• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.280-288
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• 2023

In strawberry farming, most parts of strawberry stems but the fruit have been dumped. Therefore, this study attempted to investigate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of strawberry stems which are thrown away after farming. For this, strawberry stem extracts were obtained, using hot water and 70% ethanol. First, total polyphenol contents of the hot water and ethanol extract were checked (265.4 ± 0.12 mg TAE/100 g, 503.88 ± 0.2 mg TAE/100 g). For analysis of antioxidant activities, electron donating ability (EDA) and 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity were measured. Both extracts increased in a dose-dependent fashion, and similar effects with vitamin C (control group) were confirmed. In terms of cell viability of the hot water and ethanol extracts of strawberry stems, 'RAW 264.7' was 99% or higher at 500 ㎍/ml. In addition, cell experiments were conducted at 50, 100 and 500 ㎍/ml where cell viability is above 99%. In terms of inhibition of the inflammatory mediator 'nitric oxide (NO)', the hot water and ethanol extracts of strawberry stems were 37.9% and 38.8% respectively, confirming the inhibition of NO production. To check anti-inflammatory activities, protein and mRNA expressions of 'iNOS' and 'COX-2' were measured, using RAW 264.7. Compared to the LPS group, the protein expression of the inflammatory mediators was inhibited in the hot water and ethanol extract-treated groups. The above results confirmed that the hot water and ethanol extracts of strawberry stems are valuable as natural substances with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.204-212
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• 2023

Whitening is inhibitory activity of the melanin synthesis of melanocytes. Recently, whitening materials have been developed on natural materials because of its side effects on skin. Figs (Ficus Carica L.) is a fruit belonging to the Moraceae family and whitening activity was reported in focusing on the fig's stem and leaf components, but whitening activity of the figs fruit was not known. Thus, in this study, we tried to observe its anti-melanogenesis as well as antioxidant and anti-inflammation. The radical scavenging activity of figs fruits extract (FFE) was observed as the level of 34.52±1.98%/60.71±1.26% compared to the control in the its maximum concentration in the DPPH/ABTS assay. Cytotoxicity of FFE was observed at 10% concentration by CCK8 assay, so the maximum concentration was set at 5% and applied to all experiments. FFE concentration dependently decreased NO production associated with inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α gene expression, these strongly suggesting anti-inflammatory activity. In melanin contents assay, FFE significantly down-regulated melanin production in α-MSH-stimulated B16F10 cell as well as tyrosinase inhibition in vitro. In addition, FFE decreased the Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) mRNA expression about 94.34% compared to the α-MSH treatment group in RT-PCR. Finally, FFE significantly reduced the MITF, cAMP response element-binding protein and tyrosinase protein expression in the α-MSH stimulated B16F10 cell. Through these results, we found that FFE can not only directly inhibit tyrosinase enzyme activity but also suppress melanogenesis through regulation of MITF gene expression in α-MSH signal transduction.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.32-40
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• 2024

In the construction industry, lack of reliability in the quality of recycled aggregates, harmful substance problems, and negative consumer perceptions limit the expansion of the use of recycled aggregates. In this respect, existing studies mainly focus on the use of recycled coarse aggregates in concrete in consideration of durability. On the other hand, in the case of recycled fine aggregates, not only are there insufficient cases applied to major structures, but the scope of application is very limited due to lack of awareness. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to present the possibility of their application in bearing and non-bearing wall structures through physical characteristics experiments of concrete bricks for masonry according to various mixing ratios of recycled fine aggregates and cement amounts. To this end, the compressive strength and absorption rate of concrete bricks were measured focusing on the mixing ratio of the recycled fine aggregate and the crushed fine aggregate and the amount of cement. As a result, it is found that it is possible to use 100% of recycled fine aggregate for 200kg/m³ of cement or 25% of crushed fine aggregate mixed with 75% of recycled fine aggregate for the same amount of cement to achieve the compressive strength of 13MPa, witch is one of the quality requirements for concrete bricks for bearing walls. In addition, it is found that to meet the strength of 8MPa, one of the quality requirements for non-bearing walls, it is sufficient to use 100% of the recycled fine aggregate for 100kg/m³ of cement. Through the absorption rate tests, it is also confirmed that the absorption rate of the concrete brick is 13% or less by meeting the required performance criteria. This means that even if recycled fine aggregate is used in the manufacture of concrete bricks, the quality standards required by KS F 4004 (concrete bricks) can be sufficiently met.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.65-72
