• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.174-182
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• 2020

The permissible limit of ammonia concentration in drinking water recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) is 1.5 mg/L. However, in the case of groundwater in Kathmandu, Nepal, the concentration of ammonia fluctuates dramatically from 0 to 120 mg/L at different locations and groundwater depths (Chapagain et al., 2010). Such a high concentration of ammonia causes aesthetic problems in drinking water, such as bad taste and odor; hence, prior treatment is required. In Kathmandu, half of the population utilizes groundwater, which is also employed for drinking water, but owing to a lack of knowledge of household water filters, residents of Kathmandu tend to depend greatly on commercially available jar water than on the installation of a proper household filtration method. Thus, in our study, we employed adsorption and reverse osmosis (RO) as two of the most viable decentralized/household treatment options to address the issue of high contamination of ammonia in drinking water. We evaluated their performances from technical and the economic perspectives using synthetically prepared groundwater at varying ammonia concentrations (50 mg/L and 15 mg/L). Consequently, it was found that adsorption via ion exchange (IE) resin was a comparatively better ammonia removal technology than RO, with 100% ammonia removal even after regeneration; the removal by RO was limited to up to 90%. Furthermore, our study suggests that IE is the most suitable ammonia removal technology for places with lower water consumption (< 50 L/day), whereas RO seemed to be a cost-effective technology for places with higher water consumption, where the daily water demand exceeds 50 L/day. Lastly, these assessments suggest that installing a suitable household treatment system would be more efficient and sustainable from both technical and economic points of view than purchasing commercially bottled water.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2021

Munseom (Island) is known as the largest native Elaeocarpus sylvestris var. ellipticus in Korea. Recently, disease damage from the E. sylvestris var. ellipticus community has been reported in Munseom. This study was conducted to understand the damage situation and growth characteristics of the E. sylvestris var. ellipticus population in Munseom. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the spontaneous regeneration potential of the community by grasping the characteristics of the population of surviving E. sylvestris var. ellipticus individuals, and to discuss ways to restore native habitats. A total population survey was conducted to determine the distribution status of E. sylvestris var. ellipticus individuals. The field survey carefully recorded the height of tree, DBH, DRH, and growing status, along with GPS location information of the individual. The growth status of E. sylvestris var. ellipticus individuals distributed in Munseom and the characteristics of tree height, DBH, DRH of each individual were analyzed. The total number of E. sylvestris var. ellipticus populations identified in Munseom was 293. The dense E. sylvestris var. ellipticus community reported in 2005 has been identified as being greatly damaged or damaged. In particular, the damage was more serious in mature trees with a height of 6m or more forming the canopy layer in the forest, and it was confirmed that 80.6% of the mature trees died. In the growth characteristics of the old-growth tree, which is an indicator of the health of the forest based on DRH, 75.4% died or the growth condition was found to be poor. In order to restore the native habitat of E. sylvestris var. ellipticus in Munseom, conservation efforts such as pest control, preservation of mature trees, control of the territory of young trees, and reintroduction after ex-situ transplantation etc. are considered necessary.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.33-52
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• 2022

The History and Culture Park and the Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall will be built in Songhyeon-dong, Seoul. Political games from the Joseon Dynasty to the present greatly influenced the historicity of Songhyeon-dong. However, place analysis was limited to changes in landowners and land uses rather than a historical context. Therefore, this study analyzed the context in which the placeness of Songhyeon-dong changed according to the emergence of cultural hegemony using the perspective of modern cultural geography and comparative history. As a result of the analysis, cultural hegemony in historical transitions, such as Sinocentrism, maritime expansion, civil revolutions, imperialism, nationalism, popular art, and neoliberalism, was found to have created new intellectuals in Bukchon, including Songhyeon-dong, and influenced social systems and spatial policies. In this social relations, the placeness of Songhyeon-dong changed as follows. First, the founding forces of Joseon created pine forests as Bibo Forests to invocate the permanence of the dynasty. In the late Joseon dynasty, it was an era of maritime expansion, and as Joseon's yeonhaeng increased, a garden for the Gyeonghwasejok, who enjoyed the culture of the Qing dynasty, was built. Although pine forests and gardens disappeared due to the development of housing complexes as the population soared during the Japanese colonial era, Cha Gyeong's landscape aesthetics, which harmonized artificial gardens and external nature, are worth reinterpreting in modern times. Second, the wave of modernization created a new school in Bukchon and a boarding house in Songhyeon-dong owned by a pro-Japanese faction. Angukdongcheon-gil, next to Songhyeon-dong, was where thinkers who promoted civil revolution and national self-determination exchanged ideas. Songhyeon-dong, the largest boarding house, served as a residence for students to participate in the March 1st Movement and was the cradle of the resulting culture of student movements. The appearance of the old road is preserved, so it is a significant part of the regeneration of walking in the historic city center, connecting Gwanghwamun-Bukchon-Insadong -Donhwamunro. Third, from the cultural rule of the Government General of Joseon to the Military Government, Songhyeon-dong acted as a passage to western culture with the Joseon Siksan Bank's cultural housing and staff accommodations at the U.S. Embassy. Ancient and contemporary art coexisted in the surrounding area, so the modern and contemporary art market was formed. The Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall is expected to form a cultural belt for citizens with the gallery, Bukchon Hanok Village, the Craft Museum, and the Modern Museum of Art. Discourses and challenges are needed to recreate the place in harmony with the forests, gardens, the street of citizens' birth, history and culture park, the art museum, and the surrounding walking network.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.79-105
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• 2023

