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Previous studies on water quality assessment for watershed management have predominantly focused on specific seasonal or annual average values, rather than considering water quality variations based on flow fluctuations. It is crucial to identify the water quality characteristics within a watershed by incorporating flow conditions to establish a customized watershed management approach over different time periods. In this study, a vulnerability analysis was conducted to attain the target water quality (TWQ) in 22 watersheds within the Nakdong River system in South Korea. Additionally, factor analysis (FA) was employed to analyze the characteristics of water quality fluctuations in relation to flow conditions. The FA results categorized the pollution source characteristics of the 22 watersheds into various types, indicating the need for specific pollution source management strategies. These findings enabled an initial decision-making process regarding which water pollution sources to prioritize based on flow conditions. Moreover, detailed analyses of pollution sources were performed for watersheds, where achieving TWQ was challenging. Subsequently, a data-based prediction model was developed using the naïve Bayes classification model to determine the likelihood of achieving TWQ. As a result, this study proposes a technique for water quality management in watersheds by introducing a water quality excess probability model, which employs data-based analysis instead of traditional numerical modeling for watershed water quality assessment and proactive prediction. The study discusses the potential of various data-based tools to reduce development and analysis time, providing a powerful alternative to physical-based models that require extensive input data and are time-consuming. To advance future studies, the establishment of comprehensive water environment big data, improvement of real-time monitoring systems within watersheds, and advancements in spatial and temporal observation technologies are emphasized as essential for the development of an advanced watershed management system.

The outstanding multifunctionality of ferroelectric oxides has opened up new fields in microelectronics. However, the high crystallization temperature of the ferroelectric oxides limits their integ...

We developed an artificial neural network (ANN)-based water quality prediction model and evaluated the applicability of the model using regional probability forecasts provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration as the input data of the model. The ANN-based water quality prediction model was constructed by reflecting the actual meteorological observation data and the water quality factors classified using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for each unit watershed in Nam River. To apply spatial refinement of meteorological factors for each unit watershed, we used the data of the Sancheong meteorological station for Namgang A and B, and the data of the Jinju meteorological station for Namgang C, D, and E. The predicted water quality variables were dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), total phosphorus (T-P), and suspended solids (SS). The ANN evaluation results reveal that the Namgang E unit watershed has a higher model accuracy than the other unit watersheds. Furthermore, compared with Namgang C and D, Namgang E has a high correlation with water quality due to meteorological effects. The results of this study will help establish a water quality forecasting system based on probabilistic weather forecasting in the long term.

In the past, water quality management was regulated on the basis of pollutant concentrations in rivers. However, the recent implementation of total maximum daily load (TMDL) in the Nakdong River, Korea, has achieved preservation of water quality with balanced watershed development based on a scientific approach. However, eight large weirs have been installed as part of the extensive river regulation works, in which the river geometry has also changed dramatically due to dredging. Consequently, the river environment has been changed, including the hydraulic characteristics, such as the residence time, longitudinal and transverse section, water depth, energy gradient, and flow rate. The water quality characteristics experienced the greatest impact from changes in the hydraulic characteristics of the river. Due to considerable difficulty in the actual implementation of the water quality management plan with respect to the changes, it was considered important to predict the water quality change likely to result from hydraulic characteristic changes in the river. In this study, the hydraulic coefficients reflecting the hydraulic characteristics were calculated and implemented in the water quality model according to the changes in the river environment. The estimated pollutant loads in subwatersheds were applied in the water quality model according to the TMDL of the Nakdong River. The hydraulic coefficients, indicating the hydraulic characteristics before and after the changes to the river environment, were applied in the water quality model with complete calibration and verification. The model simulation results were compared for analysis of the effect of an abrupt river environment change. The simulation results show that the river flow rate was reduced after the change to the river environment due to the effect of the hydraulic structures. As a result of the water stagnation, the BOD5 and Chl-a concentrations increased by 9.4% and 12.2%, respectively, whereas the T-N and T-P decreased by 6.1% and 5.0%, respectively. The impact of a drastic topography change on water quality and its improvement can be quantitatively evaluated by water quality modeling. In particular, BOD has proven to be the most effective for improving water quality when a river is in its natural state rather than when the pollution discharge loads are reduced or when the water quality, discharged from the water-treatment facility, is improved. This study analyzes the relationship between the improvement in water quality and the recovery of running water in each section of the Nakdong River. The current study also proposes a scientific alternative for river rehabilitation, which can improve the quality of stagnant water sections and enable a river to recover to its natural state.

