• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.11
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• pp.1129-1136
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• 1999

TIN films were prepared on Si(100) substrate by ICP-CVD(inductive1y coupled plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) using TEMAT(tetrakis ethylmethamido titanium : Ti$[\textrm{N}\textrm{(CH)}_{3}\textrm{C}_{2}\textrm{H}_{5}]_{4}$) precursor at various deposition conditions. Phase, microstructure, and the electrical properties of TIN films were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electrical measurements. Polycrystalline TiN films with B1 structure were grown at temperatures over $200^{\circ}C$. Preferentially oriented along TiN(111) films were obtained at temperatures over $300^{\circ}C$ with the flow rates of 10, 5, and 5 sccm for TEMAT, $\textrm{N}_{2}$ and Ar gas. The TiN/Si(100) interface was flat and no chemical reaction between TIN and $\textrm{SiO}_2$ was found. The resistivity, carrier concentration and the carrier mobility for the TiN sample prepared at $500^{\circ}C$ are 21 $\mu\Omega$cm, 9.5$\times\textrm{10}^{18}\textrm{cm}^{-3}$ and $462.6\textrm{cm}^{2}$/Vs, respectively.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.95-101
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• 2018

The epidermis which is stratified by epithelial tissue renewal based on keratinocyte differentiation protects the organism from various environmental insults by forming a physical barrier. Autophagy is a mechanism which mediates lysosomal delivery and degradation of protein aggregates, damaged organelles and intracellular microorganisms. Recent reports have shown that autophagy has critical roles for proper terminal differentiation to stratum corneum via removing metabolic organelles and nuclei. However, whether increasing autophagy can activate epidermal differentiation is unknown. Here, we screened a library of natural single compounds and discovered that betaine specifically increased the LC3 positive cytosolic punctate vesicles and LC3-I to LC3-II conversion in HaCaT human keratinocyte cell line, indicating increased autophagy flux. mTOR pathway, which negatively regulates autophagy, was not affected by betaine treatment, suggesting betaine-induced autophagy through an mTOR-independent pathway. Betaine-induced autophagy was also observed in primary human keratinocyte and skin equivalent. Furthermore, epidermal thickness was increased in skin equivalent under betaine treatment. Overall, our finding suggests that betaine as a novel regulator of autophagy may induce epidermal turnover and improve the skin barrier abnormality of the aged epidermis.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.382-388
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• 2007

Statement of problem. The role of calcium sulfate in stimulating the growth of gingival soft tissue has been reported in few studies. Such a unique property of calcium sulfate could serve as a trouble-solving broker in compensating for the lack of soft tissues in various oral surgeries. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare the proliferating activities of human gingival fibroblasts seeded on various bone graft barrier materials of calcium sulfate, collagen, and polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE). Material and methods. Two calcium sulfates ($CAPSET^{(R)}$. and $CalForma^{(R)}$, Lifecore Biomedical Inc., St. Paul, Minnesota, USA), a resorbable natural collagen ($Bio-Gide^{(R)}$, Geistlich Pharma Ag., Wolhusen, Switzerland), and a non-resorbable PTFE ($TefGen-FD^{(R)}$, Lifecore Biomedical Inc., St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) served as the human gingival fibroblasts' substrates and comprised the four experimental groups, whereas the untreated floors of culture plastics were used in the control group, in this study. Cells were trypsinized, seeded, and incubated for 48 h. The proliferating activities of fibroblasts were determined by XTT and SRB assay and absorbance (optical density, OD) was measured. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the differences in the mean OD values between the groups of CAPSET, CalForma, Bio-Gide, TefGen, and the control (p<0.05). Results. From the XTT assay, the mean OD value of the control group, the highest, was significantly greater than that of any of the four experimental groups followed by CalForma, CAPSET, TefGen, and Bio-Gide. Further, the mean OD value of CalForma, was significantly greater compared to that of Bio-Gide. From the SRB assay, Calforma showed the highest mean OD value, which was significantly greater than that of any other groups, followed by the control, CAPSET, Bio-Gide, and TefGen. The mean OD values of both the control and CAPSET were significantly greater compared to that of TefGen (p<0.05). Conclusion. Assessment of the viability and proliferation of cultured fibroblasts seeded and incubated for 48 h on various barrier-material substrates using XTT and SRB assay showed that calcium sulfate $CalForma^{(R)}$ promotes the proliferating activity of human gingival fibroblasts.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.483-489
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• 2017

