The nuclear legacy that remains in the United Kingdom (UK) is complex and diverse. Consisting of legacy ponds and silos, redundant reprocessing plants, research facilities, and non-standard or one-off reactor designs, the clean-up of this legacy is under the stewardship of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). Through a mix of prompt and delayed decommissioning strategies, the NDA has made great strides in dealing with the UK’s nuclear legacy. Fuel debris and sludge removal from the legacy ponds and silos situated at Sellafield, as part of a prompt decommissioning strategy for the site, has enabled intolerable risks to be brought under control. Reactor defueling and waste retrievals across the Magnox fleet is enabling their transition to a period of care and maintenance; accelerated through the adopted ‘Lead and Learn’ approach. Bespoke decommissioning methods implemented by the NDA have also enabled the relevant site licence companies to tackle non-standard reactor designs and one-off wastes. Such approaches have potential to influence and shape nuclear decommissioning decision making activities globally, including in Korea.

To date, the development of anticancer drugs has been conducted using two-dimensional (2D) cell culture systems. However, since cancer cells in the body are generated and developed in three-dimensional (3D) microenvironments, the use of 2D anticancer drug screening can make it difficult to accurately evaluate the anticancer effects of drug candidates. Therefore, as a step towards developing a cancer cellfriendly 3D microenvironment based on a combination of vinylsulfone-functionalized polyethylene glycol (PEG-VS) with dicysteine-containing crosslinker peptides with an intervening matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-specific cleavage site, the types of MMPs secreted from human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells, a representative cancer cell, were analyzed transcriptionally and translationally. MMP3 was confirmed to be the most highly expressed protease secreted by HepG2 cells. This knowledge will be important in the design of a crosslinker necessary for the construction of PEG-based hydrogels customized for the 3D culture of HepG2 cells.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanovesicles that carry bioactive cargoes of proteins, lipids, mRNAs, and miRNAs between living cells. Their role in cellular communication has gained the attention of several research reports globally in the last decade. EVs are critically involved in sperm functions, oocyte functions, fertilization, embryonic development, and pregnancy. The review summarizes the state-of-theart of EVs research in the diagnostic and therapeutic (theranostic) potentials of the EVs during the pregnancy that might provide a solution for gestational disturbances such as implantation failure, maternal health problems, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia. EVs can be found in all biological fluids of the fetus and the mother and would provide a non-invasive and excellent tool for diagnostic purposes. Moreover, we provide the current efforts in manufacturing and designing targeted therapeutics using synthetic and semi-synthetic nanovesicles mimicking the natural EVs for efficient drug delivery during pregnancy.

Despite having a low electrical conductivity, graphene oxide (GO) is used as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing its good processability in large quantities. GO is reduced by chemical or thermal treatments to enhance its electrical conductivity. In this study, high-performance GO anodes with polydopamine (PDA) and polyethylenimine (PEI) as binders were fabricated. Gamma (γ)-ray irradiation was applied to the GO–PDA–PEI hybrid sheets to covalently cross-link the GO sheets and binders with an amide bond. The covalent crosslinking was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. Further, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed that γ-ray irradiation produced a reduced GO sheet, which resulted in an increase in the electrical conductivity by 30%. By characterizing the electrochemical properties, we found that the γ-ray irradiation facilitates the stability and increases the charge/discharge capacity by crosslinking GO and PDA–PEI binders and reducing the GO sheets.

Fluorescent nanostructures based on carbon, or carbon dots, are attracting much attention and interest because of their diverse properties which can be applied in several fields of knowledge, such as optics, biomedicine, environmental research, among others. Such properties are in part, derived from its intrinsic luminescence from tunable functional groups. In this work, we produced carbon nanodots (CND) using agro-industrial residues, such as Lolium perenne and malt bagasse. The methods used were conventional hydrothermal syntheses and microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that carbon dots synthesized from this ryegrass type are reported. The synthesis methods were one step (no catalyst, base, or acid were added for passivation), and the functional groups responsible for the luminescence and high solubility in water were identified by infrared spectroscopy, being mainly C=O, C–OH, C–N, and N–H. According to our theoretical studies, the C=O group introduced a new energy level for electronic transitions that can affect the emission properties. Fluorescence images of osteoblasts using CNDs were acquired and their chelating property towards Pb2+ and Cr6+ detection was tested.

