Titanium constitutes approximately 60% of the weight of steel and exhibits strength comparable to steel's but with a higher strength-to-weight ratio. Titanium alloys possess excellent corrosion resistance due to a thin oxide layer at room temperature; however, their reactivity increases above 600°C, leading to oxidation and nitridation. Welding titanium alloys presents challenges such as porosity issues. Laser welding minimizes the heat-affected zone (HAZ) by emitting high output in a localized area for a short duration. This process forms a narrow and deep HAZ, reducing the deterioration of mechanical properties and decreasing the contact area with oxygen. In this study, fiber laser welding was conducted on 8.0mm thick Ti-6Al-4V alloy using the Bead On Plate (BOP) technique. A total of 25 welding conditions were experimented with to observe bead shapes. The results demonstrated successful penetration within the 0.792mm to 8.000mm range. It was concluded that this experimental approach can predict diverse welding conditions for Ti-6Al-4V alloys of various thicknesses.

The need for lightweight yet strong materials is being demanded in all industries. Carbon fiber-reinforced plastic is a material with increased strength by attaching carbon fiber to plastic, and is widely used in the aerospace industry, ships, automobiles, and civil engineering based on its low density. Carbon-reinforced fiber plastic is a material widely used in parts and manufactured products, and structural analysis simulation is required during design, and application of actual material properties is necessary for accurate structural analysis simulation. In the case of carbon-reinforced fiber plastics, it is reported that there is a porosity of around 0.5% to 6%, and it is necessary to check the change in material properties according to the porosity and pore shape. It was confirmed by applying the method. It was confirmed that the change in elastic modulus according to the porosity was 10.7% different from the base material when the porosity was 6.0%, and the Poisson's ratio was confirmed to be less than 3.0%. It was confirmed that the elliptical spherical pore derived different material properties from the spherical pore depending on the pore shape, and it was confirmed that the shape of the pore had to be confirmed to derive equivalent material properties.

Demand for research on the use of hydrogen, an eco-friendly fuel, is rapidly increasing in accordance with global environmental problems and IMO environmental regulations in the shipbuilding and marine industry. In the case of hydrogen, similar to liquefied natural gas, it has a characteristic that its volume decreases hundreds of times during phase transformation from gas to liquid, so it must be stored in a tank in the form of liquefied hydrogen for transport efficiency. The material of the liquid hydrogen tank is selected in consideration of mechanical properties and hydrogen embrittlement at cryogenic temperatures. In this study, welding research was conducted on STS316L material, which was most commonly used in the space industry. In this study, flux cored arc welding was performed under 4 welding conditions to derive the optimal welding conditions for STS316L material, and then mechanical properties of the welded part were compared and analyzed.

본 연구는 초음파 진동에 의해 발생하는 공동현상을 이용하여 다양한 유용성분과 생리활성을 가지고 있는 녹차와 애엽을 혼합하여 새로운 식품소재를 개발하기 위해서 반응표면분석법에 의한 추출특성을 모니터링 하여 최적 추출조건을 예측하였다. 초음파를 지속적으로 가하는 조건에서 Box-Behnken design에 의해 녹차와 애엽의 혼합비, 용매와 용질의 비, 추출시간을 독립변수로 하여 15구간의 추출조건을 설정하고 추출수율(Y)을 종속변수로 하여 모니터링 하였다. 반응표면분석결과 녹차 및 애엽 혼합 추출물은 녹차의 함량과 추출용매의 양이 증가 할수록 추출 수율이 증가 하였으며, 추출시간은 결과에 큰 영향을 주지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 추출수율을 최대로 얻을 수 있는 녹차 및 애엽 혼합물의 최적 추출조건은 녹차와 애엽의 혼합비 85.86%, 용매와 용질의 비 92.73 mL/g, 추출시간 56.52분으로 확인되었으며, 추출수율의 최대값은 30.03% 로 예측되었다.

