• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.107-113
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• 2004

Since the completion of the genome project of the nematode C. elegans in 1998, functional genomic approaches have been applied to elucidate the gene and protein networks in this model organism. The recent completion of the whole genome of C. briggsae, a close sister species of C. elegans, now makes it possible to employ the comparative genomic approaches for identifying regulatory mechanisms that are conserved in these species and to make more precise annotation of the predicted genes. RNA interference (RNAi) screenings in C. elegans have been performed to screen the whole genome for the genes whose mutations give rise to specific phenotypes of interest. RNAi screens can also be used to identify genes that act genetically together with a gene of interest. Microarray experiments have been very useful in identifying genes that exhibit co-regulated expression profiles in given genetic or environmental conditions. Proteomic approaches also can be applied to the nematode, just as in other species whose genomes are known. With all these functional genomic tools, genetics will still remain an important tool for gene function studies in the post genome era. New breakthroughs in C. elegans biology, such as establishing a feasible gene knockout method, immortalized cell lines, or identifying viruses that can be used as vectors for introducing exogenous gene constructs into the worms, will augment the usage of this small organism for genome-wide biology.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.165-173
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• 2008

Aldose reductase (AR), the principal enzyme of the polyol pathway, has been shown to play an important role in the diabetic complications, including diabetic cataract. The inhibitors of AR, therefore, would be potential agents for prevention of diabetic complications. As part of our ongoing project directed toward the discovery of preventive and/or treatment for diabetic complications, 48 Korean herbal medicines have been investigated with an in vitro evaluation system using aldose reductase inhibitory activities. Of these, 12 herbal medicines exhibited a significant inhibitory activity against aldose reductase. Particularly, seven herbal medicines, i.e., Eurya japonica, Chrysanthemum indicum, Akebia quinata, Saururus chinensis, Catalpa bignonioides, Lonicera japonica, Vitex rotundifolia showed two times more potent inhibitory activity than the positive control 3.3-tetramethyleneglutaric acid (TMG). In addition, Catalpa bignonioides showed the retardation of cataract-opacification of the lens of the eye under diabetic condition by xylose. Therefore, this result may provide a potential therapeutic approach for preventing and treating diabetic cataracts.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.67-73
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• 2017

Control of food pathogens is critical in food safety field. Norovirus is one of the major causes of gastroenteritis and food poisoning worldwide, however, currently, there is not a vaccine or a specific drug available for its treatment. There are several methods to inactivate norovirus during food processing by chemical and physical treatments, however, the use of natural substance has been suggested as an optional strategy due to their safety and consumer preference. In this study supported by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea, we identified novel plant-derived substances with significant anti-norovirus activities. The aim of this project was to determine the antiviral activity of a wide range of natural substances, including plant-derived extracts and essential oils, using a norovirus surrogate system, human norovirus replicon-bearing cells, and mouse in vivo experiments. During the activity screening test, we identified novel anti-norovirus substances or oils using plaque assay with MNV-1. Six selected substances were formulated into an optimum mixture and used as an ingredient for salad sauce of which anti-novovirus activity was confirmed(pending for patent and paper submission). The potential application of selected natural substances as a metal surface sanitizer was also tested. Interestingly, the mixture of selected natural compounds showed a significant inhibitory effect against norovirus. These results suggest that these substances may be used as food ingredient with anti-norovirus antivity or components for surface sanitizers to prevent norovirus contamination.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.62-71
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• 2008

Soil quality standards (SQS) are necessary to protect the human health and soil biota from the exposure to soil pollutants. The current SQS in Korea contain only sixteen substances, and it is scheduled to expand the number of substances. Chemical ranking and scoring (CRS) system is very effective to screen the priority chemicals for the future SQS in terms of their toxicity and exposure potential. In this study, several CRS systems were extensively compared to propose the assessment factors that required for the screening of soil pollutants The CRS systems considered in this study include the CHEMS-1 (Chemical Hazard Evaluation for Management Strategies), SCRAM (Scoring and Ranking Assessment Model), EURAM (European Union Risk Ranking Method), ARET (Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of Toxics), CRSKorea, and other systems. The additional assessment factors of CRS suitable for soil pollutants were suggested. We suggest soil adsorption factor as an appropriate factor of CRS system to consider chemical transport from soil to groundwater. Other factors such as soil emission rate and cases of accident of soil pollutants were included. These results were reflected to screen the priority chemicals in Korea, as a part of the project entitled ‘Setting the Priority of Soil Contaminants'.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.65-78
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• 2011

