In this study, we investigated the protective effects of Ulva lactuca methanol extracts against ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced DNA damage in HaCaT cells. First, the contents of general and antioxidative nutrient contents of Ulva lactuca were measured. The moisture, carbohydrate, crude protein, crude fat and ash were 14.01%, 44.80%, 23.19%, 3.10% and 14.90%, respectively. Magnesium that acts as DNA repair enzyme cofactor was the most abundant mineral followed by Ca, P and Fe. The total phenolic and anthocyanoside contents of Ulva lactuca were 2.69 mg/g and 0.13 mg/g, respectively. Cells treated with Ulva lactuca methanol extracts for 24 hours post UVB exposure increased cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner compared to the non-treated control. Also, Ulva lactuca methanol extracts decreased the levels of UVB-induced DNA damage such as cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer and DNA damage response (DDR) proteins such as p-p53 and p21. These results suggest that Ulva lactuca methanol extracts comprising physiological active substances such as Mg, polyphenols and anthocyanosides promote DNA repair by regulating genes related with DDR.

The purpose of this study was to compare hand washing awareness and microorganism contamination on the hands for evaluating the difference between awareness and conditions of hand hygiene. The average number of total aerobic bacteria and coliform was 2.7 log CFU/hand and 1.8 log CFU/hand, respectively. Coliform bacteria were detected in all of the students tested in this study. The questionnaire survey data obtained via a direct interview were collected from 100 university students with microorganism analysis. A majority (90%) of the students recognized that good hand hygiene is important in order to prevent food poisoning. In the hand washing survey data, the responses suggesting “always washed” from “before eating food”, “after handling money”, “after finishing study” and “after visiting patients” were observed in 18, 13, 15 and 33 out of the 100 students, respectively. The questionnaire data of hand washing frequency and time duration showed that 14 students and 6 students answered “more than 8 times of hand washing per day” and “more than 30 seconds of hand washing time”, respectively. These results indicated that improper hand washing practices and poor hand hygiene were identified in the majority of the students. This emphasizes the difference between awareness and conditions of hand hygiene. Repeated hand washing education about the frequency, time duration and methods is constantly required to improve hand hygiene. Installation of hand washing equipment in the space of a restaurant and cafeteria is suggested for enhancing hand hygiene before eating food.

This study analyzes the chemical composition of green tea, white tea, yellow tea, oolong tea and black tea with respect to extraction temperature and time. The optimum extraction conditions for these teas were determined by assessing the chemical composition of tea brewed at different temperature (50, 60, 70, 80℃) and extraction times (1, 3, 5, 10 minute). Catechins contents were the largest at 5 minutes and generally declined by 10 minutes. Green tea catechins contents were highest when brewed at 70℃ and besides other teas a change of the trend variation at 70 and 80℃. These temperatures did not extract theaflavins in green tea. Extract temperature and time did not significantly affect theaflavins content of white tea, yellow tea, and oolong tea. Black tea, however, was noticeably dependent on extract conditions, which were most effective at 70℃, brewed for 5 minutes. Caffeine content of green tea, yellow tea, and oolong tea was highest at 5 minutes, but temperature did not appear to affect the content. White tea and black tea caffeine content was highest when brewed at 70℃ for 5 minutes. Theobromine content of green tea, yellow tea, oolong tea, and black tea did not show major differences between the study times or temperature, though the content in white tea increased with higher temperatures when brewed for 5 minutes. The extraction of phenolic compounds increased until 5 minutes, and showed not further increase at 10 minutes. Antioxidant capacity of green tea, white tea, and yellow tea were maximized at 70℃ for 5 minutes or 80℃ for 3 minutes, while oolong and black tea were reached maximum antioxidants at 70℃ for 5 minutes. In general, to optimize the beneficial chemical content of brewed tea, a water temperature of 70℃ for 5 minutes is recommended.

The final goal of this research is to develop a botanical biofiltration system, which combines green interior, biofiltering, and automatic irrigation, which can purify indoor air pollutants according to indoor space and the size of biofilter. The biofilter used in this experiment was designed as an integral form of water metering pump, water tank, blower, humidifier, and multi-level planting space in order to be more suitable for indoor space utilization. This study was performed to compare indoor air quality between the space adjacent to a botanical biofilter and the space away from the biofilter (control) without generation of artificial indoor air pollutants, and to evaluate plant growth depending on multiple floors within the biofilter. Each concentration of indoor air pollutants such as TVOCs, monoxide, and dioxide in the space treated with the biofilter was lower than that of control. Dracaena sanderiana ‘Vitoria’ and Epipremnum aureum ‘N Joy’ also showed normal growth responses regardless of multiple floors within the biofilter. Hence, it was confirmed that the wall-typed botanical biofilter suitable for indoor plants was effective for indoor air purification.

This paper presents interaction force control between a balancing robot and a human operator. The balancing robot has two wheels to generate movements on the plane. Since the balancing robot is based on position control, the robot tries to maintain a desired angle to be zero when an external force is applied. This leads to the instability of the system. Thus a hybrid force control method is employed to react the external force from the operator to guide the balancing robot to the desired position by a human operator. Therefore, when an operator applies a force to the robot, desired balancing angles should be modified to maintain stable balance. To maintain stable balance under an external force, suitable desired balancing angles are determined along with force magnitudes applied by the operator through experimental studies. Experimental studies confirm the functionality of the proposed method.

This paper introduces several mobile robots developed by using LEGO MIDSTORM for experimental studies of robotics engineering education. The first mobile robot is the line tracer robot that tracks a line, which is a prototype of wheel-driven mobile robots. Ultra violet sensors are used to detect and follow the line. The second robot system is a two-wheel balancing robot that is somewhat nonlinear and complex. For the robot to balance, a gyro sensor is used to detect a balancing angle and PD control is used. The last robot system is a combined system of a line tracer and a two-wheel balancing robot. Sensor filtering and control algorithms are tested through experimental studies.

This paper presents the development and control of a two wheeled car-like mobile robot using balancing mechanism whose heading control is done by turning the handle. The mobile inverted pendulum is a combined system of a mobile robot and an inverted pendulum system. A sensor fusion technique of low cost sensors such as a gyro sensor and a tilt sensor to measure the balancing angle of the inverted pendulum robot system accurately is implemented. Experimental studies of the trajectory following control task has been conducted by command of steering wheel while balancing.