• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.452-459
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• 2019

Background: Ginsenoside compound K(C-K), a major metabolite of ginsenoside, exhibits anticancer activity in various cancer cells and animal models. A cell signaling study has shown that C-K inhibited nuclear factor-kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) pathway in human astroglial cells and liver cancer cells. However, the molecular targets of C-K and the initiating events were not elucidated. Methods: Interaction between C-K and Annexin A2 was determined by molecular docking and thermal shift assay. HepG2 cells were treated with C-K, followed by a luciferase reporter assay for $NF-{\kappa}B$, immunofluorescence imaging for the subcellular localization of Annexin A2 and $NF-{\kappa}B$ p50 subunit, coimmunoprecipitation of Annexin A2 and $NF-{\kappa}B$ p50 subunit, and both cell viability assay and plate clone formation assay to determine the cell viability. Results: Both molecular docking and thermal shift assay positively confirmed the interaction between Annexin A2 and C-K. This interaction prevented the interaction between Annexin A2 and $NF-{\kappa}B$ p50 subunit and their nuclear colocalization, which attenuated the activation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ and the expression of its downstream genes, followed by the activation of caspase 9 and 3. In addition, the overexpression of Annexin A2-K320A, a C-K binding-deficient mutant of Annexin A2, rendered cells to resist C-K treatment, indicating that C-K exerts its cytotoxic activity mainly by targeting Annexin A2. Conclusion: This study for the first time revealed a cellular target of C-K and the molecular mechanism for its anticancer activity.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2008

Therapeutic ultrasound which is developed for rehabilitation therapy have already been used for healing joint contracture, synechia, acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. Medical devices for pain-relief and healing using therapeutic ultrasound are actively being developed. This study measured the change of PTT with the transmitted ultrasound through the human body to find out the increase of compliance of blood vessels. Measurement method of PTT in this study is employed as useful ways to acquire physiological information of patients in the clinical case in order to measure the change of mechanical characteristics of blood vessels. This study confirmed the PTT change of rehabilitation patients through the thermal effects of ultrasound by using PTT and also found that it is possible to increase PTT by adjusting the warm water and ultrasound. The increase of PTT means the decrease of the pulse wave velocity from the cardiovascular system to the peripheral arteries. The physiological effects occurred using the warm water and ultrasound.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.448-454
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• 2012

A poly(amic acid) (PAA) was prepared by reaction of 4,4'-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride (6FDA) and 2,2-bis[4-(4-aminophenoxy)phenyl]hexafluropropane (BAPP) in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc). The cast films of the synthesized PAA were thermally treated at different temperatures to create polyimide (PI) films. The heat treatment temperature varied between 80 and $230^{\circ}C$ to investigate the imidization index in relation with the solvent evaporation rates. The progress of PAA imidization was examined using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and a Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR) at various time and temperature. The experimental results showed that the imidization index was fast at the initial stage in the presence of solvent, DMAc, reaching the final imidization. When the imidization temperature is high over $200^{\circ}C$, the imidization index decreased because the solvent was evaporated too fast.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.987-992
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• 2001

A refractory grade low-cost silicon nitride powder was chemically analyzed, purified, and gas pressure sintered with the sintering additives. As-received powder contained a significant amount of free-Si, 0.72 wt% of Fe, 0.5 wt% of al and 0.31 wt% of Ca. Oxygen and carbon contents of the powder were 3.3 wt% and 0.4 wt%, respectively, and it consisted of 96% of $\beta$-phase and 4% of $\alpha$-phase. After lowering the Fe content and nitriding treatment, the powder was sintered with 6 wt% yttria and 2 wt% alumina for 1 h between 1823 K and 2123 K in order to examine the sintering behavior. Fully dense samples were obtained by sintering at 2123k for 2h. For comparison, a commercially available high-grade powder was also sintered at the same time. The low-cost powder showed much slower densification rate than the high-grade powder. Fully dense sample prepared from the low-cost powder contained a number of coarse grains with a low aspect ratio, and its hardness, fracture toughness, flexural strength and thermal shock resistance were not as good as those of the sample prepared with the high-grade powder.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.318-328
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• 2012

In this study, the one-component curable polyurethane resin was manufactured using blocked isocyanate and hybrid technology. To prepare the one-component curable hybrid polyurethane, silica hybrids including hydroxyl group was synthesized, and the size, shape and distribution of hybrid particle in polyurethane resin were confirmed. Then the dissociation property, mechanical property and molding property of blocked isocyanate were investigated. The dissociation property of blocked isocyanate in one-component curable polyurethane became better as the heating temperature and treatment time increased. The synthesized silica hybrid had spherical appearance and size of 23~27 nm in diameter, and it was observed that the hybrid particles were homogeneously distributed in polyurethane structure. In the case of hybrid polyurethane, the mechanical property, anti-abrasion and thermal property were higher than those of general polyurethane, and it was observed that the mechanical property was maintained when the plasticizer was introduced.

• Carbon letters
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• v.18
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• pp.18-23
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• 2016

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers have high specific strength, elastic modulus, thermal resistance, and thermal conductivity. Due to these properties, they have been increasingly widely used in various spheres including leisure, aviation, aerospace, military, and energy applications. However, if exposed to air at high temperatures, they are oxidized, thus weakening the properties of carbon fibers and carbon composite materials. As such, it is important to understand the oxidation reactions of carbon fibers, which are often used as a reinforcement for composite materials. PAN-based carbon fibers T300 and T700 were isothermally oxidized in air, and microstructural changes caused by oxidation reactions were examined. The results showed a decrease in the rate of oxidation with increasing burn-off for both T300 and T700 fibers. The rate of oxidation of T300 fibers was two times faster than that of T700 fibers. The diameter of T700 fibers decreased linearly with increasing burn-off. The diameter of T300 also decreased with increasing burn-off but at slower rates over time. Cross-sectional observations after oxidation reactions revealed hollow cores in the longitudinal direction for both T300 and T700 fibers. The formation of hollow cores after oxidation can be traced to differences in the fabrication process such as the starting material and final heat treatment temperature.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.482-487
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• 1993

Organic nonlinear optical materials such as MNA(2-Methyl-4-nitro-aniline), Carbazole 1(5-Nitro-9-hydroxyethyl Carbazole), Carbazole 2(5-Nitro-9-ethyl Carbazole) and DR 1(Disperse Red 1) were incorporated into silica matrix to form a composite thin films. The thermal stability and degree of degradation were compared to these organic-inorganic composite film. Among those films, Carbazole 1 and DR 1 which have terminal -OH group showed enhanced stability for thermal degradation. The effect of polarization and degree of relaxation for the composite thin films incorporated with Carbazole 1 were measured by the absorbance change of UV spectra with time. With polarization treatment of Carbazole 1 incorporated composite film, the intensity of UV absorbance was remarkably reduced. And slow relaxation of Carbazole 1 molecule was suggested from the slightly recovered intensity of UV absorbance after removing the electric field at rooma temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.105-106
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• 2008

Structural, optical and electrical properties of CdS films deposited by chemical bath deposition (CBD), which are a very attractive method for low-cost and large-area solar cells, are presented. Cadmium sulfide (CdS) is II-VI semiconductor with a wide band gap of approximately 2.42 eV. CdS films have a great application potential such as solar cell, optical detector and optoelectronics device. In this paper, effects of Rapid Thermal Process (RTP) on the properties of CdS films were investigated. The CdS films were prepared on a glass by chemical bath deposition (CBD) and subsequently annealed at standard temperature $(400^{\circ}C)$ and treatment time (10 min) in various atmospheres (air, vacuum and $N_2$). The CdS films treated RTP in $N_2$ for to min were showed larger grain size and higher carrier density than the other samples.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.337-337
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• 2011

Application of plasma technology on microbial sterilization has been frequently studied. In spite of accumulating number of studies, many have been focused on bacteria. Reports on eukaryotic yeasts and filamentous fungi are limited. In addition, mechanism of plasma effect still needs to be clarified. In this study, we analyzed the effect of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma on the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae using DBD-type device. When yeast cells were exposed to plasma (at 2 mm distance) and then cultured on YPD-agar plate, number of cells survived (shown as colony) were reduced proportionally to exposure time. More than 50% reduction in number of colonies were observed after twice exposure of 5min. each. Colonies much smaller than those of control (no plasma exposure) were appeared after twice exposure of 5 min. each. It seems that small colonies are resulted from delayed cell growth due to the damage caused by plasma treatment. Microscopic analysis demonstrates that yeast cells treated with plasma for 5 min. twice have more rough and shrinked shape compared to oval shape with smooth surface of control.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.211-219
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• 2000

Fluorene-based light emitting polymer blends with liquid crystalline characteristics were studied on effective energy transfer and dichroic characteristics. Incorporating 0.5 wt% of the non-liquid crystalline into the liquid crystalline polymer suppressed the PL emission at 420 nm on photoexcitation at 360 nm, but generated a new PL emission of the non-liquid crystalline polymer at 480 nm. The highest PL intensity at 480 nm, which was 13 times stronger than those of the two polymers before blending, was observed for a blend with 2.0 wt% of the non-liquid crystalline polymer. When the molecules of the blends were aligned on a rubbed polyimide surface by a heating-cooling process, the dichroic ratio and the order parameter were 2.0 and 0.25, respectively. Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) study revealed that the time required for energy transfer between the two chromophores was shortened by 93 ps when the blends were aligned on the rubbed polyimide surface by the heating-cooling process. The thermal treatment also enhanced the energy transfer efficiency by 9%.