• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.451-471
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• 2022

In the present paper, the static bending and buckling responses of functionally graded carbon nanotubes-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) beam under various boundary conditions are investigated within the framework of higher shear deformation theory. The significant feature of the proposed theory is that it provides an accurate parabolic distribution of transverse shear stress through the thickness satisfying the traction-free boundary conditions needless of any shear correction factor. Uniform (UD) and four graded distributions of CNTs which are FG-O, FG-X, FG- and FG-V are selected here for the analysis. The effective material properties of FG-CNTRC beams are estimated according to the rule of mixture. To model the FG-CNTRC beam realistically, an efficient Hermite-Lagrangian finite element formulation is successfully developed. The accuracy and efficiency of the present model are demonstrated by comparison with published benchmark results. Moreover, comprehensive numerical results are presented and discussed in detail to investigate the effects of CNTs volume fraction, distribution patterns of CNTs, boundary conditions, and length-to-thickness ratio on the bending and buckling responses of FG-CNTRC beam. Several new referential results are also reported for the first time which will serve as a benchmark for future studies in a similar direction. It is concluded that the FG-X-CNTRC beam is the strongest beam that carries the lowest central deflection and is followed by the UD, V, Λ, and FG-O-CNTRC beam. Besides, the critical buckling load belonging to the FG-X-CNTRC beam is the highest, followed by UD and FG-O.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.2-4
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• 1998

Proliferation of Nocardia amarae cells in activated sludge has often been associated with the generation of nuisance foams. Despite intense research activities in recent years to examine the causes and control of Nocardia foaming in activated sludge, the foaming continued to persist throughout the activated sludge treatment plants in United States. In addition to causing various operational problems to treatment processes, the presence of Nocardia may have secondary effects on the fate of heavy metals that are not well known. For example, for treatment plants facing more stringent metal removal requirements, potential metal removal by Nocardia cells in foaming activated sludge would be a welcome secondary effect. In contrast, with new viosolid disposal regulations in place (Code o( Federal Regulation No. 503), higher concentration of metals in biosolids from foaming activated sludge could create management problems. The goal of this research was to investigate the metal sorption property of Nocardia amarae cells grown in batch reactors and in chemostat reactors. Specific surface area and metal sorption characteristics of N. amarae cells harvested at various growth stages were compared. Three metals examined in this study were copper, cadmium and nickel. Nocardia amarae strain (SRWTP isolate) used in this study was obtained from the University of California at Berkeley. The pure culture was grown in 4L batch reactor containing mineral salt medium with sodium acetate as the sole carbon source. In order to quantify the sorption of heavy metal ions to N amarae cell surfaces, cells from the batch reactor were harvested, washed, and suspended in 30mL centrifuge tubes. Metal sorption studies were conducted at pH 7.0 and ionlc strength of 10-2M. The sorption Isotherm showed that the cells harvested from the stationary and endogenous growth phase exhibited significantly higher metal sorption capacity than the cells from the exponential phase. The sequence of preferential uptake of metals by N. amarae cells was Cu>Cd>Ni. The specific surFace area of Nocardia cells was determined by a dye adsorption method. N.amarae cells growing at ewponential phase had significantly less specific surface area than that of stationary phase, indicating that the lower metal sorption capacity of Nocardia cells growing at exponential phase may be due to the lower specific surface area. The growth conditions of Nocardia cells in continuous culture affect their cell surface properties, thereby governing the adsorption capacity of heavy metal. The comparison of dye sorption isotherms for Nocardia cells growing at various growth rates revealed that the cell surface area increased with increasing sludge age, indicating that the cell surface area is highly dependent on the steady-state growth rate. The highest specific surface area of 199m21g was obtained from N.amarae cell harvested at 0.33 day-1 of growth rate. This result suggests that growth condition not only alters the structure of Nocardia cell wall but also affects the surface area, thus yielding more binding sites of metal removal. After reaching the steady-state condition at dilution rate, metal adsorption isotherms were used to determine the equilibrium distributions of metals between aqueous and Nocardia cell surfaces. The metal sorption capacity of Nocardia biomass harvested from 0.33 day-1 of growth rate was significantly higher than that of cells harvested from 0.5- and 1-day-1 operation, indicatng that N.amarae cells with a lower growth rate have higher sorpion capacity. This result was in close agreement with the trend observed from the batch study. To evaluate the effect of Nocardia cells on the metal binding capacity of activated sludge, specific surface area and metal sorption capacity of the mixture of Nocardia pure cultures and activated sludge biomass were determined by a series of batch experiments. The higher levels of Nocardia cells in the Nocardia-activated sludge samples resulted in the higher specific surface area, explaining the higher metal sorption sites by the mixed luquor samples containing greater amounts on Nocardia cells. The effect of Nocardia cells on the metal sorption capacity of activated sludge was evaluated by spiking an activated sludge sample with various amounts of pre culture Nocardia cells. The results of the Langmuir isotherm model fitted to the metal sorption by various mixtures of Nocardia and activated sludge indicated that the mixture containing higher Nocardia levels had higher metal adsorption capacity than the mixture containing lower Nocardia levels. At Nocardia levels above 100mg/g VSS, the metal sorption capacity of activate sludge increased proportionally with the amount of Noeardia cells present in the mixed liquor, indicating that the presence of Nocardia may increase the viosorption capacity of activated sludge.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.1547-1554
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• 2017