The effects of in-situ NH 3 plasma passivation on the interface between atomic layer deposited HfO 2 and Ga-face n-GaN substrate in metal-oxidesemiconductor (MOS) devices were investigated by varying plasma power and exposure time and compared with GaN MOS device without plasma passivation. ALD HfO 2 -GaN device with in-situ NH 3 plasma treatment shows improved electrical characteristics including negligible frequency dispersion at the near flat-band voltage region, lower hysteresis (∼10 mV), suppressed oxide capacitance dispersion in the accumulation (2.2%), lower leakage current density (5.21 × 10 −2 A/cm 2 at 1 V), and low interface state density (D it ) of ∼6.77 × 10 11 eV −1 cm −2 at E c -E t = 0.3 eV using an optimized plasma passivation exposure time of 10 min and power of 50 W. These results are attributed that NH 3 plasma treatment could eliminate carbon species and detrimental sub-GaO x as well as passivate the surface and bulk defects on GaN caused by Ga-N dissociation.

Chemiresistive electronic nose (CEN) composed of villi-like nanostructures (VLNs) of SnO2 and WO3, and Au-functionalized VLNs was fabricated by applying electron-beam evaporation in a glancing angle deposition mode. The VLNs-based CEN with a back-heater (212 °C) shows high responses with low detection limits of parts per billion (ppb)-levels for NO and NH3 vapors at 80% relative humidity atmosphere. The enhanced sensitivities in a high humidity condition turn out to be attributed to the spillover effect by the Au nanoparticles and a large surface-to-volume ratio in porous VLNs. Employing Au NPs on VLNs leads to the increase of O− ions via the spillover effect which impedes the adsorption of water molecules, maintaining the enhanced responses against environmental humidity. Consequently, high responses for NO and NH3 vapors maintain even in the high humidity condition. Herein, with the principal component analysis (PCA), we demonstrate highly selective detection of NO and NH3 vapors against C2H5OH, CO, C7H8, C6H6, and CH3COCH3 vapors. These results open up wide applications of the VLNs-based CEN as an inexpensive and non-invasive diagnostic tool for asthma and kidney disorder.

This work was supported by the Nano Material Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2015M3A7B7045496) as well as the Human Resources Development program grant (No. 20144030200580) of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) funded by the Korean government Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

This work was supported by Nano Material Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2015M3A7B7045496) as well as the Human Resources Development program grant (No. 20144030200580) of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) funded by the Korean government Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

We report the facile synthesis and the chemoresistive performances of villi-like WO 3 nanostructures (VLWNs) which were fabricated by RF sputter with glancing angle deposition (GAD) mode. A fast deposition of GAD effectively forms self-assembled anisotropic nanostructures with high porosity and surface-to-volume ratio. The sensing tests were examined for NO 2 detection in dry air and a mixture of reducing gases. As a result, these sensors at 200 °C exhibit an highly selective and sensitive NO 2 detection down to 800 parts per trillion (ppt) level, and could also respond well to NO 2 in the concentration range of 0.2–1 parts per million (ppm) without the interference of gas mixture. These results show that the enhanced sensing properties to NO 2 are attributed to the highly efficient surface modulation by double potential barriers at nano-necks of WO 3 nanostructures.

Flexible piezoelectric generators have attracted considerable attention in recent years on account of their potential applications in mechanical energy scavenging devices using portable, wearable, and implantable electronics. Key issues for realizing a flexible piezoelectric generator include insufficient output power generation and poor efficiency at low frequency. We therefore propose structural approaches to enhancing the output power of the flexible piezoelectric generator using polyvinylidene fluoride. Specifically, we propose the use of a substrate and curved structure, and optimization of the aspect ratio of the generator for maximizing output power density. Through these approaches, induced stress and output voltage of the generator are analyzed by finite element modeling and validated through experiments. Considering these results for generator optimization, we fabricate a multilayered flexible curved generator, which produces ~200 V of the peak output voltage and ~2.7 mA of the peak output current. The output power density of the generator reaches ~17 mW/cm 2 , which is sufficient to drive various commercial electronics as a power source. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that this power source can illuminate 952 LED bulbs. This conceptual technology can provide the groundwork to enhancing the output power of conventional piezoelectric generators, thereby enabling novel approaches to realizing self-powered systems.