Due to unprecedented extreme weather events such as global warming and climate change, many parts of the world suffer from severe pain, and economic losses are also snowballing. In order to address these problems, 'The Paris Agreement' was signed in 2016, and an intergovernmental consultative body was formed to keep the average temperature rise of the Earth below 1.5℃. Korea also declared 'Carbon Neutrality in 2050' to prevent climate catastrophe. In particular, it was found that the increase in temperature caused by greenhouse gas emissions hurts the environment and society as a whole, as well as the export-dependent economy of Korea. In addition, as the diversification of transportation types is accelerating, the change in means of choice is also increasing. As the development paradigm in the low-growth era changes to urban regeneration, interest in idle railway sites is rising due to reduced demand for routes, improvement of alignment, and relocation of urban railways. Meanwhile, it is possible to partially achieve the solar power generation goal of 'Renewable Energy 3020' by utilizing already developed but idle railway sites and take advantage of being free from environmental damage and resident acceptance issues surrounding the location; but the actual use and plan for these solar power facilities are still lacking. Therefore, in this study, using the big data provided by the Korea National Railway and the Renewable Energy Cloud Platform, we develop an algorithm to discover and analyze suitable idle sites where solar power generation facilities can be installed and identify potentially applicable areas considering conditions desired by users. By searching and deriving these idle but relevant sites, it is intended to devise a plan to save enormous costs for facilities or expansion in the early stages of development. This study uses various cluster analyses to develop an optimal algorithm that can derive solar power plant locations on idle railway sites and, as a result, suggests 202 'actively recommended areas.' These results would help decision-makers make rational decisions from the viewpoint of simultaneously considering the economy and the environment.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.896-910
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• 2022

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly transmissible and potentially fatal virus. So far, most comprehensive analyses encompassing clinical and transcriptional manifestation have concentrated on the lungs. Here, we confirmed evident signs of viral infection in the lungs and spleen of SARS-CoV-2-infected K18-hACE2 mice, which replicate the phenotype and infection symptoms in hospitalized humans. Seven days post viral detection in organs, infected mice showed decreased vital signs, leading to death. Bronchopneumonia due to infiltration of leukocytes in the lungs and reduction in the spleen lymphocyte region were observed. Transcriptome profiling implicated the meticulous regulation of distress and recovery from cytokine-mediated immunity by distinct immune cell types in a time-dependent manner. In lungs, the chemokine-driven response to viral invasion was highly elevated at 2 days post infection (dpi). In late infection, diseased lungs, post the innate immune process, showed recovery signs. The spleen established an even more immediate line of defense than the lungs, and the cytokine expression profile dropped at 7 dpi. At 5 dpi, spleen samples diverged into two distinct groups with different transcriptome profile and pathophysiology. Inhibition of consecutive host cell viral entry and massive immunoglobulin production and proteolysis inhibition seemed that one group endeavored to survive, while the other group struggled with developmental regeneration against consistent viral intrusion through the replication cycle. Our results may contribute to improved understanding of the longitudinal response to viral infection and development of potential therapeutics for hospitalized patients affected by SARS-CoV-2.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.713-723
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• 2023

