Numerous studies have reported that good adhesion and fluorination of carbon materials in a fluoropolymer matrix enhance their electrical and mechanical properties. However, a composite reinforced with oxyfluorinated graphite has not been reported for improving mechanical properties. This paper discusses the fabrication of conductive fluorinated ethylene–propylene (FEP)/oxyfluorinated graphite (f-graphite) composite bipolar plates (BPs) via compression molding. To investigate the effects of fluorinating graphite, graphite with a large particle size of 500 μm was mixed with FEP powder with a small particle size of 8 μm through ball milling. The FEP/graphite composites exhibited high anisotropic electrical conductivity with the in-plane conductivity much higher than the through-plane conductivity because of the planar orientation of the graphite sheets. Therefore, the mechanical properties of the composites such as flexural strength tended to deteriorate with increasing graphite content. In particular, the FEP/f-graphite composites exhibited excellent flexural strength of 12 MPa, much higher than that of FEP/graphite composites at 9 MPa with a graphite content of 80 wt%. The interfacial interaction between FEP and f-graphite led to improved physical compatibilization, which contributed to enhance the mechanical properties of these composites. Our results are a step toward developing BPs for use in high-temperature fuel cells and heat-sink components.

Royal jelly (RJ) is a gelatinous substance that bees produce to feed bees and queen bees. It’s frequently sold as a dietary supplement to treat a variety of physical ailments and chronic diseases. While it has long been used in traditional medicine, its applications in Western medicine remain controversial. The inhibitory effect of royal jelly on osteoarthritis was investigated in primary cultured rat cartilage cells and monosodium-iodoacetate (MIA)-induced arthritis rat model 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HAD) is the main fatty acid present in RJ. Among the criteria for RJ quality analysis, 10-HAD content has been proposed as a freshness parameter. We investigated the effect of RJ on the improvement of osteoarthritis on SD rats and they were divided into five groups. In this study, we examined the effect of enzymatic royal jelly (ERJ) administration on osteoarthritis. To determine the antiinflammatory effects of RJ, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression were measured after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activation in RAW 264.7 cells. In in vivo animal study, osteoarthritis was induced by intra-articular injection of MIA into knee joints of rats. As a results, ERJ showed that TNF-α and IL-6 levels were decreased by ERJ treatment in a dosedependent manner. In conclusion, ERJ extract was able to inhibit articular cartilage degeneration by preventing extracellular matrix degradation and cartilage cell damage. It was considered that ERJ extract may be a potential therapeutic treatment for degenerative osteoarthritis.

Introduction Existing studies have revealed various value systems’ relationship to consumer behavior. The factors that have been shown to explain consumer behavior include basic values (e.g., Rindfleisch, Burroughs, & Wong, 2009), consumer worldview (e.g., Saatcioglu & Ozanne, 2013), the dominant ideology of society (e.g., Juhl, Fenger, & Thøgersen, 2017), and political ideology (e.g., Jung, Garbarino, Briley, & Wynhausen, 2017). In this study, we attempted to identify a new, overarching construct that captures individuals’ socioeconomic worldview and then to investigate its impact on consumer behavior. In doing so, we developed a neoliberalism scale and investigated how it relates to consumption-related factors. This neoliberalism construct encompasses individuals’ perspectives on various dimensions, including profit centrism, government intervention, welfare, and self-development. Theoretical development Neoliberalism, as used in this construct, is defined as one’s tendency to support economic liberalizations (e.g., free trade, open markets, financial liberalization, deregulation, globalism, privatization, and private-sector enhancement) and the government’s powerful ruling and legal enforcement to reinforce them even at the expense of significant demographic processes. However, neoliberal individuals otherwise tend to consider the government and political system to be much less efficient and much more oppressive than the competitive market and private sector are. Additionally, they strive to manage everyday life strategically, as if they were innovative entrepreneurs. These individuals believe that one’s success largely depends on his or her own merits and efforts, and thus that inequality or unequal compensation is inevitable in order to achieve efficiency, economic growth, and moral justice (e.g., Peck & Tickell, 2007; Steger & Roy, 2010). Methods We distributed our survey to 374 adults (187 female) who are recruited through a market research firm’s online panel in Korea. Participants’ education levels were as follows: those who have only graduated from high school or have yet to graduate from high school = 20.9%, those who are current college students or have graduated from