Synthesis and Applications of Dicationic Iodide Materials for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been receiving growing attentions as a potential alternative to order photovoltaic devices due to their high efficiency and low manufacturing cost. DSSCs are composed of a photosensitizing dye adsorbed on a mesoporous film of nanocrystalline TiO2 as a photoelectrode, an electrolyte containing triiodide/iodide redox couple, and a platinized counter electrode. To improve photovoltaic properties of DSSCs, new dicationic salts based on ionic liquids were synthesized. Quite comparable efficiencies were obtained from electrolytes with new dicationic iodide salts. The best cell performance of 7.96% was obtained with dicationic salt of PBDMIDI

A Study of Rent Fee Assessment on the Port Railway Station: The Litigation Case Study of a Korean Container Terminal

This study provides a systematic method for determining the proper rent fee of a port railway station with a litigation case study of Busan port container terminal. The Port Rail Station Operating Company (PRSOC) leases and operates the port railway station of the port authority (PA). The PA wants to receive a rent fee with the goal of recovering the investment cost, and the PRSOC wants to pay rent to the extent that it can generate an appropriate profit. In order to reasonably estimate the rent fee, this study attempted using a method of estimating the capacity-based demand of the rail station. A recent discussion of terminal rentals concerns what to rent. That is, will only the infrastructure be leased, or will the substructure and the superstructure be leased? Will the infrastructure, superstructure, and equipment be leased? Rail station capacity encounters a bottleneck when measuring railroad track capacity, i.e. RMGC capacity. In other words, arbitrary demand estimation leads to operating losses for PRSOC and may also cause losses to investors because investment costs cannot be recovered. In this study, data such as investment cost, operating cost, and sales required for the construction of the rail station were collected from the Ministry of Ocean and Fishery, PA, and PRSOC. Based on these data, a proper rent fee is proposed by analyzing the cash flow on the premise of operation for the next 30 years. This study adopts the discounted cashflow (DCF) method because DCF allows an objective and consistent comparison of rent fee levels from the PA and PRSOC perspectives. Using DCF, this study finds that the proper rent fee from the perspective of the PA is USD 397,045, while the PRSOC’s proper rent fee is USD 355,801. Thus, it is reasonable to set the standard for determining the proper rent fee by calculating and comparing the rent fee level from the perspective of PA’s investment cost recovery and PRSOC’s operating balance maintenance perspective. This study suggests that the DCF method should be applied to standardize the rent fee calculation system for the port railway station

Estimation of LNG Dolphin Capacity: Dolphins of Different Size in Republic of Korea

The LNG terminals are characterized by a large number of ships entering the port during the winter season due to the seasonality of rapidly increasing demand for heating. In winter, there is a shortage of dolphin jetty wharf (dolphins), which increases the waiting rate for ships. Therefore, there is a practical argument that dolphins should be additionally built to solve the ship standby problem. This study proposes the proper LNG handling capacity of a terminal with multiple dolphins of different size. Studies on calculating the LNG handling capacity of LNG terminal dolphins have been proposed by UNCTAD and Ministry of Transport of China (MTC). The formula-based calculation of LNG handling capacity has the advantage of being simple, but it has the disadvantage of not reflecting the actual operation. In this study, the proper LNG handling capacity is measured using a simulation method to overcome the limitations of formula-based calculation for Incheon port in South Korea. In order to check whether the method by simulation is justified, it is compared with the unloading capacity by the calculation formula. This study finds that the proper (or optimal) LNG handling capacity of Incheon port is determined by a dolphin occupancy of 49%, where the dolphin’s profits are maximized. As the results of simulation model, the proper (or optimal) loading capacity is 38.5 million m3 when dolphin occupancy is 49%. The capacity of individual dolphin is estimated at 17.0 million m3 for 70,000 DWT dolphin and 21.2 million m3 for 120,000 DWT dolphin, respectively. The main points of this study to use simulation model are as follows: First, the number of non-working days should be considered. Second, the optimal dolphin occupancy should be determined by finding the maximum profit point of using the pier. Third, if the size of the dolphin is different, an appropriate simulation will be implemented. Fourth, the data of the peak season should be analyzed. Finally, it should be checked whether the ship waiting rate is acceptable level or not

Investigation of Hydrate-induced Ice Desalination (HIID) and its application to a pretreatment of reverse osmosis (RO) process

In this study, freeze desalination which utilizes CO2 gas hydrate itself as a refrigerant (referred to as Hydrate-induced Ice Desalination, HIID) was systematically investigated and evaluated as a pretreatment method for seawater reverse osmosis (RO) process. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the HIID is the first approach to use the hydrate dissociation energy to freeze seawater in an instant for desalination. The endothermic energy related to hydrate dissociation was the most dominant factor in the freezing of seawater. Using the HIID technique, the rejection of ions with 3.5 wt% NaCl was about 67%. Increasing the concentration of salts enhanced rejection of component ions. However, humic acid organic rejection decreased due to agglomeration of organics in presence of salts. The HIID process showed similar levels of cation rejections-approximately 65% of seawater, except boron and potassium. The rejection of cations might be determined by the solubility of salts at various brine concentration. Using HIID as a pretreatment of seawater at 225 psi, the RO process showed ~ 14 LMH and about 99% cation rejections except boron. This study shows that HIID can be utilized as a pretreatment of seawater desalination and further development might make HBID technology run on its own.clos

Probiotic cheese improves alcohol metabolism and alleviates alcohol-induced liver injury via the SIRT1/AMPK signaling pathway