Phloridzin is a predominant member of the chemical class of dihydrochalcones and mainly found in apple. The biological activity of phloridzin treated with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma was evaluated to investigate whether exposure to plasma can be used as a tools to enhance the biological activity of natural resources. DBD plasma treatment of phloridzin was carried out for three different exposure times. The antioxidant effects of degraded phloridzin for different reaction time were evaluated via radical scavenging assay using DPPH radical. In addition, the anti-diabetic and anti-obesity properties of the degraded phloridzin were measured based on ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase inhibitory activities. Phloridzin treated for 60 min showed significantly higher radical scavenging, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase inhibitory activities compared to the tested positive controls. Degradation of phloridizin induced by DBD plasma might be responsible for enhancing the biological activity of phloridizin.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.297-309
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• 2020

Coronaviruses were originally discovered as enzootic infections that limited to their natural animal hosts, but some strains have since crossed the animal-human species barrier and progressed to establish zoonotic diseases. Accordingly, cross-species barrier jumps resulted in the appearance of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 that manifest as virulent human viruses. Coronaviruses contain four main structural proteins: spike, membrane, envelope, and nucleocapsid protein. The replication cycle is as follows: cell entry, genome translation, replication, assembly, and release. They were not considered highly pathogenic to humans until the outbreaks of SARS-CoV in 2002 in Guangdong province, China. The consequent outbreak of SARS in 2002 led to an epidemic with 8,422 cases, and a reported worldwide mortality rate of 11%. MERS-CoVs is highly related to camel CoVs. In 2019, a cluster of patients infected with 2019-nCoV was identified in an outbreak in Wuhan, China, and soon spread worldwide. 2019-nCoV is transmitted through the respiratory tract and then induced pneumonia. Molecular diagnosis based on upper respiratory region swabs is used for confirmation of this virus. This review examines the structure and genomic makeup of the viruses as well as the life cycle, diagnosis, and potential therapy.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.207-213
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• 2022

LNG CCS which is a special type of cargo hold operated at -163℃ for transporting liquefied LNG is composed of a primary barrier, plywood, insulation panel, secondary barrier, and mastic. Currently, glass fiber is used to reinforce polyurethane foam. In this paper, we evaluated the possibility of replacing glass fiber-reinforced polyurethane foam with basalt fiber-reinforced polyurethane foam. We conducted a thermal conductivity test to confirm thermal performance at room temperature. To evaluate the mechanical properties between basalt and glass-fiber-reinforced polyurethane foam which is fiber content of 5 wt% and 10 wt%, tensile and an impact test was performed repeatedly. All of the tests were performed at room temperature and cryogenic temperature(-163℃) in consideration of the temperature gradient in the LNG CCS. As a result of the thermal conductivity test, the insulating performance of glass fiber reinforced polyurethane foam and basalt fiber reinforced polyurethane foam presented similar results. The tensile test results represent that the strength of basalt fiber-reinforced polyurethane foam is superior to glass fiber at room temperature, and there is a clear difference. However, the strength is similar to each other at cryogenic temperatures. In the impact test, the strength of PUR-B5 is the highest, but in common, the strength decreases as the weight ratio of the two fibers increases. In conclusion, basalt fiber-reinforced polyurethane foam has sufficient potential to replace glass fiber-reinforced polyurethane foam.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.492-504
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• 2014

Feral pigeon (Columba livia) has been known as a good indicator for accumulations of chemical pollutants in urban areas. However, it is against the animal rights to kill the indicator species in order to monitor pollutants accumulations in wild birds. Eggs and feathers of birds, therefore, have been used as non-invasive monitoring materials. Even though eggs are a good indicator for accumulations of lipophilic pollutants, but unsuitable for some heavy metals such as lead and cadmium because bird's ovary builds a sort of barrier to inhibit higher accumulations of some heavy metals in the eggs. Therefore, feathers instead of eggs have been used as a non-invasive indicator for accumulations of heavy metals. However, there are few studies of heavy metal accumulations of feral pigeon in Korea. In this study, we characterized the characteristics of heavy metal accumulations of feathers in relation to internal organs (bloods, viscera and bones) in feral pigeons between two sites (Hangang Park representing urban area and Hampyeong Park for rural area). The samples from the Hangang Park showed significantly higher lead (Pb) concentrations in the blood, liver and bone than those from Hampyeong Park. The Pb concentration in the feathers was also significantly higher at Hangang Park than at Hampyeong Park. The analytical result for the breast, wing and tail feathers, and the internal organs (blood, lung, liver, kidney and bone) indicated that the Pb concentrations in the feathers were significantly positively correlated with the levels in the kidney and bone. Overall, feathers of feral pigeon may be candidate for bioindicator to monitor for Pb accumulations in urban areas.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.395-406
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• 2002

