• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.33 no.8
• /
• pp.612-622
• /
• 2023

T-cell deficiency may occur in various clinical conditions including congenital defects, cell/organ transplantation, HIV infection and aging. In this regard, the development of artificial thymus has recently been attracting much attention. To achieve this aim, the development of techniques for 3D culture of thymic stromal cells is necessary because thymocytes grown only in a 3D thymic microenvironment can be differentiated fully to become mature, immunocompetent T cells; the same cannot be achieved for thymocytes grown in 2D. This study aimed to develop a nanotechnology-based 3D culture technique using polymeric scaffolds for thymic epithelial cells (TECs), the main component of thymic stromal cells. Scanning electron microscopic observation revealed that the pores of both PCL and PCL/PLGA scaffolds were filled with TECs. Interestingly, TECs grown in 3D on polydopamine-coated scaffolds exhibited enhanced cell attachment and proliferation compared to those grown on non-coated scaffolds. In addition, the gene expression of thymopoietic factors was upregulated in TECs cultured in 3D on polydopamine-coated scaffolds compared to those cultured in 2D. Taken together, the results of the present study demonstrate an efficient 3D culture model for TECs using polymeric scaffolds and provide new insights into a novel platform technology that can be applied to develop functional, biocompatible scaffolds for the 3D culture of thymocytes. This will eventually shed light on techniques for the in vitro development of T cells as well as the synthesis of artificial thymus.

• Journal of Korea Trade
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.21-42
• /
• 2023

Purpose - This paper investigates the trade effect of the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (KCFTA) which coincides with political conflicts between the two countries due to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in Korea. The two events occurred in the same year and both are likely to affect trade between two countries but in opposite directions. Therefore, it is crucial to distinguish between the trade effects from the KCFTA event and those from the THAAD event to evaluate the true FTA effects. However, this would be difficult when using only annual data. Accordingly, ex post studies to examine the trade effects of KCFTA are lacking in trustworthiness while many ex ante studies that conjecture the positive trade effects neglect the THAAD deployment impact. This paper aims to fill that gap. Design/methodology - Given that the KCFTA and THAAD events occurred in the same year but in different months, we use the monthly data from 2000 to 2019 of Korea's exports to bracket this period. We employ the difference-in-difference (DID) method within a gravity equation specification that uses hi-dimensional fixed effects to address various endogeneity issues and seasonal effects. We identify the net impact of KCFTA ratification from these two near-simultaneous events to quantify the effects of trade liberalization between these two countries. Findings - After isolating the THAAD effects on trade, the analysis creates a positive and statistically significant coefficient estimate of the KCFTA impact. In contrast, failing to isolate the THAAD effect produced a negative and statistically significant coefficient estimate of the KCFTA impact. Our results indicate that KCFTA independently increased Korea's exports to China by 10.2%, but that this increase was fully mitigated by the THAAD event. Further, our results verify that unobserved heterogeneity and multilateral resistance are technically difficult to account for in those estimations as that rely solely upon annual data, as this type of data are inadequate to control for the potential for endogeneity. Originality/value - This paper is one of the first studies to carefully evaluate the net trade effects of the KCFTA on Korea's largest trading partner while isolating the impact of simultaneously occurred political events that may influence trade in opposing directions. Our findings indicate that the lack of prior evidence of positive trade effects of the KCFTA when using annual data may be attributed to a failure to identify the impact of each event separately. This analysis supports using the correct modeling specification to avoid misleading conclusions when evaluating any important international trade policy.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.56 no.3
• /
• pp.173-184
• /
• 2023

Due to climate change, algal blooms frequently occur not only in Korea but also around the world, and the risk of toxicity of harmful algae has recently been issued. It is known that the representative harmful algae, cyanobacteria, are caused by the intersection of three factors: water temperature, residence time, and nutrients. In this study, water quality simulation was carried out using EFDC, a three-dimensional numerical model, to analyze the variations in water quality due to the decrease of residence time according to the opening of Yeongju Dam in Naeseong-Cheon. In fact, the concentration of chlorophyll-a in Yeongju Dam in the summer of 2021 was significant, exceeding the 'algae warning' for a long time based on the previous algae warning system. On the other hand, as a result of performing the simulation under the condition that the dam gate was completely opened, the concentration of chlorophyll-a was mostly reduced below the 'algae warning' level during the simulation period. It was confirmed that reducing the residence time by restoring the flow of Naeseong-Cheon is a way to immediately reduce algae in Yeongju Dam.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.23 no.12
• /
• pp.83-94
• /
• 2007

