• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1042-1047
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• 2011

Copper and Zinc are essential trace elements for all living organisms. When presenting in excess amount in soils, however they can be toxic to plants. In order to examine the transfer of Cu and Zn from soils to plants and to predict their contents in plants using soil factors, we investigated total and mobile contents of Cu and Zn in soils and their uptake by lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in plastic film houses. Total Cu and Zn contents in soils were $17.5{\sim}65.9mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $39.3mg\;kg^{-1}$) and $63.2{\sim}200mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $137mg\;kg^{-1}$), respectively. Mobile Cu and Zn contents in soils were $(0.04){\sim}0.55mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $0.18mg\;kg^{-1}$) and $(0.05){\sim}2.62mg\;kg^{-1}$ (mean: $0.47mg\;kg^{-1}$), respectively. Soil pH ranged from 5.4 to 7.3 and OM from 24.1 to $59.9g\;kg^{-1}$. Mean Cu contents in leaves and roots of lettuce were 9.20 and $17.2mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively which showed that Cu was accumulated mainly in root parts of lettuce and not easily transported to leaves. In contrast, Zn was fairly evenly distributed in leaves and roots with mean values of 54.5 and $56.7mg\;kg^{-1}$, indicating relative high mobility of Zn in lettuce. Transfer factors of Cu and Zn from soil total contents to roots and leaves of lettuce ($TFS_tR$ and $TFS_tL$) were between 0.1 and 1, while transfer factors from soil mobile contents to roots and leaves ($TFS_mR$ and $TFS_mL$) were between 10 and 1000. Transfer factors of Zn were higher than those of Cu, showing Zn was more easily absorbed by plants than Cu. Cu and Zn uptake was stronger influenced by soil pH and mobile contents than total contents and OM and could be significantly described by multiple regression equations including soil pH and soil mobile contents as variables.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.789-792
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• 2010

Major impacts of climate change expert that soil erosion rate may increase during the $21^{st}$ century. This study was conducted to assess the potential impacts of climate change on soil erosion by water in Korea. The soil loss was estimated for regions with the potential risk of soil erosion on a national scale. For computation, Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) with rainfall and runoff erosivity factors (R), cover management factors (C), support practice factors (P) and revised USLE with soil erodibility factors (K) and topographic factors (LS) were used. RUSLE, the revised version of USLE, was modified for Korean conditions and re-evaluate to estimate the national-scale of soil loss based on the digital soil maps for Korea. The change of precipitation for 2010 to 2090s were predicted under A1B scenarios made by National Institute of Meteorological Research in Korea. Future soil loss was predicted based on a change of R factor. As results, the predicted precipitations were increased by 6.7% for 2010 to 2030s, 9.5% for 2040 to 2060s and 190% for 2070 to 2090s, respectively. The total soil loss from uplands in 2005 was estimated approximately $28{\times}10^6$ ton. Total soil losses were estimated as $31{\times}10^6$ ton in 2010 to 2030s, $31{\times}10^6$ ton in 2040 to 2060s and $33{\times}10^6$ ton in 2070 to 2090s, respectively. As precipitation increased by 17% in the end of $21^{st}$ century, the total soil loss was increased by 12.9%. Overall, these results emphasize the significance of precipitation. However, it should be noted that when precipitation becomes insignificant, the results may turn out to be complex due to the large interaction among plant biomass, runoff and erosion. This may cause increase or decrease the overall erosion.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.240-247
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• 2021

Anthocyanins are known to be involved in various functions such as antioxidant and antibacterial activities in plants. Although studies on anthocyanins in corn have been conducted recently, basic research related to anthocyanin biosynthesis is insufficient. In this study, we examined the molecular biological and physicochemical properties related to anthocyanin biosynthesis in the tassel and silks of Gwangpyeongok and Dacheongok cultivars. Anthocyanins were not synthesized in either the tassel or silks in Gwangpyeongok, whereas were synthesized in both in Dacheongok. The total anthocyanin content was approximately 30 times higher in the tassel and silks of Dacheongok than in those of Gwangpyeongok. In addition, C-3-G was measured only in the tassel of Dacheongok, and C-3-G, Pg-3-G, and M-3-G were 45.2 times, 27.3 times, and 37.6 times higher, respectively, in the silks of Dacheongok than of Gwangpyeongok. Expression of F3'H, DFR, and GST genes decreased in the tassel, and that of F3'H and DFR genes decreased in the silks of Gwangpyeongok. It was further confirmed that transcription factor P1 and R1 regulate the expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes in the tassel and silks, respectively, in Gwangpyeongok. Linoleic acid (C18:2) decreased by 6.6% and 10.9%, and linolenic acid (C18:3) increased by 8.5% and 8.5%, in the tassel and silks, respectively, of Gwangpyeongok compared to those of Dacheongok. Palmitic acid (C16:0) increased by 4.1% and oleic acid (C18:1) decreased by 2.1% in the silks of Gwangpyeongok compared to that in Dacheongok. In addition, the total fatty acid content in the tassel and silks increased by 10.3% and 30.4%, respectively, in Gwangpyeongok compared to that in Dacheongok. However, no significant results were observed in the analysis of phytosterol components. These results may be utilized as useful resources for the development of functional corn containing a large amount of anthocyanins.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1-14
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• 2021