This study presents a piezoelectric composite generator using PDMS polymer, PZT nanorods, and Ag nanowires. To enhance output power of the generator, we inserted the Ag NWs into the PDMS-PZT composite, which play very important roles in our generator: First, it enables the PZT NRs well distributed in PDMS polymer. Second, it is to reinforce the applied stress of the device by enhancing its flexibility. Finally, conduction paths formed by the Ag networks can reduce the internal resistance of the device. To assess these effects, we have compared and evaluated output voltage and current of four different generators.

Display Omitted GaN MOS with ALD HfAlOx/Ru with (NH4)2Sx pre-treatment.Better roughness, higher VBD, and smaller frequency dependence using (NH4)2Sx.(NH4)2Sx suppresses interfacial oxide regrowth on the GaN substrate.The Dit can be reduced further with longer treatment time. The effects of ammonium poly-sulfide, (NH4)2Sx, treatment on the surface of GaN metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) device with nano-laminated atomic layer deposition (ALD) HfAlOx gate dielectric and Ru gate electrode were investigated and compared with HCl pre-treatment. Compared with sample without sulfur (S) passivation, S-passivated sample shows improved surface roughness, increased capacitance, higher breakdown voltage, smaller frequency dependence, lower interface state density (Dit). It is found that (NH4)2Sx can remove native oxide and passivate the surface and interface states. Surface oxidation is suppressed due to higher strength in the NS bonds than that of the NO bonds. Further improvement is observed with increasing (NH4)2Sx treatment time.

Display Omitted The negative VFB shift and thinner EOT with ALD La2O3 capping.The more negative VFB with ALD La2O3 using La(fAMD)3 precursor.Further EOT scaling with ALD La2O3 using La(fAMD)3 precursor.Compared to ALD La2O3, more VFB shift and thinner EOT with PVD La2O3. We have investigated the electrical characteristics - flat band voltage (VFB) shift, equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) scaling and charge trapping - of atomic layer deposition (ALD) La2O3 capped high-k gate dielectrics (HfO2, HfSiOx, and HfSiON) in the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device structure, where two different lanthanum precursors - ? lanthanum formamidinate, La(fAMD)3, and ? lanthanum betadiketonate, La(thd)3, - were used for ALD capping layer. Regardless of precursors, La2O3 capping layer on the ALD high-k films leads to negative VFB shift and thinner EOT as increasing capping thickness. However, more shift and further EOT scaling are observed with La2O3 thin film using La(fAMD)3. In addition, La2O3 capping layer using La(fAMD)3 precursor shows lower interface state density (Dit) and stronger immunity against charge trapping than La2O3 capping layer with La(thd)3 precursor. Similar trends are attained with Si containing HfO2 - HfSiOx and HfSiON, but amount of VFB shift and EOT reduction is smaller than that of HfO2-based device, resulting from suppressed La-diffusion due to stronger Si-O bonds as well as nitrogen blocking in the dielectrics.

Hydrogen (H 2 ) plasma treatment at the interface between 4H-SiC substrate and Al 2 O 3 dielectric prepared by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) was performed and its effects on capacitance–voltage characteristics as well as the interface state density ( D it ) was evaluated with metal oxide semiconductor devices. The atomic force microscopy result indicates that the remote H 2 plasma treatment reduces surface roughness. Compared with the non-passivated devices, lower leakage current, lower hysteresis and higher breakdown voltage are attained with remotely hydrogen plasma-treated devices. Without post metallization annealing (PMA), D it value more than 10 14 eV −1 cm −2 is attained with hydrogen plasma passivated devices, indicating plasma-induced damage on the surface. However, using PMA, D it of the H 2 plasma treated device is significantly reduced to as low as 1.00 × 10 12 eV −1 cm −2 at E c − E t = 0.4 eV and is about five times lower than that of sample without H 2 plasma passivation ( D it = 4.84 × 10 12 eV −1 cm −2 ).

