• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.406-413
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• 2023

In this study, the various physiological and anti-inflammatory activities of Sanguisorba officinalis L. roots (SR) were assessed for potential use as functional cosmetic materials. As a result of measuring electron-donating abilities to determine the antioxidant ability of SR extract, activity increased as the concentration increased, showing an excellent antioxidant capacity of 93.8% at a 1,000 ㎍/ml concentration. Further, the antioxidant power of SR extract, which was determined using an ABTS⁺ assay measurement, was more than 99% at concentrations of 50 ㎍/ml or more, while the tyrosinase inhibition rate was 37.7% at the highest concentration of 1,000 ㎍/ml. Consequently, the elastase and collagenase inhibition of SR extract measured 84.9% and 90.3%, respectively, at a 1,000-㎍/ml concentration. As a result of confirming the survival rate of Raw 264.7 cells, the cell survival rate was determined to be 80% or more below a 100 ㎍/ml concentration, and subsequent cell-related experiments were conducted at concentrations below 100 ㎍/ml. Furthermore, after applying a NO assay to identify anti-inflammatory activity, it was confirmed that SR extract had an inhibitory rate of 50.8% at a concentration of 500 ㎍/ml, and it was excellent at suppressing the inflammatory expression. As a result of verifying protein expression by treating SR extract in Raw 264.7 cells, it was confirmed that expression was inhibited concentrated in all factors. Therefore, it is judged that SR can be used as a functional cosmetic material with antioxidant, whitening, and wrinkle-improving physiological effects and anti-inflammatory activities.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2023

As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasized the transition to a carbon-neutral society globally by 205 0, major countries such as Korea, Japan, and Europe declared carbon-neutral goals. The agricultural sector is a carbon-absorbing sector, and its importance has increased as the General Assembly of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 26) held in the UK in November 2021 emphasized the role of agriculture to discuss climate change. However, GHG reduction projects in the agricultural sector are not properly monitored considering the domestic situation, and a system for quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness or basis of implementing the project program is not in place. Therefore, a priori study is needed to understand the current status of existing policies and to review matters that need to be improved in order to facilitate policy design, implementation, and monitoring for GHG reduction in the agricultural sector. The purpose of this study is to examine the opinions of stakeholders by applying a semi-structured interview method to diagnose the current status of Korea's GHG reduction policy in the agricultural sector and identify factors that hinder policy implementation. As a result of the semi-structured interview, this study presented factors that hinder the promotion of GHG reduction policies in the agricultural sector according to four types of data and technology, finance, institutions, and perceptions. Some stakeholders also stressed that the pilot project could be helpful as a way to comprehensively consider the implications of this study, such as securing technology data, establishing a system for verifying effectiveness, and providing incentives and promoting them. Rather than drawing specific conclusions, this study is an exploratory study that diagnoses and reviews the progress of GHG reduction policies, and it can be used as useful basic data if it secures enough interview respondents and balances the number of samples by group.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2023

In Korea, excessive vegetation in rivers made up of sand and gravel is emerging as a nationwide problem, which is attributed to increased spring precipitation and decreased annual precipitation. Therefore, this study was conducted for the purpose of identifying the effect of changes in precipitation patterns on river vegetation in Namcheon, Gyeongju, and analyzing the area of vegetation and ecological characteristics. As a result of the study, the amount of monthly precipitation in the summer of Namcheon decreased after 2007, and the area of vegetation increased continuously compared to the area of the sandbank. The proportion of naturalized plants increased steadily when precipitation continued to a level that did not cause flooding, but the area occupied by naturalized plants was small. Also, when the water level is maintained, the species diversity is low due to the dominance of a single species, and the dominant species was mainly native plants. Dominance of native plants inhibited the growth of naturalized plants, but the vegetation area increased even more. Therefore, it is necessary to manage the spread of vegetation itself rather than the division of native plants and naturalized plants in order to eliminate the active growth and prosperity of river vegetation. High water levels and continuous flooding caused by torrential rains in summer disturbed the plant communities, and vegetation formed afterwards was mainly native plants. Such flooding in river ecosystems is a positive factor for the emergence of native plants and over-formed vegetation communities, so it should be considered when establishing a vegetation management plan.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.68-81
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• 2023