Innovation and Scale-up of Start-up companies are becoming important national tasks. In the past, it was spread the start-up policy paradigm such as 'Start-up America', 'Start-up Chile', 'Start-up Britain' to overcome the recession globally. However as the economic recovery has become more visible recently in advanced economies, it is shifting from a start-up support policy to a scale-up oriented policy paradigm such as 'Scale-up America', Scale-up UK', 'Scale-up Denmark'. It is necessary to enter the scale-up phase beyond the start-up phase to increase the number of high-quality jobs and to continue economic growth. Therefore, it is necessary to grow the start-up into a strong medium-sized company and to lay the foundation for survival. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to consider the antecedent factors that influence the scale-up aspiration for the start-up firm to grow into a scale-up company, and empirically identifies the differences between the stages of economic development and entrepreneurs in the country. In order to accomplish the purpose, this study predicted scale-up by aspiration which is a predictor of scale-up behavior because it is difficult to achieve visible growth in a short period of time due to the characteristics of start-up companies. In order to empirically explore these relationships, the data were collected from nascent entrepreneurs who have less than 3.5 years of the Adult Population Survey(APS) among the subjects surveyed by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor(GEM) and the national economic development stage are divided into Innovation-driven, Efficiency-driven, Factor-driven type economies. For the test hypotheses, this study adopted the multi-level model analysis for comparison between national economic development stages and using the R 3.5.0 program. The results of this study are as follows. There is difference between the national economic development and the entrepreneur in the relationship between innovation orientation of entrepreneurs and scale-up aspirations. As the economy of the country develops, the innovation activity of the entrepreneur becomes more active. Since start-ups are heavily influenced by entrepreneurs, there is a difference in the degree of aspiration depending on how innovative an entrepreneur is in the same environment. In terms of the relationship between innovation orientation and scale-up aspiration, the fear of failure was found to differ between national economic development and entrepreneurs. The fear of failure differ from country to country, and this is one of the important factors affecting entrepreneurial activities. It is expected that the factors influencing the growth of the start-up companies which are identified through the results of these studies, will be used to create a suitable scale-up ecosystem according to the national economic development stage.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.29-37
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• 2019

Textile quality management targets the physical properties of fabrics and the subjective discriminations of color and fitting. Color is the most representative quality factor that consumers can use to evaluate quality levels without any instruments. For this reason, quantification using a color discrimination device has been used for statistical quality management in the textile industry. However, small and medium-sized domestic textile manufacturers use only visual inspection for color discrimination. As a result, color discrimination is different based on the inspectors' individual tendencies and work procedures. In this research, we want to develop a textile industry-friendly quality management method, evaluating the possibility of rapid color discrimination using a digital imaging device, which is one of the office-automation instruments. The results show that an imaging process-based color discrimination method is highly correlated with conventional color discrimination instruments ($R^2=0.969$), and is also applicable to field discrimination of the manufacturing process, or for different lots. Moreover, it is possible to recognize quality management factors by analyzing color components, ${\Delta}L$, ${\Delta}a$, ${\Delta}b$. We hope that our rapid discrimination method will be a substitute technique for conventional color discrimination instruments via elaboration and optimization.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.04a
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• pp.21-22
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• 2019