college = 66%, post-college graduates = 13.1%. Based on the literature on neoliberalism, we generated 54 items to measure neoliberalism tendencies. We initially created 12 dimensions, each of which included between four and six items. The dimensions included belief in economic growth, opposition to government intervention, belief in the inefficiency of the government, opposition to labor unions, opposition to policies that favor the majority, hostility toward social welfare, belief in the need to protect private property, support for globalization, interest in time management, elitism, interest in self-development, and interest in wealth management. We adapted our measures from existing scales, except for perceived social mobility and perceived social inequality, which were measures that we created. We measured long-term orientation (Bearden, Money, & Nevins, 2006), the perceived importance of achievement (Burroughs & Rindfleish, 2002), community values (Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002), political cynicism (Kaid, 2002), political liberalism (Mehrabian, 1996), life values (Schwartz, 1992), materialism (Richins, 2004), consumer values (Sánchez-Fernández, Angeles Iniesta-Bonillo, & Holbrook, 2009) and impulsive buying behavior (Rook & Fisher, 1995). Results Using the data from 374 respondents, we conducted an exploratory-factor analysis to examine the factor structure of our neoliberalism scale. The exploratory-factor analysis used a principle-component method with direct oblimin rotation, and the criterion of eigenvalue greater than 1.00 generated an 11-factor solution. This factor solution accounted for 59.83% of the total variance. This study employed the following three criteria to retain factors and items: (a) items with factor loading greater than .4, (b) factors with at least three items, and (c) items that do not cross load on the other factors. The results yielded 32 items that comprise seven factors: interest in economic development, hostility toward welfare, interest in wealth management, distrust in government ability, opposition to labor unions, support for the protection of private property, and interest in self-development. We ran an another exploratory-factor analysis using the same methods and items as before, which confirmed that those items loaded well for the seven factors, explaining 59.37% of the total variance. Each factor—hostility toward welfare, interest in self-development, distrust in government ability, interest in economic development, opposition to labor unions, interest in wealth management, and support for the protection of private property—was found to account for 24.08%, 14.11%, 5.12%, 5.01%, 4.27%, 3.40%, and 3.30% of the total variance, respectively. Additionally, the reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) of each factor was as follows: hostility toward welfare = .87, interest in self-development = .83, distrust in government ability= .62, interest in economic development = .68, opposition to labor unions = .76, interest in wealth management = .75, and support for the protection of private property = .67. Finally, we created the neoliberalism index by averaging these seven factors. There was a significant difference in how survey participants responded to the five factors of the neoliberalism construct used in this study—namely, interest in economic development, interest in self-development, opposition to labor unions, hostility toward welfare, and support for the protection of private property. In general, support for those five factors tended to increase with the age of the individual, such that participants over 50 years old appeared to place the most emphasis on the importance of economic development, self-development, and the need to protect private property, while showing more unfavorable attitudes toward labor unions and government welfare policies compared to younger age groups. Overall, neoliberalism index, which is the average of all seven factors, also demonstrated similar patterns. People seem to agree more with neoliberal values as they age. We examined the correlation between the neoliberalism index and related measures such as perceived social inequality, perceived social mobility, and long-term orientation. Our data revealed a significant and positive correlation between neoliberalism and perceived social mobility (r (372) = .35, p < .01), and neoliberalism and perceived social inequality (r (372) = .23, p < .01). Neoliberal individuals are likely to perceive the society to which they belong as relatively equal and to believe that they can achieve a satisfactory social status as long as they strive to do so. This tendency is well explained by the significant correlation between neoliberalism and long-term orientation (r (372) = .47, p < .01), that of neoliberalism and the perceived importance of achievement (r (372) = .39, p < .01). Neoliberal individuals’ positive attitudes toward their future status appear to encourage them to work diligently for their future achievements and to improve their status. In contrast, a significant correlation with political cynicism (r (372) = .27, p < .01) indicates neoliberal individuals’ distrust in government. It can be also inferred that neoliberal individuals are politically