• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.1077-1100
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• 2018

The present study analyzed the effect of firms' external research and development (R&D) on corporate productivity, while investigating the moderating effect of firm size on the external R&D-productivity nexus. In the empirical analysis, we estimated South Korean manufacturing firms' total factor productivity (TFP) using the firm level data drawn from the Survey of Business Activities (Korea National Statistical Office) for the years 2006-2015. Thereafter, focusing on the role of external R&D and its interaction with the firm size in determining firms' TFP, the productivity function was estimated as well. To this end, we used ordinary least squares (OLS) and quantile regression to highlight the heterogeneous impacts of external R&D by companies' productivity level. Empirical results confirmed that firms' external R&D significantly enhanced corporate productivity in all manufacturing industries, from high-tech to low-tech. The moderating effect of firm size in determining the productivity effect of external R&D was not as prominent as in the case for internal R&D, which exhibited some degree of the size premium in the productivity-enhancing effect. These results suggest that regardless of the firm size, external R&D can be an important channel for corporate productivity improvement, and can be a particularly effective strategy for SMEs with relatively limited internal R&D capacities.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.155-162
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• 2018

This study attempts to analyze the consumers' preference on Korean Red Ginseng Tonic, which is an essential product to revitalize Korean ginseng industry, using choice experiment method. The attributes used in the choice experiment were the ginseng age, good agricultural products(GAP), sugar, and price. A total of 1,796 experiments were collected and the value of each preferred attributes was estimated using a multinomial logistic model. The result shows that the products made from six-year-old and GAP(Good Agriculture Practice) approved Korean ginseng with less sugar were preferred. These estimated monetary values of marginal willingness to pay were about 94,000 KRW, 89,000 KRW, 5,000 KRW, respectively. Thus, the efforts to introduce and advertize GAP approved ginseng while developing new products with preferred attributes by general publics are necessary in the short run. In addition, we may need to consider developing the way to promote products using 4- and 5-year-old ginsengs, which are relatively underestimated in their health effectiveness but highly productive for farmers in the long run.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.543-551
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• 2018

The uranium concentrations were determined in groundwater collected from 3,820 community groundwater system (CGS) located in remote rural areas where access to the nationwide water work is not easy. The frequency distribution of uranium concentrations shows a lognormal distribution which is common in most radionuclide surveys. The measured maximum uranium concentration was $1,757.0{\mu}g/L$ with an average of $6.46{\mu}g/L$ and a median of $0.76{\mu}g/L$. When grouping the uranium concentration results of CGS into 10 geological units, the median uranium concentration was high ($0.99-2.05{\mu}g/L$) in three granite areas, and low in sedimentary rocks areas and porous volcanic rocks areas ($0.04-0.50{\mu}g/L$). Of the 3,820 samples, 3.8% are above the guideline value of $30{\mu}g/L$ (WHO, 2011). On the other hand, the exceeding rates of JGRA and PGRA CGS are 8.5% and 7.5%, respectively. Therefore, attention should be paid for the development of new CGS along with the management of the existing CGS in JGRA and PGRA areas.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.522-528
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• 2018

Saemimyeon, a Tongil type, medium-late maturing rice variety, is especially used for preparing rice noodles. Its high amylose content was developed to fit market demands and to be affordable for rice processing industries. One of the high yielding lines, Milyang181 (Hanareum), was used in the final three-way cross of $IR50^*2$/YR18241-B-B-115-1-1 for yield improvement and cultivation stabilization, including disease resistance. YR24235-10-1-3, a high yielding and compact plant type, was selected and named Milyang278 after yield test at NICS (RDA, Miryang) in 2010. It was subjected to regional yield test at six sites in the middle and southern plain areas of South Korea. Saemimyeon heading occurs on August 12 and is a mid-late maturing cultivar, with resistance to leaf blast, rice stripe virus, and bacterial blight (K1-K3a), but it is susceptible to major diseases and insect pest infestation. Saemimyeon showed a high amylose content of 26.7%, with a relatively low KOH digestion value of 3.5, which are key factors in rice noodles and pasta processing. In the local adaptability tests, the yield of Saemimyeon was 7.08 MT/ha-an increase of approximately 106% compared to that of Dasan. Thus, Saemimyeon is suitable for cultivation in the southern and middle plain areas of South Korea.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.395-411
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• 2020