Excessive alcohol intake leads to alcoholic liver injury via hepatic acetaldehyde accumulation. Some probiotic bacteria, such as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Bifidobacterium, are known to have the ability to break down acetaldehyde; however, there is a lack of evidence on their efficacy in functional food applications. In this study, probiotic cheese containing Lactococcus lactis LB1022 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum LB1418 was evaluated for its function in inducing alcohol metabolism and alleviating alcohol-induced hepatic injury. Probiotic cheese ameliorated alcohol metabolism induced by alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase, enhanced the sirtuin-1 (SIRT1)/adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling, and inhibited the nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) pathway. Interestingly, probiotic cheese also induced peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and prevented fat formation and inflammation in the liver. Taken together, probiotic cheese containing Lc. lactis LB1022 and Lb. plantarum LB1418 could induce alcohol metabolism and alleviate alcohol-induced liver injury by regulating SIRT1 in fatty acid oxidation, AMPK in lipogenesis, and NF-κB in inflammation

Application of Viewshed and Spatial Aesthetic Analyses to Forest Practices for Mountain Scenery Improvement in the Republic of Korea

Forest practices for mountainous areas can enhance the scenery value and function of forests. However, forest scenery management is rarely implemented except for conservation areas and public forests. In this study, we first used the viewshed analysis to extract visible and invisible zones from the surface areas of ordinary mountains in Korea, and then we used spatial aesthetic analysis to interpret the human-recognized characteristics on the visible zones of mountain scenery. Finally, based on the results of both analyses, reasonable guidelines for forest practice planning were proposed to improve the scenery of ordinary mountains. The result shows that the viewshed analysis made it possible to extract visible and invisible areas from the surface areas of ordinary mountains, and to determine the scale of zoning for forest practices to improve mountain scenery. In addition, using spatial aesthetic analysis, it was possible to explain the characteristics of mountain scenery according to distance and elevational differences between viewpoint and target, and to suggest a treatment target and direction for forest practices to improve the mountain scenery. This study is meaningful in that the viewshed and spatial aesthetic analyses were applied to evaluate the current scenery of ordinary mountains and to present guidelines for forest practice planning to promote their own scenery values

Allulose enhances epithelial barrier function by tight junction regulation via the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB immune signaling pathway in an intestinal Caco-2 cell model

d-allulose, a fructose isomer with almost zero calories, has been widely used as a food ingredient that is generally recognized as safe. In recent studies, d-allulose has been shown to alleviate some diseases via restoration of the intestinal barrier. To better understand the role of d-allulose in intestinal epithelial barrier function, we conducted experiments to demonstrate its effects. Our results demonstrated that d-allulose increased transepithelial electrical resistance and decreased intestinal barrier function–associated permeability toward 4 kDa FITC–dextran flux in the damaged intestinal epithelial barrier. It also repaired the disruption pattern of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-1) and inhibited the inflammatory response by inhibiting the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway. Overall, these findings suggest that d-allulose has the potential to be a beneficial food supplement for improving intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction

Fabrication and Characterizations of Hot-Melt Extruded Nanocomposites Based on Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate and Soluplus

Zinc sulfate monohydrate (ZnSO4)-loaded nanocomposites (NCs) were fabricated by using a hot-melt extruder (HME) system. Soluplus (SP) was adopted as an amphiphilic polymer matrix for HME processing. The micro-size of ZnSO4 dispersion was reduced to nano-size by HME processing with the use of SP. ZnSO4 could be homogeneously dispersed in SP through HME processing. ZnSO4/SP NCs with a 75 nm mean diameter, a 0.1 polydispersity index, and a −1 mV zeta potential value were prepared. The physicochemical properties of ZnSO4/SP NCs and the existence of SP in ZnSO4/SP NCs were further investigated by solid-state studies. Nano-size range of ZnSO4/SP NC dispersion was maintained in the simulated gastrointestinal environments (pH 1.2 and 6.8 media). No severe toxicity in intestinal epithelium after oral administration of ZnSO4/SP NCs (at 100 mg/kg dose of ZnSO4, single dosing) was observed in rats. These results imply that developed ZnSO4/SP NC can be used as a promising nano-sized zinc supplement formulation. In addition, developed HME technology can be widely applied to fabricate nanoformulations of inorganic materials

Anti-Inflammatory Effect of a Peptide Derived from the Synbiotics, Fermented Cudrania tricuspidata with Lactobacillus gasseri, on Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of peptides derived from synbiotics on improving inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Five-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were administered with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) via drinking water for seven days to induce IBD (IBD group). The mice in the IBD group were orally administered with PBS (IBD-PBS-positive control), Lactobacillus gasseri 505 (IBD-Pro), fermented powder of CT extract with L. gasseri 505 (IBD-Syn), β-casein: LSQSKVLPVPQKAVPYPQRDMP (IBD-Pep 1), or αs2-casein: VYQHQKAMKPWIQPKTKVIPYVRYL (IBD-Pep 2) (both peptides are present in the synbiotics) for four more days while inducing IBD. To confirm IBD induction, the weights of the animals and the disease activity index (DAI) scores were evaluated once every two days. Following treatment of probiotics, synbiotics, or peptides for 11 days, the mice were sacrificed. The length of the small and large intestines was measured. The expression of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and COX-2 in the large intestine was measured. Large intestine tissue was fixed in 10% formalin and stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histopathological analysis. The body weights decreased and DAI scores increased in the IBD group, but the DAI scores were lower in the IBD-Pep 2 group than those in the IBD group treated with PBS, Pro, Syn, or Pep 1. The lengths of the small and large intestines were shorter in the IBD group than in the group without IBD, and the expression levels of the proinflammatory cytokines were lower (p<0.05) in the IBD-Pep 2 group than those in the IBD-PBS-positive control group. In addition, histopathological analysis showed that IBD was ameliorated in the Pep 2-treated group. These results indicate that Pep 2 derived from αs2-casein was effective in alleviating IBD-associated inflammation. Thus, we showed that these peptides can alleviate inflammation in IBD