• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.147-153
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• 2008

Improvement of the selectivity of nonenzymatic glucose based on mesoporous platinum ($H_1$-ePt) by using A.C. impedance is reported. The idea of the present work is based on the novel effect of the mesoporous electrode that the apparent exchange current due to glucose oxidation remarkably grows although the reaction kinetics on the surface is still sluggish. It is expected that the enlarged apparent exchange current on the mesoporous electrode can raise the sensitivity of admittance in A.C. impedance to glucose concentration. At a low frequency, A.C. impedance could become more powerful. The admittance at 0.01 Hz is even more sensitive to glucose than to ascorbic acid while amperometry exhibits the inverse order of sensitivity. This is the unique behavior that is neither observed by A.C. impedance on flat platinum electrode nor obtained by amperometry. The study shows how the combination of A.C. impedance and nano-structured surface can be applied to the detection of sluggish reaction such as electrochemical oxidation of glucose.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.1985-1989
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• 2013

A simple colorimetric and fluorescent anion sensor 1 based on salicylimine showed a high selectivity and sensitivity for detection of cyanide in aqueous solution. The receptor 1 showed high selectivity toward $CN^-$ ions in a 1:1 stoichiometric manner, which induces a fast color change from colorless to orange and a dramatic enhancement in fluorescence intensity selectively for cyanide anions over other anions. Such selectivity resulted from the nucleophilic addition of $CN^-$ to the carbon atom of an electron-deficient imine group. The sensitivity of the fluorescence-based assay (0.06 ${\mu}M$) is below the 1.9 ${\mu}M$ suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the maximum allowable cyanide concentration in drinking water, capable of being a practical system for the monitoring of $CN^-$ concentrations in aqueous samples.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1470-1474
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• 2009

This paper describes the development a of direct multiplex reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, devised for simultaneous detection and typing of influenza viruses. This method combines the direct reverse transcription reaction without RNA purification with the enhancement of sensitivity and specificity of nested PCR. The method successfully detected three major human influenza viruses: influenza virus A subtype 1 (H1N1) and subtype 3 (H3N2), and influenza B virus (B). The minimum number of virus particles (pfu/ml) necessary for detection in spiked saliva samples was 200 (H1N1), 140 (H3N2), and 4.5 (B). The method's sensitivity and simplicity will be convenient for use in clinical laboratories for the detection and subtyping of influenza and possibly other RNA viruses.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 1993

Negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry(NCI-MS) can provide the enhancement in sensitivity in the analysis of amino acids. For molecules which are strongly electron-capturing, NCI-MS has been of amino to have detection limits in the femtomole to attomole($10^{18}$) range. Because of the selectivity of the ionization process, background noise is diminished, further enhancing signal to noise ratio. In this paper, we explored a dinitro-phenyl derivatives of amino acids by NCI-MS and compared it with eletron ionization method. The results demonstrated NCI-MS produces very clean spectra with a very little noise.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2017

In this paper, a walking vibration sensing system (WVS system) using a Fiber Bragg Grating sensor (FBG sensor) is proposed. The seismic part of the FBG sensor was redesigned for sensitivity enhancement. The external excitation was assumed to be the walking cycle of an adult male. The FBG seismic sensor was redesigned using CATIA and ABAQUS such that the sensor's first mode natural frequency is 3.5 Hz (which is a value near the external excitation frequency). Compared with existing walking vibration sensing systems, this newly created system improves sensitivity 15 times. It is also suitable for intrusion detection applications.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.261-276
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• 2013

Oil, hysteretic and inertial mass dampers are representatives of passive dampers used for smart enhancement of seismic performance of building structures. Since oil dampers have a nonlinear relief mechanism and hysteretic dampers possess nonlinear restoring-force characteristics, several difficulties arise in the evaluation of buildings including such dampers. The purpose of this paper is to propose a practical method for simultaneous optimal use of such dampers. The optimum design problem is formulated so as to minimize the maximum interstory drift under design earthquakes in terms of a set of damper quantities subject to an equality constraint on the total cost of dampers. The proposed method to solve the optimum design problem is a successive procedure which consists of two steps. The first step is a sensitivity analysis by using nonlinear time-history response analyses, and the second step is a modification of the set of damper quantities based upon the sensitivity analysis. Numerical examples are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and validity of the proposed design method.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.260-266
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• 2021