VESTA (Verification of Ex-vessel corium STAbilization) and VESTA-S (-small) test facilities were constructed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in 2010 to perform various corium melt experiments. Since then, several tests have been performed for the verification of an ex-vessel core catcher design for the EU-APR1400. Ablation tests of an impinging $ZrO_2$ melt jet on a sacrificial material were performed to investigate the ablation characteristics. $ZrO_2$ melt in an amount of 65-70 kg was discharged onto a sacrificial material through a well-designed nozzle, after which the ablation depths were measured. Interaction tests between the metallic melt and sacrificial material were performed to investigate the interaction kinetics of the sacrificial material. Two types of melt were used: one is a metallic corium melt with Fe 46%, U 31%, Zr 16%, and Cr 7% (maximum possible content of U and Zr for C-40), and the other is a stainless steel (SUS304) melt. Metallic melt in an amount of 1.5-2.0 kg was delivered onto the sacrificial material, and the ablation depths were measured. Penetration tube failure tests were performed for an APR1400 equipped with 61 in-core instrumentation penetration nozzles and extended tubes at the reactor lower vessel. $ZrO_2$ melt was generated in a melting crucible and delivered down into an interaction crucible where the test specimen is installed. To evaluate the tube ejection mechanism, temperature distributions of the reactor bottom head and in-core instrumentation penetration were measured by a series of thermocouples embedded along the specimen. In addition, lower vessel failure tests for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are being performed. As a first step, the configuration of the molten core in the plant was investigated by a melting and solidification experiment. Approximately 5 kg of a mixture, whose composition in terms of weight is $UO_2$ 60%, Zr 10%, $ZrO_2$ 15%, SUS304 14%, and $B_4C$ 1%, was melted in a cold crucible using an induction heating technique.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.195-204
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• 2002

Mineralogy and the exposed surface area are two of the most important factors controlling dissolution and weathering rates of soils. The mixture of inorganic and organic materials of various size distributions and structures that constitute soils makes the calculation of weathering rates difficult. The surface area of soil minerals plays an important role in most of programs for calculating the weathering rates and critical loads. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurement is recommended for the measurement of specific surface area. However, BET values measured without organic matter removal are in fact those far all the N2-adsorbed surface areas, including the surfaces covered and aggregated with organisms. Surfaces occupied by organisms are assumed to be more reactive to weathering by organic activities. Therefore, the BET surface area difference before and after organic removal depicts the area occupied by organisms. The present study shows that the BET values after organic matter removal using $H_2$O$_2$ are larger than those without removal by 1.68~4.87 $m^2$/g. This implies that BET measurement without organic removal excludes the reactive area occupied by organisms and that the area occupied by organisms in soils is much larger than expected. It is suggested that specific surface area measurement for calculating weathering rates of mineral soils should be made before and after organic matter removal. The results of a column experiment are presented to demonstrate the potential retarding influence that this organic matter may have on mineral dissolution and weathering.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.1474-1480
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• 2013

