• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권9호
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• pp.3268-3276
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• 2023

The practice of identifying the potential zones for mineral exploration in a speedy and low-cost method includes the use of satellite imagery analysis as a part of remote sensing techniques. It is challenging to explore the iron mineralization of a region through conventional methods which are a time-consuming process. The current study utilizes the Hyperion satellite imagery for mapping the iron mineralization and associated geological features in the Irikkur region, Kannur, Kerala. Along with the remote sensing results, the field study and laboratory-based analysis were conducted to retrieve the ground truth point and geochemical proportion to verify the iron ore mineralization. The MC simulation showed for shielding properties indicate an increase in the linear attenuation coefficient with raising the Fe₂O₃+SiO₂ concentrations in the investigated rocks where it is varied at 0.662 MeV in the range 0.190 cm^-1 - 0.222 cm^-1 with rising the Fe₂O₃+SiO₂ content from 57.86 wt% to 71.15 wt%. The analysis also revealed that when the γ-ray energy increased from 0.221 MeV to 2.506 MeV, sample 1 had the largest linear attenuation coefficient, ranging from 9.33 cm1 to 0.12 cm^-1. Charnockite rocks were found to have exceptional shielding qualities, making them an excellent natural choice for radiation shielding applications.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제56권3호
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• pp.238-247
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• 2023

Objectives: Low adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy in pregnant women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increases the risk of virus transmission from mother to newborn. Increasing mothers' knowledge and motivation to access treatment has been identified as a critical factor in prevention. Therefore, this research aimed to explore barriers and enablers in accessing HIV care and treatment services. Methods: This research was the first phase of a mixed-method analysis conducted in Kupang, a remote city in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. Samples were taken by purposive sampling of 17 people interviewed, consisting of 6 mothers with HIV, 5 peer facilitators, and 6 health workers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and document review. Inductive thematic analysis was also performed. The existing data were grouped into several themes, then relationships and linkages were drawn from each group of informants. Results: Barriers to accessing care and treatment were lack of knowledge about the benefits of ARV; stigma from within and the surrounding environment; difficulty in accessing services due to distance, time, and cost; completeness of administration; drugs' side effects; and the quality of health workers and HIV services. Conclusions: There was a need for a structured and integrated model of peer support to improve ARV uptake and treatment in pregnant women with HIV. This research identified needs including mini-counseling sessions designed to address psychosocial barriers as an integrated approach to support antenatal care that can effectively assist HIV-positive pregnant women in improving treatment adherence.

• 한국동물위생학회지
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• 제45권1호
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• pp.19-30
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• 2022

In this study, a simple loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) combined with visual detection method (vLAMP) assay was developed for the rapid and specific detection of African swine fever virus (ASFV), overcoming the shortcomings of previously described LAMP assays that require additional detection steps or pose a cross-contamination risk. The assay results can be directly detected by the naked eye using hydroxynaphthol blue after incubation for 40 min at 62℃. The assay specifically amplified ASFV DNA and no other viral nucleic acids. The limit of detection of the assay was <50 DNA copies/reaction, which was ten times more sensitive than conventional polymerase chain reaction (cPCR) and comparable to real-time PCR (qPCR). For clinical evaluation, the ASFV detection rate of vLAMP was higher than cPCR and comparable to OIE-recommended qPCR, showing 100% concordance, with a κ value (95% confidence interval) of 1 (1.00~1.00). Considering the advantages of high sensitivity and specificity, no possibility for cross-contamination, and being able to be used as low-cost equipment, the developed vLAMP assay will be a valuable tool for detecting ASFV from clinical samples, even in resource-limited laboratories.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.661-675
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• 2022

