• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.386-401
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• 2024

The study introduces and validates a model of post-traumatic growth among parents of children with special needs. The model incorporates cognitive processes, coping strategies, and sociocultural factors as intra-personal variables. The statistical analysis unveiled significant pathways that connect the factors, explaining 71% of the variance associated with post-traumatic growth. The study highlighted intentional reflection and robust decentralization skills as crucial factors that predict post-traumatic growth. Deliberate rumination functioned as a mediating factor, reducing the impact of trauma and facilitating post-traumatic growth, while social support played a crucial role in initiating purposeful rumination. The study findings indicate that the effect of self-disclosure on post-traumatic growth is not direct but rather indirect, as it is mediated by its influence on social support and deliberate rumination. The study underscores the significance of examining particular characteristics of social support networks and suggests integrating additional variables for future research, such as gender, types of traumatic events, and the age of children with disabilities.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.56-62
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• 2003

The liver progenitor cells could form a potential target cell population fore both tumor-initiating and -promoting chemicals. Induction of drug-metabolizing and antioxidant enzymes, including AhR-dependent CYP1A1, NQO-1 and AKR1C9, was detected in the rat liver epithelial WB-F344 "stem-like" cells. Additionally, WB-F344 cells express a functional, wild-type form of p53 protein, a biomarker of genotoxic events, and connexin 43, a basic structural unit of gap junctions forming an important type of intercellular communication. In this cellular model, two complementary assays have been established for detection of the modes of action associated with tumor promotion: inhibition of gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) and proliferative activity in confluent cells. We found that the PAHs and PCBs, which are AhR agonists, released WB-F344 cells from contact inhibition, increasing both DNA synthesis and cell numbers. Genotoxic effects of some PAHs that lead to apoptosis and cell cycle delay might interfere with the proliferative activity of PAHs. Contrary to that, the nongenotoxic low-molecular-weight PAHs and non-dioxin-like PCB congeners, abundant in the environment, did not significantly affect cell cycle and cell proliferation; however both groups of compounds inhibited GJIC in WB-F344 cells. The release from contact inhibiton by a mechanism that possibly involves the AhR activation, inhibition of GJIC and genotoxic events induced by environmental contaminants are three important modes of action that could play an important role in carcinogenic effects of toxic compounds. The relative potencies to inhibit GJIC, to induce AhR-mediated activity, and to release cells from contact inhibition were determined for a large series of PAHs and PCBs and their metabolites. In vitro bioassays based on detection of events on cellular level (deregulation of GJIC and/or proliferation) or determination of receptor-mediated activities in both ?$stem-like^{\circ}{\times}$ and hepatocyte-like liver cellular models are valuable tools for detection of modes of action of polyaromatic hydrocarbons. They may serve, together with concentration data, as a first step in their risk assessment.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.168-175
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• 2008

As the travel industry grows and becomes increasingly more competitive, municipal governments have undertaken great efforts to maximize limited resources and develop their local economies by initiating and developing cultural festivals. Such festivals and events have become an efficient mechanism to enhance their image, increase tourism, and ultimately, stimulate their economy. However, marketing efforts to scale globally typically falter due to various factors: lack of originality, poor quality of contents, and a scarcity of competitive power. Hence, I wish to propose a model for developing cultural semiology and visual literacy, with storytelling utilized as a means of strategically illustrating local cultural festival contents. Subsequently, it is expected that such a model can underpin the importance of developing coherent edutainment content while illustrating the true meaning/value of local festivals.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.157-163
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• 2018

