Two different casting speeds of 60 and 80mm/min are adopted to determine the effect of casting speed on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Mg-Si/Al hybrid material prepared by duo-casting. The obtained hybrid material has a uniform and straight macro-interface between the pure Al side and the Al-Mg-Si alloy side at both casting speeds. When the casting speed is increased to 80mm/min, the size of primary α phases in Al-Mg-Si alloy decreases, without change of shape. Although the Al-Mg-Si alloy produced at higher casting speed of 80mm/min shows much higher ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and 0.2 % proof stress and lower elongation, along with higher bending strength compared to the case of the 60mm/min in casting speed, the tensile properties and bending strength of the hybrid material, which are similar to those of pure Al, are the same regardless of the increase of casting speed. Despite the different casting speeds, deformation and fracturing in hybrid materials are observed only on the pure Al side. This indicates that the macro-interface is well-bonded, allowing it to endure tensile and bending deformation in all hybrid materials.

In this study, three kinds of metal chills such as SS400, AC4CH and brass, with different thicknesses of 40 ~ 80 mm, were applied for low pressure casting of Al-Si alloy to control cooling rate. The microstructural characteristics with increasing cooling rate were represented using factors including D1, D2, size of primary α phases and shape factor and size of eutectic Si. The tensile properties were investigated and additionally analyzed based on the microstructural characteristics. As the cooling rate increased, D1, D2, and sizes of primary α phases and eutectic Si apparently decreased and the shape factor of eutectic Si increased to over 0.8. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) increased with decreasing D1, D2, and size of primary α phases, while elongation increased with decreasing size of eutectic Si and concurrently increasing shape factor of eutectic Si. This indicated that the primary α phases and eutectic Si in Al-Si alloy were refined with increasing cooling rate, resulting in improvement of UTS and YS without sacrificing elongation. After the tensile test, preferential deformation of primary α phases was observed in the Al-Si alloy produced at higher cooling rates of more than 0.1 K/s.

군락 광합성 모델의 도출을 위하여 생육 챔버가 필요하며, 이를 위한 광합성의 효율적인 측정 방법이 필요하다. 본 연구의 목적은 내부 환경 제어가 가능한 생육 챔버를 이용하여 광도 및 이산화탄소 농도 변수를 갖는 로메인 상추(Lactuca sativa L.)의 군락 광합성 곡선을 도출하는 방법을 확립하는 것이다. 실험에 사용한 상추는 식물공장 모듈에서 재배되었으며, 군락 광합성을 측정하기 위하여 아크릴로 제작된 생육 챔버(1.0x0.8x0.5m)를 이용하였다. 첫 번째로, 다음의 두 방법을 적용하여 측정된 군락 광합성 속도를 통해 각 방법의 시정수를 계산하여 비교하였다. 즉, 1) CO2 농도를 고정(1,000μmol·mol-1) 하고 광도를 변화(340, 270, 200, and 130μmol·m-2·s-1) 시키거나, 2) 광도를 고정(200μmol·m-2·s-1)하고 CO2 농도를 변화(600, 1,000, 1,400, and 1,800μmol·mol-1) 시켰다. 두 번째로, 1)과 2)의 방식을 적용하여 군락 광합성을 측정했을 때, 특정 광도(200μmol·m-2·s-1)와 특정 CO2 농도(1,000μmol·mol-1)에서 측정된 군락 광합성 속도 값을 비교하였다. 실험 결과 CO2 농도를 변화시키는 방식의 시정수는 광도를 변화시키는 방식에 비해 3.2배 큰 값을 나타내었다. 광도를 변화시키며 측정할 때 군락 광합성 속도는 1분 이내에 안정되었고, CO2 농도를 변화시킬 경우에는 6분 이상의 시간이 소요되었다. 따라서 광도를 변화시키는 측정 방식이 생육 챔버를 이용하여 작물의 군락 광합성 속도를 측정할 때 적합한 방식임을 확인하였다.

