controlled growth strategy. The ZnO vertical crystal array was integrated into a piece of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate, which was then mechanically detached from the hard substrate to achieve the freestanding ZnO-polymer composite. In addition, the characteristics of transferred ZnO were confirmed by additional structural and photoluminescent measurements. The ZnO vertical crystal array embedded in PDMS was further employed as pressure sensor that exhibited an active response to the external pressure, by piezoelectric effect of ZnO crystal.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.77-77
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• 2016

Thin films synthesized by plasma processes have been widely applied in a variety of industrial sectors. The structure control of thin film is one of prime factor in most of these applications. It is well known that the structure of this film is closely associated with plasma parameters and species of plasma which are electrons, ions, radical and neutrals in plasma processes. However the precise control of structure by plasma process is still limited due to inherent complexity, reproducibility and control problems in practical implementation of plasma processing. Therefore the study on the fundamental physical properties that govern the plasmas becomes more crucial for molecular scale control of film structure and corresponding properties for new generation nano scale film materials development and application. The thin films are formed through nucleation and growth stages during thin film depostion. Such stages involve adsorption, surface diffusion, chemical binding and other atomic processes at surfaces. This requires identification, determination and quantification of the surface activity of the species in the plasma. Specifically, the ions and neutrals have kinetic energies ranging from ~ thermal up to tens of eV, which are generated by electron impact of the polyatomic precursor, gas phase reaction, and interactions with the substrate and reactor walls. The present work highlights these aspects for the controlled and low-temperature plasma enhanced chemical vapour disposition (PECVD) of Si-based films like crystalline Si (c-Si), Si-quantum dot, and sputtered crystalline C by the design and control of radicals, plasmas and the deposition energy. Additionally, there is growing demand on the low-temperature deposition process with low hydrogen content by PECVD. The deposition temperature can be reduced significantly by utilizing alternative plasma concepts to lower the reaction activation energy. Evolution in this area continues and has recently produced solutions by increasing the plasma excitation frequency from radio frequency to ultra high frequency (UHF) and in the range of microwave. In this sense, the necessity of dedicated experimental studies, diagnostics and computer modelling of process plasmas to quantify the effect of the unique chemistry and structure of the growing film by radical and plasma control is realized. Different low-temperature PECVD processes using RF, UHF, and RF/UHF hybrid plasmas along with magnetron sputtering plasmas are investigated using numerous diagnostics and film analysis tools. The broad outlook of this work also outlines some of the 'Grand Scientific Challenges' to which significant contributions from plasma nanoscience-related research can be foreseen.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.594-599
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• 2011

$SrAl_2O_4:Eu$ green phosphor was prepared by spray pyrolysis and its luminescence properties were controlled by replacing the Al sites with boron and using organic modifier or drying control chemical additive. It was clear that the substitution of B into the Al sites was helpful to obtain pure monoclinic $SrAl_2O_4$ phase and greatly enhance the emission intensity. In terms of the emission intensity, the optimal content of boron was about 1 at% with respect to the aluminum element. The luminescence intensity of $Sr_{0.9}Al_{1.98}B_{0.02}O_4:Eu_{0.1}$ phosphor could be improved by the use of 0.2 M organic additives in the spray solution. Futhermore, using 0.5 M dimethylformamide(DMF) as a drying control chemical with organic additives made it possible to improve about 172% the emission intensity of $Sr_{0.9}Al_{1.98}B_{0.02}O_4:Eu_{0.1}$ phosphor. According to XRD analysis, the organic additive and DMF used enhanced the crystallinity without any change in the crystal phase. When used only the organic additive without DMF, the surface area of the prepared $Sr_{0.9}Al_{1.98}B_{0.02}O_4:Eu_{0.1}$ phosphor became enlarged. The use of DMF with the organic additive resulted in significant reduction in the surface area. It was concluded that the increase of the crystallinity as well as the reduction of surface area mainly contribute to the improvement in the luminescence intensity of $Sr_{0.9}Al_{1.98}B_{0.02}O_4:Eu_{0.1}$ phosphor prepared using DMF and organic additives.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.255-261
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• 2016

$CaCO_3$ was applied in various industries including rubber, plastics, paint, paper, food additives, and acid neutralizer, etc., owing to its excellent physical and chemical characteristics as well as various appearances of crystals and many reserves. In particular, research on controlling the structure and shape of $CaCO_3$ has attracted considerable attention recently, because the whiteness and physical characteristics of $CaCO_3$ depend on the size and shapes of the particles. In this study, $CaCO_3$ was synthesized using $CaCl_2$ and $(NH4)_2CO_3$, which has multi-shapes and structures, using a self-assembly method with a hydrothermal method. The structure and morphology of the $CaCO_3$ could be controlled by adjusting the pH and precursor concentration. In particular, the pH adjustment appeared to be a critical factor for the morphology and crystal form. In addition, the calcite and cubic shape were obtained at pH 7, while the mixed calcite, aragonite structure, and rod shapes appeared at pH 7 and over. Through an analysis of the particle formation process, the formation of the calcium carbonate particles was confirmed. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized $CaCO_3$ were analyzed by SEM, XRD, EDS, FTIR, and TG/DTA.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.627-636
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• 1993

Anionic acrylic resin utilizing macromer(TBMA-g-MMA) copolymer was synthesized by preparing (TBMA) macromer using anionic living polymerization, followed by graft copolymerization with MMA macromer. To control the anionic site content in graft copolymer, the relative composition((TBMA) macromer/MMA ratio) of the graft copolymer was controlled at 7/3, 10/90, 15/85, 20/80, 30/70, 40/60, 50/50 in weight content. In the course of anionic living polymerization of(TBMA) macromer, broad molecular weight distribution (1.4~1.5) was obtained by using n-butyllithium-diphenyethylene initiatior system at $-78^{\circ}C$. To introduce the double bond at the end of chain in termination step, methacryloyl chloride was reacted after insertion of benzaldehyde as capping material. Moreover, TBMA parts in graft copolymer were hydrolyzed in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid catalyst, and neutralization of graft copolymer with triethylamine was granted acrylic resin to anionic site. Molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of(TBMA) macromer were determined by GPC, and the hydrolysis of TBMA with neutralization of acrylic resin were determined by IR and NMR. From water dispersion and stability point of view, stable dispersion state appeared at low molecular weight(TBMA) macromer with a small TBMA content as a result of scrutiny about the relation to TBMA content and branch length for(TBMA) macromer molecular weight in graft copolymer.