This study aims to establish a scenario based on the spacing and arrangement of the roadside trees to reduce heat waves and fine dust in cities that occurred during the urbanization process and to quantitatively analyze the degree of reduction. The ENVI-met 5.0.2v model, a micro-climate simulation program, was used to analyze the degree of improvement in the thermal environment and fine dust according to the roadside tree scenario. As a result of temperature analysis according to street tree spacing, the narrower the distance between roadside trees, the lower the temperature during the day as the number of planted trees increased, and a similar pattern was shown regardless of the distance between roadside trees in the morning and evening. In the case of fine dust emitted from the road, the concentration of fine dust increased slightly due to the increase in roadside trees, but the concentration of sidewalks where people walk increased slightly or there was no difference because of blocking fine dust on trees. The temperature according to the arrangement of street trees tended to decrease as the number of planted trees increased as the arrangement increased. However, not only the amount of trees but also the crown projected area was judged to have a significant impact on the temperature reduction because the temperature reduction was greater in the scenario of planting the same amount of trees and widening the interval of arrangement. In terms of the arrangement, the fine dust concentration showed a difference from the results according to the interval, suggesting that the fine dust concentration may change depending on the relationship between the main wind direction and the tree planting direction. By quantitatively analyzing the degree of thermal environment and fine dust improvement caused by roadside trees, this study is expected to promote policies and projects to improve the roadside environment efficiently, such as a basic plan for roadside trees and a project for wind corridor forests.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.435-455
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• 2023

This study primarily focused on the development of an Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) model to discern and analyze papers with significant impact in the field of mathematics education. To achieve this, meta-information from 29 domestic and international mathematics education journals was utilized to construct a comprehensive academic research network in mathematics education. This academic network was built by integrating five sub-networks: 'paper and its citation network', 'paper and author network', 'paper and journal network', 'co-authorship network', and 'author and affiliation network'. The Random Forest machine learning model was employed to evaluate the impact of individual papers within the mathematics education research network. The SHAP, an XAI model, was used to analyze the reasons behind the AI's assessment of impactful papers. Key features identified for determining impactful papers in the field of mathematics education through the XAI included 'paper network PageRank', 'changes in citations per paper', 'total citations', 'changes in the author's h-index', and 'citations per paper of the journal'. It became evident that papers, authors, and journals play significant roles when evaluating individual papers. When analyzing and comparing domestic and international mathematics education research, variations in these discernment patterns were observed. Notably, the significance of 'co-authorship network PageRank' was emphasized in domestic mathematics education research. The XAI model proposed in this study serves as a tool for determining the impact of papers using AI, providing researchers with strategic direction when writing papers. For instance, expanding the paper network, presenting at academic conferences, and activating the author network through co-authorship were identified as major elements enhancing the impact of a paper. Based on these findings, researchers can have a clear understanding of how their work is perceived and evaluated in academia and identify the key factors influencing these evaluations. This study offers a novel approach to evaluating the impact of mathematics education papers using an explainable AI model, traditionally a process that consumed significant time and resources. This approach not only presents a new paradigm that can be applied to evaluations in various academic fields beyond mathematics education but also is expected to substantially enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of research activities.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.43
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• pp.139-177
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• 2022