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• 2024

To faithfully represent the intention of the work in the exhibition space, lighting that provides high color reproduction like natural light is required. Thus, many lighting technologies have been introduced to improve CRI, but most of them only evaluated the general color rendering index (CRI Ra), which considers eight pastel colors. Natural light provides excellent color rendering performance for all colors, including red and blue, expressed by color rendering index of R9 and R12, but most artificial lighting has the problem that color rendering performance such as R9 and R12 is significantly lower than that of natural light. Recently, lighting technology that provides CRI at the level of natural light is required to realistically express the colors of works including primary colors but related research is very insufficient. Therefore this paper proposes exhibition hall lighting that fulfills CRI with a focus on CRI Ra, R9, and R12 based on the characteristics of natural light. First reinforcement wavelength bands for improving R9 and R12 are selected through analysis of the actual measurement SPD of natural and artificial lighting. Afterward virtual SPDs with a peak wavelength within the reinforcement wavelength band are created and then SPD combination conditions that satisfy CRI Ra≥95, R9, and R12≥90 are derived through combination simulation with a commercial LED light source. Through this, after specifying two types of light sources with 405,630nm peak wavelength that had the greatest impact on the improvement of R9 and R12, the exhibition hall lighting applied with two W/C White LEDs is designed and a control Index DB of the lighting is constructed. Afterward experiments with the proposed method showed that it was possible to achieve high CRI at the level of natural light with average CRI Ra 96.5, R9 96.2, and R12 94.0 under the conditions of illuminance (300-1,000 Lux) and color temperature (3,000-5,000K).

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.149-158
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effects of provisional restoration fabrication methods and surface polishing on surface roughness and microbial adhesion through in vitro experiments. Materials and Methods: 120 cylindrical provisional restoration resin blocks (10 × 10 × 2.5 mm) were manufactured according to four fabrication methods, and 30 specimens were assigned to each group. Afterwards, they were divided into non-polishing group, #400 grit SiC polishing group, and #800 grit SiC polishing group and polished to a 10 × 10 × 2 mm specimen size (n = 10). The surface roughness Ra and Ry of the specimen was measured using a Surface Roughness Tester. Three specimens were extracted from each group and were coated with artificial saliva, and then Streptococcus mutans were cultured on the specimens at 37℃ for 4 hours. The cultured specimens were fixed to fixatives and photographed using a scanning electron microscope. For statistical analysis, the two way of ANOVA was performed for surface roughness Ra and Ry, respectively, and the surface roughness was tested post-mortem with a Scheffe test. Results: The fabrication method and the degree of surface polishing of the provisional restorations had a significant effect on both surface roughness Ra and Ry, and had an interaction effect. There was no significant difference in Ra and Ry values in all polishing groups in DLP and LCD groups. Conclusion: The fabrication method and surface polishing of the provisional restoration had a significant effect on surface roughness and showed different adhesion patterns for S. mutans adhesion.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-44
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• 1969

The important results which have been obtained in the investigation can be recapitulated as follows. 1. As demostrated by the experimental results and analyses concerning their effects in the on-ground type mushroom house, the constructions in relation to the side wall and ceiling of the experimental houses showed a sufficient heat insulation on effect to protect insides of the houses from outside climatic conditions. 2. As the effect on the solar type experimental mushroom house which was constructed in a half basement has been shown by the experimental results and analyses, it has been proved to be effective for making use of solar heat. However there were found two problems to be improved for putting solar houses to practical use in the farm mushroom growing: (1) the construction of the roof and ceiling should be the same as for the on-ground type house, and (2) the solar heat generating system should be reconstructed properly. A trial solar heat generating system is shown in Fig. 40. 3. Among several ventilation systems which have been studied in the experiments, the underground earthen pipe and ceiling ventilation, and vertical side wall and ceiling ventilation systems have been proved to be most effective for natural ventilation. 4. The experimental results have shown that ventilation systems such as the vertical side wall and underground ventilation systems are suitable to put to practical use as natural ventilation systems for farm mushroom houses. These ventilation systems can remarkably improve the temperature of fresh air which is introduced into the house by heat transfers within the ventilation passages, so as to approach to the desired temperature of the house without any cooling or heating operation. For example, if it is assuming that x is the outside temperature and y is the amount of temperature adjustment made by the influence of the ventilation system, the relationships that exist between x and y can be expressed by the following regression lines. Underground iron pipe ventilation system ${\cdots}{\cdots}$ y=0.9x-12.8 Underground earthen pipe ventilation system ${\cdots}{\cdots}$y=0.96x-15.11 Vertical side wall ventilation system${\cdots}{\cdots}$ y=0.94x-17.57 5. The experimental results have shown that the relationships existing between the admitted and expelled air and the $Co_2$ concentration can be described with experimental regression lines or an exponent equation as follows: 1) If it is assumed that x is an air speed cm/sec. and y is an expelled air speed in cm/sec. in a natural ventilation system, since the y is a function of the x, the relationships that exist between x and y can be expressed by the regression lines shown below: 2) If it is assumed that x is an admitted volume of air in $m^3/hr$ and y is an expelled volume of air in $m^3/hr$ in a natural ventilation system, since the y is a function of the x, the relationships that exist between x and y can be expressed by the regression lines shown below. 3) If it is assumed that the expelled air speed in cm/sec and replacement air speed in cm/sec. at the bed surface in a natural ventilation system are shown as x and y, respectively, since the y is a function of the x, the relationships that exist between x and y can be expressed by the following regression line: G.E. (100%)- C.V. (50%) ventilation system${\cdots}$ y=0.54X+0.84 4) If it is assumed that the replacement air speed in cm/sec. at the bed surface is shown as x, and $CO_2$ concentration which is expressed by multiplying 1000 times the actual value of $CO_2$ % is shown as y, in a natural ventilation system, since the y is a function of the x the relationships that exist between x and y can be expressed by the following regression line: G.E. (100%)- C.V. (50%) ventilation system${\cdots}{\cdots}$ y=114.53-6.42x 5) If it is assumed that the expelled volume of air is shown as x and the $CO_2$ concentration which is expressed by multiplying 1000 times the actual of $CO_2$ % is shown as y in a natural ventilation system, since the y is a function of of the x, the relationships that exist between x and y can be expressed by the following exponent equation: G.E. (100%)-C.V. (50%) ventilation system${\cdots}{\cdots}$ $$y=127.18{\times}1.0093^{-X}$$ 6. The experimental results have shown that the ratios of the crass sectional area of the G.E. and C.V. vent to the total cubic capacity of the house, required for providing an adequate amount of air in a natural ventilation system, can be estimated as follows: G.E. (admitting vent of the underground ventilation)${\cdots}{\cdots}$ 0.30-0.5% (controllable) C.V. (expelling vent of the ceiling ventilation)${\cdots}{\cdots}$ 0.8-1.0% (controllable) 7. Among several heating devices which were studied in the experiments, the hot-water boilor which was modified to be fitted both as hot-water toiler and as a pressureless steam-water was found most suitable for farm mushroom growing.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.54-101
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• 1976