연구는 참외 재배 지에서 흰가루병, 담배가루이 및 두점박이응애가 동시에 발생하였을 때 45, 40, 35°C (대조구)의 온도에서 측창으로 환기 처리 시, 온실 내 온 ․ 습도의 변화, 병충해 발생과 잎말림, 그리고 개화조절에 미 치는 효과를 검토하였다. 3월 3일 ‘히든파워’ 대목에 접붙여진 ‘알찬꿀’ 참외를 40cm 간격으로 격리상에 심었고, 위 에 언급한 병해충이 모든 처리구에서 발생한 6월 18일부터 7월 13일까지 처리하였다. 온실의 온도는 맑은 날에는 설정 온도 지점까지 증가되었고, 45°C 환기 처리에서 고온 고습이 약 9시간 동안 유지되었다. 주간 최고 기온과 최 저 상대습도 차이는 45°C 환기 처리에서 가장 높았다. 환기 처리 11일 후에는 흰가루병과 두점박이응애 피해가 45°C 환기 처리에서 거의 회복되었지만 40°C와 35°C에서는 그렇지 않았다. 처리 14일 후, 담배가루이와 두점박이 응애 밀도는 45°C에서 유의하게 감소하였으나 흰가루병 증상은 유의하게 감소하지는 않았다. 잎말림은 고온에서 유발되었으나 45°C에서도 심하지 않았다. 처리 26일 후, 새로 나온 줄기의 15 마디의 개화수를 조사한 결과, 45°C에 서 암꽃이 전혀 나오지 않았고 수꽃은 1.2개로 나타났다. 이상의 결과는, 고온기에 45°C의 고온에서 2－3주간 환기 처리는 온실 내부의 고온 고습을 유도하여 흰가루병, 담배가루이, 두점박이응애를 통제하고, 개화를 억제하여 참외 의 영양 생장을 회복할 수 있는 방법으로 사료되었다.

Carbon xerogels (CXs) with three-dimensional (3D) structure, unusual surface, physical, electrical and mechanical properties and their electrically conductive polymer polypyrrole (PPy) composites were synthesized as electrode materials for supercapacitors. The effect of different resorcinol/formaldehyde (R/C) ratios, whether solvent exchange with or without acetone and polypyrrole addition on the physicochemical (FTIR, XRD, BET, SEM and TGA) and electrochemical properties (CV, 1000 cycles) of the synthesized materials were investigated. It was observed that the R/C ratio and the solvent exchange process prior to drying affect the specific surface areas and the pore size distributions, thereby positively affecting the specific capacitance. PPy film thickness was observed to be effective in the specific capacitance of the electrode in PPy composite synthesis. Among the synthesized materials, the highest specific capacitance values belong to polypyrrole/carbon xerogel composites. As a result of the analysis and calculations, it was found that the highest specific capacitance belongs to CX2/PPy composite with 599 Fg− 1 at 5 mVs− 1. CX2/PPy composite has been found to have a capacitance retention rate of 80.30% at the end of 1000 cycles.

Platinum (Pt) catalysts dispersed on carbon-based support materials are generally used in the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. In this study, commercial graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), with different surface areas (320, 530, 800 m2 g− 1), were used as catalyst supports in PEM fuel cells. These GNPs were also pyrolyzed under the inert atmosphere, with and without melamine, as the nitrogen (N) source. Various characterizations (Elemental analysis, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, BET, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, XRD, TGA, ICP-MS, contact angle measurement, CV, ORR, chronoamperometry, EIS, PEM fuel cell performance test) were performed for the detailed analysis of Pt/GNPs. Based on the three-electrode cell system, the lowest electrochemical surface area (ECSA) loss (29.9%), Pt mass activity loss (20.3%) and overall (charge and mass) resistance (42.2 Ω) were obtained with the Pt/M-530 catalyst. According to the in-situ PEM fuel cell performance results, the specific peak power density was recorded as (450 mW mg Pt− 1) for the Pt/R-530 catalyst, which has also the second most hydrophobic catalyst layer surface with the 146.5° ± 1.28° contact angle value. On the heels of Pt/R-530, the two best performances also belong to the Pt/M-530 (391 mW mg Pt− 1) and Pt/P-530 (378 mW mg Pt− 1) catalysts of the same group.