The only text that aids in the understanding of Songs of the Dao of Great Gods (大化神道歌詞), which was established by Yun Jin in 1984, is Mok-wun daegyeong (木運大經, The Great Scripture of Wood-Destiny) published by Oh Yeol-gyun in 1976. This scripture includes five songs: Wun-hoe dongbang-ga (運回東方歌, Songs of Destiny-Returning to the East), Gung-eul-ga (弓乙歌, Songs of Gung-eul), Dodeok-sa (道德詞, Morality Poems), Palguae-gugung byeon-yeok-ga (八卦九宮變易歌, Songs on the Changes of the Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces), and Nakdang-ga (樂堂歌, Songs of the Paradisiacal Lands). Songs of the Dao of Great Gods, which is prone to embracing Daoist characteristics, is meant to be sung upon the realization of the Later World, the ideal earth. This is expressed as spring. In addition, we can easily find key terms such as Sampung-ga (三豊歌), Yangbaek-segye (兩白世界), Gung-eul-ga (弓乙歌), Gunggung-euleul (弓弓乙乙), Yanggung (兩弓), Euleul (乙乙), Gung-eul seonin (弓乙仙人), Samin-ilseok (三人一夕), Yijae-jeonjeon (利在田田), Gung-eul jiri (弓乙之理), Naenggeum-bugeum (冷金浮金), Seokjeong-gon (石井昆), Yangbaek (兩白), Sampung (三豊), and Sodumujok (小頭無足), all of which appear frequently in traditional prophecies and the faiths they have inspired. The precise meaning of these terms has yet to be revealed. Furthermore, Songs of the Dao of Great Gods contains lyrics prophesying that the return of the wood-destiny of the East and emphasizing the destiny of 3-8 wood as based on the Yellow River Chart (河圖). Songs of the Dao of Great Gods, originated the term, the World of Paradisiacal Lands (樂堂世界), and prophesyed that the wood-destiny of the East would return to create a new world that took Korea as its center. The text emphasized wood-destiny, symbolized by spring, and argued that the Dao of Great Gods could be ascetained from the principle of water-producing wood (水生木) found in the Eastern study of changes (易學) as approached by Choi Su-Wun (水雲), the founder of Donghak (東學).

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.84-90
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• 2023

Purpose: Infants aged ≤90 days with fever are susceptible to severe infections. This study aimed to analyze the clinical features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in this particular age group. Methods: Infants aged ≤90 days who were diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and hospitalized between March 1, 2020, and May 1, 2022 were included. Medical records of patients were retrospectively reviewed. Results: A total of 105 infants with COVID-19 were included; 27 (25.7%) neonates aged <28 days, and 48 (45.7%) and 30 (28.6%) infants aged 28-59 days and 60-90 days, respectively. Five (4.7%) patients remained asymptomatic and 68 (62.8%) were febrile, with a median fever duration of 2 days. The most common symptoms were respiratory including cough (66.6%), nasal stuffiness (51.4%), and rhinorrhea (40.9%). Blood cultures were performed in 10 infants but no organisms were detected. Cultures of bag-collected urine specimens from 8 infants were grown, resulting in positive growth for 2 without pyuria. Nine (8.6%) infants were treated with empirical antibiotics for a median duration of 2.3 days (range, 1-7 days). All 105 infants showed improvement without any complications, and there were no fatal cases. Conclusions: In this study, most infants aged ≤90 days with COVID-19 presented with mild symptoms and none of those evaluated had documented bacterial co-infection. The favorable prognosis among young infants with SARS-CoV-2 may aid clinicians in tailoring their approach to evaluation and management during outbreaks.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.259-272
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• 2023

This study set up 49 survey areas with an area of about 400 square meters in Abies koreana natural habitat to identify the species composition and vegetation structure of the A. koreana forest in the Mt. Jiri Nation Park, conducted field surveys using phytosociological methods, and performed the cluster analysis using the Two-Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) and Table manipulation. Subsequently, species composition analysis using the importance value, species diversity analysis, DBH analysis, sapling analysis, and similarity analysis was conducted by each cluster type. The cluster analysis classified the A. koreana forest in Mt. Jiri into five clusters, A, B, C, D, and E. The forest was divided into two clusters, Magnolia sieboldii-Dryopteris crassirhizoma-Sasa borealis and Betula ermanii-Solidago virgaurea-Calamagrostis arundinacea. The former was classified as type A and B by Cornus controversa-Hydrangea macrophylla, and the latter was classified as type E, a typical community, and a Sorbus commixta-Rhododendron mucronulatum cluster. And the S. commixta-R. mucronulatum cluster was divided into C type and D type by Picea jezoensis-Ligularia fischeri and Ainsliaea acerifolia. Through vegetation analysis, the importance value of A. koreana, Quercus mongolica, Acer pseudosieboldianum, Fraxinus sieboldiana, and B. ermanii was highly expressed in the A. koreana forest in Mt. Jiri. Regarding species diversity, the results were similar to those reported in other studies of A. koreana forests in Mt. Jiri. The analysis of diameter at breast height (DBH) showed that A. koreana dominated all layers, and the growth of saplings was also good, indicating that the dominance of A. koreana is expected to continue for a while. However, when considering the value of biodiversity that is expected to increase and threats caused by climate change, systematic preservation and management are required to respond to various threats based on continuous monitoring.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.417-426
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• 2023

