• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.516-532
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• 2023

This study is the result of analyzing the distribution of 129 Saemies discovered based on field research conducted from September 2021 to June 2023 in the Sacheon alluvial fan area through ethnoscience and niche theory. The researcher viewed the Sacheon alluvial fan area as a suitable location for irrigation where both traditional and modern hydraulic facilities are used, and the cultural and ecological study of 'Saemi', a traditional irrigation facility that attracts attention for its public value for the ecological environment according to the sustainable paradigm. By revealing its competitiveness, we aimed to contribute to finding ways to sustainably conserve and utilize Saemi. As a result of the study, Saemi is confirmed to be a competitive water facility in terms of cultural and ecological quality, considering the direction of the times and the sustainable development. If environment-friendly agricultural technology is applied to traditional water treatment facilities in the context of sustainable agriculture, it is expected that synergy will be created in productivity, public interest, and sustainability.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.289-296
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• 2001

Community structure of the Salix and physico-chemical properties of sediment were studied from July to September, 2000 in Nam-River watershed for the purpose of inquiring niche breadth, niche overlap and the environmental factors affecting the distribution of Salix species. Among eleven Salix species, the dominant species was Salix koreensis, while the rests were such order as S. nipponica, S. gracilistyla and S. glandulosa by the relative abundance based on the basal area. Mean values and the ranges of sediment properties such as pH, conductivity, water content, organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, clay, silt and sand were 5.3∼6.3, 14∼351 μmho/cm, 0.1∼3.4%, 0.5∼7.3%, 0.01∼0.2%, 0.1∼0.4 mg/100 g, 1.7∼22.0%, 0.2∼40.8%, 39.7∼98.0%, respectively. Altitude and annual mean temperature of each site were 20∼620 m and 9.3∼13.0℃, respectively. Niche breadth was estimated by considering the differences of the soil texture as the differences of state of source. S. glandulosa was the broadest at the level of 0.77, while the rests were such order as S. koreensis, S. nipponica were 0.69, 0.54, respectively. The niche overlap showing the level of interspecific competition was the largest as 0.94 between S. purpurea var. japonica and S. purpurea var multinervis, while S. graciliglans and S. purpurea var. japonica 0.92, S. graciliglans and S. purpurea var. multinervis 0.87, respectively. According to the analysis of the correlation between eleven species of Salix and eleven environmental factors, S. gracilistyla showed the negative correlation with conductivity, water content, total nitrogen, clay, silt and annual mean temperature, and showed the positive correlation with total nitrogen, sand and altitude. S. graciliglans showed the negative correlation with conductivity, water content, organic matter, clay, silt and annual mean temperature, and showed the positive correlation with total nitrogen, sand and altitude. S. nipponica showed the negative correlation with sand and altitude, and showed the positive correlation with water content, total nitrogen, clay, silt and annual mean temperature. S. nipponica showed the opposite results of S. gracilistyla. Soil texture, total nitrogen, water content, altitude and annual mean temperature were affecting the distribution of Salix species in Nam-River watershed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.513-527
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• 2011

There have been studies about conceptual ecology making a profound study of conceptual changes in learners' cognitive structure. Because learners' cognitive structure have been compared to ecology, it is natural to think that conception in learner's cognitive structure have a niche as species in ecology have niches. Therefore, it is necessary to study niche approach about conception that learners recognize in their cognitive structure. The purposes of this study were to identify relationships among conceptions that 5th grade elementary school students recognize about photosynthesis and to identify how these relationships among conceptions about photosynthesis change before and after a class of photosynthesis in curriculum in terms of an approach of ecological niche which are composed of 3 domains - diversity of conceptions, relevance and frequency rate of conceptions, and competition among conceptions. Open ended questionnaire was developed by 4 fields: photosynthetic place, photosynthetic products, photosynthetic materials needed and environment factors of photosynthesis. The subjects sampled in this study were 310 5th grade elementary students in 5 cites. Before and after classes in photosynthesis in science curriculum, students were asked to write down conceptions that they knew about the 4 fields of photosynthesis of questionnaire and to write down scales of relevance from 1 to 30 about how they think the conceptions are related to the field of photosynthesis. The results of this study showed the following: First, most students have had a variety of conceptions and commonly recognized 'light' and 'water' as concepts in photosynthesis. Second, students still recognized their preconceptions like 'soil' and 'root,' etc. that were far from scientific conceptions of photosynthesis although they took classes in photosynthesis. Third, students needed to take the various strategies of teachers because they did not recognized scientific conceptions appropriately about photosynthetic fields. Fourth, it appeared that photosynthetic conceptions recognized by students had status in terms of relevance and frequency rate of conceptions, and competition among conceptions, and that they looked like the niche of conceptions in their conceptual ecologies.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.2876-2881
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• 2010