Lung cancer is a type of cancer that has the highest mortality rate. It is mainly classified into small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Chemotherapy is used to treat lung cancer, but long-term treatment causes side effects and drug resistances. Curcumin is a bright yellow polyphenol extracted from the root of turmeric. It has biological activities, such as anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we observed differential cell death in human lung cancer cells. Based on the results, curcumin at 10, 30, and 50 μM exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition on the cell survival of several lung cancer cells, with minor differential phenotypes. In addition, apoptosis, autophagy, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) regeneration were observed through flow cytometry. Curcumin dose-dependently increased these phenotypes in A549 (NSCLC) and DMS53 (SCLC), which were restored by corresponding inhibitors. Western blotting was performed to measure the level of expression of apoptosis- and autophagy-related proteins. The results indicate that Bax, PARP, pro-caspase-3, and Bcl-2 were dose-dependently regulated by curcumin, with seemingly higher Bax/Bcl-2 ratios in DMS53. In addition, autophagic proteins, p-AKT, p62, and LC3B, were dose-dependently regulated by curcumin. ROS inhibition by diphenyleneiodonium reduced the induction of apoptosis and autophagy generated by curcumin. Taken together, it is suggested that curcumin induces apoptosis and autophagy via ROS generation, leading to cell death, with minor differences between human lung cancer cells.

• Plant Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.58-65
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• 2023

In this study, to increase the methane content of biogas supplied from Nanji Water Regeneration Center and to purify impurities, a three-stage membrane purification process was designed and installed to demonstrate operation. The methane concentration of biomethane produced in the 2 Nm3/h purification process was set to three cases: 95%, 96.5%, and 98%, and the membrane area ratio of the membrane was 1:1, 1:2, 1:1:1, The optimum conditions for the membrane area of the separator were derived by changing to five of 1:2:1 and 1:2:2. 3 stage separation membrane process of 30 Nm3/h was installed to reflect the optimum condition of 2 Nm3/h, and biomethane production of 98% or more of methane concentration was demonstrated. As a result of the operation of the 2 Nm³/h refining device, the methane recovery rate at the 98% methane concentration was 95.6% when the membrane area ratio was 1:1 as the result of the two-stage operation of the separator, and the recovery rate of methane at 1:2 was increased to 96.8%. The methane recovery rate of the membrane three-stage operation was highest at 96.8% when the membrane area ratio was operated at 1:2:1. The carbon dioxide removal rate was 16.4 to 96.4% and the 2:2 to 95.7% film area ratio in the two-step process. In the three-step process, the film area ratio was 1:2:1 to 95.4%, and the two-step process showed higher results than the three-step process. In the 30 Nm3/h scale biogas purification demonstration operation, the methane concentration after purification was 98%, the recovery rate of methane was 97.1%, the removal rate of carbon dioxide was 95.7%, and hydrogen sulfide, the cause of corrosion, was not detected, and the membrane area ratio was 1:2:1 demonstration operation, biomethane production with a methane concentration of 98% or higher was possible.

• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.113-150
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• 2016

Chobun refers to a temporary grave covered with straw thatch that contains a corpse until its flesh is gone. When all the flesh has rotted away, the straw grave is disassembled and only the bones are retrieved. Therefore, Chobun is an example of a secondary burial custom (German : Doppel Bestattung) that is composed of a first temporary funeral for processing the corpse's flesh, and a second permanent burial of the final remains (bones or ashes). The duration of the temporary burial is determined by the time needed for decomposing the flesh of the deceased. Building a Chobun progresses putrefaction and reduction to bone. In the literature of alchemy, putrefaction and new life occur simultaneously. The purpose of rotting is to make the flesh disappear, leaving only its essence. It is making the physical body enter a spiritual state, so that the dead can enter into a different world. One must endure the unstable rotting process until the smell of flesh has faded. The rotting process is the attitude of accepting the terrible, polluted aspect of the corpse, while maintaining a helpless, passive posture, in order to allow new possibilities. When we try to approach an archetypal aspect of the unconscious, it is often experienced in threatening, aggressive ways. In the individuation process, the unconscious offers us the blessing of a new spiritual awakening and renewed sense of life, only when we have the courage to see this terrifying and contaminated side of our psyche. This is exactly what putrefaction means. Bone and skeleton symbolize the indestructible, imperishable, and essential elements of life. Bone is the minimum unit and foundation for regeneration, where new life can grow. Reduction to bone is moving back to the origin of life, to the womb. Psychologically, it means discarding one's ego-centeredness and allowing the Self to lead the entire process of individuation. Going through the painful process of reduction to a skeleton for the purpose of further development is a declaration of the death of the ego, aiming at the liberation from perishable flesh and acquisition of the spiritual, regenerative, and immortal elements of life. Chobun also denotes the yearly decay and revival of life, especially of vegetal life. In Chobun, this symbolic meaning of the vegetal cycle of life is emphasized to represent the part of life that survives even after death. Vegetation related to Chobun deals with the continuity of life and psychologically with the Self. Images of vegetation are closely related to the existence of life beyond death, which is the existence of the Self, the source of energy that constantly renews and rejuvenates the consciousness.

• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.149-183
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• 2022

The oracle of the I Ching, divination can be understood as 'synchronicity phenomenon' in analytic psychology. In order to experience divination actually, it requires a religious attitude that asks questions with a serious mind when a person is in trouble that consciousness reaches its limit. It is not just a passive attitude, but a modest, active attitude to ask what I can do now. The experience of the oracle of the I Ching connected to supra-consciousness is similar to 'active imagination'-talking with the archetype of collective unconsciousness-and is 'the process of finding the rhythm of Self-archetype, the absolute wisdom of unconsciousness.' One month before my father's death, I took care of him who couldn't communicate verbally and I divination with a question 'What can I do for my father and me now?' The I Ching's answer was hexagram 19 Lin 臨, nine at the beginning. It's message was '咸臨貞吉 joint approach. perseverance brings good fortune.' 志行正也 we must adhere perseveringly to what is right.' Through this phrase, I learned the attitude of waiting for life after death as if 'joyful obedient' to the providence of nature that spring comes after winter. And I found that keeping the touching emotion of meeting infinity (in analytical psychological terms, 'Self') with perseveration is to do the true meaning of life beyond popular money-mindedness. And six months before my father's death, I had a dream about the afterlife. In the process of interpreting that dream, I learned not only from the shock of the direct message that 'it is a truth that there is something after death,' but also the regeneration of the mind through introversion from the similarity between the closed ward and '黃泉'-chinese underworld through amplification. And I learned the importance of an open attitude to accept new things through the 'window to eternity' symbolized by the white iron gate. In my father's catholic funeral ritual, I had hope that the catholic doctrine 'Communio Sanctorum'-A spiral cycle in which the living and the dead help each other may be real as well as a symbol of the individuation process in which consciousness and unconsciousness interact in our minds. Through the consolation received through the funeral visit of many people I met in my life, I found the answer that the path to contact with infinity begins with loving the beings in front of me. I tried to understand this continuous experience by the perspective of analytical psychology.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.67-101
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• 2023

The utilization of generative AI in the medical field is also being rapidly researched. Access to vast data sets reduces the time and energy spent in selecting information. However, as the effort put into content creation decreases, there is a greater likelihood of associated issues arising. For example, with generative AI, users must discern the accuracy of results themselves, as these AIs learn from data within a set period and generate outcomes. While the answers may appear plausible, their sources are often unclear, making it challenging to determine their veracity. Additionally, the possibility of presenting results from a biased or distorted perspective cannot be discounted at present on ethical grounds. Despite these concerns, the field of generative AI is continually advancing, with an increasing number of users leveraging it in various sectors, including biomedical and life sciences. This raises important legal considerations regarding who bears responsibility and to what extent for any damages caused by these high-performance AI algorithms. A general overview of issues with generative AI includes those discussed above, but another perspective arises from its fundamental nature as a large-scale language model ('LLM') AI. There is a civil law concern regarding "the memorization of training data within artificial neural networks and its subsequent reproduction". Medical data, by nature, often reflects personal characteristics of patients, potentially leading to issues such as the regeneration of personal information. The extensive application of generative AI in scenarios beyond traditional AI brings forth the possibility of legal challenges that cannot be ignored. Upon examining the technical characteristics of generative AI and focusing on legal issues, especially concerning the protection of personal information, it's evident that current laws regarding personal information protection, particularly in the context of health and medical data utilization, are inadequate. These laws provide processes for anonymizing and de-identification, specific personal information but fall short when generative AI is applied as software in medical devices. To address the functionalities of generative AI in clinical software, a reevaluation and adjustment of existing laws for the protection of personal information are imperative.