This paper describes design improvement to a research rector for safety enhancement using Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). This PSA under reactor design was undertaken to assess the level of safety for the design of a research reactor and to evaluate whether it is probabilistically safe to operate and reliable to use. The scope of the PSA reported here is a Level 1 PSA, which addresses the risks associated with the core damage. The technical objectives of this study were to identify accident sequences leading to core damage and to derive design improvement from the dominant accident sequences through the sensitivity analysis. The AIMS-PSA and FTREX were used for the this PSA of the research reactor. The criterion for inclusion was all sequences with a point estimate frequency greater than a truncation value of 1.0E-14/yr. The final result indicates a point estimate of 6.79E-05/yr for the overall Core Damage Frequency (CDF) attributable to internal initiating events for the research reactor under design. Based on the dominant accident sequences from the PSA, the seven kinds of sensitivity analysis were performed and some design improvement items were derived. When the five methods to improve the safety were all applied to the reactor design and emergency operating procedure, its risk was reduced to about 1.21E-06/yr from 6.79E-05/yr. The contribution of LOCA and LOEP with high CDF were significantly reduced by the sensitivity analysis. The safety of the research reactor was well improved and the risk was reduced than before adapting the design improvement gotten from the sensitivity analysis. The present study indicated that the research reactor has the well-balanced safety in regard to each initiating event contribution to CDF. The PSA methodology is very effective to improve reactor safety in a conceptual design phase and especially, Risk-informed design(RID) is very nice way to find the deficiencies of research reactor under design and to improve the reactor safety by solving them.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.204-211
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• 2015

Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) has had a significant role in quantitative decision-making by finding design and operational vulnerabilities and evaluating cost-benefit in improving such weak points. In particular, it has been widely used as the core methodology for risk-informed applications (RIAs). Even though the nature of PSA seeks realistic results, there are still "conservative" aspects. One of the sources for the conservatism is the assumptions of safety analysis and the estimation of failure frequency. Surveillance, diagnosis, and prognosis (SDP), utilizing massive databases and information technology, is worth highlighting in terms of its capability for alleviating the conservatism in conventional PSA. This article provides enabling techniques to solidify a method to provide time- and condition-dependent risks by integrating a conventional PSA model with condition monitoring and prognostics techniques. We will discuss how to integrate the results with frequency of initiating events (IEs) and probability of basic events (BEs). Two illustrative examples will be introduced: (1) how the failure probability of a passive system can be evaluated under different plant conditions and (2) how the IE frequency for a steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) can be updated in terms of operating time. We expect that the proposed model can take a role of annunciator to show the variation of core damage frequency (CDF) depending on operational conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.63-74
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• 2011

The 600 MWe, pool-type, sodium-cooled, metallic fuel loaded KALIMER-600 (Korea Advanced LiquId MEtal Reactor, 600 MWe) has been conceptually designed with an emphasis on safety by self-regulating (inherent/intrinsic) negative reactivity feedback in the core. Its inherent safety under the ATWS (Anticipated Transient Without Scram) events was demonstrated in an earlier study. Initiating events of an HCDA (Hypothetical Core Disruptive Accident), however, also need to be analyzed for assessment of the margins in the current design. In this study, a hypothetical triple-fault accident, ULOF (Unprotected Loss Of Flow) with a reduced pump halving time, is investigated as an initiator of a core disruptive accident. A ULOF with insufficient primary pump inertia may cause core sodium boiling due to a power-to-flow mismatch. If the positive sodium reactivity resulting from this boiling is not compensated for by other intrinsic negative reactivity feedbacks, the resulting core power burst would challenge the fuel integrity. The present study focuses on determination of the limit of the pump inertia for assuring inherent reactivity feedback and behavior of the core after sodium boiling as well. Transient analyses are performed with the safety analysis code SSC-K, which now incorporates a new sodium boiling model. The results show that a halving time of more than 6.0 s does not allow sodium boiling even with very conservative assumptions. Boiling takes place for a halving time of 1.8 s, and its behavior can be predicted reasonably by the SSC-K.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.553-560
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• 2014