Piled raft foundations have been highlighted as an economical design concept of pile foundations in recent years. However, piled raft foundations have not been widely used in Korea due to the difficulty in estimating the complex interaction effects among rafts, piles and soils. The authors developed an effective numerical program to analyze the behavior of piled raft foundations for practical design purposes and presented it briefly in this paper. The developed numerical program simulates the raft as a flexible plate consisting of finite elements with eight nodes and the raft is supported by a series of elastic springs representing subsoils and piles. This study imported another model to simulate pile groups considering non-linear behavior and interaction effects. The apparent stiffnesses of the soils and piles were estimated by iterative calculations to satisfy the compatibility between those two components and the behavior of piled raft foundations can be predicted using these stiffnesses. For the verification of the program, the analysis results about some example problems were compared with those of rigorous three dimensional finite element analysis and other approximate analysis methods. It was found that the program can analyze non-linear behaviors and interaction effects efficiently in multi-layered soils and has sufficient capabilities for application to practical analysis and design of piled raft foundations.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.171-179
• /
• 2022

In this study, the characteristics of algae mitigation according to dam operation were quantitatively analyzed for Uiam Lake, where the Chuncheon Dam is located upstream of the main stream, Uiam Dam is located downstream, and Soyang Dam is located in the tributary stream. Nine dam operation scenarios were applied to the event of the summer of 2018 (at that time an algae alert occurred) using the EFDC model, which is capable of calculating three-dimensional hydrodynamics and water quality levels such as those associated with chlorophyll-a. The dam operation scenarios were set to generate a flushing effect via discharges in the form of pulse waves from the upstream dams and by lowering the water level at the downstream dam. At Uiam Lake, the flushing effect was different depending on the operation of the dam, and the amount of algae reduction at each point was different owing to topographic characteristics and the different base water temperatures from BukHan River and Soyang River. With regard to a point located on the left bank, it was predicted that the peak level of chlorophyll-a would be reduced by approximately 50 % or more upon pulsed discharge at 50 m³/s for three days at Soyang Dam. However, for the right bank, the amount of discharge from Soyang Dam had little effect on algae mitigation. Therefore, an appropriate dam operation could be effective for algae mitigation at specific points in the water body where large dams exist upstream and downstream, such as at Uiam Lake, in an emergency situation in which algal blooms rapidly.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2021.06a
• /
• pp.62-62
• /
• 2021

산업 고도화로 인하여 복잡하고 다양한 유기물의 사용량이 증가하였으며, 공공수역 내 새로운 오염물질이 유입됨에 따라 생화학적 산소요구량(BOD) 중심의 수질평가에 한계를 나타내었다. 이후 난분해성 물질을 고려한 유기물관리 정책과 총량관리의 필요성이 제기되었고 국내 하천과 호소에서는 총 유기탄소(TOC)를 유기물 관리지표로 설정하였다. 그러나 부영양 하천과 호소에서 TOC는 외부 부하뿐만아니라 식물플랑크톤의 과잉성장에 의해 증가할 수 있는 항목이므로 TOC 관리정책 추진을 위해서는 유기물의 기원에 대한 파악이 필요하다. 특히, 국내 하천에서 나타나고 있는 난분해성 유기물 오염도의 증가 추세에 대응한 실효성 있는 유기물 오염관리 정책을 수립하기 위해서는 다양한 유기물의 근원을 정확하게 파악하는 것이 매우 중요하다. 본 연구의 목적은 금강 수계 최대 상수원인 대청호를 대상으로 3차원 수리-수질 모델을 적용하여 유기탄소 성분 별 유입과 유출, 내부생성 및 소멸량을 평가하고 저수지시스템에서의 유기탄소 물질수지를 해석하는 데 있다. 유기탄소 물질수지 해석을 위해 AEM3D 모델을 사용하였으며 2017년을 대상으로 입력자료를 구축한 후 보정을 수행하였고 2018년을 대상으로 모델을 검정하였다. 모델은 유기탄소를 입자성, 용존성, 그리고 난분해성과 생분해성으로 구분하여 모의하며 유기물질 성상별 실험결과를 이용하여 입력자료를 구축하였다. 유기탄소 물질수지 해석을 위해 4가지의 탄소성분과 조류 세포 내 탄소의 질량 변화율을 계산하였다. 이를 위해 외부 유입·유출부하율, 수체 내 생성(일차생산, 재부상, 퇴적물과 수체 간 확산) 및 소멸률(POC 및 조류 침강, DOC 무기화, 탈질)을 고려하였다. 모델은 2017년과 2018년의 물수지를 적절히 재현하였으며 저수지의 성층구조를 잘 재현해내면서 전반적인 수온, 수질을 적절하게 모의하였다. 연간 TOC 부하량 중 내부기원 부하량은 2017년 68.4 %, 2018년은 높은 강우량의 영향으로 55.0%로 산정되었다. 내부 소멸 기작 중 침전으로 인한 손실이 가장 높은 것으로 나타났으며, 2017년과 2018년 각각 31.3%, 29.0%로 나타났다. TOC의 공간분포는 Chl-a 농도 분포와 유사하게 나타났으며, 댐 설치로 형성된 정체수역은 유역의 유기물 순환에 많은 영향을 미치는 것으로 평가되었다. TOC 관리 정책 기초자료 확보를 위해서는 향후 유역-저수지 시스템을 연계한 유기물 물질순환 심층 연구가 필요하다.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.31-38
• /
• 2023

