• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.91-91
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• 2012

We aim in synthesizing various functional thin films thinner than ~ 10 nm for environmental applications and photovoltaic devices. Atomic layer deposition is used for synthesizing inorganic thin films with a precise control of the film thickness. Several examples about application of our thin films for removing volatile organic compounds (VOC) will be highlighted, which are summarized in the below. 1) $TiO_2$ thin films prepared by ALD at low temperature ($<100^{\circ}C$) show high adsorption capacity for toluene. In combination with nanostructured templates, $TiO_2$ thin films can be used as building-block of high-performing VOC filter. 2) $TiO_2$ thin films on carbon fibers and nanodiamonds annealed at high temperatures are active for photocatalytic oxidation of VOCs, i.e. photocatalytic filter can be created by atomic layer deposition. 3) NiO can catalyze oxidation of toluene to $CO_2$ and $H_2O$ at $<300^{\circ}C$. $TiO_2$ thin films on NiO can reduce poisoning of NiO surfaces by reaction intermediates below $200^{\circ}C$. We also fabricated inverted organic solar cell based on ZnO electron collecting layers on ITO. $TiO_2$ thin films with a mean diameter less than 3 nm on ZnO can enhance photovoltaic performance by reducing electron-hole recombination on ZnO surfaces.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.11-30
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• 2015

The covenant of Mayors initiative includes the commitment of the municipalities-signatories to reduce voluntarily the greenhouse gas emissions over 20--- by 2020 within their boundaries and obligates them to develop and submit an energy consumption analysis and a sustainable energy action plan within a year from the adhesion. The present paper discusses the energy profile of three medium-sized north-eastern Greek Municipalities (Kavala-MoK, Alexandroupolis-MoA, Drama-MoD) through the analysis of their municipal energy balance. The results of the total final energy consumption per capita include 14.10MWh/capita, 14.24MWh/capita and 12.91MWh/capita for MoK, MoA and MoD respectively. The analysis highlighted the increased energy consumption of the private sectors, namely residential and tertiary building sand private transport. The assessment of the municipalities' energy profiles along with examination of national regulations and action plans and investigation of best available practices within the Covenant of Mayors shaped the development of the sustainable energy action plans of the examined municipalities that is presented in this paper. The proposed pathway towards low-carbon municipalities can be considered a representative case study and a starting point for other municipalities with similar characteristics.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.539-561
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• 2017

In this study, the effects of initial damage of concrete columns on the post-repair performance of reinforced concrete (RC) columns strengthened with carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite are investigated experimentally. Four kinds of compression-damaged RC cylinders were reinforced using external CFRP composite wraps, and the stress-strain behavior of the composite/concrete system was investigated. These concrete cylinders were compressed to four pre-damaged states including low -level, medium -level, high -level and total damage states. The percentages of the stress levels of pre-damage were, respectively, 40, 60, 80, and 100% of that of the control RC cylinder. These damaged concrete cylinders simulate bridge piers or building columns subjected to different magnitudes of stress, or at various stages in long-term behavior. Experimental data, as well as a stress-strain model proposed for the behavior of damaged and undamaged concrete strengthened by external CFRP composite sheets are presented. The experimental data shows that external confinement of concrete by CFRP composite wrap significantly improves both compressive strength and ductility of concrete, though the improvement is inversely proportional to the initial degree of damage to the concrete. The failure modes of the composite/damaged concrete systems were examined to evaluate the benefit of this reinforcing methodology. Results predicted by the model showed very good agreement with those of the current experimental program.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.3
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• pp.283-290
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• 2019

In global competition manufacturing companies have to produce modern, new constructions from advanced materials in order to increase competitiveness. The aim of my research was to develop a new composite cellular plate structure, which can be primarily used for structural elements of road, rail, water and air transport vehicles (e.g. vehicle bodies, ship floors). The new structure is novel and innovative, because all materials of the components of the newly developed structure are composites (laminated Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) deck plates with pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) stiffeners), furthermore combines the characteristics of sandwich and cellular plate structures. The material of the structure is much more advantageous than traditional steel materials, due mainly to its low density, resulting in weight savings, causing lower fuel consumption and less environmental damage. In the study the optimal construction of a given geometry of a structural element of a road truck trailer body was defined by single- and multi-objective optimization (minimal cost and weight). During the single-objective optimization the Flexible Tolerance Optimization method, while during the multi-objective optimization the Particle Swarm Optimization method were used. Seven design constraints were considered: maximum deflection of the structure, buckling of the composite plates, buckling of the stiffeners, stress in the composite plates, stress in the stiffeners, eigenfrequency of the structure, size constraint for design variables. It was confirmed that the developed structure can be used principally as structural elements of transport vehicles and unit load devices (containers) and can be applied also in building construction.

• World Technopolis Review
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2018

The purpose of this article is to introduce and describe the case of Fukuoka Next-generation Social System Creation Hub based on the conceptual framework of regional innovation platform strategy. In short, it is a "government-issued" regional innovation platform strategy to improve innovativeness with limited creative capital through "borrowing" not money but network, wisdom, know-how, and ideas from each other between some stakeholder groups in a region. The Fukuoka Industry, Science & Technology Foundation, which is the coordinating institution of the whole program, plays the role of a platformer to unify various projects into the program crossing borders between stakeholder groups for building regional innovation platforms that lends intensive support to feedback loops between the program facilitator and its partners in the program. Thanks to being a government-issued one, it could be tied together with some wide ranging issues of policy on social innovations, such as the "low carbon society" or the "health and longevity society." But at the same time, it is a concern that many regional research institutions that have innovative potential and diverse ideas become governed by the platform without their noticing it and dealt with in the same way based on "selected" and "designated" strategic goals. Therefore, it seems that a regional innovation platform strategy is a kind of "double-edged sword" in public policy in the era of "panopticism of bureaucratic society" in Japan.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.727-735
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• 2021