In this paper, an electric vehicle drives with efficient control and low cost hardware using four quadrant DC converter with Permanent Magnet Direct Current (PMDC) motor fed by DC boost converter is presented. The main idea of this work is to improve the energy efficiency of the conversion chain of an electric vehicle by inserting a boost converter between the battery and the four quadrant-DC motor chopper assembly. Consequently, this method makes it possible to maintain the amplification gain of the 4 quadrant chopper constant regardless of the battery voltage drop and even in the presence of a fault in the battery. One of the most important control problems is control under heavy uncertainty conditions. The higher order sliding mode control technique is introduced for the adjustment of DC bus voltage and mechanical motor speed. To implement the proposed approach in the automotive field, experimental tests were carried out. The performances obtained show the usefulness of this system for a better energy management of an electric vehicle and an ideal control under different operating conditions and constraints, mostly at nominal operation, in the presence of a load torque, when reversing the direction of rotation of the motor speed and even in case of battery chamber failure. The whole system has been tested experimentally and its performance has been analyzed.

• 한국작물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국작물학회 2022년도 추계학술대회
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• pp.132-132
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• 2022

The application of direct seeding cultivation reduces time, labor, and cost. However, this application often has poor seedling establishment and leads to lower yield as compared to transplanting system. The tolerance to anaerobic and low temperature germination is important to improve seedling establishment and the wide-spread application of direct seeding method. This study was carried out to evaluate the responses of three japonica cultivars to different temperatures (15℃, 18℃, 21℃, 24℃, and 27℃) and different flooding levels (1 cm, 4 cm, 7 cm, 10 cm) during germination and seedling development. The mean survival percentage significantly increased (P<0.05) when the flooding level decreased and when temperature increased. There were significant effects of the interaction between temperature and water depth on survival percentage and seedling height. When temperature decreased from 27℃ to 15℃, the germination duration significantly increased from 6.4 days to 16.3 days while the germination speed, survival percentage, and seedling height decreased from 5.3 seeds day^-1, 61.9% and 190.6 cm to 2.2 seeds day^-1, 33.2%, and 47 cm, respectively. The increase in temperature under submergence condition was associated with the increased expression of Amy3D and ALDH2a but the decreased expression of ADH1 and PDC1. The results of this research would be used for further studies and breeding programs to improve rice seedling establishment and the application of direct seeding cultivation.

• 한국작물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국작물학회 2022년도 추계학술대회
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• pp.314-314
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• 2022

In the production of rice flour, wet milling is a method of milling rice after soaking it in water, and it takes a lot of time and cost from milling to drying. To overcome this problem, the floury type rice was developed for dry milling and it is known to have round starch granules, low content of damaged starch after milling, and a starch structure similar to wheat. Because of its unique properties different from normal rice, it is necessary to research on processing and characteristics of floury-type rice to expand its utility in the food industry. Therefore, this study aimed to prepare the pregelatinized floury type rice (Baromi2) by autoclave and investigate their physicochemical properties. As the heat treatment time increased, the brightness decreased from 83.8 to 76.8, however, both redness and yellowness increased from 0.57 to 4.5 and from 14.58 to 21.13, respectively. Despite of same treatment time, soaking in water (10 min) before autoclaving increased the solubility and swelling power of Baromi2 over 2 times. The peak viscosity of native Baromi2 was over 2000 RVU, on the other hand, there was a significantly decrease to less than 1000 RVU of pregelatinized Baromi2. Heat treatment without immersion caused partial gelatinization of starch, resulting that some starch granules maintaining their integrity. Whereas there were no starch granules in heat treatment with soaking in water due to complete gelatinization. This study would be helpful to the suggestion of using heat-treated floury-type rice as an intermediate material in the food industry in the future.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제33권8호
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• pp.1101-1110
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• 2023

Streptococcus mutans is the primary causative agent of caries, which is one of the most common human diseases. Thus, rapid and early detection of cariogenic bacteria is critical for its prevention. This study investigated the combination of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and microfluid technology to quantitatively detect S. mutans. A low-cost, rapid microfluidic chip using LAMP technology was developed to amplify and detect bacteria at 2.2-2.2 × 10⁶ colony-forming units (CFU)/ml and its detection limits were compared to those of standard polymerase chain reaction. A visualization system was established to quantitatively determine the experimental results, and a functional relationship between the bacterial concentration and quantitative results was established. The detection limit of S. mutans using this microfluidic chip was 2.2 CFU/ml, which was lower than that of the standard approach. After quantification, the experimental results showed a good linear relationship with the concentration of S. mutans, thereby confirming the effectiveness and accuracy of the custom-made integrated LAMP microfluidic system for the detection of S. mutans. The microfluidic system described herein may represent a promising simple detection method for the specific and rapid testing of individuals at risk of caries.