conservative, given that neoliberalism is negatively correlated to political liberalism (r (372) = -.29, p < .01). Finally, this index is positively correlated to community values (r (372) = .32, p < .01). Furthermore, our neoliberalism index was correlated with Schwartz’s general life values (Schwartz, 1992), including efforts toward self-enhancement (r (372) = .41, p < .01), openness to change (r (372) = .28, p < .01), efforts toward self-transcendence (r (372) = .32, p < .01), and interest in conservation (r (372) = .45, p < .01). Highly neoliberal individuals may strive to develop themselves, seek interesting and stimulating experiences on their own, tend to be altruistic, and conform to what has been established. Given that politically conservative individuals have been considered to be less altruistic and less open to change, the current results, which contradict prior assumptions, seem to indicate that neoliberalism is very different from conservatism. Our data indicated that there is a significant correlation between neoliberalism and the five dimensions of consumer values—namely, efficiency (r (372) = .26, p < .01), quality (r (372) = .37, p < .01), social values (r = .30, p < .01), play (r = .27, p < .01), aesthetics (r = .32, p < .01), and materialism (r = .16, p < .01). Individuals with neoliberal views are likely to consider various factors prudently in choosing products and proper places to shop. What matters to them in their consumption would be satisfactory shopping experiences as a whole rather than just the quality of the products for which they shop. It is interesting to note that highly neoliberal individuals are likely to value possessions. Given the significant correlation between neoliberalism, social mobility, and inequality, neoliberal individuals may believe that they can be like others who achieve a better status than they have and perceive that having more possessions is an efficient tool for acquiring a higher social status. Impulsive buying behavior was not significantly correlated with neoliberalism. Self-development, one of the seven dimensions of this neoliberalism construct, is closely linked to an emphasis on efficient time management and self-control. Neoliberal individuals are likely to be more thorough and careful in their decision-making and consumption behavior. Thus, it is not surprising to observe an insignificant relationship with impulsive buying behavior. Discussion We attempted to determine if individuals’ worldview could explain consumption-related phenomenon such as the extent to which they value possessions. The data supported the prediction that neoliberalism is closely linked not only to basic human values (Schwartz, 1992), but also to consumption phenomena, including materialism (Richins, 2004) and consumer values (e.g., Sánchez-Fernández, Angeles Iniesta-Bonillo, & Holbrook, 2009). Although we were unable to make clear casual inferences from correlational findings, our results shed light on future research in the field of materialism and other consumerbehavior phenomenon using this neoliberalism construct. Experimental manipulation of neoliberal tendencies would generate more intriguing results.

Roller Compacted Concrete Pavement (RCCP) is placed by roller compaction of a mixture of less cement and unit water content and more aggregates and provides excellent early strength development with the help of interlocking of aggregates and hydration. The unit cement content of RCC pavements accounts for 85% of conventional pavements, with low drying shrinkage. As low drying shrinkage leads to smaller crack widths than ordinary concrete, RCC pavements can help elevate reflecting crack resistance if applied to a base layer of a composite pavement system. In a composite pavement with an asphalt surface laid over a concrete base, pavement temperature change is important in predicting pavement performance. As movement of the lower concrete layer is determined by temperature depending on pavement depth, temperature data of the pavement structure serves as an important parameter to prevent and control reflecting crack. Among the causes of reflecting crack, horizontal behavior of the lower concrete layer and curling-caused vertical behavior of joints/cracks are considered closely related to temperature change characteristics of the lower concrete course (Baek, 2010). Previous studies at home and abroad about reflecting crack have focused on pavement behavior depending on daily and yearly in-service temperature changes of a composite pavement (Manuel, 2005). Until now, however, studies have not been conducted on initial temperature characteristics of concrete in composite pavements where asphalt surface is placed over an RCC base. Annual temperature changes of in-service concrete pavements go up to 60 ℃, and those of asphalt overlays become around the twice at 110 ℃. This study evaluated initial crack behavior of composite pavement by investigating pavement temperature by depth of an RCC base and analyzing joint movement depending on change to temperatures of continuously jointed pavements. Findings from the study suggest that in composite pavements and asphalt overlays, time of laying asphalt has an important impact on crack behavior and reflecting crack.