This study was conducted on the major factors affecting soil erosion and surface run-off. In order to investigate the processes and mechanisms of soil erosion on denuded forest-land in Korea, and to systematize the magnitudes of influences and interactions between individual factors, the five major factors adopted in these experiments are soil textures (coarse sand and clay loam), slope steepness ($10^{\circ}$, $20^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$ and $40^{\circ}$), rainfall intensities (50, 75 and 100mm/hr), slope mulching methods (bare, coarse straw-mat mulching, grass mulching and anti-erosion liquid mulching) and vegetation densities (sparse, moderate and dense). The processes and mechanisms of soil erosion, and the effects of mulchings on soil erosion as well as surface run-off rates were studied algebraically with four parts of laboratory experiments under the simulated rainfall and another part of field experiment under the natural rainfall. The results in this study are summarized as follows: 1. Experiment factors and surface run-off rates The surface run-off rates under the natural rainfall were resulted about 24.7~28.7% from the bare slopes, about 14.0~16.4% from the straw-mat mulched slopes, about 7.9~9.1% from the liquid mulched slopes, and about 5.6~7.2% from the grass mulched slopes respectively. The surface run-off rates under the simulated rainfall differed greatly according to the rainfall intensity and the mulching method. 2. Magnitudes of influences and interactions of the individual factor on the surface run-off rates. The experimental analyses on the major factors(soils, slopes, rainfalls, mulchings and vegetations) affecting the rates of surface run-off, show that the mean differences of surface run-off rate are significant at 5% level between the soil texture factors, among the slope steepness factors, among the rainfall intensity factors, among the mulching method factors, and among the vegetation density factors respectively. The interactions among the individual factor have a great influence(significant at 1% level) upon the rate of surface run-off, except for the interactions of the factors between soils and slopes; between slopes and vegetations; among soils, slopes and rainfalls; and among soils, slopes and mulchings respectively. On the bare slopes under the simulated rainfall, the magnitude of influences of three factors(soils, slopes and rainfalls) affecting the rate of surface run-off is in the order of the factor of rainfalls, soils and slopes. The magnitude of influences of three factors (soils, rainfalls and mulchings) affecting the rate of surface run-off, on the mulched slopes under the simulated rainfall is in the order of the factor of mulchings, rainfalls and soils and that of influences of the factor of soils, slopes and mulchings is in the order of the factor of mulchings, soils and slopes. On the vegetation growing slopes under the simulated rainfall, the magnitude of influences of three factors (soils, slopes and vegetations) affecting the rate of surface run-off is in the order of the factor of vegetations, soils and slopes. In the same condition of treatments on the field experiment under the natural rainfall, the order of magnitude of influences affecting the rate of surface run-off is the factor of mulchings, soils and slopes. 3. Experiment factors and soil losses The soil losses of the experiment plots differed according to the factors of soil texture, slope steepness, rainfall intensity and mulching method. The soil losses from the coarse soil were increased about 1.1~1.3 times as compared with that of fine soil under the natural rainfall, while the soil losses from the fine soil were increased about 1.2~1.3 times compared with that of coarse soil under the simulated rainfall. The equation of $E=aS^b$ (a, b are constant) between the slope steepness (log S) and soil losses (log E) under the simulated rainfall were developed. The equation of $E=aI^b$ (a, b are constant) between the rainfall intensity (log I) and soil losses (log E) were developed, and b values have a decreasing tendency according to the increase of the slope steepness and rainfall intensity. The soil losses under the natural rainfall were appeared about 38~41% from the coarse straw-mat mulched slopes, about 20~22% from the liquid mulched slopes, about 14~15% from the grass mulched slopes as compared with that of the bare slopes respectively. The soil loss from the vegetation plots showed about 7.1~16.4 times from the sparse plot, about 10.0~17.9 times from the moderate plot and about 11.1~28.1 times from the dense plot as compared with that of the bare slopes. 