• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.4
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• pp.382-389
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• 2020

Soil properties in opencast mines are a key factor in reclamation (revegetation) of mining areas. In this study we determined the soil physical and chemical properties of kaolinite tailings, reclaimed areas, and adjacent natural red pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.) forests in kaolinite opencast mines in Sancheong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. Six sites were chosen for collection of soil samples to determine soil physical and chemical properties at a soil depth of 10 cm. Soil bulk density was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the kaolinite tailings (1.51 g·cm-3) than in the reclaimed areas (1.19 g·cm-3) and red pine forests (0.93 g·cm-3), whereas air phase in the kaolinite tailings (14.2%) was significantly lower than in the red pine forests (32.6%). Clay content in the red pine forests was significantly higher than in the reclaimed areas (18.7%) or kaolinite tailings (14.8%), whereas soil structural stability index was significantly lower in the reclaimed areas (1.61%) and kaolinite tailings (0.87%) than in the red pine forests (7.75%). Soil pH was significantly higher in the kaolinite tailings (pH 6.68) and reclaimed areas (pH 6.27) than in the red pine forests (pH 5.31). Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen were significantly higher in the red pine forests (C: 36.03 mg·g-1; N: 2.08 mg·g-1) than in the reclaimed areas (C: 5.00 mg·g-1; N: 0.31 mg·g-1) than in the kaolinite tailings (C: 2.12 mg·g-1; N: 0.07 mg g-1). The amount of available phosphorus was not significantly different among the three treatments. The concentration of exchangeable potassium was significantly lower in the kaolinite tailings (0.08 cmolc·kg-1) than in the reclaimed areas (0.21 cmolc·kg-1) and red pine forests (0.30 cmolc·kg-1). These results indicate that, because of high soil bulk density and low soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium in kaolinite tailings and reclaimed mining areas, soil nutrient management is needed in order to reclaim the vegetation in these type of areas.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 2021

This study was performed to investigate the antioxidant activities of subfractions of Peucedanum insolens Kitagawa root in various organic solvents and their anti-inflammatory effects on LPS-treated RAW264.7 cells. First, P. insolens Kitagawa roots were dried at room temperature for one week, chopped, and extracted with 70% ethanol. The resulting extracts were successively sub-fractionated with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and water. The antioxidant potential of the fractions was evaluated using a DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assay and by measuring total polyphenol and flavonoid contents. The anti-inflammatory potency of the fractions was evaluated by measuring the inhibition levels of the expressions of inflammatory-mediated genes and proteins (e.g., iNOS, COX-2, IL-1β, and IL-6) in RAW264.7 cells. The results clearly showed that the ethyl acetate fraction of the P. insolens Kitagawa root contained relatively high total flavonoid (34.08±1.68 ㎍ of quercetin equivalents per mg) and total polyphenol (154.1±3.2 ㎍ of gallic acid equivalents per mg) contents. The DPPH assay results showed that the P. insolens Kitagawa root possessed strong free radical scavenging activity in the ethyl acetate fraction. Both the ethyl acetate and hexane fractions showed strong inhibitory potencies to nitric oxide production induced by lipopolysaccharide (1 ㎍/ml) treatment for 24 hr in RAW264.7 cells. The results also showed that both the hexane and ethyl acetate fractions of the P. insolens Kitagawa root strongly inhibited mRNA levels of iNOS, IL-1β, and IL-6, which were overexpressed by LPS treatment for 24 hr in the RAW264.7 cells. These results suggest that P. insolens Kitagawa root may contain compounds that possess strong potency for anti-inflammatory activity. Further studies are needed to discover more detailed modes of action of P. insolens Kitagawa root fractions against inflammation modulation, such as the regulation of cytokine signaling and inflammatory signaling pathways.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.4
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• pp.512-520
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• 2020