The sixty natural springs and community wells used as a drinking water in the Daejeon area are mainly located at the parks and the natural green districts. The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of water quality and the contamination of the springs and the wells, and to suggest the management strategy for the springs and wells. For this study, we undertook water quality data from Daejeon City. According to the statistic analysis of water quality data, unacceptable rate as a drinking water was about 28 percent in 1999 and 24.5 percent in 2000, respectively. Major unacceptable factor is coliform, and others are bacteria, yersinia, color, turbidity, Fe and F. The unacceptable rate shows a roughly positive relationship with precipitation, that is, it shows highest rate during a rainy season between June and September. The major contamination source is likely to be the excrement of wild animals around natural springs and wells. Most of springs are vulnerable to the contamination of coliform and bacteria because of short residence time and shallow circulation in subsurface environment. The water samples collected from 31 springs or wells show weak acidic pHs, the electrical conductivity ranging from 63 to 357 $\mu\textrm{S}$/cm, and the hydrochemical types of Na(Ca)-HC0$_3$ and Ca-HC0$_3$. The groundwater samples of low total dissolved solid(TDS) belong to Na(Ca)-HC0$_3$. type, and the groundwater of high total dissolved solid is shifted towards Ca-HC0$_3$ type in the chemical composition. These hydrochemical characteristics indicate that most natural springs is in the early stage of geochemical evolution. The natural springs should be closed during a rainy season, which shows a high contamination rate. We suggest that a protection barrier around the springs should be built to keep wild animals away from the springs.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.30-58
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• 2022

The deep geological repository for high-level radioactive waste disposal is a multi barrier system comprised of engineered barriers and a natural barrier. The long-term integrity of the deep geological repository is affected by the coupled interactions between the individual barrier components. Erosion and piping phenomena in the compacted bentonite buffer due to buffer-rock interactions results in the removal of bentonite particles via groundwater flow and can negatively impact the integrity and performance of the buffer. Rapid groundwater inflow at the early stages of disposal can lead to piping in the bentonite buffer due to the buildup of pore water pressure. The physiochemical processes between the bentonite buffer and groundwater lead to bentonite swelling and gelation, resulting in bentonite erosion from the buffer surface. Hence, the evaluation of erosion and piping occurrence and its effects on the integrity of the bentonite buffer is crucial in determining the long-term integrity of the deep geological repository. Previous studies on bentonite erosion and piping failed to consider the complex coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical behavior of bentonite-groundwater interactions and lacked a comprehensive model that can consider the complex phenomena observed from the experimental tests. In this technical note, previous studies on the mechanisms, lab-scale experiments and numerical modeling of bentonite buffer erosion and piping are introduced, and the future expected challenges in the investigation of bentonite buffer erosion and piping are summarized.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.41-47
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• 2019

Objectives : Atopic dermatitis is an irritable skin disease accompanying rash and itching leading to impaired skin barrier. ATO-ALL is an ethanol extract of natural products comprising 12 herbs and effective on atopic dermatitis. In this study, we aimed to propose that the effect of ATO-ALL on skin regeneration in human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT cells. Methods : To evaluate the skin regenerating effects of ATO-ALL, scratch wound healing assay, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) assay, and propidum iodide (PI) assay were performed using cultured HaCaT cell line. Result : Scratch wound healing assay showed that ATO-ALL was able to enhance the gap filling activity more than 2-fold at 7 ppm concentration compared with control group. BrdU assay demonstrated that ATO-ALL treatment increased the de novo cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, PI assay indicated that the cell cycle of HaCaT cells was modulated by ATO-ALL treatment. Conclusions : These results suggested that ATO-ALL may have skin regenerating effects by increasing cell proliferation via cell cycle regulation. Taken together, ATO-ALL is supposed to have a potential on regeneration of damaged skin or functional disease including atopic dermatitis.