Purpose: This in vitro study aimed to compare the trueness of 3-unit fixed dental provisional prostheses (FDPs) fabricated by three different additive manufacturing and subtractive manufacturing procedures. Methods: A reference model with a maxillary left second premolar and the second molar prepped and the first molar missing was scanned for the fabrication of 3-unit FDPs. An anatomically shaped 3-unit FDP was designed on computer-aided design software. 10 FDPs were fabricated by subtractive (MI group) and additive manufacturing (stereolithography: SL group, digital light processing: DL group, liquid crystal displays: LC group) methods, respectively (N=40). All FDPs were scanned and exported to the standard triangulated language file. A three-dimensional analysis program measured the discrepancy of the internal, margin, and pontic base area. As for the comparison among manufacturing procedures, the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney test with Bonferroni correction were evaluated statistically. Results: Regarding the internal area, the root mean square (RMS) value of the 3-unit FDPs was the lowest in the MI group (31.79±6.39 ㎛) and the highest in the SL group (69.34±29.88 ㎛; p=0.001). In the marginal area, those of the 3-unit FDPs were the lowest in the LC group (25.39±4.36 ㎛) and the highest in the SL group (48.94±18.98 ㎛; p=0.001). In the pontic base area, those of the 3-unit FDPs were the lowest in the LC group (8.72±2.74 ㎛) and the highest in the DL group (20.75±2.03 ㎛; p=0.001). Conclusion: A statistically significant difference was observed in the RMS mean values of all the groups. However, in comparison to the subtractive manufacturing method, all measurement areas of 3-unit FDPs fabricated by three different additive manufacturing methods are within a clinically acceptable range.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.185-192
• /
• 2023

In this study, fluctuating wind velocity for time history analysis is simulated by a single variate, single-dimensional random process using the KBC2022 spectrum about across-wind direction. This study analyzed and obtained the inelastic dynamic response for structures modeled as a single-degree-of-freedom system. It is assumed that the wind response is excellent in the primary mode, the change in vibration owing to plasticization is minor, along-wind vibration and across-wind vibration are independent, and the effect of torsional vibration is small. The numerical results, obtained by the Newmark-𝛽 method, shows the time-history responses and trends of maximum displacements. As a result of analyzing the inelastic dynamic response of the structure with the second stiffness ratio(𝛼) and yield displacement ratio (𝛽) as variables, it is identified that as the yield displacement ratio (𝛽) increases when the second stiffness ratio is constant, the maximum displacement ratio decreases, then reaches a minimum value, and then increases. When the stiffness ratio is greater than 0.5, there is a yield point ratio at which the maximum displacement ratio is less than 1, indicating that the maximum deformation is reduced compared to the elastically designed building even if the inelastic behavior is permitted in the inelastic wind design.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.37-47
• /
• 2017