본 연구는 발효 탐라오가피(fermented A. koreanum) 추출물의 유전독성을 연구하기 위하여, 미생물복귀돌연변이시험, 마우스 골수세포를 이용한 소핵시험, 염색체 이상시험을 연구하였다. 미생물복귀돌연변이 연구에서 발효 탐라오가피 추출물은 Salmonella typhimurium TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537와 Escherichia coli WP2uvrA에 대하여 대사활성계의 존재(+S-9 Mix) 및 부재(-S-9 Mix) 하에서 돌연변이 유도를 보이지 않았다. 또한, ICR 마우스를 이용한 소핵실험에서 발효 탐라오가피 추출물은 500, 1,000, 2,000 mg/kg 농도에서 MNPCE/2,000 PCE 와 PCE/200 RBC의 소핵형성을 유발하지 않았다. 한편, CHO-K1 세포를 이용한 염색체 이상실험에서 발효 탐라오가피 추출물은 대사활성계의 존재 6시간 처리군, 대사활성계 부재 6시간 처리군 및 대사활성계 부재 24시간 처리군에서 염색체 이상을 보이지 않았다. 따라서, 본 연구결과 발효 탐라오가피 추출물은 유전독성을 나타내지 않음을 알 수 있었다.

본 연구에서는 피로 회복 또는 원기 회복에 효능이 있는 것으로 알려진 홍경천과 홍삼을 이용하여 홍경천-홍삼 복합 발효물의 산화적 손상 억제 효과를 평가하고자 H2O2로 산화적 스트레스를 유도시킨 C2C12 근육세포에 홍경천-홍삼 복합 발효물의 처리한 후, 세포의 morphology, cell viability 및 항산화 효소들의 유전자 발현 양상을 비교, 분석하였다. 홍경천-홍삼 복합 발효물은 C2C12 근육세포의 cell viability를 유의적으로 증가시켰으며, Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD 및 GPx 등과 같은 세포내 항산화 효소의 발현을 증가시킬 뿐만 아니라, 근육세포 분화의 주요 전사인자인 Myo D의 발현 또한 증가시키는 것으로 나타났다. 이상의 결과로, 홍경천-홍삼 복합 발효물은 세포내 항산화 효소 시스템을 증가시켜 외부로부터의 산화적 손상에 대한 방어효능을 갖는 것으로 나타났으며, 향후 in vivo 시스템 이용한 추가적인 연구가 수행된다면, 홍경천-홍삼 복합 발효물을 이용한 항피로 건강기능식품의 소재개발이 가능할 것으로 판단된다.

The coupling of autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been implicated in a variety of biological processes. However, little is known regarding the involvement of the autophagy/ER stress pathway in early embryogenesis or the underlying mechanism (s). Here, we showed that the developmental competence of in vitro-produced (IVP) bovine embryos was highly dependent on the autophagy/ER stress balance. Although relative abundances of autophagy-associated gene transcripts, including LC3, Atg5, and Atg7 transcripts, were high in oocytes and throughout the early stages of preattachment development, extensive autophagosome formation was only detected in fertilized embryos. Using inducer and inhibitor of autophagy, we showed that transient elevation of autophagic activity during early preattachment development greatly increased the blastocyst development rate, trophectoderm cell numbers, and blastomere survival; these same parameters were reduced by both inhibition and prolonged induction of autophagy. Interestingly, the induction of autophagy reduced ER stress and associated damage, while the developmental defects in autophagy-inhibited embryos were significantly alleviated by ER stress inhibitor treatment, indicating that autophagy is a negative regulator of ER stress inearly embryos. Collectively, these results suggest that early embryo genesis of IVP bovine embryos depends on an appropriate balance between autophagy and ER stress. These findings may increase our understanding of important early developmental events by providing compelling evidence concerning the tight association between autophagy and ER stress, and may contribute to the development of strategies for the production of IVP bovine blastocysts with high developmental competence.