Melanin is a mixture of pigmented biopolymers synthesized by epidermal melanocytes that determine the skin, eye, and hair colors. Melanocytes produce two different kinds of melanin, eumelanin (dark brown/black insoluble pigments found in dark skin and dark hair and pheomelanin (lighter red/yellow). The biological role of melanin is to prevent skin damage by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. However, the overproduction or deficiency of melanin synthesis could lead to serious dermatological problems, which include melasma, melanoderma, lentigo, and vitiligo. Therefore, regulating melanin production is important to prevent the pigmentation disorders. Myanmar has a rich in natural resources. However, the chemical constituents of these natural resources in Myanmar have not been fully investigated. In the effort to search for compounds with anti-melanin deposition activity from Myanmar natural resources, five plants were collected in Myanmar. Extracts of these collected five plants were tested for anti-melanin deposition activity against a mouse melanoma cell line (B16-F10) induced with ${\alpha}$-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (${\alpha}$-MSH) and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), and their anti-melanin deposition activities were compared with the positive control, arbutin. Among the tested extracts, the CHCl3 extracts of the Premna serratifolia (syn: P. integrifolia) wood showed anti-melanin deposition activities with IC50 values of $81.3{\mu}g/mL$. Hence, this study aims to identify secondary metabolites with anti-melanin deposition activity from P. serratifolia wood of Myanmar. P. serratifolia belongs to the Verbenaceae family and is widely distributed in near western sea coast from South Asia to South East Asia, which include India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. People in Tanintharyi region located in the southern part of Myanmar utilize the P. serratifolia, Sperethusa crenulata, Naringi crenulata, and Limonia acidissima as Thanaka, traditional cosmetics in Myanmar. Thanaka is applied in the form of paste onto skins to make it smooth and clear, as well as to prevent wrinkles, skin aging, excessive facial oil, pimples, blackheads, and whiteheads. However, the chemical constituents responsible for their cosmetic properties are yet to be identified. Moreover, the chemical constituents of P. serratifolia was almost uncharacterized. Investigation of the P. serratifolia chemical constituents is thus an attractive endeavor to discover new anti-melanin deposition active compounds. The investigation of the chemical constituents of the active CHCl3 extract of P. serratifolia led to isolation of four new lignoids, premnan A (1), premnan B (2), taungtangyiol C (3), and 7,9-dihydroxydolichanthin B (4), together with premnan C (5) (assumed to be an artifact), one natural newlignoid,(3R,4S)-4-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-ylcarbonyl)-3-[(R)-1-(1,3-benzo dioxol-5-yl)-1-hydroxy methyl]tetrahydro-2-furanone (6), and five known compounds (7-11)1,2). The structures of all isolated compounds were determined on the basis of their spectroscopic data and by comparison with the reported literatures. The absolute configurations of 1-3 and 5 were also determined by optical rotation and circular dichroism (CD) data analyses1). The anti-melanin deposition activities of all the isolated compounds were evaluated against B16-F10 cell line. 7,9-Dihydroxydolichanthin B (4) and ($2{\alpha},3{\alpha}$)-olean-12-en-28-oic acid (11) showed strong anti-melanin deposition activities with IC50 values of 18.4 and $11.2{\mu}M$, respectively, without cytotoxicity2). On the other hand, compounds 1-3, 5, and 7 showed melanogenesis enhancing activities1). To better understand their anti-melanin deposition mechanism, the effects of 4 and 11 on tyrosinase activities were investigated. The assay indicated that compounds 4 and 11 did not inhibit tyrosinase. Furthermore, we also examined the mRNA expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase (TYR), tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1), and tyrosinase-related protein-2 (TRP-2). Compounds 4 and 11 down-regulated the expression of Tyr and Mitf mRNAs, respectively. Although the P. serratifolia wood has been used as traditional cosmetics in Myanmar for centuries, there are no scientific evidences to support its effectiveness as cosmetics. Investigation of the anti-melanin deposition activity of the chemical constituents of P. serratifolia thus provided insight into the effectiveness of the P. serratifolia wood as a cosmetic agent.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.188-193
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• 2018