Rapid climate change has resulted in glacial retreat and increased meltwater inputs in the Antarctic Peninsula, including King George Island where Marian Cove is located. Consequently, these phenomena are expected to induce changes in the water column light properties, which in turn will affect phytoplankton communities. To comprehend the effects of glacial retreat on the marine ecosystem in Marian Cove, we investigated on phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll-a, chl-a) and various environment parameters in this area in December 2021 and January 2022. The average temperature at the euphotic depth in January 2022 (1.41 ± 0.13 ℃) was higher than that in December 2021 (0.87 ± 0.17 ℃). Contrastingly, the average salinity was lower in January 2022 (33.9 ± 0.10 psu) than in December 2021 (34.1 ± 0.12 psu). Major nutrients, including dissolved inorganic nitrogen, phosphate, and silicate, were sufficiently high, and thus, did not act as limiting factors for phytoplankton biomass. In December 2021 and January 2022, the mean chl-a concentrations were 1.03 ± 0.64 and 0.66 ± 0.15㎍ L^-1, respectively. The mean concentration of suspended particulate matter (SPM) was 24.9 ± 3.54 mgL^-1 during the study period, with elevated values observed in the vicinity of the inner glacier. However, relative lower chl-a concentrations were observed near the inner glacier, possibly due to high SPM load from the glacier, resulting in reduced light attenuation by SPM shading. Furthermore, the proportion of nanophytoplankton exceeded 70% in the inner cove, contributing to elevated mean fractions of nanophytoplankton in the glacier retreat marine ecosystem. Overall, our study indicated that freshwater and SPM inputs from glacial meltwater may possibly act as main factors controlling the dynamics of phytoplankton communities in glacier retreat areas. The findings may also serve as fundamental data for better understanding the carbon cycle in Marian Cove.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.489-495
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• 2023

Radiation shielding facilities are constructed in locations where diagnostic radiation generators are installed, with the aim of preventing exposure for patients and radiation workers. The purpose of this study is seek to compare and validate the trend of attenuation thickness of lead, the primary material in these radiation shielding facilities, at different maximum tube voltages by Monte Carlo simulations and measurement. We employed the Monte Carlo N-Particle 6 simulation code. Within this simulation, we set a lead shielding arrangement, where the distance between the source and the lead sheet was set at 100 cm and the field of view was set at 10 × 10 cm². Additionally, we varied the tube voltages to encompass 80, 100, 120, and 140 kVp. We calculated energy spectra for each respective tube voltage and applied them in the simulations. Lead thicknesses corresponding to attenuation rates of 50, 70, 90, and 95% were determined for tube voltages of 80, 100, 120, and 140 kVp. For 80 kVp, the calculated thicknesses for these attenuation rates were 0.03, 0.08, 0.21, and 0.33 mm, respectively. For 100 kVp, the values were 0.05, 0.12, 0.30, and 0.50 mm. Similarly, for 120 kVp, they were 0.06, 0.14, 0.38, and 0.56 mm. Lastly, at 140 kVp, the corresponding thicknesses were 0.08, 0.16, 0.42, and 0.61 mm. Measurements were conducted to validate the calculated lead thicknesses. The radiation generator employed was the GE Healthcare Discovery XR 656, and the dosimeter used was the IBA MagicMax. The experimental results showed that at 80 kVp, the attenuation rates for different thicknesses were 43.56, 70.33, 89.85, and 93.05%, respectively. Similarly, at 100 kVp, the rates were 52.49, 72.26, 86.31, and 92.17%. For 120 kVp, the attenuation rates were 48.26, 71.18, 87.30, and 91.56%. Lastly, at 140 kVp, they were measured 50.45, 68.75, 89.95, and 91.65%. Upon comparing the simulation and experimental results, it was confirmed that the differences between the two values were within an average of approximately 3%. These research findings serve to validate the reliability of Monte Carlo simulations and could be employed as fundamental data for future radiation shielding facility construction.