Roller Compacted Concrete Pavement (RCCP) is a pavement placed and compacted using an asphalt paver and a compaction roller by applying a small amount of concrete mixture and shows excellent structural performance as a result of hydration reaction of cement and interlocking of aggregates by roller compaction. It also provides economic advantages over conventional concrete pavements by reducing unit cement content and construction period, simplifying construction process, and decreasing traffic closure time (Wayne, 2006). However, given that it tends to show lower IRI levels than common concrete pavements since its low unit water content and binder weight ratios make uniform quality control difficult and roller compaction after paving makes the surface irregular and rough, with rough profile at the bottom of the pavement being reflected on the surface, RCCP is used mainly in port and industrial roads for low speed (60km/h or less) traffic (Dale Harringtion, 2010; Gregory, 2009). In order to apply RCCP to high-speed roadways, diamond grinding (DG) or asphalt overlay that is highly effective in improving roughness is needed (Fares Abdo, 2014; Gregory, 2009). Applying DG over RCCP leads to excellent skid resistance and noise reduction effects as a great percentage of aggregates makes the pavement surface rough, enhancing durability of concrete and the life of DG functionality. In addition, RCCP can be used as a high performance base layer of composite pavements, as it can reduce reflecting cracking at joints and cracked sections thanks to early strength development and low drying shrinkage of concrete. In this study, we assessed longitudinal roughness improvement effects by roughness-affecting factor by applying DG methods and asphalt overlays to three RCCP sites with a variety of sub-structural conditions and analyzed the effects on roughness of existing RCC pavements depending on surfacing method (DG, APOverlay).

In Korea, concrete pavements were first applied to highways in 1981 and as a result of continued increase in length over the past years, 2,592 km of concrete pavement network is currently in service, of which 1,399 km(54%) of concrete pavements is 10 years or older, and 233km(9%) is 20 years or older. The length of concrete pavement sections nationwide has been steadily on the rise every year (EXTRI, 2017). Approximately 54% of current concrete pavement highway network will reach the service life limit in 2025 which means around 660 billion won is needed for future pavement repair project (EXTRI, 2017). Given that concrete pavements beyond design life still have a remaining service life, it is economically advantageous to repair them before reconstruction. Asphalt overlays are a major repair method for older concrete pavements. Depending on the concrete pavement condition, thickness and mixture of asphalt overlays are determined. Service life of asphalt overlays varies by the presence, time and size of cracks in existing concrete pavements and reflecting crack at joints. Temperature change of concrete pavement is among the major reaction parameters of reflecting crack. Reflecting crack develops when asphalt bottom-up cracking by longitudinal shrinkage and expansion due to temperature change of the concrete base layer, top-down cracking by temperature difference between top and bottom of concrete, and shear stress by traffic loading are combined (Baek, 2010). Crack and joint behaviors of concrete pavement vary between the base layer and the concrete surface of composite pavement system, and different conductivity by mixture and thickness of asphalt overlay leads to temperature change of concrete base course. This study measured temperatures of each layer of diverse composite pavements in place on site and analyzed differences in temperature change of concrete base layer depending on mixture and thickness of asphalt overlays. Overlay thickness parameters were 5cm and 10cm, two values most widely used, while mixture parameters were SMA and porous asphalt. Based on temperature change of concrete surface, this study also evaluated the difference of temperature change in concrete base layer with an asphalt overlay on top. Findings from this study are expected to be utilized for studies on mechanism and modeling of reflecting crack in old concrete pavements with asphalt overlays.