We assessed the nectar source potential of a prospective honey plant, Idesia polycarpa, by analyzing nectar volume, free sugar content, and free amino acid content. Idesia polycarpa is a dioecious tree; the males bloom approximately four days earlier than females, and the blooming period is approximately 17 days-from March 14th to March 30th. Upon investigating the patterns of nectar secretion, it was found that male flowers peak on the third day of blooming at 5.0 ± 2.5 μL, and female flowers peak on the second day of blooming, at 1.1 ± 0.4 μL. There was a significant difference between males and females in the total nectar volume (9.7 ± 2.9 μL for males and 1.7 ± 0.5 μL for females) and the dried nectar volume (2.2 ± 0.6 μL for males, 0.8 ± 0.3 μL for females) during the blooming period. The free sugar content of floral nectar was 54.6 ± 15.4 ㎍/μL for males and 20.5 ± 4.9 ㎍/μL for females, and the sugar content per flower was higher in males (170.7 ± 15.4 ㎍) than in females (24.9 ± 5.5 ㎍). Our analysis of the amino acid content showed that 20.4 ± 3.9 mg/L (comprised of 19 amino acids) is produced in male flowers and 3.2 ± 0.1 mg/L (11 amino acids) in female flowers. In the male flower, the main amino acid was glutamine, followed by asparagine and proline, whereas in the female nectar, asparagine was the main amino acid, followed by glutamic acid and glutamine. Idesia polycarpa blooms after the blooming period of a major honey plant, Robinia pseudoacacia, and its nectar volume and nectar characteristics, such as free sugar content and amino acid content, make it a viable honey plant.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.431-438
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• 2020

In this paper, the method to extract lip contour by multiple threshold is proposed. Spyridonos et. el. proposed a method to extract lip contour. First step is get Q image from transform of RGB into YIQ. Second step is to find lip corner points by change point detection and split Q image into upper and lower part by corner points. The candidate lip contour can be obtained by apply threshold to Q image. From the candidate contour, feature variance is calculated and the contour with maximum variance is adopted as final contour. The feature variance 'D' is based on the absolute difference near the contour points. The conventional method has 3 problems. The first one is related to lip corner point. Calculation of variance depends on much skin pixels and therefore the accuracy decreases and have effect on the split for Q image. Second, there is no analysis for color systems except YIQ. YIQ is a good however, other color systems such as HVS, CIELUV, YCrCb would be considered. Final problem is related to selection of optimal contour. In selection process, they used maximum of average feature variance for the pixels near the contour points. The maximum of variance causes reduction of extracted contour compared to ground contours. To solve the first problem, the proposed method excludes some of skin pixels and got 30% performance increase. For the second problem, HSV, CIELUV, YCrCb coordinate systems are tested and found there is no relation between the conventional method and dependency to color systems. For the final problem, maximum of total sum for the feature variance is adopted rather than the maximum of average feature variance and got 46% performance increase. By combine all the solutions, the proposed method gives 2 times in accuracy and stability than conventional method.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.676-687
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in portion size of 11 types of foods that Korean adults frequently consume, based on the parameters of eating place, gender, and age using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data. Methods: The dietary survey data from 2012-2016 KNHANES was used. A total of 19,779 subjects (8,034 male [40.6%], 11,745 female [59.4%]) were classified based on gender, three age groups (19-29 years old [15.7%], 30-49 years old [46.9%], 50-64 years old [37.4%]) and three eating places (home, institution, and restaurants/convenient stores etc.). Results: The portion sizes according to the eating places were calculated as per the median intake of Korean adults. Foods that showed the highest median intake in restaurants/convenience stores were boiled rice and kimchi stew. The median intake quantity of kimchi stew was the highest in restaurants/convenience stores in men across most age groups. Women in 30-49 years age group also consumed a lot of kimchi stew in restaurants/convenience stores. Men in the age groups 30-49 and 50-64 years consumed soybean paste stew the most in institutions compared to home and restaurants/convenient stores. Stir-fried pork was consumed the most at institutional meal places across all age groups. Conclusion: The portion sizes of kimchi stew and boiled rice were the highest in restaurants/convenience stores. As kimchi stew and soybean paste stew is high in sodium, the intake should be reduced in institutions and restaurants/convenience stores. Furthermore, it is necessary to reduce sodium intake through consumer nutrition education and the development of low-salt standard recipes for restaurants.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.32
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• pp.61-71
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• 2020