The traffic identification is a preliminary and essential step for stable network service provision and efficient network resource management. While a number of identification methods have been introduced in literature, the payload signature-based identification method shows the highest performance in terms of accuracy, completeness, and practicality. However, the payload signature-based method's processing speed is much slower than other identification method such as header-based and statistical methods. In this paper, we first classifies signatures by matching type based on range, order, and direction of packet in a flow which was automatically extracted. By using this classification, we suggest a novel method to improve processing speed of payload signature-based identification by reducing searching space.

The importance of application traffic analysis for efficient network management has been emphasized continuously. Snort is a popular traffic analysis system which detects traffic matched to pre-defined signatures and perform various actions based on the rules. However, it is very difficult to get highly accurate signatures to meet various analysis purpose because it is very tedious and time-consuming work to search the entire traffic data manually or semi-automatically. In this paper, we propose a novel method to generate signatures in a fully automatic manner in the form of sort rule from raw packet data captured from network link or end-host. We use a sequence pattern algorithm to generate common substring satisfying the minimum support from traffic flow data. Also, we extract the location and header information of the signature which are the components of snort content rule. When we analyzed the proposed method to several application traffic data, the generated rule could detect more than 97 percentage of the traffic data.

With the widespread use of wearable electronics, the flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting devices have been extensively studied to efficiently convert the physical motion of the human body into electrical energy. The major obstacles for realizing a flexible piezoelectric generator include the insufficient output power generation and the poor efficiency at the low-frequency regime. Here, we demonstrate a curved piezoelectric generator favorable for wearable applications, generating a high output power. The curved structure plays a key role to improve the power generation, by effectively distributing the applied force across the piezoelectric layer, as well as to allow operation at the low frequency vibration range. Accordingly, this generator produces � 120 V of peak output voltage and � 700 mA of peak output current during a cycle. Furthermore, our generator can operate at low frequencies below 50 Hz, generating � 55 V of output voltage and 250 mA of output current at 35 Hz, and it even works at frequencies as low as 1 Hz. With this generator, we successfully lit up 476 commercial LED bulbs. In addition, we experimentally demonstrate the possibility that the generator can be used in shoes, watches, and clothes as a power source. Our results will provide a framework to enhance the output power of conventional piezoelectric generators, and open a new avenue for realization of self-powered systems, such as wearable electronic devices.

A facile and scalable synthesis of mesoporous films impregnated with Au nanoparticles (NPs) as effective dielectrics is demonstrated for enhancing the nanogenerator performance based on vertical contact-separation mode. This technique is so simple and scalable, providing a promising solution for developing large-scale and practical self-powered devices. The spatial distribution of Au NPs made it possible to fabricate an Au NP-embedded mesoporous triboelectric nanogenerator (AMTENG) with a high output power of 13 mW under cycled compressive force, giving over 5-fold power enhancement, compared with a flat film-based TENG under the same mechanical force. It is proposed that the presence of aligned dipoles produced due to the charges created by the contact between Au NPs and PDMS inside the pores can influence the surface potential energy of mesoporous films. With such an enhanced power output and unique device design, we demonstrate various applications such as self-powered shape mapping sensors, foot-step driven large-scale AMTENGs, and integrated circuits with capacitors for powering commercial cell phones for realizing self-powered systems from footsteps, wind power, and ocean waves.

