The Alkali-Metal Thermal to Electric Converter (AMTEC) can be used as a next-generation power generation technology related with a large thermal energy storage. In particular, this technology is expected for the higher efficiency by a cascade power generation with the thermoelectric generator(TEG), and the temperature distribution becomes a very important design parameter in this case. In this study, the temperature distribution of the AMTEC unit was analyzed through CFD analysis, and design points were discussed based on the results.

본 논문은 보노보(Bonobo)의 6집 앨범 「마이그레이션(Migration)」에 수록된 곡 ‘Outlier’를 선행 연구곡으로 선정하여 스터터 기법의 사용에 대해 연구하였다. 분석 방법으로는 선행 연구곡을 스펙트로그램을 통해 스터터 효과가 나타난 부분을 살펴보았다. 스펙트로그램을 통해 보노보의 음악이 특정 구간을 반복한다는 것을 확인하였고 그에 따라 스터터 기법이 쓰였음을 유추할 수 있었다. 보노보가 그의 음악에 적용한 것은 오디오 조각이 반복되면서 리듬을 만드는 스터터 기법이었다. 스터터 기법을 사용함에 따라 나타나는 음악적 효과도 함께 연구해 보았다. 하나의 악기가 아닌 여러 음색이 겹친 오디오 조각이 반복되어 독특한 음색을 만들어 냈다. 어떤 오디오 조각이냐에 따라 돋보이는 음색이 달랐다. 스터터 기법은 이펙트 플러그인을 통해 재생 속도나 방향을 조절하는 등의 더 다양한 적용이 가능하다. 스터터 기법을 활용하면 흥미로운 음악을 제작하는 데에 도움이 될 것이다.

Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven desalination process with a hydrophobic membrane. MD process has been known to have a lower fouling potential compared to other pressure-based membrane desalination process (NF, RO). However, membrane fouling also occurs in MD process. In this study, the membrane fouling was observed in MD process according to the pre-treatment processes. The filtration and precipitation processes were applied as the pre-treatment to prevent the membrane fouling. The pore sizes of roughing filters were 0.4, 5, 10, 30, and 60 ㎛. The concentration of the coagulant was 1.2 mg/L as FeCl3. The membrane fouling on MD membrane was successfully removed with both pre-treatment processes.

Skin-derived precursors (SKPs) have potential to differentiate to various cell types including osteoblasts, adipocytes and neurons. SKPs are a candidate for cell-based therapy since they are easily accessible and have multipotency. Most mammalian cells are exposed to a low oxygen environment with 1 to 5% O2 concentration in vivo, while 21% O2 concentration is common in in vitro culture. The difference between in vitro and in vivo O2 concentration may affect to the behavior of cultured cells. In this report, we investigated the effect of hypoxic condition on stemness and proliferation of SKPs. The results indicated that SKPs exposed to hypoxic condition for 5 days showed no change in proliferation. In terms of mRNA expression, hypoxia maintained expression of stemness markers; whereas, oncogenes, such as Klf4 and c-Myc, were downregulated, and the expression of Nestin, related to cancer migration, was also downregulated. Thus, SKPs cultured in hypoxia may reduce the risk of cancer in SKP cell-based therapy.

As cause-related marketing (CRM) is becoming an increasingly integral part of corporate social responsibility activities and promotion plans, many researchers have studied what determines the effectiveness of cause-related marketing activities. One of the factors past research paid much attention to in this regard is the fit between the brand and cause. Previous studies have demonstrated that a high brand-cause fit generally improves consumer attitude toward company, increases purchase intent and brand loyalty. However, few recent studies show that a high brand-cause fit may backfire in some circumstances. This research aims to investigate when and why a high brand-cause fit backfires. In this regard, this research focuses on the role of important but understudied concept of consumer-cause fit. Based on a multi-dimensional perspective of self-concept (Sirgy,1982), this research defines and measures consumer-cause fit with respect to multiple dimensions of a consumer’s self-concept. Then, a series of experiments shows how the congruence between images of a cause, a consumer’s ideal and actual self-concept, and images of a brand will interact to moderate, in some cases even reverse, the relationship between brand-cause fit and consumer responses to a cause-related marketing campaign.