• 한국시스템다이내믹스연구
• /
• 제11권3호
• /
• pp.33-59
• /
• 2010

South Korea has the defense burdensharing agreement with the United States in reference to the U.S. troops stationed in Korea since 1991, based on Special Measure Agreement(SMA). Due to the growth of Korea's economic power and the U.S. provision of the security environment on Korean penninsula, the U.S. government steadily demanded the rise of contributions to common defense from South Korea and South Korea accepted most of the U.S. requests without proper principles of negotiation concerning the cost sharing. This paper analyzes the systems of the Korea－U.S. cost sharing program through a systems thinking, that yields desirable results with a little effort. The three policy leverages are: 1) the development of negotiation principles; 2) the policy making closely linked with National Defense Reform Basic Plan; 3) the policy making with responsibility burdensharing than cost burdensharing. This paper findings will contribute to the developing the Korea－U.S. cost sharing program by providing policy－makers and policy-practitioners with systematic understanding and insight into the dynamics of the program. Also, this will enable the program to execute more effectively with a concrete formula.

• 한국도로학회논문집
• /
• 제18권1호
• /
• pp.91-97
• /
• 2016

PURPOSES : The objective of this paper is to develop a pavement performance model based on the Bayesian algorithm, and compare the measured and predicted performance data. METHODS : In this paper, several pavement types such as SMA (stone mastic asphalt), PSMA (polymer-modified stone mastic asphalt), PMA (polymer-modified asphalt), SBS (styrene-butadiene-styrene) modified asphalt, and DGA (dense-graded asphalt) are modeled in terms of the performance evaluation of pavement structures, using the Bayesian algorithm. RESULTS : From case studies related to the performance model development, the statistical parameters of the mean value and standard deviation can be obtained through the Bayesian algorithm, using the initial performance data of two different pavement cases. Furthermore, an accurate performance model can be developed, based on the comparison between the measured and predicted performance data. CONCLUSIONS : Based on the results of the case studies, it is concluded that the determined coefficients of the nonlinear performance models can be used to accurately predict the long-term performance behaviors of DGA and modified asphalt concrete pavements. In addition, the developed models were evaluated through comparison studies between the initial measurement and prediction data, as well as between the final measurement and prediction data. In the model development, the initial measured data were used.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
• /
• 제16권1호
• /
• pp.52-65
• /
• 2023

Background and Objectives: Epithelial-Mesenchymal transition (EMT) is one of the origins of myofibroblasts in renal interstitial fibrosis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) alleviating EMT has been proved, but the concrete mechanism is unclear. To explore the mechanism, serum-free MSCs conditioned medium (SF-MSCs-CM) was used to treat rat renal tubular epithelial cells (NRK-52E) fibrosis induced by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) which ameliorated EMT. Methods and Results: Galectin-3 knockdown (Gal-3 KD) and overexpression (Gal-3 OE) lentiviral vectors were established and transfected into NRK-52E. NRK-52E fibrosis model was induced by TGF-β1 and treated with the SF-MSCs-CM for 24 h after modelling. Fibrosis and autophagy related indexes were detected by western blot and immunocytochemistry. In model group, the expressions of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), fibronectin (FN), Galectin-3, Snail, Kim-1, and the ratios of P-Akt/Akt, P-GSK3β/GSK3β, P-PI3K/PI3K, P-mTOR/mTOR, TIMP1/MMP9, and LC3B-II/I were obviously increased, and E-Cadherin (E-cad) and P62 decreased significantly compared with control group. SF-MSCs-CM showed an opposite trend after treatment compared with model group. Whether in Gal-3 KD or Gal-3 OE NRK-52E cells, SF-MSCs-CM also showed similar trends. However, the effects of anti-fibrosis and enhanced autophagy in Gal-3 KD cells were more obvious than those in Gal-3 OE cells. Conclusions: SF-MSCs-CM probably alleviated the EMT via inhibiting Galectin-3/Akt/GSK3β/Snail pathway. Meanwhile, Gal-3 KD possibly enhanced autophagy via inhibiting Galectin-3/Akt/mTOR pathway, which synergistically ameliorated renal fibrosis. Targeting galectin-3 may be a potential target for the treatment of renal fibrosis.