Thermal reduction of graphite oxide (GO) is considered as a prospective method for the preparation of high-performance graphene-based materials. However, this method has certain limitations, and the major is that this exothermic process is difficult to control. In this research, we focused on the kinetic studies of the reduction of graphite oxide using non-isothermal differential calorimetry (DSC) method. Six GO nanocomposites with dyes were tested to study the shift in kinetic parameters. The apparent reaction order is determined to be ca 0.7 for the thermal decomposition of pure GO, while in the presence of dye molecules it increases sometimes reaching a value of 2.0 for higher dye concentrations. Decisively, the thermal decomposition of pure GO can be presented as an intermediate between a zero- and first-order reaction, while the introduction of dye molecules turns a certain part of the energy consumption via the bimolecular pathway. Our research revealed that the process of GO thermal decomposition can be operated and properties of the final product (reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and its derivatives) can be adjusted more precisely using additive molecules, which interact with GO sheets.

Olfactory receptors (OR) are primarily responsible for the detection of odorant molecules. We previously demonstrated that OR7D4, an OR for androstenone, is expressed in the vomeronasal organ and olfactory epithelium tissue of stallions. Recently, the expression of OR1I1 in the human testes was reported and the possible roles of OR1I1 in the testicular cells were suggested. The objectives of this study were 1) to explore the expression of OR7D4 and OR1I1 in stallion testes, and 2) to define the specific localization of OR7D4 and OR1I1 in the testicular tissues. Stallion testicular tissue samples were used for this study. Western blot was performed to confirm the cross-reactivity of OR7D4 and OR1I1 antibody with stallion testicular tissue samples. OR7D4 and OR1I1 gene expressions were investigated using reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in stallion testes. Immunofluorescence was performed to investigate the expression of OR7D4 and OR1I1 in stallion testicular tissues. The protein bands for OR7D4 and OR1I1 from the testes were observed at approximately 38 kDa and 43 kDa, respectively. The mRNA of OR7D4 and OR1I1 were detected in stallion testes. Immunolabeling of OR7D4 and OR1I1 in the cytoplasm of both spermatogonia and Leydig cells was observed. In conclusion, androstenone and another odorant chemical, which is recognized by OR1I1, may play an important role in stallion testes.

The immunological sperm separation method is economical compared to the existing sorting method, and it is promising for the development of new technologies by reducing sperm damage. Wholemom (WM) is a sex-regulating protein that comprises on immunoglobulin G coupled with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) that responds to surface proteins derived from the Y chromosome in cattle. Y sperms are restricted in motility as the WM aggregates them, and the magnet could separate the non-aggregated cells. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of WM treatment on the characteristics of bull sperm. After treating sperm with WM and incubation for 6 h, the motility parameters including total motility, progressive motility, velocity average path, velocity straight line, amplitude of lateral head displacement, and linearity were significantly higher in the WM treatment group than in the control group (p < 0.05). Sperm viability and acrosome reaction rates were similar in both groups during each incubation period (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the immunological sperm sexing procedure using a monoclonal antibody conjugated with MNPs did not affect the characteristics of bull sperm. This study suggests that compared to other techniques, the immunological method for sperm sexing could classify sperm quickly and efficiently without the use of expensive equipment.

The aims of this study were to measure the ultrasonographic biometry of genitalia of the indigenous rams and observe the relationship of biometry on semen parameters. The epididymal volume was significantly reduced (p < 0.01) after semen collection compared with before collection for both left and right part in all rams. The cumulative results showed that although there was no significant difference in length, width and volume of epididymis between before and after semen collection, however the values were lower after collection. The epididymal length was significantly correlated with epididymal volume (p < 0.01), semen motility (p < 0.05) and semen morphology (p < 0.01). Epididymal width was only significantly correlated with epididymal volume (p < 0.01) not with the semen parameters. Epididymal volume had a significant correlation only with semen morphology (p < 0.01).The scrotal circumference had the significant correlation with semen density, mass activity, concentration and motility (p < 0.01). The epididymis had the similar or slightly increased echogenicity as compared to the normal testis. During whole study, some white spots were found on testis which did not affect the semen quantity and quality. Significant variation was observed only for semen concentration and motility among the rams (p < 0.05). The overall normal morphology was 90.5 ± 4.6% with highest percentage of coiled tail abnormalities.