Synthesizing low-dimensional structures of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate highly efficient gas sensors by means of possible enhancement in surface-to-volume ratios of their sensing materials. In this work, vertically aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods are successfully synthesized on a transparent glass substrate via seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method with the use of a ZnO nanoparticle seed layer, which is formed by thermally oxidizing a sputtered Zn metal film. Structural and optical characterization by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy reveals the successful preparation of the ZnO nanorods array of the single hexagonal wurtzite crystalline phase. From gas sensing measurements for the nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) gas, the vertically aligned ZnO nanorod array is observed to have a highly responsive sensitivity to NO₂ gas at relatively low concentrations and operating temperatures, especially showing a high maximum sensitivity to NO₂ at 250 ℃ and a low NO₂ detection limit of 5 ppm in dry air. These results along with a facile fabrication process demonstrate that the ZnO nanorods synthesized on a transparent glass substrate are very promising for low-cost and high-performance NO₂ gas sensors.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.39-43
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• 2023

Microscale thermophysical property measurements of liquids have been developed considering the increasing interest in the thermal management of cooling systems and energy storage/transportation systems. To accurately predict the heat transfer performance, information on the thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and density is required. However, a simultaneous analysis of the thermophysical properties of small-volume liquids has rarely been considered. Recently, we proposed a new methodology to simultaneously analyze the aforementioned three intrinsic properties using heater-integrated fluidic resonators (HFRs) in an atmospheric pressure environment comprising a microchannel, resistive heater/thermometer, and mechanical resonator. Typically, the thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity are measured based on a temperature response resulting from heating using a resistive thermometer, and the specific heat capacity can be obtained from the volumetric heat capacity by using a resonance densitometer. In this study, we analyze methods to improve the thermophysical property measurement performance using HFRs, focusing on the effect of the ambience around the sensor. The analytical method is validated using a numerical analysis, whose results agree well with preliminary experimental results. In a vacuum environment, the thermal conductivity measurement performance is enhanced, except for the thermal conductivity range of most gases, and the sensitivity of the specific heat capacity measurement is enhanced owing to an increase in the time constant.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.219-226
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• 2023

Utilizing low-dimensional structures of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate relevant gas sensors by means of potential enhancement in surface-to-volume ratios of their sensing materials. In this work, vertically aligned cupric oxide (CuO) nanorods are successfully synthesized on a transparent glass substrate via seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method with the use of a CuO nanoparticle seed layer, which is formed by thermally oxidizing a sputtered Cu metal film. Structural and optical characterization by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy reveals the successful preparation of the CuO nanorods array of the single monoclinic tenorite crystalline phase. From gas sensing measurements for the nitrogen monoxide (NO) gas, the vertically aligned CuO nanorod array is observed to have a highly responsive sensitivity to NO gas at relatively low concentrations and operating temperatures, especially showing a high maximum sensitivity to NO at 200 ℃ and a low NO detection limit of 2 ppm in dry air. These results along with a facile fabrication process demonstrate that the CuO nanorods synthesized on a transparent glass substrate are very promising for low-cost and high-performance NO gas sensors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8335-8338
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• 2016

Purpose: To make a comparison of single voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (SV-MRS) and dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE) MRI for differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions in a sample of Iranian women. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 women with abnormal breast lesions detected in mammography, ultrasound, or clinical breast exam were examined with DCE and SV-MRS. tCho (total choline) resonance in MRS spectra was qualitatively evaluated and detection of a visible tCho peak at 3.2 ppm was defined as a positive finding for malignancy. Different types of DCE curves were persistent (type 1), plateau (type 2), and washout (type 3). At first, lesions were classified according to choline findings and types of DCE curve, finally being compared to pathological results as the standard reference. Results: this study included 19 patients with malignant lesions and 11 patients with benign ones. While 63.6 % of benign lesions (7 of 11) showed type 1 DCE curves and 36.4% (4 of 11) showed type 2, 57.9% (11of 19) of malignant lesions were type 3 and 42.1% (8 of 19) type 2. Choline peaks were detected in 18 of 19 malignant lesions and in 3 of 11 benign counterparts. 1 malignant and 8 benign cases did not show any visible resonance at 3.2 ppm so SV-MRS featured 94.7% sensitivity, 72.7 % specificity and 86.7% accuracy.Conclusions: The present findings indicate that a combined approach using MRS and DCE MRI can improve the specificity of MRI for differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions.