• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.88-89
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• 2013

A variety of influenza A viruses from animal hosts are continuously prevalent throughout the world which cause human epidemics resulting millions of human infections and enormous industrial and economic damages. Thus, early diagnosis of such pathogen is of paramount importance for biomedical examination and public healthcare screening. To approach this issue, here we propose a fully integrated Rotary genetic analysis system, called Rotary Genetic Analyzer, for on-site detection of influenza A viruses with high speed. The Rotary Genetic Analyzer is made up of four parts including a disposable microchip, a servo motor for precise and high rate spinning of the chip, thermal blocks for temperature control, and a miniaturized optical fluorescence detector as shown Fig. 1. A thermal block made from duralumin is integrated with a film heater at the bottom and a resistance temperature detector (RTD) in the middle. For the efficient performance of RT-PCR, three thermal blocks are placed on the Rotary stage and the temperature of each block is corresponded to the thermal cycling, namely $95^{\circ}C$ (denature), $58^{\circ}C$ (annealing), and $72^{\circ}C$ (extension). Rotary RT-PCR was performed to amplify the target gene which was monitored by an optical fluorescent detector above the extension block. A disposable microdevice (10 cm diameter) consists of a solid-phase extraction based sample pretreatment unit, bead chamber, and 4 ${\mu}L$ of the PCR chamber as shown Fig. 2. The microchip is fabricated using a patterned polycarbonate (PC) sheet with 1 mm thickness and a PC film with 130 ${\mu}m$ thickness, which layers are thermally bonded at $138^{\circ}C$ using acetone vapour. Silicatreated microglass beads with 150~212 ${\mu}L$ diameter are introduced into the sample pretreatment chambers and held in place by weir structure for construction of solid-phase extraction system. Fig. 3 shows strobed images of sequential loading of three samples. Three samples were loaded into the reservoir simultaneously (Fig. 3A), then the influenza A H3N2 viral RNA sample was loaded at 5000 RPM for 10 sec (Fig. 3B). Washing buffer was followed at 5000 RPM for 5 min (Fig. 3C), and angular frequency was decreased to 100 RPM for siphon priming of PCR cocktail to the channel as shown in Figure 3D. Finally the PCR cocktail was loaded to the bead chamber at 2000 RPM for 10 sec, and then RPM was increased up to 5000 RPM for 1 min to obtain the as much as PCR cocktail containing the RNA template (Fig. 3E). In this system, the wastes from RNA samples and washing buffer were transported to the waste chamber, which is fully filled to the chamber with precise optimization. Then, the PCR cocktail was able to transport to the PCR chamber. Fig. 3F shows the final image of the sample pretreatment. PCR cocktail containing RNA template is successfully isolated from waste. To detect the influenza A H3N2 virus, the purified RNA with PCR cocktail in the PCR chamber was amplified by using performed the RNA capture on the proposed microdevice. The fluorescence images were described in Figure 4A at the 0, 40 cycles. The fluorescence signal (40 cycle) was drastically increased confirming the influenza A H3N2 virus. The real-time profiles were successfully obtained using the optical fluorescence detector as shown in Figure 4B. The Rotary PCR and off-chip PCR were compared with same amount of influenza A H3N2 virus. The Ct value of Rotary PCR was smaller than the off-chip PCR without contamination. The whole process of the sample pretreatment and RT-PCR could be accomplished in 30 min on the fully integrated Rotary Genetic Analyzer system. We have demonstrated a fully integrated and portable Rotary Genetic Analyzer for detection of the gene expression of influenza A virus, which has 'Sample-in-answer-out' capability including sample pretreatment, rotary amplification, and optical detection. Target gene amplification was real-time monitored using the integrated Rotary Genetic Analyzer system.

• Clean Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.134-144
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• 2024

In this study, the mechanical stability of red mud was improved for its commercial use as a catalyst to effectively decompose HFC-134a, one of the seven major greenhouse gases. Red mud is an industrial waste discharged from aluminum production, but it can be used for the decomposition of HFC-134a. Red mud can be manufactured into a catalyst via the crushing-preparative-compression molding-firing process, and it is possible to improve the catalyst performance and secure mechanical stability through calcination. In order to determine the optimal heat treatment conditions, pellet-shaped compressed red mud samples were calcined at 300, 600, 800 ℃ using a muffle furnace for 5 hours. The mechanical stability was confirmed by the weight loss rate before and after ultra-sonication after the catalyst was immersed in distilled water. The catalyst calcined at 800 ℃ (RM 800) was found to have the best mechanical stability as well as the most catalytic activity. The catalyst performance and durability tests that were performed for 100 hours using the RM 800 catalyst showed thatmore than 99% of 1 mol% HFC-134a was degraded at 650 ℃, and no degradation in catalytic activity was observed. XRD analysis showed tri-calcium aluminate and gehlenite crystalline phases, which enhance mechanical strength and catalytic activity due to the interaction of Ca, Si, and Al after heat treatment at 800 ℃. SEM/EDS analysis of the durability tested catalysts showed no losses in active substances or shape changes due to HFC-134a abasement. Through this research, it is expected that red mud can be commercialized as a catalyst for waste refrigerant treatment due to its high economic feasibility, high decomposition efficiency and mechanical stability.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2008

Rapidly increasing automobile supply rate according to improved economic level of life makes lack of parking space of apartments. Even though the initial design of parking space compiled with old regulations, it may not observe either new laws or requirement of inhabitants. Even if old apartments have no structural durability problem, outworn facilities and insufficient parking area may be a main reason for reconstruction. It causes waste of national resources and makes recycling issues. Additionally, irregularly parked cars make traffic obstruction to a fire engine and result in many fire accident victims. Parking problems of apartments are not only inconvenience but also serious safety issues. From these points of view, remodeling only for parking area expansion is necessary to avoid overall reconstruction of apartments. The purpose of this study is to suggest a retaining wall selection method for apartments underground parking lots expansion without evacuation of resident people. Effect factors to select retaining wall system are analyzed and weight values are calculated by applying AHP. One selection method of retaining wall is proposed by evaluating applicability and its sensitivity analysis is executed. This selection method is expected to help decision-making of retaining wall system selection.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.386-393
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• 1975

Polystyrene and polystyrene blended with SBR were subjected to the mechanical degradation by roll mastication. The results obtained are as follows. 1. For the polystyrene which is blended with SBR, the overall shape of the molecular weight distribution curve moves from the higher molecular weight portion to the lower molecular weight portion, becomes narrower in breadth, and its peak becomes higher as the degradation proceeds. The final molecular weight distribution exhibits a relative uniformity. This is due to the fact that only the polymer molecules with the high molecular weight consisted in original polystyrene are degraded mechanically and produced the polymer molecules with the low molecular weight. 2. The scission number of polystyrene chains increases with mastication time, and the number of degraded polymer chains produced when the polymer is masticated for 100 minutes at 140, 150 and $160^{\circ}C$ are $2.36{\times}10^{20},\;1.76{\times}10^{20}\;and\;1.52{\times}10^{20}$, respectively. 3. The rate of the degradation of polystyrene decreases with the mastication temperature. The activation energy is found to have the negative value, -8.7 kcal/mole. Therefore it is indicated that the mechanical degradation is a chemical process of which the activation energy is supplied mechanically.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.253-259
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• 2012

Disposal of high amount of coal combustion by-products, such as fly ash and bottom ash, is of a great concern to the country, due to the huge treatment cost and land requirement. On the other hand, those coal-ash wastes are considered to have desirable characteristics that may improve physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils. Especially, compared with fly ash, bottom ash has a larger particle size, porous surface area, and usable amount of micronutrients. In the present study, we examined bottom as a soil amendment for mitigating $CO_2$ emission and enhancing carbon sequestration in soils fertilized with organic matter (hairy vetch, green barely, and oil cake fertilizer). Through laboratory incubation, $CO_2$ released from the soil was quantitatively and periodically monitored with an enforced-aeration and high-temperature respirometer. We observed that amendment of bottom ash led to a marked reduction in $CO_2$ emission rate and cumulative amount of $CO_2$ released, which was generally proportional to the amount of bottom ash applied. We also found that the temporal patterns of $CO_2$ emission and C sequestration effects were partially dependent on the relative of proportion labile carbon and C/N ratio of the organic matter. Our results strongly suggest that amendment of bottom ash has potential benefits for fixing labile carbon as more stable soil organic matter, unless the bottom ash contains toxic levels of heavy metals or other contaminants.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea TC
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.39-47
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• 2012

As a scheme to efficiently reduce the effects of multipath fading in next generation wireless communication systems, cooperative communication systems have recently come into the spotlight. Since these cooperative communication systems use cooperative relays with diverse fading coefficients to transmit information, having all relays participate in cooperative communication may result in unnecessary waste of resources, and thus relay selection schemes are required to efficiently use wireless resources. In this paper, we propose an efficient relay selection scheme through self-learning in cooperative wireless networks using Q-learning algorithm. In this scheme, we define states, actions and two rewards to achieve good SER (Symbol Error Rate) performance, while selecting a small number of cooperative relays. When these parameters are well-defined, we can obtain good performance. For demonstrating the superiority of the proposed Q-learning, We compared the proposed scheme with Q-learning and a relay selection scheme with a mathematical analysis. The simulation results show that, compared to a scheme that obtains optimum relays through a mathematical analysis, the proposed scheme uses resources efficiently by using smaller numbers of relays with comparable SER performance. According to these simulation results, the proposed scheme can be considered as a good attempt for future wireless communication.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.377-384
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• 2012

This study was carried out to evaluate effect of temperature condition on nitrogen mineralization of organic matter, distribution of microbial group by PLFA profiles, and soil microbial community in non-volcanic ash soil. Dried soil 30 g mixed well each 2 g of pellet (OFPE) organic fertilizers, pig manure compost (PMC), and food waste compost (FWC). And then had incubated at $10^{\circ}C$, $20^{\circ}C$, and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. Nitrogen mineralization rate increased with increasing temperature and that was in the order of FWC>OFPE>PMC. Distribution ratio of microbial group by PLFA profiles showed that was different significantly according to incubation temperature and the type of organic matter. As incubating time passed, density of microbial group decreased gradually. The Gram-bacteria PLFA/Gram+ bacteria PLFA, Fungi PLFA/Bacteria PLFA, and Unsaturated PLFA/saturated PLFA ratios were decreased according to the increasing temperature gradually. Principal component analysis using PLFA profiles showed that microbial community structures were composed differently by temperature factor at both 75 days ($10^{\circ}C$) and 270 days ($30^{\circ}C$). In conclusion, Soil microbial community structure showed relative sensitivity and seasonal changes as affected by temperature and organic matter type.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1593-1598
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• 2003

Nutritional evaluation of some agro-industrial byproducts available in Samoa [dry brewers' grains (DBG), cocoa shell (CS), cocoa dust (CD) and desiccated coconut waste meal (DCWM)] available in Samoa was carried out using both the in vivo and in vitro techniques. In the in vivo study 24 Anglo-nubian goats were offered by-products with other feed ingredients to compound four different diets. The goats were randomly allocated to 4 diets on the basis of liveweight (18.7-0.3kg). The ADF content of the byproducts followed a similar trend to NDF. The byproducts have a high content of organic matter (91.0-95.4%). Gross energy (GE) content was higher in DCWM (25.1 MJ/kg DM), closely followed by CD (23.2 MJ/kg DM). Concentrate intake was significantly different (p<0.05) among the goats. Average daily live weight gains were 105, 92, 88 and 97 g/goat/day for DBG, CS, CD and DCWM, respectively. Daily live weight gains were higher (p<0.05) in the goats that received DBG, while the least gain was obtained in the goats that received CS byproduct diet. DM digestibility was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the goats on DBG diet than in the other goats. The least DM digestibility was obtained in the goats that received CD diet (p>0.05). CP digestibility followed a similar pattern to DM digestibility. The digestibility of NDF and ADF was influenced by the nature of the diets. The digestibility of OM and GE were best (p<0.05) in the goats that received DBG, DCWM and CS byproduct diets than in CD. Significant differences (p<0.05) among the byproducts were recorded for net gas production. Potential gas production (a+b) ranged from 7.064 to 42.17 ml. Organic matter digested (OMD) from gas production value at 24 h was higher in DBG (47.6 g/kg DM) and this was followed by DCWM (42.5 g/kg DM). The least OMD was obtained in CD (17.9 g/kg DM). A significant difference (p<0.05) in DM disappearance after 4, 8, 16, 24, 48 and 72 h was recorded. The potential and effective degradability varied significantly (p<0.05) from 85.95-99.6 g/kg DM and from 39.9-65.8%, respectively. The digestibility of the byproducts in both the in vivo and in in vitro techniques demonstrated that they are potential source of feed ingredients for ruminant livestock in Samoa and possibly in the other small Pacific Island countries. On the basis of their potential degradability the byproducts could be ranked in the following order:DCWM>DBG>CD>CS. In conclusion, the results obtained suggest that all the byproducts can contribute to ruminant livestock diets without adverse effects on feed intake, growth rate and apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.104-108
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• 2001