4. Magnitudes of influences and interactions of the individual factor on the soil erosion. The experimental analyses on the major factors(soils, slopes, rainfalls, mulchings and vegetations) affecting the soil erosion, show that the mean differences of soil losses are highly significant between the soil texture factors, among the slope steepness factors, among the rainfall intensity factors, among the mulching method factors and among the vegetation density factors respectively. The interactions among the individual factor have mostly great influences upon the soil erosion. The magnitude of influences of three factors (soils, slopes and rainfalls) affecting the soil erosion on the bare slopes under the simulated rainfall is in order of the factor of rainfalls, soils and slopes. On the mulched slopes under the simulated rainfall, the magnitude order of influences of three factors(soils, rainfalls and mulchings) affecting the soil erosion is the factor of mulchings, rainfalls and soils, and the order of influences of factor of soils, slopes and mulchings is the factor of mulchings, soils and slopes. On the vegetation growing slopes under the simulated rainfall, the magnitude of influences of three factors (soils, slopes and vegetations) affecting the soil erosion is in the order of the factor of slopes. vegetations and soils. In the same condition of treatments on the field experiment under the natural rainfall, the order of magnitude of influences of three factors (soils, slopes and mulchings) affecting the soil erosion is the factor of mulchings, of slopes and of soils.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.17
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• pp.1-44
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• 1974

These studies were made at Suwon in 1972 and at Suwon, Iri, and Kwangju in 1973 to investigate grain filling process and variation of grain quality of NB 68513 and Caprock as hard red winter wheat, Suke ＃169 as soft red winter wheat variety and Yungkwang as semi-hard winter variety, grown under-three different fertilizer levels and seeding dates. Other experiments were conducted to find the effects of temperature, humidity and light intensity on the grain filling process and grain quality of Yungkwang and NB 68513 wheat varieties. These, experiments were conducted at Suwon in 1973 and 1974. 1. Grain filling process of wheat cultivars: 1) The frequency distribution of a grain weight shows that wider distribution of grain weight was associated with large grain groups rather than small grain group. In the large grain groups, the frequency was mostly concentrated near mean value, while the frequency was dispersed over the values in the small grain group. 2) The grain weight was more affected by the grain thickness and width than by grain length. 3) The grain weight during the ripening period was rapidly increased from 14 days after flowering to 35 days in Yungkwang and from 14 days after flowering to 28 days in NB 68513. The large grain group, Yungkwang was rather slowly increased and took a longer period in increase of endosperm ratio of grain than the small grain group, NB 68513. 4) In general, the 1, 000 grain weight was reduced under high temperature, low humidity, while it was increased under low temperature and high humidity condition, and under high temperature and humidity condition. The effect of shading on grain weight was greater in high temperature than in low temperature condition and no definite tendency was found in high humidity condition. 5) The effects of temperature, humidity and shading on 1, 000 grain weight were greater in large-grain group, Yungkwang than in small grain group, NB 68513. Highly significant positive correlation was found between 1, 000 grain weight and days to ripening. 6) The 1, 000 grain weight and test weight were increased more or less as the fertilizer levels applied were increased. However, the rate of increasing 1, 000 grain weight was low when fertilizer levels were increased from standard to double. The 1, 000 grain weight was high when planted early. Such tendency was greater in Suwon than in Kwangju or Iri area. 2. Milling quality: 7) The milling rate in a same group of varieties was higher under the condition of low temperature, high humidity and early maturing culture which were responsible for increasing 1, 000 grain weight. No definite relations were found along with locations. 8) In the varieties tested, the higher milling rate was found in large grain variety, Yungkwang, and the lowest milling rate was obtained from Suke ＃ 169, the small grain variety. But the small grained hard wheat variety such as Caprock and NB 68513 showed higher milling rate compared with the soft wheat variety, Suke ＃ 169. 9) There were no great differences of ash content due to location, fertilizer level and seeding date while remarkable differences due to variety were found. The ash content was high in the hard wheat varieties such as NB 68513, Caprock and low in soft wheat varieties such as Yungkwang and Suke ＃ 169. 3. Protein content: 10) The protein content was increased under the condition of high temperature, low humidity and shading, which were responsible for reduction of 1, 000 grain weight. The varietal differences of protein content due to high temperature, low humidity and shading conditions were greater in Yungkwang than in NB 68513. 