Autophagy is known to be involved in a variety of biological processes. However, relatively a little is known regarding oocyte maturation and preimplantation development in mammals. Thus, the current study was conducted to investigate the role of autophagy in oocyte maturation and subsequent preimplantation development in pigs. Porcine oocytes were matured in the presence or absence of 1 μM rapamycin, an autophagy inducing agent, fertilized in vitro, and cultured to blastocyst stage. From Western blotting analysis, we found that active form LC3 was detected during in vitro maturation (IVM) period, suggesting the possible role of autophagy in oocyte maturation. Interestingly, treatment of rapamycin during IVM significantly increased nuclear maturation compared to control group. Importantly, rapamycin-assisted IVM greatly improved monospermic fertilization and blastocyst development rates compared to control embryos. In addition, we also found that cell number and blastomere survival in blastocysts were markedly increased in rapamycin treatment group, which was further evidenced by both elevation of anti-apoptotic transcript Bcl-XL and decrease of pro-apoptotic transcript Bax. Collectively, these results strongly suggest that induction of autophagy may contribute to the completion of nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of porcine oocytes.

Despite of the presence of estradiol-17β (E2) in ovarian follicles, its role(s) in in vitro maturation (IVM) is still largely unknown, especially in pigs. Thus, the current study was conducted to investigate the effect of E2 on in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes and subsequent preimplantation development using in vitro fertilization (IVF)- or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)-derived embryos. To define the effects of E2 on IVM and early embryogenesis, porcine oocytes were matured in the presence or absence of E2, fertilized in vitro and cultivated to blastocyst stage. Compared to control group, the production of MII oocytes was significantly increased by treatment with E2, accompanying with the increase in MPF content and ERK phosphorylation, and monospermic fertilization and blastocyst development rates were also greatly elevated in the E2-treated oocytes. In addition, the advantageous role of E2 was also found in blastomere survival, which was further evidenced by both elevation of anti-apoptotic transcript Bcl-XL and decrease of pro-apoptotic transcript Bax. Furthremore, these positive effects of E2 were highly reproducible in early development of SCNT embryos. Collectively, the current study strongly suggests that E2 can be used as a efficient IVM supplement leading to successful nuclear/cytoplasmic maturatioin in pigs.

Successful early embryogenesis of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos is very important to produce cloned animals. However, poor preimplantation development of SCNT embryos has been a major obstacle to the generation of cloned animals due to a lack of understanding of developmental events and underlying mechanism(s). In the current study, we show that production of SCNT embryos with high developmental competence is dependent on the fusion method. Electrofusion causes spontaneous egg activation, accompanied by an increase in intracellular Ca2+ and improper nuclear remodeling, whereas Sendai virus (SV)-mediated fusion greatly reduces these events. In addition, SV-SCNT increased the blastocyst development rate and trophectoderm cell number compared to electrofusion-mediated SCNT (E-SCNT). In particular, expression of ER stress-associated genes and blastomere apoptosis were significantly increased in E-SCNT embryos, which could be alleviated by inhibition of ER stress or by using the SV-mediated fusion method. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that SV is a useful fusion material for improvement of preimplantation development of SCNT embryos through reduction of ER stress-associated apoptosis.

Members of the Vps (Vacuolar protein sorting) protein family involved in the formation of the retromer complex have been discovered in a variety of species such as yeast, mouse, and human. A mammalian retromer complex is composed of Vps26, Vps29, and Vps35 proteins and plays and important role in cation-independent mannose-6-phosphate receptor retrieval from the endosome to the trans-Golgi network. In this study, we have identified the full-length sequences of the retromer components of Vps26, Vps29, and Vps35 in micro pigs. The cDNA sequences of these retromer components have been determined and the result showed there is 99% homology among the component counterparts from mouse, micro pigs, and humans. In addition, the retromer complexes formed with hetero-components were found in the brain of micro pigs. Based on above results, we suggest mammalian Vps components are well conserved in micro pigs.