Background: This study investigated the anti-obesity effect of the flavonoid rich fraction (FRF) and its constituent, rutin obtained from the leaf of Morus alba L., on the lipid accumulation mechanism in 3T3-L1 adipocyte and C57BL/6 mouse models. Methods and Results: In Oil Red O staining, FRF (1,000 ㎍/㎖) treatments showed inhibition rate of 35.39% in lipid accumulation compared to that in the control. AdipoRedTM assay indicated that the triglyceride content in 3T3-L1 adipocytes treated with FRF (1,000 ㎍/㎖) was reduced to 23.22%, and free glycerol content was increased to 106.04% that of the control. FRF and its major constituent, rutin affected mRNA gene expression. Rutin contributed to the inhibition of Sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) gene expression, and inhibited the transcription factors SREBP-1c, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). In addition, the effect of FRF administration on obesity development in C57BL/6 mice fed high-fat diet (HFD) was investigated. FRF suppressed weight gain, and reduced liver triglyceride and leptin secretion. FRF exerted potential anti-inflammatory effects by improving insulin resistance and adiponectin levels, and could thus be used to help counteract obesity. The mRNA expressions of PPAR-γ, FAS, ACC, and CPT-1 were determined in liver tissue. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis was also performed to evaluate the expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in epididymal adipose tissue. Compared to the control group, mice fed the HFD showed the up-regulation in PPAR-γ, FAS, IL-6, and TNF-α genes, and down-regulation in CPT1 gene expression. FRF treatement markedly reduced the expression of PPAR-γ, FAS, IL-6, and TNF-α compared to those in HFD control, whereas increased the expression level of CPT1. Conclusions: These results suggest that the FRF and its major active constituent, rutin, can be used as effective anti-obesity agents.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.61-72
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• 2011

In order to assess hydrologic and nonpoint source pollutant behaviors in a watershed with Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, the accuracy evaluation of SWAT model should be conducted prior to the application of it to a watershed. When calibrating and validating hydrological components of SWAT model, the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (EI) has been widely used. However, the EI value has been known as it is affected sensitively by big numbers among the range of numbers. In this study, a Web-based flow clustering EI estimation system using K-means clustering algorithm was developed and used for SWAT hydrology evaluation. Even though the EI of total streamflow was high, the EI values of hydrologic components (i.e., direct runoff and baseflow) were not high. Also when the EI values of flow group I and II (i.e., low and high value group) clustered from direct runoff and baseflow were computed, respectively, the EI values of them were much lower with negative EI values for some flow group comparison. The SWAT auto-calibration tool estimated values also showed negative EI values for most flow group I and II of direct runoff and baseflow although EI value of total streamflow was high. The result obtained in this study indicates that the SWAT hydrology component should be calibrated until all four positive EI values for each flow group of direct runoff and baseflow are obtained for better accuracy both in direct runoff and baseflow.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.195-201
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• 2018

The plant morphological and chromosome characteristics of 'Bonanza', 'Coral Candy' and 'Purple Crystal', a formolongi-Asiatic (FA) interspecific hybrid species bred at the National Institute of Horticultural Science, Rural Development Administration (RDA), were investigated in this study. The flowering time of these species were found to have some variation. 'Bonanza' flowers in the middle to late June (medium-late maturing cultivar), 'Coral Candy' in the mid of June (medium maturing cultivar), and 'Purple Crystal' was observed to be in early June (early maturing cultivar). The flowering direction of all three cultivars are upward facing flowers and having a weak fragrance. The height of the plants was recorded in the range between 101.0 cm ('Purple Crystal') to 142.3 cm ('Bonanza'), thus they are able to develop cut flowers with excellent stem elongation. Flower diameters of 'Bonanza' (17.1 cm) and 'Coral Candy' (16.9 cm) were classified to be large sized flowers. On the other hand, 'Purple Crystal' had a narrow flower diameter (12.3 cm) with an outer petal width of more than 4.0 cm. Leaf length was observed for 'Bonanza' (15.7 cm), 'Coral Candy' (19.7 cm), and 'Purple Crystal' (11.1 cm). Chromosome analysis was done using FISH technique. Results revealed that all three cultivars were observed as triploids (2n=3x=36). FISH analysis also showed 5S/45S rDNA of 'Bonanza', 'Coral Candy' and 'Purple Crystal' as 4/11 loci, 4/12 loci, and 4/11 loci, respectively. The results of the FISH analysis are useful as markers to distinguish cultivars, since the patterns of rDNA observed on the remaining chromosomes are significantly different except FISH patterns of chromosome #3.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.216-220
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• 2018