Purpose - Recently, the food service franchise market is experiencing rapid growth and competition is intensifying. Therefore, consumer choice has expanded, and reputation management has become important as a strategy for survival of corporations. Based on previous studies, this research proposed the theoretical framework about the structural relationships among reputation, trust(cognitive trust, affective trust), and loyalty. Research design, data, and methodology - This study examined the structural relationship between reputation, trust, and loyalty from the customer's perspective. Based on comprehensive validation procedures across nine food service Franchise firm types, This study found support for a five-dimensional scale with the following dimensions: Customer Orientation, Employer Brand, Reliable and Financially Strong Company, Product and Service Quality, and Social and Environmental Responsibility. In order to verify the research purposes, research model and hypotheses were developed. The data were collected from 227 food service franchise consumers through online survey. The data was analyzed with SPSS 24.0 and Amos 23.0 statistical program. Result - The results of the study are as follows. First, customer orientation, reliable·financially strong company and product·service quality have significant impact on corporate cognitive trust. And employer brand, product/service quality and social·environmental responsibility have significant impact on corporate affective trust. Second, cognitive trust and affective trust have significant impacts on consumer loyalty. Conclusions - The implications of this study are following as: From the theoretical perspective, this study considers trust as two dimensions such as cognitive and affective, not a single dimension, and identify what dimensions of franchise firms affect consumers' reputation perception and in turn lead cognitive and affective trust, and loyalty. This study also provides several managerial implications. In the franchise market where competition is intensifying, it is very important to analyze the attitudes of consumers in order to gain an advantage in competition with other competitors. In this study, it is meaningful that the study was conducted on consumers who have experience using a restaurant franchise company. Also, reputation is necessary to pay attention to the company because it is an important variable that strengthens with customer through confidence in food service franchise business, and leads loyalty and consumer consumption. Therefore, marketers should develop marketing strategies considering various reputation factors.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.53-73
• /
• 2023

Man-made structure materials like concrete usually contain inclusions. These inclusions affect the mechanical properties of concrete. In this investigation, the influence of inclusion length and inclination angle on three-dimensional failure mechanism of concrete under uniaxial compression were performed using experimental test and numerical simulation. Approach of acoustic emission were jointly used to analyze the damage and fracture process. Besides, by combining the stress-strain behavior, quantitative determination of the thresholds of crack stress were done. concrete specimens with dimensions of 120 mm × 150 mm × 100 mm were provided. One and two holes filled by gypsum are incorporated in concrete samples. To build the inclusion, firstly cylinder steel tube was pre-inserting into the concrete and removing them after the initial hardening of the specimen. Secondly, the gypsum was poured into the holes. Tensile strengths of concrete and gypsum were 2.45 MPa and 1.5 MPa, respectively. The angle bertween inclusions and axial loadind ary from 0 to 90 with increases of 30. The length of inclusion vary from 25 mm to 100 mm with increases of 25 mm. Diameter of the hole was 20 mm. Entirely 20 various models were examined under uniaxial test. Simultaneous with experimental tests, numerical simulation (Particle flow code in two dimension) were carried out on the numerical models containing the inclusions. The numerical model were calibrated firstly by experimental outputs and then failure behavior of models containing inclusions have been investigated. The angle bertween inclusions and axial loadind vary from 0 to 90 with increases of 15. The length of inclusion vary from 25 mm to 100 mm with increases of 25 mm. Entirely 32 various models were examined under uniaxial test. Loading rate was 0.05 mm/sec. The results indicated that when inclusion has occupied 100% of sample thickness, two tensile cracks originated from boundaries of sample and spread parallel to the loading direction until being integrated together. When inclusion has occupied 75% of sample thickness, four tensile cracks originated from boundaries of sample and spread parallel to the loading direction until being integrated together. When inclusions have occupied 50% and 25% of sample thickness, four tensile cracks originated from boundaries of sample and spread parallel to the loading direction until being integrated together. Also the inclusion was failed by one tensile crack. The compressive strength of samples decease with the decreases of the inclusions length, and inclusion angle had some effects on that. Failure of concrete is mostly due to the tensile crack. The behavior of crack, was affected by the inclusion length and inclusion number.