SCADA system works in repeated or periodic used of only limited communication devices. Because of this feature, whitelist based security techniques are widely used and access restriction method using whitelist based static ACL is most commonly applied in security field. Static ACL have advantages in security, but their expressiveness is too simple to express communication using dynamic allocated port. In addition, it does not reflect all the communication characteristics of the control device, and the generated static ACL should always be open regardless of the frequent use. We propose a structured ACL that extends the fixed generation sequence information between the communication and communication-specific periodicity to reflect the mechanical and repetitive communication characteristics of the SCADA system in the static ACL. We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed Structured ACL model in this paper by applying the real SCADA network traffic.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Selaginella tamariscina (P.Beauv.) Spring is a traditional medicinal plant used to treat various human diseases, including cancer, in Asia. The detailed molecular mechanism underlying the anti-cancer effects of this plant and the anti-cancer action of the combinatorial treatment of S. tamariscina and doxorubicin have not yet been investigated. Aim of the study We evaluated the inhibitory activity of S. tamariscina extract (STE) and its major compound, amentoflavone, on human aldo-keto reductase family 1B10 (AKR1B10), which is a detoxification enzyme involved in drug resistance, to evaluate their anti-cancer effects and their potential as adjuvant agents for doxorubicin cancer chemotherapy. Materials and methods We tested the AKR1B10 inhibitory activity of STE and amentoflavone via an in vitro biochemical assay using recombinant human AKR1B10. We tested the anti-proliferative activity in A549, NCI-H460, SKOV-3, and MCF-7 human cancer cells, which contain different expression levels of AKR1B10, and determined the combination index to evaluate whether the addition of STE and amentoflavone is synergistic or antagonistic to the anti-cancer action of doxorubicin. We finally evaluated the in vivo anti-tumor effects of STE in a nude mouse xenograft model of A549 cells. Results STE and amentoflavone potently inhibited human AKR1B10 and synergistically increased the doxorubicin anti-proliferative effect in A549 and NCI-H460 human lung cancer cells that express a high level of AKR1B10 mRNA and protein. STE also significantly inhibited A549 tumor growth in animal experiments. Conclusion Our results suggest that STE and amentoflavone could be potential anti-cancer agents that target AKR1B10 and might be candidate adjuvant agents to boost the anti-cancer effect of doxorubicin.

We evaluated the growth performance, biochemical characteristics, and immune responses in weaning pigs given a diet containing MR-1 (0.2%/feed) or antibiotics (0.1%/feed) for 45 days. In vitro study showed that MR-1 has antibacterial activity against a variety of strains of pathogenic bacteria, especially a strain of cattle-derived Escherichia coli K99 (E. coli K99) by agar diffusion assay. In the in vivo model, 0.2% MR-1-given group clearly ameliorated the weight gain and feed efficiency in the growth performance of weaning pigs compared to the basal diet group (p and production) to the antibiotic treated pigs. Taken together, we suggest that 0.2% MR-1 makes probiotics an alternative to antibiotics in weaning pigs.

We present gas sensing performance based on 22 sensor array with four different elements (TiO2, SnO2, WO3 and In2O3 thin films) fabricated by rf sputter. Each thin film was deposited onto the selected SiO2/Si substrate with Pt interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) of 5 m spacing which were fabricated on a SiO2/Si substrate using photolithography and dry etching. For 5 ppm NO2 and 50 ppm CO, each thin film sensor has a different response to offers the distinguishable response pattern for different gas molecules. Compared with the conventional micro-fabrication technology, 22 sensor array with such remarkable response pattern will be open a new foundation for monolithic integration of high-performance chemoresistive sensors with simplicity in fabrication, low cost, high reliablity, and multi- functional smart sensors for environmental monitoring.

The piezoelectric energy generation properties of transparent flexible devices (TFD) based on PbZr 0.52 Ti 0.48 O 3 (PZT) films, which were fabricated by laser lift-off (LLO) process, were studied for a piezoelectric energy harvester. Through the introduction of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates, TFDs were implemented, respectively. The TFDs based on PZT films generated an AC-type output signal and output power of 8.4 nW/cm 2 , at periodically bending and releasing motion. In addition, inverted output signals were observed when the manufactured TFDs were connected to the measuring equipment in reverse and were bended to the reverse direction, demonstrating that the generating signals originated from the piezoelectric effect of TFDs. The experimental results clearly showed that the TFDs based PZT film have potential for use in next generation of electronic devices applications such as flexible devices, transparent electronics, and energy harvester.

Binary system of 0.05Pb(Al 0.5 Nb 0.5 )O 3 −0.95Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 (PAN–PZT) thin films were deposited on alumina substrates by a pulsed laser deposition method and we investigated effects of oxygen pressure on ferroelectric domain structure and the piezoelectric characteristics of the films by piezoelectric force microscope (PFM). The films in optimum oxygen pressure exhibited the remnant polarization of 58.4 and 24.4 μC/cm 2 , and 180° and 90° domain switching behavior were observed from PFM analysis. We obtained a large effective piezoelectric constant ( d 33 ) value (∼110 pm/V) in the films. As a result, we can determine the ferroelectric domain structure and improve the piezoelectric properties of the PAN–PZT films using an oxygen pressure control during the process and it helps to obtain suitable piezoelectric thin films for sensors and actuators applications.

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) nanotubes fabricated by template-assisted method using sol–gel solution infiltration are applied for energy harvester. To fabricate PZT nanotubes, an anodic aluminum oxide is used for the template, and as-prepared PZT solution dropped on the surface of the AAO is infiltrated by vacuum pump into the pores in the AAO. The template including PZT solution is dried at 80 °C for 1 min and dried again at 300 °C for 10 min, and then it treated at 650 °C for 30 min to anneal PZT and form the expected perovskite phase. The fabricated nanotubes were mixed with PDMS polymer composite and polyimide films coated Pt/Ti were used for electrodes. Finally, it demonstrated that the energy harvester could generate the output power of 37 nW/cm2.

BACKGROUND: To analyze how lidocaine 40 mg mixed prevents injection pain of propofol affects the onset time of rocuronium, tracheal intubating conditions and intubation related hemodynamic changes. METHODS: This study consisted of 70 patients with an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status class 1 or 2 for general anesthesia. All the patients were randomly allocated into two groups: propofol 2 mg/kg plus normal saline 2 ml (Group C) and propofol 2 mg/kg plus 2% lidocaine 40 mg (Group L). Each group was administrated intravenously during induction and the patient was intubated 1 minute after an injection of 0.6 mg/kg of rocuronium. The time at disappearance of the first twitch and intubation scores were recorded. Also, blood pressure and heart rate were measured at the baseline, after intravenous injection of propofol, before intubation, and at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 5 minutes after intubation. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between group C and L (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: 40 mg of lidocaine mixed with propofol to prevent injection pain did not affect the onset time of rocuronium, intubating conditions and intubation related hemodynamic changes.

Energy harvesting is the most effective way to respond to the energy shortage and to produce sustainable power sources from the surrounding environment. The energy harvesting technology enables scavenging electrical energy from wasted energy sources, which always exist everywhere, such as in heat, fluids, vibrations, etc. In particular, piezoelectric energy harvesting, which uses a direct energy conversion from vibrations and mechanical deformation to the electrical energy, is a promising technique to supply power sources in unattended electronic devices, wireless sensor nodes, micro-electronic devices, etc., since it has higher energy conversion efficiency and a simple structure. Up to now, various technologies, such as advanced materials, micro- and macro-mechanics, and electric circuit design, have been investigated and emerged to improve performance and conversion efficiency of the piezoelectric energy harvesters. In this paper, we focus on recent progress of piezoelectric energy harvesting technologies based on PbZrxTi1-xO3 (PZT) materials, which have the most outstanding piezoelectric properties. The advanced piezoelectric energy harvesting technologies included materials, fabrications, unique designs, and properties are introduced to understand current technical levels and suggest the future directions of piezoelectric energy harvesting. Published version

Piezoelectric power generation using Pb(Zr,Ti)O3(PZT) nanowires grown on Nb-doped SrTiO3(nb:STO) substrate has been demonstrated. The epitaxial PZT nanowires prepared by a hydrothermal method, with a diameter and length of approximately 300 nm and 7 μm, respecively, were vertically aligned on the substrate. An embossed Au top electrode was applied to maximize the effective power generation area for non-uniform PZT nanowires. The PZT nanogenerator produced output power density of 0.56 μW/cm2 with a voltage of 0.9 V and current of 75 nA. This research suggests that the morphology control of top electrode can be useful to improve the efficiency of piezoelectric power generation.

Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B10 (AKR1B10) belongs to a superfamily of NADPH-dependent aldo-keto reductases and is considered a biomarker of several cancers. Inhibition of recombinant human AKR1B10 (rhAKR1B10) was assayed using 31 seaweed extracts, among which, an Eisenia bicyclis extract was selected for further study. To identify the compounds in E. bicyclis responsible for inhibitory effects on rhAKR1B10, five compounds were isolated by bioactivity-guided fractionation and isolation. Among them, phlorofucofuroeckol-A (PFF-A), isolated from an ethyl acetate fraction, exhibited the greatest inhibition of rhAKR1B10. The inhibitory rate of PFF-A against rhAKR1B10 was 61.41% at 10 μM, with an IC50 of 6.22 μM. Enzyme kinetic analyses revealed non-competitive inhibition with a K D of 2.76 μM. These results indicate that PFF-A from E. bicyclis may be a promising anticancer agent.

This study was performed to investigate the effects of laying productivity and egg quality according to providing germinated and fermented soybean (GFS) as feed additive. Among the strain, we selected Monascus purpureus KCCM 12002 so that inoculated in soybean and fermented for 48 h at 20 o C. A total of two-hundred forty 70-wk-old Hy-Line Brown layers were divided into four groups (4 treatment×6 replication×10 birds each) and fed diets containing 0 (as control) (T1), 0.5% (T2), 1.0% (T3) or 2.0% GFS (T4) for 6 wk. The laying productivity, egg quality and blood property in the egg yolk were experimented. There were no significant differences in the laying productivity, relative liver and spleen weights, egg yolk color and eggshell strength among another groups. The eggshell color, eggshell thickness and haugh unit significantly increased in the GFS-supplemented group (p

This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary low grade soybean, fermented with Aspergillus oryzae (FSB 1) or Bacillus subtilis var. natto (FSB 2), on egg production and quality, fat and cholesterol content, and the fatty acid (FA) profile of eggs by lipid layer. A total of 18 Hi-Line strain layers, 22 wk of age, were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments: no fermented soybean (control), control with 15% FSB 1 (C + FSB 1), and control with 15% FSB 2 (C + FSB 2). The rate of egg production and egg weight were evaluated between two periods: one was from the 1st to 4th wk and the other was from the 5th to 8th wk. At the 8th wk, a total of 30 eggs were randomly selected from each treatment group and analyzed for physical quality, fat content, fatty acid composition and cholesterol content. The results showed that egg production was increased in hens fed with diets containing fermented soybeans from the 5th to 8th wk period (p 0.05). Egg weight and other physical properties did not vary between treatment groups (p>0.05). Egg yolks among different treatment groups were similar in fat content, but egg yolks in the C + FSB 1 and C + FSB 2 groups had lower oleic acid (p

This article presents a control method for a tiny ultrasonic linear actuator for a camera module. The actuator is operated by a smooth impact driving method and an inertia displacement principle, and the structure of the actuator is very simple and lightweight. To precisely control the actuator, an actuator driver circuit has been developed that uses a small and inexpensive magneto-resistive sensor. The magneto-resistive sensor measures the changing magnetic field from a magnet attached to a mobile element and has a period of 400 μm, which is scaled by 400 divisions, resulting in 1 μm resolution. A proportional-integral-derivative control is used for controlling precise position. Finally, to verify the movement characteristics of the tiny ultrasonic linear actuator using a magneto-resistive sensor, a laser Doppler vibrometer (Polytec) was used Generally, the autofocus function of a camera module needs a 10 μm resolution with a 1-mm stroke. The experimental results show that the actuator with the ...

A piezoelectric motor capable of omni-directional movements has been developed to apply for robot joints, eyes, and precision positioning stage. The piezoelectric actuator has a simple structure of a cone type consisting of two piezoelectric ring-typed ceramics with electrodes divided into four segments and stainless steel elastic bodies. Before manufacturing the piezoelectric motor, the admittance characteristics and displacements of the actuator as a function of frequency were simulated. Elliptical motions of the actuator were created at several frequencies between the longitudinal and transverse resonance frequencies. The actual motor with alumina ball exhibited nice performance using a driving circuit with two rotary encoders and a PID controller. The moving element was omni-directionally operated at a driving frequency of 53.8 kHz and an output voltage of 280 V(p-p). The developed motor enables the moving element to move to a desired position with a resolution of 1.2 degrees/pulse, an angular velocity of 4 rad/s, and a thrust force of 200 g.