11) The high content of protein in grain within one to two weeks after flowering might be due to the high ratio of pericarp and embryo to endosperm. As grains ripen, the effects of embryo and pericarp on protein content were decreased, reducing protein content. However, the protein content was getting increased from three or four weeks after flowering, and maximized at seven weeks after flowering. The protein content of grain at three to four weeks after flowering increased as the increase of 1, 000 grain weight. But the protein content of matured grain appeared to be affected by daily temperature on calender rather than by duration of ripening period. 12) Highly significant positive correlation value was found between the grain protein content and flour protein content. 13) The protein content was increased under the high level of fertilizers and late seeding. The local differences of protein content were greater in Suwon than in Kwangju and Iri. 14) Protein content in the varieties tested were high in Yungkwang, NB 68513 and Caprock, and low in Suke ＃ 169. However, variation in protein content due to the cultural methods was low in Suke ＃ 169. 15) Protein yield per unit area was increased in accordance with increase of fertilizer levels and early maturing culture. However, nitrogen fertilizer was utilized rather effectively in early maturing culture and Yungkwang was the highest in protein yield per unit area. 4. Physio-chemical properties of wheat flour: 16) Sedimentation value was higher under the conditions of high temperature, low humidity and high levels of fertilizers than under the conditions of low temperature, high moisture and low levels of fertilizers. Such differences of sedimentation values were more apparent in NB 68513 and Caprock than Yungkwang and Suke ＃ 169. The local difference of sedimentation value was greater in Suwon than in Kwangju and Iri. Even though the sedimentation value was highly correlated with protein content of grain, the high humidity was considered one of the factors affecting sedimentation value. 17) Changes of Pelshenke values due to the differences of cultural practices and locations were generally coincident with sedimentation values. 18) The mixing time required for mixogram was four to six minutes in NB 68513, five to seven minutes in Cap rock. The great variation of mixing time for Yungkwang and Suke ＃ 169 due to location and planting conditions was found. The mixing height and area were high in hard wheat than in soft wheat. Variation of protein content due to cultural methods were inconsistent. However, the pattern of mixogram were very much same regardless the treatments applied. With this regard, it could be concluded that the mixogram is a kind of method expressing the specific character of the variety. 19) Even though the milling property of NB 68513 and Caprock was deteriorated under either high temperature and low humidity of high fertilizer levels and late seeding conditions, baking quality was better due to improved physio-chemical properties of flour. In contrast, early maturing culture deteriorated physio-chemical properties, milling property of grain and grain protein yield per unit area was increased. However, it might be concluded that the hard wheat production of NB 68513 and Caprock for baking purpose could be done better in Suwon than in Iri or Kwangju area. 5. Interrelationships between the physio-chemical characters of wheat flour: 20) Physio-chemical properties of flour didn't have direct relationship with milling rate and ash content. Low grain weight produced high protein content and better physio-chemical flour properties. 21) In hard wheat varieties like NB 68513 and Caprock, protein content was significantly correlated with sedimentation value, Pelshenke value and mixing height. However, gluten strength and baking quality were improved by the increased protein content. In Yungkwang and Suk ＃ 169, protein content was correlated with sedimentation value, but no correlations were found with Pelshenke value and mixing height. Consequently, increase of protein content didn't improve the gluten strength in soft wheat. 22) The highly significant relationships between protein content and gluten strength and sedimentation . value, and between Pelshenke value, mixogram and gluten strength indicated that the determination of mixogram and Pelshenke value are useful for de terming soft and hard type of varieties. Determination of sedimentation value is considered useful method for quality evaluation of wheat grain under different cultural practices.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.123-145
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• 2008

