Toward millimeter thick cellulose nanofiber/epoxy laminates with good transparency and high flexural strength.

While cellulose nanofiber-based bioplastics are of great interest for replacing synthetic polymer and glass materials, the main limitation is their low thickness, which makes them difficult for various applications. In this study, we fabricated millimeter-scale thick bioplastic composites, based on 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxy-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TEMPO-CNF) and epoxy resin, via sequential lamination processes. The glycerol as softener was added to TEMPO-CNF dispersion to prepare a thick TEMPO-CNF layer without shrinkage. It was discovered that the total thickness of TEMPO-CNF/epoxy laminates can be easily controlled by changing the thickness and number of TEMPO-CNF layers and the total thickness can also be easily increased up to 2.4 mm. Furthermore, these TEMPO-CNF/epoxy laminates have high flexural strength (272 MPa) as well as good transmittance (85% % at 600 nm). We anticipate that our approach will significantly broaden the strategies for fabricating nanocellulose-based bioplastics for use as a replacement for transparent synthetic polymers and glass materials.

Hardness Modulated Thermoplastic Poly(ether Ester) Elastomers for the Automobile Weather-strip Application.

As a means of developing new material for automobile weather-stripping and seal parts replacing the conventional ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber/polypropylene vulcanizate, a series of poly(ether ester) elastomers are synthesized. The hardness is modulated by controlling chain extender composition after fixing the hard segment to soft segment ratio. Targeted hardness is achieved by partly substituting conventional chain extender 1,4-butandiol for soybean oil-originated fatty acid amide diol that bears a long chain branch. The crystallinity and phase separation behavior resultant elastomer are also tunable simply by modulating chain extender composition and hard to soft segment ratio.

High-yield production of biosugars from Gracilaria verrucosa by acid and enzymatic hydrolysis processes.

Gracilaria verrucosa, the red alga, is a suitable feedstock for biosugar production. This study analyzes biosugar production by the hydrolysis of G. verrucosa conducted under various conditions (i.e., various acid concentrations, substrate concentrations, reaction times, and enzyme dosages). The acid hydrolysates of G. verrucosa yielded a total of 7.47g/L (37.4%) and 10.63g/L (21.26%) of reducing sugars under optimal small (30mL) and large laboratory-scale (1L) hydrolysis processes, respectively. Reducing sugar obtained from acid and enzymatic hydrolysates were 10% higher, with minimum by-products, than those reported in other studies. The mass balance for the small laboratory-scale process showed that the acid and enzymatic hydrolysates had a carbohydrate conversion of 57.2%. The mass balance approach to the entire hydrolysis process of red seaweed for biosugar production can be applied to other saccharification processes.

Integration and Evaluation of Clinical Decision Support Systems for Diagnosis Idopathics Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop clinical decision support systems (CDSS) that are integrated with hospital information systems for the differential diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). METHODS: The integrated CDSS were validated and evaluated by physicians. Knowledge modeling for diagnosing IPF was performed by knowledge working groups, composed of radiologists and respiratory specialists. In order to develop the model for CDSS diagnosis, the clinical cases were collected from 290 cases from Seoul National University Hospital and Sevrance Hospital of Yonsei University. For the evaluation of integrated CDSS, interviews were conducted with respiratory specialists and radiologist 2 weeks after applying CDSSs in clinical settings. The CDSS was integrated with the computer vision system (CVS) and diffuse parenchymal lung diseases (DPLD), CDSS developed in our previous project. RESULTS: Eighteen cases diagnosed as IPF were applied to the collection of diagnostic knowledge and the refined knowledge, the former diagnosed 1 case (6%) and the latter diagnosed 14 cases (78%). Therefore, the refined knowledge performed better than collected knowledge. The validation results of integrated CDSSs showed that 81 cases (74.3%) were diagnosed correctly. CONCLUSIONS: There were 109 cases of IPF diagnosed and initiated on treatment. The significance of this study is in developing integrated CDSS with PACS by acquiring and redefining the knowledge needed for IPF diagnosis. In addition, it is significant for the integration of CDSS to verification and clinical evaluation.