• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.71-115
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• 2017

In 1953, theoretical physicist George Gamow attempted to explain the process of protein synthesis by hypothesizing that the base sequence of DNA encodes a protein's amino acid sequence and, in response, proposed the nucleic acid-protein information transfer model, which he dubbed the "diamond code." After expressing interest in discussing the daring hypothesis, contemporary biologists, including James Watson, Francis Crick, Sydney Brenner, and Gunther Stent, were soon invited to join the RNA Tie Club, an informal research group that would also count biologists and various researchers in physics, mathematics, and computer engineering among its members. In examining the club's formation, growth, and decline in multidisciplinary research on deciphering the genetic code in the 1950s, this paper first investigates whether Gamow's idiosyncratic approach could be adopted as a collaborative research forum among contemporary biologists. Second, it explores how the RNA Tie Club's research agenda could have been expanded to other relevant research topics needing multidisciplinary approach? Third, it asks why and how the RNA Tie Club dissolved in the late 1950s. In answering those questions, this paper shows that analyses on the intersymbol correlation of the overlapping code functioned to integrate diverse approaches, including sequence decoding and statistical analysis, in research on the genetic code. As those analyses reveal, the peculiar approaches of the RNA Tie Club could be regarded as a useful method for biological research. The paper also concludes that the RNA Tie Club dissolved in the late 1950s due to the disappearance of the collaborative research agenda when the overlapping code hypothesis was abandoned.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.1285-1299
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• 2013

Nurturing students' scientific creativity is considered an important element in science education in Korea. The study aims to explore patterns displayed by well-known scientists in their quest for problem finding. Each case of scientists' course of problem solving is described in terms of historical background, a process of problem finding, and a process of problem solving. There are five patterns from ten scientists which are as follows: Pattern 1 is that scientists find problems from insufficiencies and/or errors from explanation of theories at the time and the related cases are A. Lavoisier, G. Mendel, and J. Watson. Pattern 2 shows that scientists find a problem because of strange phenomena unexplained by theories at the time, and here important case studies are E. Rutherford and W. R$\ddot{o}$ntgen. Pattern 3 demonstrates that scientists find a problem from analogical reasoning between known theories and unknown science phenomena. The cases include S. Carnot and T. Young. Pattern 4 points to the fact that scientists find a problem while they utilize a newly invented experimental instrument. Here, G. Galilei is an important example. Pattern 5 establishes that scientists happen to find a problem while they conduct research projects. The works of M. Faraday and J. Kepler are prominent case studies related to this pattern.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.135-152
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• 2011

Nitrate concentrations in springs at the southern slope of Jeju Island were predicted using multiple linear regression (MLR) of spatial variables including hydrogeological parameters and land use characteristics. Springs showed wide range of nitrate concentrations from <0.02 to 86 mg/L with a mean of 20 mg/L. Spatial variables were generated for the circular buffer when the optimal buffer radius was assigned as 400 m. Selected regression models were tested using the p values and Durbin-Watson statistics. Explanatory variables were selected using the adjusted $R^2$, Cp (total squared error) and AIC (Akaike's Information Criterion), and significance. In addition, mutual linear relations between variables were also considered. Small portion of springs, usually <10% of total samples, were identified as outliers indicating limitations of MLR using circular buffers. Adjusted $R^2$ of the proposed models was improved from 0.75 to 0.87 when outliers were eliminated. In particular, the areal proportion of natural area had the greatest influence on the nitrate concentrations in springs. Among anthropogenic land uses, the influence of nitrate contamination is diminishing in the following order of orchard, residential area, and dry farmland. It is apparent quality of springs in the study area is likely to be controlled by land uses instead of hydrogeological parameters. Most of all, it is worth highlighting that the contamination susceptibility of springs is highly sensitive to nearby land uses, in particular, orchard.