Construction business, which is complex and long-term business, requires accurate estimation and verification in construction costs and payment procedure from project planning to the completion of construction phase. And more importantly, it is necessary to investigate and determine the risk factors related to construction costs during the entire process including design planning, construction drawings, and quantity calculating. But, currently, it is not seem to be adequate to cope with the risk and increased construction costs against the operational budget in terms of actual costs when screening and estimating the bidding cost of public apartment. Therefore, this study selected and analyzed 40 sites' report of construction completion account from 2004 to 2010 focused on the adequacy on the modification of contract and design planning and on the complication of the budget in the beginning of the project. This study deducted various risk causes and results by analyzing actual costs according to year, architectural area, region, construction cost and sale/lease classification. We could find out construction risk according to annual variation of government policy and economy, and also deducted risk items by construction characteristic according to region and architectural area. Study result, we first found out the problems of lowest price award system according to the construction costs. The weight of the cost increase risk was analyzed that subcontract and material costs are very high. Roof and tile work were analyzed highly in subcontract cost risk and reinforcing bar and cement were analyzed highly in material cost risk, among direct construction cost. Finally, this study results could be used in comparing the categories of the construction costs made by specific construction process, belonging to the construction costs, with the operational budget made in the beginning of the project that can enable to grasp unpredictable risks over the construction costs and making quantitative analysis for it through analyzing the range of fluctuation and variations led by the fluctuations in the actual construction costs.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.51 no.8
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• pp.629-642
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• 2018

Future variability of the spatial patterns of rainfall events is the point of water-related risks and impacts of climate change. Recent related researches are mostly conducted based on the outcomes from General Circulation Models (GCMs), especially Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 5 (CMIP5) GCMs which are the most advanced version of climate modeling system. GCM data have been widely used for various studies as the data utility keep getting improved. Meanwhile the model performances especially for raw GCM outputs are rarely evaluated prior to the applications although the process would essential for reasonable use of model forecasts. This study attempt to quantitatively evaluate the skills of 29 CMIP5 GCMs in reproducing spatial climatologies of precipitation in East Asia. We used 3 different gridded observational data as the references available over the study area and calculated correlation and errors of spatial patterns simulated by GCMs. As a result, the study presented diversity of the GCM evaluation in the performance, rank, or accuracy by different configurations, such as target area, evaluation method, and observation data. Yet, we found that Hadley-centre affiliated models comparatively performs better for the meso-scale area in East Asia and MPI_ESM_MR and CMCC family showed better performance specifically for the korean peninsula. We expect that the results and thoughts of this study would be considered in screening suitable GCMs for specific area, and finally contribute to extensive utilization of the results from climate change related researches.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.41-54
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• 2020

This study was conducted to provide basic data for a transparent and fair bidding system by identifying problems and suggesting improvement measures through an analysis of the bidding status for construction projects and service-related landscaping of multi-family housing. To this end, we used the data from the "Multi-Family Housing Management Information System (K-apt)" that provides the history of apartment maintenance, bidding information, and the electronic bidding system to examine the winning bid status and amount, along with the size and trends of the winning bids by year, and the results of the selection of operators by construction type. As a result, it was found that out of the total number of successful bids (36,831), 4.4% (16,631) were in the landscaping business, and the average winning bid value was found to be about 24 million won. According to the data, 73% of the landscaping cases were valued between 3 million won and 30 million won, and 58.6% of the cases were in the field of "pest prevention and maintenance". 36% of the total number of bids were awarded from February to April, with "general competitive bidding" accounting for 59.8% of the bidding methods. As for the method of selecting the winning bidder, 55% adopted the "lowest bid" and "electronic bidding method," and 45% adopted the "qualification screening system" and "direct bidding method." As an improvement to the problems derived from the bidding status data, the following are recommended: First, the exception clause to the current 'electronic bidding method' application regulations must be minimized to activate the electronic bidding method so that a fair bidding system can be operated. Second, landscaping management standards for green area environmental quality of multi-family housing must be prepared. Third, the provisions for preparing design books, such as detailed statements and drawings before the bidding announcement, and calculating the basic amount shall be prepared so that fair bidding can be made by specifying the details of the project concretely and objectively must be made. Fourth, for various bidding conditions in the 'business operator selection guidelines', detailed guidelines for each condition, not the selection, need to be prepared to maintain fairness and consistency. These measures are believed to beuseful in the fair selection of landscaping operators for multi-family housing projects and to prepare objective and reasonable standards for the maintenance of landscaping facilities and a green environment.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.63-75
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• 2012

This paper gives some basic requirements and preferences of various geological environmental conditions for the final deep geological repository of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). This study also indicates how the requirements and preferences are to be considered prior to the selection of sites for a site investigation as well as the final disposal in Korea. The results of the study are based on the knowledge and experience from the IAEA and NEA/OECD as well as the advanced countries in SNF disposal project. This study discusses and suggests preliminary guideline of the disposal requirements including geological, mechanical, thermal, hydrogeological, chemical and transport properties of host rock with long term geological stabilities which influence the functions of a multi-barrier disposal system. To apply and determine whether requirements and preferences for a given parameter are satisfied at different stages during a site selection and suitability assessment of a final disposal site, the quantitative criteria in each area should be formulated with credibility through relevant research and development efforts for the deep geological environment during the site screening and selection processes as well as specific studies such as productions of safety cases and validation studies using a generic underground research laboratory (URL) in Korea.