In this paper, we present design and analysis of the omni-directional linear piezoelectric actuator which was consisted of one actuator using the half-wave vibrator. Through calculating vibration speeds on each sector of the actuator, the displacement of contact point of the actuator is theoretically confirmed to be about 33 nm. To confirm an applicable possibility of omni-directional linear piezoelectric actuator, elliptical motion for linear movement, displacement of the tip, changing directions and admittance characteristics are simulated by ATILA. Compared with theoretical result, we obtained similar data with displacement of 32.5 nm at contact point. And then the actuator is simulated elliptical trajectories for linear motions and changing directions according to combination of input signal.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of germinated and fermented unmarketable soybean (GFS) on laying performance and egg quality in laying hens. A total of two hundred laying hens were divided into 5 groups (5 treatment 4 replication 10 birds each) and fed with the experimental diets for 8 wk as follows: control, GFS free; T1, GFS 0.15%; T2, GFS 0.3%; T3, GFS 1%; T4, GFS 2%. The laying performance, egg quality, blood profiles, cecal microbial population, isoflavone content in egg yolk were investigated. There were no significant differences laying performance, relative liver and spleen weights, egg yolk color, eggshell color among groups. Eggshell strength in groups fed with diets containing GFS increased, but not significantly. Eggshell thickness significantly increased in the GFS-supplemented group. No significant differences were observed in the blood profiles and intestinal microflora after supplementation. The decrease of Haugh unit during storage was alleviated by feeding of GFS (p

Energy harvesting from the vibration through the piezoelectric effect has been studied for powering the small wireless sensor nodes. As piezoelectric uni-morph cantilever structure can transfer low vibration to large displacement, this structure was commonly deployed to harvest electric energy from vibrations. Through our previous results, when stress was applied on the cantilever, stress was concentrated on the certain point of the ceramic of the cantilever. In this study, for miniaturing the energy harvester, we investigated how the size of ceramics and the stress distribution in ceramic affects energy harvester characteristics. Even though the area of ceramic was 28.6 % decreased from to , both samples showed almost same maximum power of 0.45 mW and the electro-mechanical coupling factor () of 14 % as well. This result indicated that should be preferentially considered to generate high power with small size energy harvester.

It is important to define a standard method to store basic sensor information, such as the type and the structure for an piezoelectric actuator and there is no such method defined in the IEEE 1451.4 transducer electronic data sheet (TEDS) so far. The major challenge is to choose a suitable standard template that can be used with actuators for piezoelectric devices. In this paper, we propose a new template TEDS and the structure of interface for IEEE 1451.4 for piezoelectric actuators.

The IEEE 1451 publication are available, this standard defines interface between sensor and processor, and plug and play in processor is possible. Also, Intelligence of sensor was possible because sensor includes transducer electronic data sheet (TEDS). In IEEE 1451 standards, IEEE 1451.4 is suitable standard in single sensor, and IEEE 1451.2 is suitable standard in multi-sensors (array sensor). In this paper, apply IEEE 1451 to electronic tongue system. In the case of electronic tongue system, because array sensor is used, it is that complex and difficult to apply IEEE 1451.4 that is standard for single sensor. In this paper, apply IEEE 1451.2 for array sensor to design of electronic tongue system. Communication interface method of IEEE 1451.2 for electronic tongue system is presented, and implemented TEDS of electronic tongue system.

It is important to define a standard method to store basic sensor information, such as the type and the structure of sensors for an electronic tongue system and there is no such method defined in the IEEE 1451.4 transducer electronic data sheet (TEDS) so far. The major challenge is to choose a suitable standard template that can be used with sensors for electronic tongues. However, the standard templates provide an imprecise specification when used with sensing devices for electronic tongues. In this paper, we present definitions of the basic TEDS of IEEE 1451.4 for sensors for an electronic tongue system and propose a new template TEDS for IEEE 1451.4 for potentiometric devices.