• 한국산업융합학회 논문집
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• 제26권5호
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• pp.925-936
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• 2023

Currently, due to the rapid increase in power demand and the increase in capacity of power converters, the capacity of electromagnetic contactors is also increasing, and the burden on SMPS for the power that can drive them is increasing. Although the initial starting operation current of an electromagnetic contactor is significantly larger than the holding current for maintaining contact, most electromagnetic contactors apply the same voltage as the initial starting operation. An electromagnetic contactor must continuously apply a holding current to maintain the contact point, and the larger the capacity, the larger the current must be applied. This paper proposes a two-level magnetic contactor drive that allows setting the initial starting operation current to fully attach the contact point of the magnetic contactor and the holding current to maintain subsequent operation. In addition, a low-cost drive topology of analog and digital methods was proposed for various field applications, and an algorithm based on the ripple of the excitation current was proposed to determine whether the magnetic contactor was opened or closed without using a separate contact point. The feasibility of the proposed method was proven through Psim simulation experiments.

• Advances in nano research
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• 제15권5호
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• pp.441-449
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• 2023

Heavy metals, widely present in the environment, have become significant pollutants due to their excessive use in industries and technology. Their non-degradable nature poses a persistent environmental problem, leading to potential acute or chronic poisoning from prolonged exposure. Recent research has focused on separating heavy metals, particularly from industrial and mining sources. Industries such as metal plating, mining operations, tanning, wood and chipboard production, industrial paint and textile manufacturing, as well as oil refining, are major contributors of heavy metals in water sources. Therefore, removing heavy metals from water is crucial, especially for safe water supply in swimming and water sports. Iron oxide nanoparticles have proven to be highly effective adsorbents for water contaminants, and efforts have been made to enhance their efficiency and absorption capabilities through surface modifications. Nanoparticles synthesized using plant extracts can effectively bind with heavy metal ions by modifying the nanoparticle surface with plant components, thereby increasing the efficiency of heavy metal removal. This study focuses on removing lead from industrial wastewater using environmentally friendly, cost-effective iron nanoparticles synthesized with Genovese basil extract. The synthesis of nanoparticles is confirmed through analysis using Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction, validating their spherical shape and nanometer-scale dimensions. The method used in this study has a low detection limit of 0.031 ppm for measuring lead concentration, making it suitable for ensuring water safety in swimming and water sports.

• Composites Research
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• 제36권5호
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• pp.310-314
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• 2023

VaRTM(Vacuum assisted resin transfer molding)과 VAP(Vacuum assisted process) 공정은 RTM(Resin transfer modling) 공정의 한 종류로서, 대형구조물을 저가에 제작할 수 있는 대표적인 탈 오토클레이브(OOA, Out of Autoclave) 공정이다. 본 논문에서는 VaRTM과 VAP 공정을 상호 비교하기 위하여 수지 충진시험을 진행하였으며, 충진과정과 치수 안정성 등을 상호 비교하였다. 또한, 충진과정을 모사할 수 있는 해석기법을 개발하였으며, 유전센서를 사용하여 수지의 유동선단을 검출하여 이를 해석결과와 상호 비교하였다. 수지 충진시험 결과, 복합재 평판의 총 충진시간은 VAP공정은 48분, VaRTM 공정은 145분으로 측정되어, VAP 공정에 의한 충진시간이 VaRTM 대비 약 67% 단축되었으며, VAP공정이 VaRTM 공정에 비해 복합재 평판의 두께조절능력과 균일도가 우수함을 확인하였다.