Recently, non-destructive health monitoring methods such as magnetic flux leakage (MFL) method, have become popular due to their advantages over destructive methods. Currently, numerical study on this field has been limited to simplified studies by only obtaining MFL instead of induced voltage inside coil sensor. In this study, it was proposed to perform a novel numerical simulation of MFL's coil sensor by considering vital parameters including specimen's motion with constant velocity and saturation status of specimen in time domain. A steel-rod specimen with two stepwise cross-sectional changes (i.e., 21% and 16%) was fabricated using low carbon steel. In order to evaluate the results of numerical simulation, an experimental test was also conducted using a magnetic probe, with same size specimen and test parameters, exclusively. According to comparative results of numerical simulation and experimental test, similar signal amplitude and signal pattern were observed. Thus, proposed numerical simulation method can be used as a reliable source to check efficiency of sensor probe when different size specimens with different defects should be inspected.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.4
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• pp.349-362
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• 2024

High-performance fiber-reinforced cement composites (HPFRCC) are new materials created and used to repair, strengthen, and improve the performance of different structural parts. When exposed to tensile tension, these materials show acceptable strain-hardening. All of the countries of the globe currently seem to have a need for these building materials. This study aims to create a low-carbon HPFRCC (high ductility) that is made from materials that are readily available locally which has the right mechanical qualities, especially an increase in tensile strain capacity and environmental compatibility. In order to do this, the effects of fiber volume percent (0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 2%), and determining the appropriate level, filler type (limestone powder and silica sand), cement type (ordinary Portland cement, and limestone calcined clay cement or LC3), matrix hardness, and fiber type (ordinary and oxygen plasma treated polypropylene fiber) were explored. Fibers were subjected to oxygen plasma treatment at several powers and periods (50 W and 200 W, 30, 120, and 300 seconds). The influence of the above listed factors on the samples' three-point bending and direct tensile strength test results has been examined. The results showed that replacing ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) in mixtures reduces the compressive strength, and increases the tensile strain capacity of the samples. Furthermore, using oxygen plasma treatment method (power 200 W and time 300 seconds) enhances the bonding of fibers with the matrix surface; thus, the tensile strain capacity of samples increased on average up to 70%.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.37-43
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• 2019

This study investigated electrical conductivity, electromagnetic shielding effectiveness, and mechanical property to improve electromagnetic shielding performance of high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCC). Steel fiber, steel slag and carbon black as a conductive material were incorporated into the HPFRCC mixes. In addition, 2% CNT solution which was produced by dispersing multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) into water was used as a conductive material. In the test results, electrical conductivity of HPFRCC specimens was very low except for the specimen incorporating 1% carbon black. Micro structure of cement matrix was changed as the curing time increased, which negatively affected the conductive network of HPFRCC. In case of HC1 specimen showing a conductive network (0.083 S/cm), the electrical conductivity of the specimen after being dried at $60^{\circ}C$ for 72 hours to exclude the effect of water on electrical conductivity was significantly reduced to 0.0003 S/cm. The most important parameter of electromagnetic shielding effect was found to be a steel fiber while the effect of carbon black and steel slag was very few. The correlation between electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding effect does not seem to be clear.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Life Science Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.3-8
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• 2001

Isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) is the common, five-carbon building block in the biosynthesis of all carotenoids, IPP in Escherichia coli is synthesized through the non-mevalonate pathway. The first reaction of IPP biosynthesis in E. coli is the formation of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate (DXP), catalyzed by DXP synthase and encoded by dxs. The second reaction in the pathway is the reduction of DXP to 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate, catalyzed by DXP reductoisomerase and encoded by dxr. To determine if one or more of the reactions in the non-mevalonate pathway controlled flux to IPP, dxs and dxr were placed on several expression vectors under the control of three different promoters and transformed into three E. coli strains (DH5(, XL1-Blue, and JM101) that had been engineered to produce lycopene. Lycopene production was improved significantly in strains transformed with the dxs expression vectors. When the dxs gene was expressed from the arabinose-inducible araBAD promoter (PBAD) on a medium-copy plasmid, lycopene production was 2-fold higher than when dxs was expressed from the IPTG-inducible trc and lac promoters (Ptrc and Plac, respectively) on medium-copy and high-copy plasmids, Given the low final densities of cells expressing dxs from IPTG-inducible promoters, the low lycopene production was probably due to the metabolic burden of plasmid maintenance and an excessive drain of central metabolic intermediates. At arabinose concentrations between 0 and 1.33 mM, cells expressing both dxs and dxr from PBAD on a medium-copy plasmid produced 1.4 - 2.0 times more lycopene than cells expressing dxs only. However, at higher arabinose concentrations lycopene production in cells expressing both dxs and dxr was lower than in cells expressing dxs only. A comparison of the three E. coli strains transformed with the arabinose-inducible dxs on a medium-copy plamid revealed that lycopene production was highest in XL1-Blue.

• KIISE Transactions on Computing Practices
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.151-156
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• 2016

Cloud computing systems require a huge number of storage servers due to the growing implications of power bills, carbon emissions, and logistics of data centers. These considerations have motivated researchers to improve the energy efficiency of storage servers. Most servers use a lot of power irrespective of the amount of computing that they are doing, and one important goal is to redesign servers to be power-proportional. However, Research on large-scale storage systems is hampered by their cost. It is therefore desirable to develop a scalable test-bed for evaluating the power consumption of large-scale storage systems. We are building on open-source projects to construct a test-bed which will contribute to the assessment of power consumption in tiered storage systems. Integrating the cloud application platform can easily extend the proposed testbed laying a foundation for the design and evaluation of low-power storage servers.