Purpose: To investigate the effect of collimator angle on plan quality of PAN-Pelvis Multi-isocenter VMAT plan, dose reproducibility at the junction and impact on set-up error at the junction. Material and method: 10 adult patients with whole pelvis cancer including PAN were selected for the study. Using Trubeam STx equipped with HD MLC, we changed the collimator angle to 20°, 30°, and 45° except 10° which was the default collimator angle in the Eclipse(version 13.7) and all other treatment conditions were set to be the same for each patient and four plans were established also. To evaluate these plans, PTV coverage, coverage index(CVI) and homogeneity index (HI) were compared and clinical indicators for each treatment sites in normal tissues were analyzed. To evaluate dose reproducibility at the junction, the absolute dose was measured using a Falmer type ionization chamber and dose changes at the junction were evaluated by moving the position of the isocenter in and out 1~3mm and setting up the virtual volume at the junction. Result: CVI mean value was PTV-45 0.985±0.004, PTV-55 0.998±0.003 at 45° and HI mean value was PTV-45 1.140±0.074, and PTV-55 1.031±0.074 at 45° which were closest to 1. V20Gy of the kidneys decreased by 9.66% and average dose of bladder and V30 decreased by 1.88% and 2.16% at 45° compared to 10° for the critical organs. The dose value at the junction of the plan and the actual measured were within 0.3% and within tolerance. At the junction, due to set-up error the maximum dose increased to 14.56%, 9.88%, 8.03%, and 7.05%, at 10°, 20°, 30°, 45°, and the minimum dose decreased to 13.18%, 10.91%, 8.42%, and 4.53%, at 10°, 20°, 30°, 45° Conclusion: In terms of CVI, HI of PTV and critical organ protection, overall improved values were shown as the collimator angle increased. The impact on set-up error at the junction by collimator angle decreased as the angle increased and it will help improve the anxiety about the set up error. In conclusion, the collimator angle should be recognized as a factor that can affect the quality of the multi-isocenter VMAT plan and the dose at the junction, and be careful in setting the collimator angle in the treatment plan.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.613-628
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to identify the health anxiety issues of middle-aged women, their health-promoting behavior, and quality of life as well as to examine the relationship between these variables. Methods: The participants were 334 women in Jeonbuk area. Demographic characteristics, the status of health anxiety, health-promoting behavior, and life quality was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. The data were analyzed using a t-test, analysis of variance, Duncan test, and hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS ver. 24.0. Results: The score for health anxiety was 37.64 points out of a possible score of 60, and the score for health-promoting behavior was 79.18 points out of a possible score of 115. The score for the quality of life was 101.18 points out of a possible score of 150. The health anxiety scores showed significant differences, varying as per body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.05), income (p < 0.05), occupation (p < 0.05), disease (p < 0.05), satisfaction with weight (p < 0.05), and interest in weight control (p < 0.05). The health-promoting behavior showed significant differences according to age (p < 0.01), BMI (p < 0.01), income (p < 0.05), menses (p < 0.05), intake of dietary supplements (p < 0.05), perception of body image (p < 0.05), and satisfaction with weight (p < 0.05). The quality of life showed significant differences according to BMI (p < 0.05), income (p < 0.01), education level (p < 0.05), occupation (p < 0.05), disease (p < 0.05), and satisfaction with weight (p < 0.05). Regression analysis showed that health-promoting behavior was the most influential variable on the quality of life, followed by disease and health anxiety. Conclusion: Based on these results, we conclude that it is necessary to consider educational programs on improving the quality of life of middle-aged women according to the health anxiety levels and health-promoting behavior.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.427-437
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• 2020