This paper attempts to find out implications based on the comparative analysis of overseas expansion model between the Korean insurance companies and the German one. There are three types of the strategies of the overseas-expansion-model of insurer, i.e. customer-oriented localized strategy, niche market-oriented strategy, and growing market-oriented strategy. From the review of related literatures and through an interview conducted by the insurance specialist, the findings are some differences between Korean and German insurance companies, when they go into foreign insurance markets. Th significant differences between Korean and German insurers are a customer oriented localized strategy and niche market oriented strategy. The Korean insurer shows a strength on the overseas-expansion-strategy, but the most clients of the Korean insurer on overseas markets are also Korean companies and Korean immigrants. The Korean legal expenses insurance market is yet in its embryonic stage, while the German legal expenses insurance company is pushing ahead with a strategy focused on localization and niche market on the legal expenses insurance product. In conclusion, like a case of the German legal expenses insurance company, the Korean insurer needs a customer oriented localized strategy as well as a niche market oriented strategy on the overseas insurance market.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.415-422
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• 2019

Human epidermal stem cells(ESCs) residing in the basement membrane of the skin have an important role in maintenance of skin homeostasis of epidermal layer. Although, ESCs provide new cells to repair damaged tissue in response to tissue injury, subsets of stem cells remain in the quiescent state protected from differentiation and senescence for prolonged survivals. In this perspective, the stem cell niche, which is specific microenvironment composed of niche cells and an extracellular matrix(ECM), supplies the relevant signal to save stem cells from microenvironmental damages. The expression of stemness marker on the surface of ESCs contributes to the attachment on their ECM of the basement membrane, which lead to growth potential and apoptotic resistance against environmental stimuli. In this study, we observed that UV irradiation, a major factor of environmental stimuli, reduced the expression of α2, β1 and α6 integrin in ESCs. Rhus Semialata M extract(RSE) showed inhibitory effect on the UVB-induced reduction of integrin expression. Furthermore, RSE could upregulate the expression of Col-IV and Laminin, which contribute to the attachment of ESCs. These results indicated that RSE could be a potent ingredient for the protection of ESCs from UV irradiation by increasing the expression of integrin and substrate ECM components at their niche.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.219-233
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• 2013

We employed the ecological niche modeling framework using GARP (Genetic Algorithm for Ruleset Production) to model the current and future geographic distribution of Pinus densiflora based on environmental predictor variable datasets such as climate data including the RCP 8.5 emission climate change scenario, geographic and topographic characteristics, soil and geological properties, and MODIS enhanced vegetation index (EVI) at 4 $km^2$ resolution. National Forest Inventory (NFI) derived occurrence and abundance records from about 4,000 survey sites across the whole country were used for response variables. The current and future potential geographic distribution of Pinus densiflora, one of the tree species dominating the present Korean forest was modeled and mapped. Future models under RCP 8.5 scenarios for Pinus densiflora suggest large areas predicted under current climate conditions may be contracted by 2090 showing range shifts northward and to higher altitudes. Area Under Curve (AUC) values of the modeled result was 0.67. Overall, the results of this study were successful in showing the current distribution of major tree species and projecting their future changes. However, there are still many possible limitations and uncertainties arising from the select of the presence-absence data and the environmental predictor variables for model input. Nevertheless, ecological niche modeling can be a useful tool for exploring and mapping the potential response of the tree species to climate change. The final models in this study may be used to identify potential distribution of the tree species based on the future climate scenarios, which can help forest managers to decide where to allocate effort in the management of forest ecosystem under climate change in Korea.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.5070-5077
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• 2014

Many countries in the world have protected their native plants and utilized them as industrial materials in each country. In this aspect, it is increasingly important to develop cosmetics materials using native plants in Korea. Cosmetic materials have been developed with niche plants, such as Campanula takesimana Nakai, Dianthus superbus, Aster spathulifolius in Ullengdo, in which a specific plant distribution by distinct climate and environment was present. Water and ethanol extractions were performed from the calluses of Campanula takesimana Nakai, Dianthus superbus, Aster spathulifolius. HPLC analysis revealed different compositions and functions of effective elements in each ethanol extract. For example, all types of ethanol extracts showed an ability to heal wounds. In particular, the expression of the inflammation-related gene, COX-2, was decreased in response to the ethanol extracts of Dianthus superbus. These results indicate that the ethanol extracts from niche plants' calluses in Ullengdo are natural and environmentally-friendly compounds, and can be used as medical supplies associated with anti-inflammation and wound healing.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.63-68
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• 2018

Purpose - Lettuce (Lactuca sativ L.) is one of the economically important vegetable crops, which worldwide market value is over 100 billion U.S. dollar. In Korea, about 89.7 kilo ton of lettuce was produced in 3400ha in 2016, recoded as No. 1 vegetable crop in domestic green house production. However, recently, domestic lettuce production and cultivation areas are all getting decreased. Thus, novel approaches are needed to be implemented to revive the production. Research design, data and methodology - In this review paper, we first prioritized the end-user traits which are imperative to positively stimulate the domestic lettuce market and discussed relevant genomics strategies. Especially, we assessed a possibility whether school meal program would be a potential niche market. Results - The genomics technologies, which become widely applied in the crop biotechnology since 2008 when next generation sequencing method was developed, may be a good solution in the crop improvement, efficiently gathering valuable information of agriculturally useful traits. Significantly, in lettuce, the high quality whole genome sequence, based on Lactuca sativa cv. Salinas, is publically available and this genomics platform, thus, would be implemented in lettuce breeding program to innovate relevant end-user traits both for the farmers and customers, including the disease resistance to the Fusarium wilt, productivity under hot weather conditions, various nutritional qualities and so forth. These improvements will boost domestic lettuce industries in the near future. Conclusions - Due to the nutritional distinctions comparing to the western style lettuces, domestic leaf lettuces could be one of the important vegetables in the school meal programs. To make it happen, we would better devise diverse recipes to make a salad with it, instead of only using as a wrap vegetable. Meanwhile, novel lettuce varieties need to be developed, which are favorable to the students and also easy to be handled with while processing. Overall, to achieve international competence in the lettuce industries, we need to create elite lettuce varieties that satisfies domestic farmers as well as customers, suitable to various niche markets, such as school meal program. Thus, efficient breeding programs using genomics approaches should be established in advance and careful monitoring on the preference of the related customers for a niche market be continued persistently.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.856-861
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• 2021

CD82/KAI1, identified as a metastasis suppressor, was initially known only as a molecular facilitator, but its various functions have recently been revealed. CD82 plays an important role in the stem-progenitor cell, angiogenesis, and muscle. We would like to introduce the recently reported functions and roles of CD82 in this review. CD82 is a member of the tetraspanin family, which consists of four transmembrane domains. The interaction between CD82 and cell adhesion molecules suppresses the metastasis of cancer. CD82 regulates the cell cycle of stem-progenitor cells in the stem cell niche. In the bone marrow, CD82 is expressed on long-term repopulating hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs), which show multipotent differentiation potential. The interaction between CD82 and Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) induces quiescence in LT-HSCs. CD82 also regulates Rac1 activity, resulting in the homing and engraftment of HSCs into the bone marrow niche. Besides, CD82 maintains the differentiation potential of muscle stem cells and prevents angiogenesis by inhibiting the expression of cytokines, such as IL-6 and VEGF and adhesion molecules in endothelial cells. CD82 is a key membrane protein that distinguishes the hierarchy of stem-progenitor cells, and is also important for amplification and verification of cellular resources. Further studies on the function of CD82 in various organs and cells are expected to advance cell biology and cell therapy.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.468-475
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• 2022

The functional distinction between stem and progenitor cells is well established in several tissues, particularly in the blood. There, hematopoietic stem cells preserve their self-renewal potential and reconstitution ability in the bone marrow niche. Bone marrow represents a unique setting in which to examine how stroma influences tissue function. It was the setting in which the experimental definition of a niche was first provided in mammalian stem cell biology and where clear evidence for non-cell-autonomous oncogenesis was first defined. The relationship between bone and blood is ancient as all animals since the divergence of fish that have bones and blood, make blood in their bones. This long coevolution engendered complex interrelationships, including the first proposed and first experimentally defined niche for stem cells in mammals. Multiple bone marrow stromal cell types serve as regulators of hematopoiesis, and the dysfunction of some causes myelodysplasia and leukemia. However, no comprehensive atlas of stromal subpopulations exists. Therefore, we think these data point to something of importance, such as how the needs and challenges of the organism become translated down to distinct cell types that critically govern specific functions within tissues and do so at the level of a single molecule. We think this will be of broad interest to those focusing on systems biology and the physiology of organisms, particularly those seeking a molecular basis for understanding cell and tissue behavior. We summarized the current and emerging concepts of hematopoietic stem cells and bone marrow niche.