• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.147-161
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• 2012

Human melanocortin-4 receptor (hMC4R) among MC-Rs, expressed in the brain, is in charge of the control on energy homeostasis and food intake. The structure and function of human MC4R have been studied to understand their essential function and roles. To investigate the structure and function, it is necessary to prepare sufficient amounts of proteins. However, their expression and purification is demanding and time-consuming due to their innate insoluble and toxic properties. The heterozygous mutations of hMC4R, exchange of Asp 90 to Asn located in second transmembrane, cause severe obesity in human. To obtain purified hMC4R wt-TM2 for structural studies, it was first over-expressed and purified by fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) and then solution NMR studies were performed to get high-resolution spectra. In here, we established optimized purification scheme to get more purified target peptide.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 2022

Offshore platforms in seismically active areas must be designed to survive in the face of intense earthquakes without a global structural collapse. This paper scrutinizes the seismic performance of a newly designed and established jacket type offshore platform situated in the entrance of the Gulf of Suez region based on the API-RP2A normalized response spectra during seismic events. A nonlinear finite element model of a typical jacket type offshore platform is constructed taking into consideration the effect of structure-soil-interaction. Soil properties at the site were manipulated to generate the pile lateral soil properties in the form of load deflection curves, based on API-RP2A recommendations. Dynamic characteristics of the offshore platform, the response function, output power spectral density and transfer functions for different elements of the platform are discussed. The joints deflection and acceleration responses demands are presented. It is generally concluded that consideration of the interaction between structure, piles and soil leads to higher deflections and less stresses in platform elements due to soil elasticity, nonlinearity, and damping and leads to a more realistic platform design. The earthquake-based analysis for offshore platform structure is essential for the safe design and operation of offshore platforms.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.95-103
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• 2022

In order to evaluate the earthquake safety of equipment in structures, it is essential to analyze the In-Structure Response Spectrum (ISRS). The ISRS has a peak value at the frequency corresponding to the structural vibration mode, but the frequency and amplitude at the peak can vary because of many uncertain parameters. There are several seismic design criteria for ISRS peak-broadening for fixed base structures. However, there are no suggested criteria for constructing the design ISRS of seismically isolated structures. The ISRS of isolated structures may change due to the major uncertainty parameter of the isolator, which is the shear stiffness of the isolator and the several uncertainty parameters caused by the nonlinear behavior of isolators. This study evaluated the effects on the ISRS due to the initial stiffness of the bi-linear curve of isolators and the variation of effective stiffness by the input ground motion intensity and intense motion duration. Analyzing a simplified structural model for isolated base structure confirmed that the ISRS at the frequency of structural mode was amplified and shifted. It was found that the uncertainty of the initial stiffness of isolators significantly affects the shape of ISRS. The variation caused by the intensity and duration of input ground motions was also evaluated. These results suggested several considerations for generating ISRS for seismically isolated structures.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.399-410
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• 2022

The solubility and species distribution of radionuclides in groundwater are essential data for the safety assessment of deep underground spent nuclear fuel (SNF) disposal systems. Americium is a major radionuclide responsible for the long-term radiotoxicity of SNF. In this study, the solubility of americium compounds was evaluated in synthetic groundwater (SynDB3), simulating groundwater from the DB3 site of the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel. Geochemical modeling was performed using the ThermoChimie_11a thermochemical database. Concentration of dissolved Am(III) in Syn-DB3 in the pH range of 6.4-10.5 was experimentally measured under over-saturation conditions by liquid scintillation counting over 70 d. The absorption spectra recorded for the same period suggest that Am(III) colloidal particles formed initially followed by rapid precipitation within 2 d. In the pH range of 7.5-10.5, the concentration of dissolved Am(III) converged to approximately 2×10^-7 M over 70 d, which is comparable to that of the amorphous AmCO₃OH(am) according to the modeling results. As the samples were aged for 70 d, a slow equilibrium process occurred between the solid and solution phases. There was no indication of transformation of the amorphous phase into the crystalline phase during the observation period.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.283-293
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• 2012

In order to have better insights into the chemical differentiation of Earth from its magma ocean phase to the current stratified structure, detailed information of crystallization kinetics of silicate melts consisting of the magma ocean is essential. The structural transitions in oxide glasses and melts upon crystallization provide improved prospects for a systematic and quantitative understanding of the crystallization processes. Here, we report the $^{27}Al$ 3QMAS NMR spectra for sol-gel synthesized $Al_2O_3$ glass with varying temperature and annealing time. The NMR spectra for the amorphous $Al_2O_3$ show well-resolved Al coordination environments, characterized with mostly $^{[4,5]}Al$ and a minor fraction of $^{[6]}Al$. The fraction of $^{[5]}Al$ in the alumina phase decreases with increasing annealing time at constant temperature. The NMR results of $Al_2O_3$ phases also imply that multiple processes (e.g., crystallization and/or changes in structural disorder within glasses) could involve upon its phase transition. The current results and method can be useful to understand crystallization kinetics of diverse natural and multi-component silicate glasses and melts. The potential result may yield atomic-level understanding of Earth's chemical evolution and differentiation from the magma ocean.