Aging is a senescence and defined as a normal physiologic and structural alterations in almost all organ systems with age. As Leonard Hayflick, one of the first gerontologists to propose a theory of biologic aging, indicated that a theory of aging or longevity satisfies the changes of above conditions to be universal, progressive, intrinsic and deleterious. Although a number of theories have been proposed, it is now clear that cell aging (cell senescence) is multifactorial. No single mechanism can account for the many varied manifestations of biological aging. Many theories have been proposed in attempt to understand and explain the process of aging. Aging is effected in individual by genetic factors, diet, social conditions, and the occurrence of age-related diseases as diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis. It involves an endogenous molecular program of cellular senescence as well as continuous exposure throughout life to adverse exogenous influences, leading to progressive infringement on the cell's survivability so called wear and tear. So we could say the basic mechanism of aging depends on the irreversible and universal processes at cellular and molecular level. The immediate cause of these changes is probably an interference in the function of cell's macromolecules-DNA, RNA, and cell proteins-and in the flow of information between these macromolecules. The crucial questions, unanswered at present, concerns what causes these changes in truth. Common theories of aging are able to classify as followings for the easy comprehension. 1. Biological, 1) molecular theories - a. error theory, b. programmed aging theory, c. somatic mutation theory, d. transcription theory, e. run-out-of program theory, 2) cellular theories - a. wear and tear theory, b. cross-link theory, c. clinker theory, d. free radical theory, e. waste product theory, 3) system level theory-a. immunologic/autoimmune theory, 4) others - a. telomere theory, b. rate of living theory, c. stress theory, etc. Prevention of aging is theoretically depending on the cause or theory of aging. However no single theory is available and no definite method of delaying the aging process is possible by this moment. The most popular action is anti-oxidant therapy using vitamin E and C, melatonin and DHEA, etc. Another proposal for the reverse of life-span is TCP-17 and IL-16 administration from the mouse bone marrow B cell line study for the immunoglobulin VDJ rearrangement with RAG-1 and RAG-2. Recently conclusional suggestion for the extending of maximum life-span thought to be the calory restriction.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.361-369
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• 2010

Objectives: An outbreak of norovirus occurred at a high school in Gyeongju city in 2009. An epidemiological investigation was carried out to examine the infection source and the transmission route of norovirus, and to prevent a recurrence. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted for 520 male students and 8 food handlers. Rectal swabs were examined in 21 symptomatic students and the 8 food handlers by Gyeongsangbukdo Government Public Institute of Health & Environment, and an environmental investigation was performed. A case-control study was used to evaluate the association between risk factors and disease. Results: The attack rate was 21.3% (111/520) between January 29 and February 10, and norovirus GII was isolated from 12 of 21 students. Food handlers had no symptoms and their stool samples were negative. The case-control study revealed that seasoned soy bean sprouts {odds ratio (OR): 2.542, 95% CI=1.315-4.915} and drinking water from the purifiers in the cafeteria (OR: 2.854, 95% CI=1.107-7.358) supplied on February 3 were significant risk factors for the outbreak. Water pipes and waste pipes were located in the same place where was filled with some water and trace of high water level was detected. Conclusions: The major risk factors for this norovirus outbreak were presumed to be the contaminated seasoned soy bean sprouts and drinking water from the purifiers in the cafeteria. More strict personal and environmental hygiene need to be enforced to prevent such outbreaks.