Silicon carbide (SiC)-zirconium diboride ($ZrB_2$) composites were prepared by subjecting a 60:40 vol% mixture of ${\beta}$-SiC powder and $ZrB_2$ matrix to spark plasma sintering (SPS) in 15 $mm{\Phi}$ and 20 $mm{\Phi}$ molds. The 15 $mm{\Phi}$ and 20 $mm{\Phi}$ compacts were sintered for 60 sec at $1500^{\circ}C$ under a uniaxial pressure of 50 MPa and argon atmosphere. Similar composites were simulated using $Flux^{(R)}$ 3D computer simulation software. The current and power densities of the specimen sections of the simulated SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites were higher than those of the mold sections of the 15 $mm{\Phi}$ and 20 $mm{\Phi}$ mold simulated specimens. Toward the centers of the specimen sections, the current densities in the simulated SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites increased. The power density patterns of the specimen sections of the simulated SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites were nearly identical to their current density patterns. The current densities of the 15 $mm{\Phi}$ mold of the simulated SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites were higher than those of the 20 $mm{\Phi}$ mold in the center of the specimen section. The volume electrical resistivity of the simulated SiC-$ZrB_2$ composite was about 7.72 times lower than those of the graphite mold and the punch section. The power density, 1.4604 $GW/m^3$, of the 15 $mm{\Phi}$ mold of the simulated SiC-$ZrB_2$ composite was higher than that of the 20 $mm{\Phi}$ mold, 1.3832 $GW/m^3$. The $ZrB_2$ distributions in the 20 $mm{\Phi}$ mold in the sintered SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites were more uniform than those of the 15 $mm{\Phi}$ mold on the basis of energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) mapping. The volume electrical resistivity of the 20 $mm{\Phi}$ mold of the sintered SiC-$ZrB_2$ composite, $6.17{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}cm$, was lower than that of the 15 $mm{\Phi}$ mold, $9.37{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, at room temperature.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2011

The objective of the study was to prepare self-microeulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) incorporating atorvastatin calcium and evaluate its properties and oral bioavailability. Solubility of atorvastatin in various vehicles was determined. Pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were constructed to identify the good self-emulsification region. The droplet size distributions of the resultant emulsions were determined by dynamic light scattering measurement. The mean droplet size of chosen formulation (20% ethyl oleate, 40% tween-80, 40% Carbitol$^{(R)}$) was $23.4{\pm}1.3$ nm. The SMEDDS incorporating atorvastatin calcium appeared to be associated with better performance in dissolution and pharmacokinetic studies, compared with raw atorvastatin calcium. In dissolution test, the release percentage of atorvastatin from SMEDDS mixture could rapidly reach more than 95% within 3 min. Oral $AUC_{0{\rightarrow}8hr}$ values in SD rats was $1994{\pm}335\;ng{\cdot}hr/mL$, which significantly increased (P<0.05) compared with raw atorvastatin calcium. The SMEDDS formulation was relatively stable when stored at $4^{\circ}C$ during 3 months. Our studies illustrated the potential use of SMEDDS for the delivery of hydrophobic compounds, such as atorvastatin, by the oral route.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 1999

Combined MRI and Relaxogram approach was introduced as a very useful tool for fat study. The phantoms simulating homogeneous mixture of fat and non-fat environments were measured with spin echo pulse sequence on a 0.15 T whole body imager. From 45 scans, the Tl values were obtained by fitting the data to continuous distribution (CONTIN) of relaxation time. This relaxogram gives broad distributions of relaxation time, which are characterized by a number of peaks with characteristic T1 values. Two distinct peaks in relaxogram were observed and identified as signals from com oil and gelatin gel. This model system can be served as simulating the distribution of fat in muscle. Also the relative ratio of two components, which is proportional to the area under the peak, is estimated and compared to nominal values. Based on the good agreement between two predictions, the values from our proposed method agreed with nominal values within $\pm$7 % error. The effects of different concentration of contrast agent and different region of interest are presented. To optimize total scan times, the minimum required data points and so further reduction in total scan times are discussed.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.269-274
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• 2004