• Mycobiology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2012

The complexes of tailor made ligands with life essential metal ions may be an emerging area to answer the problems of multi drug resistance. The coordination complexes of VO(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) with the Schiff bases derived from isatin with 3-chloro-4-floroaniline and 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde with 4-aminoantipyrine have been synthesized by conventional as well as microwave methods. These compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductance, electronic spectra, FT-IR, FAB mass and magnetic susceptibility measurements. FAB mass data show degradation of complexes. Both the ligands behave as bidentate and tridentate coordinating through O and N donor. The complexes exhibit coordination number 4, 5 or 6. The Schiff base and metal complexes show a good activity against the bacteria; $Staphylococcus$ $aureus$, $Escherichia$ $coli$ and $Streptococcus$ $fecalis$ and fungi $Aspergillus$ $niger$, $Trichoderma$ $polysporum$, $Candida$ $albicans$ and $Aspergillus$ $flavus$. The antimicrobial results also indicate that the metal complexes are better antimicrobial agents as compared to the Schiff bases. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of the metal complexes were found in the range 10-40 ${\mu}g/mL$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.142.2-142.2
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• 2015

Plasma etch endpoint detection (EPD) of SiO2 and PR layer is demonstrated by plasma impedance monitoring in this work. Plasma etching process is the core process for making fine pattern devices in semiconductor fabrication, and the etching endpoint detection is one of the essential FDC (Fault Detection and Classification) for yield management and mass production. In general, Optical emission spectrocopy (OES) has been used to detect endpoint because OES can be a simple, non-invasive and real-time plasma monitoring tool. In OES, the trend of a few sensitive wavelengths is traced. However, in case of small-open area etch endpoint detection (ex. contact etch), it is at the boundary of the detection limit because of weak signal intensities of reaction reactants and products. Furthemore, the various materials covering the wafer such as photoresist (PR), dielectric materials, and metals make the analysis of OES signals complicated. In this study, full spectra of optical emission signals were collected and the data were analyzed by a data-mining approach, modified K-means cluster analysis. The K-means cluster analysis is modified suitably to analyze a thousand of wavelength variables from OES. This technique can improve the sensitivity of EPD for small area oxide layer etching processes: about 1.0 % oxide area. This technique is expected to be applied to various plasma monitoring applications including fault detections as well as EPD.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.341-346
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• 2017

Knowing the mean free paths (MFPs) of thermal phonons is an essential step in performing heat transfer analysis for nanomaterials, and in determining the optimum design for tailoring the heat transfer characteristics of nanomaterials. In this study, we present a method that can be used to calculate accurately the phonon MFP spectra of nanostructures based on simple phonon kinetic theory. Here, the kinetic theory may be employed by extracting only the diffusive-transport part of the phonon spectrum (i.e., the MFPs are less than a thermal length). By considering phonon dispersion and polarization effects, the phonon MFP distributions of silicon at room temperature are calculated from phonon transport properties and the spectral MFP. Our results are validated by comparison with those of the first principle and MFP spectroscopy data.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.115-121
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• 2000

Although there are high concentrations of zinc and taurine in ocular tissue, their exact role and correlation in the visual process are not clear. The purpose of present study was to clarity this point using electroretinogram (ERG) recording and spectrophotometer measurements before and after zinc and taurine treatment in bullfrog's eye. The optimal zinc concentration used in this study was 10$^{-2}$ M ZnCl$_2$120 ${mu}ell$/12$m\ell$ ringer solution while the optimal turine concentration was 10$^{-2}$ M taurine 12${mu}ell$/12$m\ell$ ringer solution. For the effects of zinc and taurine on the retinal function, the changes of ERG parameters (especially threshold and b-wave) and absorption spectra were observed before and after treatment. It is noteworthy that high concentrations of zinc and taurine present in the retinal pigment epithelium and the retina. Our results indicate that dark-adapted ERG threshold became elevated and the peak amplitude of b-wave was increased with zinc and taurine treatment. Furthermore there are some synergism effects between zinc and taurine as a result of co-treatment. In spectral scan, absorbance increment due to zinc and taurine treatment was shown over the whole range of spectral range (300-750 nm) with some differences in absorbance increment depending on the case of treatment. As the results of above we believe that zinc and taurine, which are abundant in the retinal pigment epithelium and the retina particularly, may be essential factors for visual process, have some synergism with each other and be required to improve the visual sensitivity during visual adaptation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.415-421
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• 2003

A bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens 2112, that is antagonistic against a red-pepper blight-causing fungus, Phytophthora capsici, was isolated from the local soil of Gyongju, Korea. This strain formed an orange-colored clear halo zone on chrome azurol S (CAS) blue agar, suggesting the production of a siderophore in addition to an antifungal antibiotic. The optimal culture conditions for siderophore production by P. fluorescens 2112 were 30-h cultivation at $25^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.5 in King's B medium. The presence of $20{\mu}g/ml\;of\;Fe^3+$ ion or EDDHA promoted the production of siderophore in King's B medium. The siderophore was purified from culture broth by CM-Sephadex C-25 and Sephadex G-25 column chromatographies. The UV spectra of the purified siderophore was the same as that of pyoverdins or pseudobactins. The molecular mass was 1,958 Da determined by FAB-rlass spectrometer, and the amino acid composition analysis showed that the purified siderophore consisted of glycine/threonine/serine/glutamic acid/alanine/lysine with the molar ratio of 3:2:1:1:1:1, DL-Threo-${\beta}$-hydroxyaspartic acid and $N^{\delta}$-hydroxyornithine, two of the essential constituents of pyoverdin, were also found. The purified siderophore pyoverdin showed strong in vitro and in vivo antagonistic activities against phytophthora blight-causing P. capsici. Especially in an in vivo pot test, the siderophore protected red-pepper Capsicum annum L. very well from the attack of P. capsici. These results indicated that the purified siderophore of P. fluorescens 2112 played a critical role in the biocontrol of the red-pepper blight disease, equivalent to treatment by P.fluorescens 2112 cells.