Freesia (Freesia hybrida Hort.) 'Sweet Lemon' was developed for the cut flowers in National Institute of Horticultural Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration, Korea in 2015. This hybrid was crossed and selected from 'Teresa' and 'Yvonne' in 2007. Morphological characteristics of the selected freesia hybrid were investigated for 5 years from 2009 to 2014, and then it was named 'Sweet Lemon' in 2015. 'Sweet Lemon' has double and lemon petals (RHS color chart Y2B). The average flower diameter was 6.8 cm and the average yield is 6.7. The growth of the plant is vigorous and the average plant height is 99.0cm, which is 34.7cm higher than the standard cultivar 'Yvonne'. The average floret number per stalk of 'Sweet Lemon' was 10.7, and stalk length was 7.7 cm. The average days to first flowering of 'Sweet Lemon', 126 days, was approximately 20 days earlier than the control cultivar. It's average vase life and yield is 8.7 days and 5.6 cormlets per plant, respectively. Totally 58 of volatile compounds were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the major components were linalool, alpha-terpineol, alpha-selinene, and limonene.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.41-48
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• 2021

As the rural population continues to decline and aging, the improvement of agricultural productivity is becoming more important. Early prediction of crop quality can play an important role in improving agricultural productivity and profitability. Although many researches have been conducted recently to classify diseases and predict crop yield using CNN based deep learning and transfer learning technology, there are few studies which predict postharvest crop quality early in the planting stage. In this study, a early quality prediction model is proposed for sprout ginseng, which is drawing attention as a healthy functional foods. For this end, we took pictures of ginseng seedlings in the planting stage and cultivated them through hydroponic cultivation. After harvest, quality data were labeled by classifying the quality of ginseng sprout. With this data, we build early quality prediction models using several pre-trained CNN models through transfer learning technology. And we compare the prediction performance such as learning period and accuracy between each model. The results show more than 80% prediction accuracy in all proposed models, especially ResNet152V2 based model shows the highest accuracy. Through this study, it is expected that it will be able to contribute to production and profitability by automating the existing seedling screening works, which primarily rely on manpower.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.10-15
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• 2021

'Gwangyoung', a winter forage triticale cultivar (X Triticosecale Wittmack), was developed at the Department of Rice and Winter Cereal Crop, NICS, RDA in 2018. The cultivar 'Gwangyoung' has leaves of wide width, medium length, and green color, and spikes of medium length and yellowish-brown color, and a large grain of yellowish-brown color. The heading date of the cultivar 'Gwangyoung' was April 22 which was similar to check cultivar 'Shinyoung'. Its tolerance or resistance to cold, lodging, wet injury powdery mildew, and leaf rust were also similar to those of the check cultivar. The leaf blade ratio of 'Gwangyoung' (27.5%) was higher than that of 'Shinyoung' (21.2%). The average forage fresh and dry matter yield of cultivar 'Gwangyoung' at milk-ripe stages were 50.0 and 17.6 MT ha-1, respectively, which were higher than those (47.7 and 17.1 MT ha-1) of the check cultivar. The silage quality of 'Gwangyoung' was lower than that of the check cultivar 'Shinyoung' in crude protein content (5.3%) and total digestible nutrients (61.3%), while was higher than the check cultivar in neutral detergent fiber (58.2%) and acid detergent fiber (34.9%). 'Gwangyoung' showed the silage of 1 grade and a grain yield of 6.03 MT ha-1.