Manganese nodules, which are evaluated as potential metal resources, have been found in the Arctic Ocean as well as in the abyssal plains of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Manganese nodules exhibit strong variations in the morphology, internal texture, chemical composition and mineralogy as they grow. The relationship between the texture and chemical elemental composition during the growth process is well documented, but the mineral composition variation during the growth process is not. Because the manganese oxide minerals in nodules are fine-grained and poorly crystalline, quantitative analysis for the mineral composition is challenging for the bulk nodule sample. This study investigated the internal texture and Mn-oxide mineral composition of manganese nodules obtained from the East Siberian Sea. Semi-quantitative analysis was attempted for three main Mn-oxide minerals constituting the manganese nodules (i.e., todorokite, buserite and birnessite) using the peak area ratio of X-ray diffraction analysis graphs. In the East Siberian Sea manganese nodules, birnessite is more abundant than buserite or todorokite, and no correlation is found between the mineral composition and the internal texture. Instead a correlation is found between the relative content of todorokite and the lamellae depth. The todorokite content tends to increase from the surface to the core of the nodules, which can be attributed to a recrystallization process or difference in the growth rate within the nodule. This study shows that semi-quantitative analysis of manganese oxide minerals using the peak area ratio is useful in the mineralogical study of manganese nodules.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.4
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• pp.390-399
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• 2020

We investigated the effect of seedling age and planting density on early growth performance of Zelkova serrata trees. Containerized Z. serrata seedlings, 1-year-old and 2-year-old, were planted according to two different planting densities (3,000 and 5,000 trees ha-1) at the end of March, 2017. Three plots were established for each treatment (2 seedling ages × 2 planting densities). We calculated the survival rate (%) of out-planted seedlings as well as the stem volume based on the root collar diameter (RCD) and height (H) in September of each year, from 2017 to 2019. Seedling age and planting density did not affect survival rate of the out-planted trees. Planting density did not affect height of the trees, whereas the treatment significantly affected RCD and the H/D ratio for 2-year-old seedlings in 2019. The stem volume per tree was highest in the plot of 2-year-old seedlings at 5,000 trees ha-1 and lowest in the 1-year-old seedlings at 3,000 trees ha-1. In addition, the tree height in both 1-year-old and 2-year-old Z. serrata trees was greater in the 5,000 trees ha-1 plot than in the 3,000 trees ha-1 plot. There was no interactive effect between seedling age and planting density on stem volume; however, as seedling age and planting density increased, stem volume of Z. serrata trees increased. The values for stem volume per hectare are 85%, 68%, and 300% higher in 1-year-old 5,000 trees ha-1, 2-year-old 3,000 trees ha-1, and 2-year-old 5,000 trees ha-1 plots, respectively, compared to the values in 1-year-old 3,000 trees ha-1. This result shows that high planting density (close planting) affects tree growth differently based on seedling age, and suggests that the planting density of 5,000 trees ha-1 is suitable for 2-year-old seedlings to improve early growth field performance.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1078-1084
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• 2020

Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis is an insect belonging to the order Coleoptera. This insect is reported to contain large amounts of physiologically active substances useful for liver protective effect and improvements in blood circulation as well as a broad source of edible protein. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are found in a variety of species, from microorganisms to mammals, and play an important role in the innate immune systems of living things. Microglia are the main source of proinflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) in the central nervous system. Activated microglia secrete large amounts of neuroinflammatory mediators (e.g., TNF-α, NO, and ROS), which are the main cause of neuronal cell death. In the present study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of Protaetiamycine 6 (PKARKLQKLSAYKTTLRN-NH2), an AMP derived from Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis, on LPS-induced neuroinflammation in BV-2 microglia. Protaetiamycine 6 significantly inhibited NO production without cytotoxicity and decreased the expression levels of inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase-2. In addition, Protaetiamycine 6 also reduced the production of neuroinflammatory cytokines on activated BV-2 microglia. These results suggest that Protaetiamycine 6 could be a good source of functional substance to prevent neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.