• Strategy21
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• s.44
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• pp.5-27
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• 2018

The purpose of this paper is to look at USN's efforts to rebuild its combat power in the face of a reemergence of great powers competition, and to propose some recommendations for the ROKN. In addition to the plan to augment its fleet towards a 355-ships capacity, the USN is pursuing to improve exponentially combat lethality(quality) of its existing fleet by means of innovative science and technology. In other words, the USN is putting its utmost efforts to improve readiness of current forces, to modernize maintenance facilities such as naval shipyards, and simultaneously to invest in innovative weapons system R&D for the future. After all, the USN seems to pursue innovations in advanced military Science & Technology as the best way to ensure continued supremacy in the coming strategic competition between great powers. However, it is to be seen whether the USN can smoothly continue these efforts to rebuild combat strength vis-a-vis its new competition peers, namely China and Russian navy, due to the stringent fiscal constraints, originating, among others, from the 2011 Budget Control Act effective yet. Then, it seems to be China's unilateral and assertive behaviors to expand its maritime jurisdiction in the South China Sea that drives the USN's rebuild-up efforts of the future. Now, some changes began to be perceived in the basic framework of the hitherto regional maritime security, in the name of declining sea control of the USN as well as withering maritime order based on international law and norms. However, the ROK-US alliance system is the most excellent security mechanism upon which the ROK, as a trading power, depends for its survival and prosperity. In addition, as denuclearization of North Korea seems to take significant time and efforts to accomplish in the years to come, nuclear umbrella and extended deterrence by the US is still noting but indispensible for the security of the ROK. In this connection, the naval cooperation between ROKN and USN should be seen and strengthened as the most important deterrents to North Korean nuclear and missile threats, as well as to potential maritime provocation by neighboring countries. Based on these observations, this paper argues that the ROK Navy should try to expand its own deterrent capability by pursuing selective technological innovation in order to prevent this country's destiny from being dictated by other powers. In doing so, however, it may be too risky for the ROK to pursue the emerging, disruptive innovative technologies such as rail gun, hypersonic weapon... etc., due to enormous budget, time, and very thin chance of success. This paper recommends, therefore, to carefully select and extensively invest on the most cost-effective technological innovations, suitable in the operational environments of the ROK. In particular, this paper stresses the following six areas as most potential naval innovations for the ROK Navy: long range precision strike; air and missile defense at sea; ASW with various unmanned maritime system (UMS) such as USV, UUV based on advanced hydraulic acoustic sensor (Sonar) technology; network; digitalization for the use of AI and big data; and nuclear-powered attack submarines as a strategic deterrent.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2022

Volatiles exist ubiquitously in nature. Volatile compounds produced by plants and microorganisms confer inter-kingdom and intra-kingdom communications. Autoinducer signaling molecules from contact-based chemical communication, such as bacterial quorum sensing, are relayed through short distances. By contrast, biogenic volatiles derived from plant-microbe interactions generate long-distance (>20 cm) alarm signals for sensing harmful microorganisms. In this review, we discuss prior work on volatile compound-mediated diagnosis of plant diseases, and the use of volatile packaging and dispensing approaches for the biological control of fungi, bacteria, and viruses. In this regard, recent developments on technologies to analyze and detect microbial volatile compounds are introduced. Furthermore, we survey the chemical encapsulation, slow-release, and bio-nano techniques for volatile formulation and delivery that are expected to overcome limitations in the application of biogenic volatiles to modern agriculture. Collectively, technological advances in volatile compound detection, packaging, and delivery provide great potential for the implementation of ecologically-sound plant disease management strategies. We hope that this review will help farmers and young scientists understand the nature of microbial volatile compounds, and shift paradigms on disease diagnosis and management to aromatic (volatile-based) agriculture.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.13-27
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• 2023