Recently, as the information communication technology develops, the discussion regarding the ubiquitous environment is occurring in diverse perspectives. Ubiquitous environment is an environment that could transfer data through networks regardless of the physical space, virtual space, time or location. In order to realize the ubiquitous environment, the Pervasive Sensing technology that enables the recognition of users' data without the border between physical and virtual space is required. In addition, the latest and diversified technologies such as Context-Awareness technology are necessary to construct the context around the user by sharing the data accessed through the Pervasive Sensing technology and linkage technology that is to prevent information loss through the wired, wireless networking and database. Especially, Pervasive Sensing technology is taken as an essential technology that enables user oriented services by recognizing the needs of the users even before the users inquire. There are lots of characteristics of ubiquitous environment through the technologies mentioned above such as ubiquity, abundance of data, mutuality, high information density, individualization and customization. Among them, information density directs the accessible amount and quality of the information and it is stored in bulk with ensured quality through Pervasive Sensing technology. Using this, in the companies, the personalized contents(or information) providing became possible for a target customer. Most of all, there are an increasing number of researches with respect to recommender systems that provide what customers need even when the customers do not explicitly ask something for their needs. Recommender systems are well renowned for its affirmative effect that enlarges the selling opportunities and reduces the searching cost of customers since it finds and provides information according to the customers' traits and preference in advance, in a commerce environment. Recommender systems have proved its usability through several methodologies and experiments conducted upon many different fields from the mid-1990s. Most of the researches related with the recommender systems until now take the products or information of internet or mobile context as its object, but there is not enough research concerned with recommending adequate store to customers in a ubiquitous environment. It is possible to track customers' behaviors in a ubiquitous environment, the same way it is implemented in an online market space even when customers are purchasing in an offline marketplace. Unlike existing internet space, in ubiquitous environment, the interest toward the stores is increasing that provides information according to the traffic line of the customers. In other words, the same product can be purchased in several different stores and the preferred store can be different from the customers by personal preference such as traffic line between stores, location, atmosphere, quality, and price. Krulwich(1997) has developed Lifestyle Finder which recommends a product and a store by using the demographical information and purchasing information generated in the internet commerce. Also, Fano(1998) has created a Shopper's Eye which is an information proving system. The information regarding the closest store from the customers' present location is shown when the customer has sent a to-buy list, Sadeh(2003) developed MyCampus that recommends appropriate information and a store in accordance with the schedule saved in a customers' mobile. Moreover, Keegan and O'Hare(2004) came up with EasiShop that provides the suitable tore information including price, after service, and accessibility after analyzing the to-buy list and the current location of customers. However, Krulwich(1997) does not indicate the characteristics of physical space based on the online commerce context and Keegan and O'Hare(2004) only provides information about store related to a product, while Fano(1998) does not fully consider the relationship between the preference toward the stores and the store itself. The most recent research by Sedah(2003), experimented on campus by suggesting recommender systems that reflect situation and preference information besides the characteristics of the physical space. Yet, there is a potential problem since the researches are based on location and preference information of customers which is connected to the invasion of privacy. The primary beginning point of controversy is an invasion of privacy and individual information in a ubiquitous environment according to researches conducted by Al-Muhtadi(2002), Beresford and Stajano(2003), and Ren(2006). Additionally, individuals want to be left anonymous to protect their own personal information, mentioned in Srivastava(2000). Therefore, in this paper, we suggest a methodology to recommend stores in U-market on the basis of ubiquitous environment not using personal information in order to protect individual information and privacy. The main idea behind our suggested methodology is based on Feature Matrices model (FM model, Shahabi and Banaei-Kashani, 2003) that