Using heterogeneous catalyst, esterification reaction of soybean oil (SBO) with methanol was investigated. Distributions of components in mixtures of soybean oil and methanol were measured at temperatures ranging from 40 to $65^{\circ}C$. Glycerine contents of reaction mixtures were measured for the different kinds of catalysts, such as NaOH, CaO, Ca(OH)$_2$, MgO, Mg(OH)$_2$, and Ba(OH)$_2$. Based on the measured glycerine concentrations, conversions of the reaction mixtures were calculated. The effects of dose of catalyst, cosolvent and reaction temperature on final conversion were examined. Solubility of methanol in soybean oil was substantially greater than that of soybean oil in methanol. When the esterification reaction of soybean oil was catalyzed by heterogeneous catalyst, final conversion was strongly dependent on the alkalinity of the heterogeneous catalyst, and increased with the alkalinity of the catalyst material. Hydroxides from the alkali metals were more effective than oxides, which actually had no catalytic effects. When Ca(OH)$_2$ was used for the esterification catalyst, maximum value of final conversion was measured at dose of 4%. The final conversion and reaction rate increased with reaction temperature, and showed substantial increment at reaction temperature of 5$0^{\circ}C$. When cosolvent, CHCl$_3$, was added into the reaction mixture of soybean oil which catalyzed by Ba(OH)$_2$, maximum value of final conversion was appeared at dose of 3%.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.741-745
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• 2002

Yttria-stabilized zirconia(YSZ) nanopowders were prepared by sol-gel method using zirconium-n-butoxide(ZNB) and yttrium nitrate as precursors. In addition, the effect of water content added during the hydrolysis reaction of ZNB was investigated on the phase composition and pore structure of the product powders. The phase composition of YSZ nanopowders with calcination temperatures showed the same trend, irrespective of $H_2O$ amounts added during the hydrolysis reaction of ZNB. All powders dried at $100^{\circ}C$ were amorphous and transformed to cubic phase at $400^{\circ}C$, which converted to tetragonal phase at $1,000^{\circ}C$. Monoclinic phase also appeared at $1,000^{\circ}C$. The powders showed the mixture of tetragonal and monoclinic phases from $1,000^{\circ}C$ to $1,400^{\circ}C$. The pore size distributions of the dried powders prepared with small amounts of water(less than or equal to $H_2O/ZNB=20$) showed mesopores, while those prepared with large amounts of water(greater than or equal to $H_2O/ZNB=50$) exhibited micropores.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.269-276
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• 2015

This study investigated the influence of characteristics of natural organic matter (NOM) on the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs), and proposed the control strategies of DBPs formation in a drinking water treatment plant using lake water in Gyeongsangbuk-do. The fluorescence excitation-emission matrix analysis results revealed that the origins of NOM in raw waters to the plant were a mixture of terrestrial and microbial sources. Molecular size distributions and removals of NOM fractions were evaluated with a liquid chromatography-organic carbon detector (LC-OCD) analysis. Humic substances and low molecular weight organics were dominant fractions of NOM in the raw water. High molecular weight organics were relatively easier to remove through coagulation/precipitation than low molecular weight organics. The concentrations of DBPs formed by pre-chlorination increased through the treatment processes in regular sequence due to longer reaction time. Chloroform (74%) accounts for the largest part of trihalomethanes, followed by bromodichloromethane (22%) and dibromochloromethane (4%). Dichloroacetic acid (50%) and trichloroacetic acid (48%) were dominant species of haloacetic acids, and brominated species such as dibromoacetic acid (2%) were minimal or none. Dichloroacetonitrile (60%) accounts for the largest part of haloacetonitriles, followed by bromochloroacetonitrile (30%) and dibromoacetonitrile (10%). The formation of DBPs were reduced by 16~44% as dosages of pre-chlorine decreased. Dosages of pre-chlorine was more contributing to DBPs formation than variations of dissolved organic contents or water temperature.