This study aims to contribute to the reduction of the failure rate and social costs resulting from business failures by analyzing factors that affect the insolvency of social enterprises, as the role of social enterprises is increasing in our economy. The data used in this study were classified as normal and insolvent companies among social enterprises (including prospective social enterprises) that were established between 2009 and 2018 and received credit guarantees from credit guarantee institutions as of the end of June 2022. Among the collected data, 439 social enterprises with available financial information were targeted; 406 (92.5%) were normal enterprises, and 33 (7.5%) were insolvent enterprises. Through a literature review, eight non-financial factors commonly used for insolvency prediction were selected. The cross-analysis results showed that four of these factors were significant. Logistic regression analysis revealed that two variables, including corporate credit rating and the personal credit rating of the representative, were significant. Financial factors such as debt ratio, sales operating profit rate, and total asset turnover were used as control variables. The empirical analysis confirmed that the two independent variables maintained their influence even after controlling for financial factors. Given that government-led support and development policies have limitations, there is a need to shift policy direction so that various companies aspiring to create social value can enter the social enterprise sector through private and regional initiatives. This would enable the social economy to create an environment where local residents can collaborate to realize social value, and the government should actively support this.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.25 no.3 s.39
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• pp.247-268
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• 1992

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of VDT work on eyes and vision among workers in a TV manufacturing plant. The study subjects consisted of 264 screen workers and 74 non-screen workers who were less than 40 years old male and had no history of opthalmic diseases such as corneal opacities, trauma, keratitis, etc and whose visual acuity on pre-employment health examination by Han's test chart was 1.0 or above. The screen workers were divided into two groups by actual time for screen work in a day : Group I, 60 workers, lesser than 4 hours a day and group II, 204 workers, more than 4 hours a day. From July to October 1992 a questionnaire was administered to all the study subjects for the general charateristics and subjective eye symptoms after which the opthalmologic tests such as visual acuity, spherical equivalent, lacrimal function, ocular pressure, slit lamp test, fundoscopy were conducted by one opthalmologist. The proportion of workers whose present visual acuity was decreased more than 0.15 in comparison with that on the pre-employment health examination by Han's test chart was 20.6% in Group II. 15.0% in Group I and 14.9% in non-screen workers. However, the differences in proportion were not statistically significant. The proportion of workers with decreased visual acuity was not associated with the age, working duration, use of magnifying glass and type of shift work (independent variables) in all of the three groups. However, screen workers working under poor illumination had a higher proportion of persons with decreased visual acuity than those working under adequate illumination (P<0.05) . The proportion of workers whose near vision was decreased was 27.5% in Group II, 18.3% in Group I, and 28.4% in non-screen workers and these differences in proportion were not statistically significant. Changes of near vision were not associated with 4 independent variables in all of the three groups. Six out of seven subjective eye symptoms except tearing were more common in Group I than in non-screen workers and more common in Group II than in Group I (P<0.01). Mean of the total scores for seven subjective symptoms of each worker(2 points for always, 1 point for sometimes, 0 point for never) was not significantly different between workers with decreased visual acuity and workers with no vision change. However, mean of the total scores for Group II was higher than those for the Group I and non-screen workers (P<0.01). Total eye symptom scores were significantly correlated with the grade of screen work, use of magnifying glass, and type of shift work. There was no independent variable which was correlated with the difference in visual acuity between the pre-employment health examination and the present state, the difference between far and near visions, lacrimal function, ocular pressure, and spherical equivalent. Multiple linear regression analysis for the subjective eye symptom scores revealed a positive linear relationship with actual time for screen work and shift work(P<0.01). In this study it was not observed that the VDT work decreased visual acuity but it induces subjective eye symptoms such as eye fatigue, blurred vision, ocular discomfort, etc. Maintenance of adequate illumination in the work place and control of excessive VDT work are recommended to prevent such eye symptoms.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.403-411
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• 2007

This investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (TENS) to experimentally induced masticatory muscle pain and muscular fatigue. Twenty-nine healthy volunteers (18 men and 11 women, aged $26.1{\pm}4.7$ years) without past history or present symptoms of temporomandibular disorders were participated in this study. All of the subjects were randomly assigned to experimental group and control group, after at least 3 days interval, two groups were reassigned conversely. Subjects assigned to experimental group were received TENS and others assigned to control group were received sham-TENS therapy for 45 minutes, respectively. The changes of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT), and EMG power spectrum were measured on the masseter muscle both before and after sustained fatiguing contraction in each group. The major findings of this study are as follows : 1. PPTs and median frequencies of masseter muscles were significantly decreased after sustained isometric contraction resulting in muscular fatigue. 2. In experimental group received TENS therapy, PPTs measured both before and after occurrence of experimentally induced muscular fatigue were significantly increased. 3. In experimental group received TENS therapy, the changes of PPTs during sustained isometric contraction resulting in muscular fatigue were significantly decreased. 4. In experimental group received TENS therapy, VAS measured after occurrence of experimentally induced muscular fatigue was significantly decreased. 5. Although there were not statistical significances, endurance time was increased in experimental group received TENS therapy and decreased in control group received sham-TENS therapy. 6. In experimental group received TENS therapy, the changes of median frequencies were the less decreased and the slope of median frequency shift was the more increased during endurance time than in control group, however, there were not statistical significances.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.488-498
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• 2003

Background : Activation of the transcription factor NF-${\kappa}B$ has been shown to protect cells from tumor necrosis factor-alpha, chemotherapy, and radiation-induced apoptosis. NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent cIAP expression is a major antiapoptotic mechanism for that. NF-${\kappa}B$ activation and cIAP expression in A549 lung cancer cells which is relatively resistant to radiation-induced cell death were investigated for the mechanism of radioresistance. Materials and methods : We used A549 lung cancer cells and Clinac 1800C linear accelerator for radiation. Cell viability test was done by MTT assay. NF-${\kappa}B$ activation was tested by luciferase reporter gene assay, Western blot for $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ degradation, and electromobility shift assay. For blocking ${\kappa}B$, MG132 and transfection of $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$-superrepressor plasmid construct were used. cIAP expression was analyzed by RT-PCR and cIAP2 promoter activity was performed using luciferase assay system. Results : MTT assay showed that cytotoxicity even 48 hr after radiation in A549 cells were less than 20%. Luciferas assay demonstrated weak NF-${\kappa}B$ activation of $1.6{\pm}0.2$ fold compared to PMA-induced $3.4{\pm}0.9$ fold. Radiation-induced $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ degradation was observed in Western blot and NF-${\kappa}B$ DNA binding was confirmed by EMSA. However, blocking NF-${\kappa}B$ using MG132 and $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$-superrepressor transfection did not show any sensitizing effect for radiation-induced cell death. The result of RT-PCR for cIAP1 & 2 expression was negative induction while TNF-${\alpha}$ showed strong expression for cIAP1 & 2. The cIAP2 promoter activity also did not show any change compared to positive control with TNF-${\alpha}$. Conclusion : We conclude that activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ does not determine the intrinsic radiosensitivity of cancer cells, at least for the cell lines tested in this study.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.302-309
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• 2009

We fabricated a Si nano floating gate memory with Schottky barrier tunneling transistor structure. The device was consisted of Schottky barriers of Er-silicide at source/drain and Si nanoclusters in the gate stack formed by LPCVD-digital gas feeding method. Transistor operations due to the Schottky barrier tunneling were observed under small gate bias < 2V. The nonvolatile memory properties were investigated by measuring the threshold voltage shift along the gate bias voltage and time. We obtained the 10/50 mseconds for write/erase times and the memory window of $\sim5V$ under ${\pm}20\;V$ write/erase voltages. However, the memory window decreased to 0.4V after 104seconds, which was attributed to the Er-related defects in the tunneling oxide layer. Good write/erase endurance was maintained until $10^3$ write/erase times. However, the threshold voltages moved upward, and the memory window became small after more write/erase operations. Defects in the LPCVD control oxide were discussed for the endurance results. The experimental results point to the possibility of a Si nano floating gate memory with Schottky barrier tunneling transistor structure for Si nanoscale nonvolatile memory device.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.86-93
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• 2024