uses clusters of customers' similar transaction data, which is similar to the Collaborative Filtering. However unlike Collaborative Filtering, this methodology overcomes the problems of personal information and privacy since it is not aware of the customer, exactly who they are, The methodology is compared with single trait model(vector model) such as visitor logs, while looking at the actual improvements of the recommendation when the context information is used. It is not easy to find real U-market data, so we experimented with factual data from a real department store with context information. The recommendation procedure of U-market proposed in this paper is divided into four major phases. First phase is collecting and preprocessing data for analysis of shopping patterns of customers. The traits of shopping patterns are expressed as feature matrices of N dimension. On second phase, the similar shopping patterns are grouped into clusters and the representative pattern of each cluster is derived. The distance between shopping patterns is calculated by Projected Pure Euclidean Distance (Shahabi and Banaei-Kashani, 2003). Third phase finds a representative pattern that is similar to a target customer, and at the same time, the shopping information of the customer is traced and saved dynamically. Fourth, the next store is recommended based on the physical distance between stores of representative patterns and the present location of target customer. In this research, we have evaluated the accuracy of recommendation method based on a factual data derived from a department store. There are technological difficulties of tracking on a real-time basis so we extracted purchasing related information and we added on context information on each transaction. As a result, recommendation based on FM model that applies purchasing and context information is more stable and accurate compared to that of vector model. Additionally, we could find more precise recommendation result as more shopping information is accumulated. Realistically, because of the limitation of ubiquitous environment realization, we were not able to reflect on all different kinds of context but more explicit analysis is expected to be attainable in the future after practical system is embodied.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.41-46
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• 2011

Purpose: The result of exam using an imaging device is very closely related with the image quality. Moreover, this image quality can be changed according to the condition of image acquisition and evaluation method. In this study, we evaluated the image quality according to the difference of pre-set method in PET/CT image. Materials & Methods: PET/CT Discovery STe16 (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, USA), Chest PET phantom (Experiment 1) and 94 NEMA phantom (Experiment 2) were used. Phantom were filled with $^{18}F$-FDG maintaining hot sphere and background ratio to 4:1. In the case of experiment 1, we set the radio activity concentration on 3.5, 6.0, 8.6 kBq/mL. In the case of experiment 2, we set the radio activity concentration on 3.3, 5.5, 7.7, 9.9, 12.1, 16.5 kBq/mL. All experiments were performed with the time-set method for 2 minutes 30 seconds per frame and the count-set method with one hundred million counts in 3D mode after CT transmission scan. For the evaluation of the image quality, we compared each results by using the NECR and SNR. Results: In the experiment 1, both the NECR and SNR were increased as radioactivity concentration getting increased. The NECR was shown as 53.7, 66.9, 91.4. and SNR was shown as 7.9, 10.0, 11.7. Both the NECR and SNR were increased in time-set method. But the count-set method's pattern was not similar with the time-set method. The NECR was shown as 53.8, 69.1, 97.8, and SNR was shown as 14.1, 14.7 14.4. The SNR was not increased in count-set method. In experiment 2, results of both the NECR and SNR were shown as 45.1, 70.6, 95.3, 115.6, 134.6, 162.2 and 7.1, 8.8, 10.6, 11.5, 12.7, 14.0. These results were shown similar patten with the experiment 1. Moreover, when the count-set method was applied, the NECR was shown as 42.1, 67.3, 92.1, 112.2, 130.7, 158.7, and SNR was shown as 15.2, 15.9, 15.6, 15.4, 15.5, 14.9. The NECR was increased but SNR was not shown same pattern. Conclusion: Increment of administered radioactivity improves the quality of image unconcerned with the pre-set method. However, NECR was not influenced by increment of total acquisition counts through simple increasing scan duration without increment of administered activity. In case of count-set method, the SNR was shown similar value despite of increment of radioactivity. So, the administered activity is more important than the scan duration. And we have to consider that evaluation of image quality using only SNR may not be appropriate.