This study compared the immune responses, stress relief and weight gains of needle or needle-free intramuscular and needle-free intradermal vaccination in pigs. When the same amount of a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine was administered to pigs, antibody titers at 4 weeks after the 1st and 2nd FMD vaccination were not significantly different between the needle (IM-S) and needle-free (NM-P250) intramuscularly vaccinated groups, but the weight gain of NM-P250 was significantly increased compared to that of IM-S at 8 weeks after the 2nd FMD vaccination (p<0.05). In addition, serum cortisol concentrations of NM-P250 were considerably decreased compared to those of IM-S on the 5th and 7th day after the 1st and 2nd FMD vaccination (p<0.05). However, the antibody titers of IM-S vaccinated with 2 mL of FMD vaccine were significantly increased compared to those of the needle-free intradermal vaccinated group with 0.5 mL of FMD vaccine at 4 weeks after the 1st and 2nd FMD vaccination (p<0.05). In conclusion, the needle-free intramuscular injection for the FMD vaccination can be chosen for weight gain and stress relief in pigs.

기술 트렌드가 증가함에 따라, 엄청난 양의 데이터가 생성되고 있습니다. 많은 양의 데이터가 소비되는 기술 분야 중 하나는 컴퓨터 비전이다. 인간은 기계와 비교할 때 시각에 영향을 미치는 표정, 조명 또는 시야각과 같은 외부 조건에서도 얼굴이나 사물을 쉽게 감지하고 인식할 수 있다. 그 이유는 그것과 관련된 높은 차원 의 데이터 때문이다. 데이터 차원성은 모든 관측치에서 측정되는 변수의 총 수를 말합니다. 이번 사업은 안 면인식시스템에 적합한 다양한 차원감소 기법을 비교하고 조도가 다양한 안면이미지로 구성된 다양한 데이 터세트로 테스트해 모델의 정확도 향상에 도움이 되는 기법의 앙상블 모델을 제안하고 성능을 측정하는 것 이 목적이다.렉스 배경과 표현. 제안된 앙상블 모델은 주성분 분석(PCA)과 로컬 선형 임베딩(LLE)이라는 두 가지 차원 감소 기술의 혼합에서 벡터를 추출하고, 이를 밀도 높은 컨볼루션 신경망(CNN)을 통해 전달하여 야생 면(LFW) 데이터 세트의 얼굴을 예측한다. 이 모형은 0.95의 검정 정확도와 0.94의 검정 F1 점수로 수행 됩니다. 제안된 시스템은 시스템이 얼굴을 예측할 수 있는 제안된 앙상블 모델과 통합된 웹캠에서 라이브 비 디오 스트림을 캡처하는 플라스크를 사용하여 개발된 웹 앱을 포함한다.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of extract mixture of C. wilfordii and P. umbrosa (IPLUS-CWPU) on bone growth in 4-week old young male SD rats. To confirm the effect of IPLUS-CWPU, we measured the length of bone growth plate, the ratio of proliferative zone to the length of growth plate and the expression level of insulin-like growth factor, IGF-1. The IPLUS-CWPU treatment shows a significant increase of tibial and femoral growth plate and the ratio of proliferative zone in growth plate. Especially, the length increased by 13.9% and 25.3% in the tibia and femur, respectively, in the high-dose group compared to the normal group. Moreover, the expression of IGF-1 gene in liver was upregulated in IPLUS-CWPU treated groups. These results indicated that IPLUS-CWPU administration could increase the proliferative zone of bone growth plate in early developmental stage by upregulation of IGF-1 gene.

In the majority of countries, the upper limit of buffer temperature in a repository is set to below 100℃ due to the possible illitization. This smectite-to-illite transformation is expected to be detrimental to the swelling functions of the buffer. However, if the upper limit is increased while preventing illitization, the disposal density and cost-effectiveness for the repository will dramatically increase. Thus, understanding the characteristics and creating a database related to the buffer under the elevated temperature conditions is crucial. In this study, a strategy to investigate the bentonite found in Korea under the elevated temperatures from a mineral transformation and radionuclides retardation perspective was proposed. Certain long-term hydrothermal reactions generated the bentonite samples that were utilized for the investigation of their mineral transformation and radionuclide retardation characteristics. The bentonite samples are expected to be studied using in-situ synchrotron-based X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) technique to determine the smectite-to-illite transformation. Simultaneously, the ‘high-temperature and high-pressure mineral alteration measurement system’ based on the Diamond Anvil Cell (DAC) will control and provide the elevated temperature and pressure conditions during the measurements. The kinetic models, including the Huang and Cuadros model, are expected to predict the time and manner in which the illitization will become detrimental to the performance and safety of the repository. The sorption reactions planned for the bentonite samples to evaluate the effects on retardation will provide the information required to expand the current knowledge of repository optimization.

본 연구는 거베라 주산지인 경북과 경남 지역의 농가 재배 및 스마트팜 현황을 조사하고 분석하고자 수행하였다. 조사방법은 2020년 81 농가를 대상으로 대면 설문조사를 실시하였다. 거베라 경영주 연령은 50∼60대가 71.6%로 가장 많았고, 30∼ 40대가 16%, 70세 이상이 9.9%, 30세 이하는 2.5% 순이었다. 거베라 재배 경력은 5년 이하가 37%였으며, 6∼10년 25.9%, 11∼20년 29.6%, 21년 이상 농가가 7.4%였다. 재배 면적은 0.3 ∼0.6ha가 61.7%로 가장 많았고, 0.3ha 미만이 30.9%, 0.6ha 이상이 7.4%였으며, 전체 평균재배 면적은 0.37ha였다. 거베라 재배 농가당 평균 인력은 자가 노동력 2.1명, 고용 노동력 0.8명 이었다. 재배 방식에서 토경 88.9%, 양액재배 농가는 11.1%였다. 국산품종을 전체 또는 일부라도 재배하고 있는 농가는 61.7%였고 외국산 거베라 품종만 재배하고 있는 농가는 38.3% 였다. 거베라 병해충 발생조사에서 병 발생이 많았다고 응답한 농가는 91.4%였으며, 충 발생이 많았다고 응답한 농가는 98.8% 였다. 스마트팜 시스템을 설치한 농가는 12.3%였으며, 설치하지 않은 농가에서 향후 설치할 의향이 있다고 응답한 농가는 76.9% 였다. 향후 경영계획을 묻는 질문에서 현상유지 80.2%, 축소 8.6%, 경영확대 11.1%였으며, 경영 확대를 대답한 농가는 경북 지역이 8농가로 경남지역 1농가 보다 많았다.

When luting indirect restorations with dual-cure resin cement (DCRC), excess cement can be easily removed by performing tack cure of DCRC for a few seconds. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether different tack cure times affect polymerization shrinkage (PS) of the selected DCRC. One dual-cure resin cement (G-CEM LinkAce, GC) was used for measuring PS in light-cure (LC group), self-cure (SC group), and two tack-cure modes. In the first tack-cure subgroup, tack cure was performed for 1, 2, 3, and 5 seconds, followed by light cure after 2 minutes of remnant removal time in each case (TC-LC groups). In the other tack-cure subgroup, tack cure was performed for the same lengths of time, but followed by self-cure in each case (TC-SC groups). PS was measured by a modified bonded disc method for 1,800 seconds. One-way analysis of variance followed by Duncan’s post hoc test was used to determine any statistically significant differences among the test groups (α = 0.05). When the DCRC was selfcured after tack cure, PS was significantly lower than when it was only self-cured (p < 0.05); however, tack cure time did not affect PS (p > 0.05). When the DCRC was light-cured, PS was not affected by tack cure or tack cure time (p > 0.05). Therefore, tack cure within 5 seconds did not negatively affect the final PS when the DCRC was light-cured after cement remnant removal.

The growth characterization and enzyme productivity of halotolerant microorganisms isolated from the Nakdong River estuary wetland in Korea were investigated in this study. The isolation of halotolerant microorganisms was carried out through their cultivation at 37oC for several days using a marine agar medium. After a single-colony isolation, 16 pure colonies were obtained, and phylogenetic analysis was done using 16S-based ID service in the EzBioCloud database. The isolated strains were divided into 3 phyla, 5 families, 7 genera, and 13 species. Possible industrial applications of the strains were confirmed upon testing for amylolytic, lipolytic, and proteolytic activity to confirm the possible production of hydrolytic enzymes, growth at a pH range of 5 to 9, and various salt concentrations being tested. Thirteen strains possessed at least one enzyme activity, and 5 strains possessed 2 enzyme activities. Eight strains could tolerate up to 10% NaCl concentration. This result indicated that isolated strains had shown the possible application in food and cosmetic industries. Therefore, this study would contribute to securing domestic biological resources and improving hydrolytic enzyme activity using these strains.