Since replication of plasmids must be strictly controlled, plasmids that generally perform rolling circle replication generally maintain a constant copy number by strictly controlling the replication initiator Rep at the transcriptional and translational levels. Plasmid pJB01 contains three orfs (copA, repB, repC or repABC) consisting of a single operon. From analysis of amino acid sequence, pJB01 CopA was homologous to the Cops, as a copy number control protein, of other plasmids. When compared with a CopG of pMV158, CopA seems to form the RHH (ribbon-helix-helix) known as a motif of generalized repressor of plasmids. The result of gel mobility shift assay (EMSA) revealed that the purified fusion CopA protein binds to the operator region of the repABC operon. To examine the functional role of CopA on transcriptional level, 3 point mutants were constructed in coding frame of copA such as CopA R16M, K26R and E50V. The repABC mRNA levels of CopA R16M, K26R and E50V mutants increased 1.84, 1.78 and 2.86 folds more than that of CopA wt, respectively. Furthermore, copy numbers owing to mutations in three copA genes also increased 1.86, 1.68 and 2.89 folds more than that of copA wt, respectively. These results suggest that CopA is the transcriptional repressor, and lowers the copy number of pJB01 by reducing repABC mRNA and then RepB, as a replication initiator.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
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• v.15B no.4
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• pp.275-284
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• 2008

With increases in recent security requirements, biometric technology such as fingerprints, faces and iris recognitions have been widely used in many applications including door access control, personal authentication for computers, internet banking, automatic teller machines and border-crossing controls. Finger vein recognition uses the unique patterns of finger veins in order to identify individuals at a high level of accuracy. This paper proposes new device and methods for touchless finger vein recognition. This research presents the following five advantages compared to previous works. First, by using a minimal guiding structure for the finger tip, side and the back of finger, we were able to obtain touchless finger vein images without causing much inconvenience to user. Second, by using a hot mirror, which was slanted at the angle of 45 degrees in front of the camera, we were able to reduce the depth of the capturing device. Consequently, it would be possible to use the device in many applications having size limitations such as mobile phones. Third, we used the holistic texture information of the finger veins based on a LBP (Local Binary Pattern) without needing to extract accurate finger vein regions. By using this method, we were able to reduce the effect of non-uniform illumination including shaded and highly saturated areas. Fourth, we enhanced recognition performance by excluding non-finger vein regions. Fifth, when matching the extracted finger vein code with the enrolled one, by using the bit-shift in both the horizontal and vertical directions, we could reduce the authentic variations caused by the translation and rotation of finger. Experimental results showed that the EER (Equal Error Rate) was 0.07423% and the total processing time was 91.4ms.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.1 s.106
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• pp.47-56
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• 2004

To understand the effect of nutrient deficiency on the plankton community in three stations with different water qualities in Pal'tang Reservoir, Korea, phytoplanktons(> 10 ${\mu}m$) were cultured in nutrient enrichment Allen's media (AM) and nutrient-deficient Allen's media. A distinct shift in the species composition and biomass of phytoplankton (as chlorophyll- a) showed in all treatments. In particular, it was very interesting that the new development of cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa occurred by the Fe-deficient AM. Except for Si, a community growth (as chlorophyll- a) was inhibited in all nutrient deficient treatments. Species diversity after nutrient deficiency was changed to below 2.0; slightly increased in N and P-deficiency, while decreased in Si and Fe, respectively. As suggested, dominance was entirely opposite to diversity. Therefore, the nutrient deficient effectively induced the succession of species and biomass, phytoplankton community, suggesting a possibility as a reliable tool to control the algal bloom in eutrophic lakes and reservoirs.