The rainfall-runoff characteristics in Jeju Island significantly differ from those in inland, due to highly permeable geologic features driven by volcanic island. Streams are usually sustained in the dry conditions and thereby the rainfall-runoff characteristics changes in terms of initiating stream discharge and its types, depending highly on the antecedent precipitation. Among various the rainfall-runoff characteristics, lag time mainly used for flood warning system in river and direct runoff ratio for determining water budget to estimate groundwater recharge quantity are practically crucial. They are expected to vary accordingly with the given antecedent precipitation. This study assessed the lag time in the measured hydrograph and direct runoff ratio, which are especially in the upstream watershed having the outlet as $2^{nd}$ Dongsan bridge of Han stream, Jeju, based upon several typhoon events such as Khanun, Bolaven, Tembin, Sanba as well as a specific heavy rainfall event in August 23, 2012. As results, considering that the lag time changed a bit over the rainfall events, the averaged lag time without antecedent precipitation was around 1.5 hour, but it became increased with antecedent precipitation. Though the direct run-off ratio showed similar percentages (i.e., 23%)without antecedent precipitation, it was substantially increased up to around 45% when antecedent precipitation existed. In addition, the direct run-off ration without antecedent precipitation was also very high (43.8%), especially when there was extremely heavy rainfall event in the more than five hundreds return period such as typhoon Sanba.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 1989

Numerous losses of decay heat removal capability have occurred at U during stutodwn while its significance to safety is needless to say. A study is carried out as an attempt to assess what could be done to lower the frequency of these events and to mitigate their consequences in the unlikely event that one occurs. The shutdown risk model is developed and analyzed using Event/Fault Tree for the typical pressurized water reactor. The human cognitive reliability (HCR) model, two-stage bayesian approach and staircase function model are used to estimate human reliability, initiating event frequency and offsite power non-recovery probability given loss of offsite power, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the risk of a Pm at shutdown is not much lower than the risk when the plant is operating. By examining the dominant accident sequences obtained, several design deficiencies are identified and it is found that some proposed changes lead to significant reduction in core damage frequency due to loss of cooling events.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.113-124
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• 2024

Background: The increasing need to minimize animal testing has sparked interest in alternative methods with more humane, cost-effective, and time-saving attributes. In particular, in silico-based computational toxicology is gaining prominence. Adverse outcome pathway (AOP) is a biological map depicting toxicological mechanisms, composed of molecular initiating events (MIEs), key events (KEs), and adverse outcomes (AOs). To understand toxicological mechanisms, predictive models are essential for AOP components in computational toxicology, including molecular structures. Objectives: This study reviewed the literature and investigated previous research cases related to AOP and in silico methodologies. We describe the results obtained from the analysis, including predictive techniques and approaches that can be used for future in silico-based alternative methods to animal testing using AOP. Methods: We analyzed in silico methods and databases used in the literature to identify trends in research on in silico prediction models. Results: We reviewed 26 studies related to AOP and in silico methodologies. The ToxCast/Tox21 database was commonly used for toxicity studies, and MIE was the most frequently used predictive factor among the AOP components. Machine learning was most widely used among prediction techniques, and various in silico methods, such as deep learning, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics, were also utilized. Conclusions: We analyzed the current research trends regarding in silico-based alternative methods for animal testing using AOPs. Developing predictive techniques that reflect toxicological mechanisms will be essential to replace animal testing with in silico methods. In the future, since the applicability of various predictive techniques is increasing, it will be necessary to continue monitoring the trend of predictive techniques and in silico-based approaches.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4341-4346
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• 2012

Purpose: The aim of this study was to cast light on initiating molecular events associated with the development of premalignant oral lesions induced by tobacco and/or areca nut. Method: Immunohistochemical analyses of cell cycle regulatory proteins (LIMD1, RBSP3, p16, RB, phosphorylated RB, p53), EGFR and SH3GL2 (EGFR associated protein) were performed with inflammatory/ulcerative epithelium and adjacent hyperplastic/mild dysplastic lesions. Results: No change in expression of the proteins was seen in inflammatory epithelium. Reduced nuclear expression of LIMD1 was evident in ulcerative epithelium. In hyperplastic lesions, reduced expression of RBSP3, p16, SH3GL2 and overexpression of p-RB and EGFR were apparent. Reduced nuclear expression of p53 was observed in mild dysplastic lesions. Conclusion: Our data suggest that inactivation of LIMD1 in ulcerative epithelium might predispose the tissues to alterations of other cell cycle regulatory and EGFR signaling proteins needed for the development of premalignant oral lesions.