After the permanent shutdown of K1 in 2017, decommissioning processes have attracted great attention. According to the current decommissioning roadmap, the dismantling of the activated components of K1 may start in 2026, following the removal of its spent fuel. Since the reactor vessel (RV) and reactor vessel internal (RVI) of K1 contain massive components and are relatively highly activated, their decommissioning process should be conducted carefully in terms of radiological and industrial safety. For achieving maximum efficiency of nuclear waste management processes for K1, we present activation analysis of the segmentation process and waste classification of the RV and RVI components of K1. For RVI, the active fuel regions and some parts of the upper and lower active regions are classified as intermediate-level waste (ILW), while other components are classified as low-level waste (LLW). Due to the RVI’s complex structure and high activation, we suggest various underwater segmentation techniques which are expected to reduce radiation exposure and generate approximately nine ILW and nineteen very low level waste (VLLW)/LLW packages. For RV, the active fuel region and other components are classified as LLW, VLLW, and clearance waste (CW). In this case, we suggest in-situ remote segmentation in air, which is expected to generate approximately forty-two VLLW/LLW packages.

Interferon tau (IFNT) regulation, an anti-luteolytic factor produced by conceptuses of the ruminant ungulates, is essential for the maintenance of early pregnancy, but a definitive mechanism for its temporal transcription has not been elucidated. We and others have observed the T-box protein eomesodermin (EOMES) exhibited high mRNA expression in the ovine embryonic trophectoderm; thus, both caudal-relatedhomeobox-2 (CDX2) and EOMES coexist during the early stages of conceptus development. Objective of this study was to examine the effect of EOMES on ovine IFNT gene transcription when evaluated with CDX2, ETS2 and AP1 transcription factors implicated in the control of cell differentiation in the trophectoderm. In this study, quantitatively via reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis between ovine trophoblast cells was initially performed, finding that transcription factors CDX2 and ‘EOMES transcription factor mRNAs’ were specific to trophectoderm cells. These mRNAs were also found in days 15, 17, and 21 ovine conceptuses. Furthermore, human choriocarcinoma JEG3 cells (trophoblast cell line) were cotransfected with an ovine IFNT (-654bp)-luciferase reporter (-654-oIFNT-Luc) construct and several transcription factor expression plasmids. Cotransfection of the reporter construct with CDX2, ETS2 and AP1 increased transcription of -654-oIFNT-Luc by about 11-fold compared with transfection of the construct alone. When cells were initially transfected with EOMES followed by transfection with CDX2, ETS2 and/or AP1, the expression of -654-oIFNT-Luc was decreased. Also, EOMES factor inhibited the stimulatory activity of CDX2 alone. These results suggest that when conceptuses attach to the uterine epithelium, ovine IFNT gene transcription is down-regulated by an increase of EOMES factor expression in the attached ovine trophoblast cells.

Viral protein 2 (VP2) of porcine parvovirus (PPV) is responsible for inducing neutralizing antibodies in immunized animals. It is the major viral structural protein. In this study, novel subunit vaccines against PPV based on virus-like particles (VLPs) formed from VP2 proteins (PPV 13-7 Korean strain) were expressed in an insect baculovirus cell system and purified using Ni-NTA affinity column chromatography. These VP2 proteins assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs). They showed antigenic properties similar to those of natural PPV. In addition, they showed high hemagglutination (HA) titers (211 for PPV 13-7 Korean strain). This study provides a foundation for the application of the difference immunization of recombinant protein in the diversity of PPV VP2 genes and in vaccination against PPV in the future.

Canine parvovirus type-2 (CPV-2) has been reported worldwide as the main agent associated with acute hemorrhagic enteritis, resulting in high morbidity, especially in young dogs. CPV-2 has three genetic variants, 2a, 2b, and 2c. Here, we report three cases of canine parvovirus enteritis associated with CPV-2a (2 samples) and -2c (1 sample) infections that occurred in three young dogs suffering from enteritis. Isolates from dog diarrheic fecal samples were sequenced by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and identified as two types of CPV-2a and one type of CPV-2c. This work constitutes the first isolation and genetic characterization of CPV-2c in the Republic of Korea.