Objectives : Clozapine is a widely prescribed antipsychotic drug for schizophrenia and is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease due to its metabolic side effects. However, little is known about the effect of clozapine on the platelet activation, another important factor in the development of cardiovascular disease. In this study, we tried to investigate the effect of clozapine on platelet activity in patients with schizophrenia by comparing the mean platelet component (MPC) values before and after the clozapine administration. Methods : A retrospective review of medical records of patients with schizophrenia, who newly started clozapine treatment from September 1st, 2003 to April 30th, 2007 at the Department of Psychiatry, Konyang University Hospital in Republic of Korea was performed. The final statistical analysis included 14 participants. Bayer ADVIA $120^{(R)}$ system was used to measure MPC. Results : Among the 14 participants, five subjects were males (28.60%), and ten subjects were females (71.40%). The mean age of participants was $37.50{\pm}11.64years$. Average of duration of illness was $91.00{\pm}93.96months$, with the mean dosage of clozapine taken by participants at the time of the last blood test was $337.50{\pm}109.52mg$. The mean MPC measurement before and after receiving clozapine was $26.12{\pm}2.22g/dL$ and $25.14{\pm}2.08g/dL$ respectively. Wilcoxon signed rank test showed that there was a statistically significant decrease in MPC levels after clozapine administration (V=16, p=0.024). Conclusions : Decreased MPC levels after clozapine administration implies that clozapine may increase platelet activation which could have an adverse effect on the occurrence of thromboembolic disease. Our findings also suggest that careful monitoring of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, such as platelets activity, is necessary when administering clozapine.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.438-446
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate food safety awareness, knowledge, and behavior in college students, to provide basic data for the increase in food safety awareness. Data were collected from 252 college students in Gyeonggi region, using a self-administered questionnaire. In results of concern about food safety, subjects responded 3.48 of 5.00 and have knowledge about food safety education revealing significantly higher awareness and concern than subjects without knowledge about food safety education. Food safety awareness of distributed food was 2.55, considered unsafe. Among reasons in perceiving food as unsafe, 62.3% of subjects expressed distrust about safety relative food production. As for risk factors relative to food safety, subjects responded that the highest risk factor was food additives (2.35), followed by heavy metal (2.38) and endocrine disrupters (2.38). Correlation analysis resulting in risk factors for food had positive correlation with each other, heavy metal revealed highest correlation with pesticide residue (r = 0.674), than with endocrine disrupters (r = 0.672). Also, genetically modified food revealed high correlation with radiation irradiated food. Regression analysis demonstrated that concern about food safety significantly influenced pro-actively engaging in food safety education. Meanwhile, 63.5% of subjects correctly responded to food safety knowledge items. The item 'the heavy metals are contaminated the most, in the roots of vegetables' revealed the lowest correct answer rate (38.1%). In food safety behavior, the item 'always wash hands before handling food and meal's revealed 3.85, and subjects with awareness and concern about food safety education, responded in significantly higher numbers than subject without awareness and concern about food safety. The most neglected concern was relative to frozen food thawed at room temperature. Together, students recognize that distributed foods are unsafe, and students with awareness and concern about food safety education showed higher knowledge compared to without awareness and concern experience about food safety eduction. So, systematic education using accurate and objective data is required to reduce anxiety and raise the level of awareness and concern about food safety.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.457-467
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• 2019

To investigate the long-term variation characteristics of nutrients in the east coast of Korea, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and nutrients were measured at three stations of Sokcho, Jukbyeon and Gampo coasts for five years from 2013 to 2017. For five years, the water temperature of the East Sea coast was in the range of $1.2{\sim}28.8^{\circ}C$, the salinity was in the range of 30.63~34.79 and the dissolved oxygen (DO) was in the range of 3.53~7.64 mL/L. Distribution and variation of the water environment factors in the study area were determined by the vertical stratification of water column and distribution of water temperature. The high DO concentration in Sokcho coast From 2015 to August 2016 is presumed to be the result of the southward inflow of North Korean Cold Water (NKCW). Concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN, $NH_4-N+NO_2-N+NO_3-N$) ranged $0.11{\sim}24.19{\mu}M$, phosphate concentration ranged $0.01{\sim}1.75{\mu}M$, and silicate ranged $0.17{\sim}32.80{\mu}M$. The N:P ratio was in the range of 0.7~54.3 (mean 15.2) and the N:P slope was in the range of 11.67~13.75. The N:P ratios in this study were lower than the Redfield ratio (16), indicating that nitrate did act as a limiting factor in phytoplankton growth. The correlation ($R^2$) of total N:P ratio was as high as 0.95, indicating that the effect of the surrounding land or non-point sources was not significant. In conclusion, the spatial and temporal variation of nutrients in the east coast of Korea was determined by the vertical mixing of water mass with thermocline and mainly affected by physical factors such as influx of external water masses and coastal upwelling, and the influences from inflows from the land were minimal.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.360-369
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• 2019

Cadherins are essential transmembrane proteins that promote cell-cell adhesion and maintain the corpus luteum structure in the ovary. This study examined the influence of prostaglandin F2 alpha ($PGF2{\alpha}$) on E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and adhesion in luteal theca cells (LTCs). The luteal cells were isolated from the mid-phase corpus luteum, and the LTCs were cultured separately from the luteal heterogeneous cells according to the morphology of the mesenchymal cells and to determine if steroidogenic and endothelial cells of LTCs, 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase ($3{\beta}$-HSD), and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) mRNA were used. The LTCs were then incubated in the culture medium supplemented with 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ for 24 h, and the E-cadherin and N-cadherin proteins in the LTCs were detected by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The results revealed $3{\beta}$-HSD mRNA expression in the LTC but no VEGF2R mRNA expression. The E-cadherin and N-cadherin proteins of the LTCs were damaged in the 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ treatment groups, and the expression of the N-cadherin protein was reduced significantly in 0.01 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ compared to the 0 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ treatment groups (P<0.05). In addition, the number of attached LTCs were significantly lower in the 0.01 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ treatment group than in the 0 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ treatment group (P<0.05). In conclusion, $PGF2{\alpha}$ affected the disruption of cadherin proteins and cell adhesion in LTCs. These results may help better understand the cadherin and adhesion mechanism during corpus luteum regression in the ovary.