• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.273-284
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• 2018

Purpose: Conventional headland turning typically requires repeated forward and backward movements to move the farming equipment to the next row. This research focuses on developing an upland agricultural robot with an optimized headland turning mechanism that enables a $180^{\circ}$ turning positioning to the next row in one steering motion designed for a two-wheel steering, four-wheel drive agricultural robot named the HADA-bot. The proposed steering mechanism allows for faster turnings at each headland compared to those of the conventional steering system. Methods: The HADA-bot was designed with 1.7-m wide wheel tracks to travel along the furrows of a garlic bed, and a look-ahead path following algorithm was applied using a real-time kinematic global positioning system signal. Pivot turning tests focused primarily on accuracy regarding the turning radius for the next path matching, saving headland turning time, area, and effort. Results: Several test cases were performed by evaluating right and left turns on two different surfaces: concrete and soil, at three speeds: 1, 2, and 3 km/h. From the left and right side pivot turning results, the percentage of lateral deviation is within the acceptable range of 10% even on the soil surface. This U-turn scheme reduces 67% and 54% of the headland turning time, and 36% and 32% of the required headland area compared to a 50 hp tractor (ISEKI, TA5240, Ehime, Japan) and a riding-type cultivator (CFM-1200, Asia Technology, Deagu, Rep. Korea), respectively. Conclusion: The pivot turning trajectory on both soil and concrete surfaces achieved similar results within the typical operating speed range. Overall, these results prove that the pivot turning mechanism is suitable for improving conventional headland turning by reducing both turning radius and turning time.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.319-327
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• 2018

Objectives : Astragali Radix is known as a perennial plant, and it is estimated that there may be differences in the contents and their components depending on the ages. The components of astragali radix may activate differently. Methods : The astragali radix components cultivated in Jecheon( one year ), Korea, Shanxi province( 7 years ), China, Inner Mongolia( 5 years) and Inner Mongolia ( 8 years ) were extracted with pure ethyl alcohol and identified the component molecules. The extracted components of astragali radix were measured the activity of Telomerase for confirmation of their Telomere lengths. Results : The cell activity has been shown the greatest contribution in astragali radix of Inner Mongolia(8 years). Although there is the difference in cell activity between the two products of the 5 and 7 years, the difference between the values was small and the 7 years product was slightly higher than 5 years product. Conclusions : Total Astragaloside contents were highest in the product of Inner Mongolia(8 years), followed by the 7 year product of Shanxi province. Especially, astragaloside and cycloastragenol (TA-65) among the astragali radix components have shown to be increased Telomerase activity in the DNA metabolism of the cells, and the efficacy depends on the ages of growth.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.181-190
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• 2019

In South Korea, traffic accident patients can be treated under automobile insurance coverage. This study investigated the status of Korean medicine (KM) Automobile insurance system and usage status of main pharmacopuncture in KM clinic which reported that the largest number of automobile insurance fee claims among medical institutions. We surveyed 258 traffic accident patients who were treated at Namsangcheon KM clinic from 2014 to 2018 according to medical chart. The majority of the patients were male and thirties. In traffic accident situation, the highest distribution was car to car crash with 85.66% and 66.67% of the patients visited in the most acute phase. The most frequent treatment period was within 4 weeks and the number of treatments was 10 or less with 72.87%. In total results of treatment, the distribution was exellent with 10.08%, good with 46.90%, fair with 27.13% and poor with 15.89%, and the effective rate was 84.11%. The most frequent treatment period was within 4 weeks with 64.73% and the number of treatments was 10 or less with 72.87%. Of the 242 patients who received pharmacopunture, 91.5% were treated with HO, which was named after Honghwaja and TA, which was named after traffic accidents, and there were significant differences in the number of treatments and symptom improvement between the two groups. In this study, we confirmed the status of automobile insurance treatment and usage of main pharmacopuncture of single KM clinic with symptom improvement. This study can be regarded as one of the basis of KM treatment for the rapidly growing automobile insurance market.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.125-134
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• 2021

This study aimed to explore the factors affecting the foreign direct investment (FDI) intentions of investors into Quang Ninh province, located in the north-eastern of Viet Nam. Researchers used two main methods, namely, Exploratory Factors Analysis (EFA) and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) based on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS SEM) to explore and measure the impact of factors affecting the investors' FDI intentions into Quang Ninh province. The empirical analysis used data from the survey of 206 domestic and foreign investors into Quang Ninh province, including representatives of the Board of Directors, members, and management representatives at the department level, with reliable tools (SPSS 26 and SmartPLS 3.0 software). The research results identified the following factors affecting investment into Quang Ninh: FDI attraction policies have the strongest impact on the investors' FDI intentions; it is followed by infrastructure, public services and human capital with strong effects on intentions of investors' FDI; and finally the standards of living that affects the investors' FDI intentions. There is also a positive relationship between all the factors and the investors' FDI intentions. Several recommendations are further suggested to enhance attraction of foreign direct investment into Quang Ninh province.

• Plant Journal
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2022

In this study, I analyzed the effect of slagging caused by blending bituminous coal and subbituminous coal while maintaining the generator output, combustion conditions, and ventilation conditions for 870MW thermal power plant designed with bituminous coal. Accordingly I proposed an acceptable method of blending coal method. the blending ratio of sub-bituminous coal was adjusted to 10%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, etc. to confirm ultimate analysis, proximate analysis, ash fusion temperature change, slagging indices, etc. Proper blending coal conditions are blending with sub-bituminous coal at 40% or less, ratio of base component to acid component(B/A) is 0.4 or less or 1 or more, total alkali(TA) is 3.5 or less, fusion slagging index(Rfs) is 1,345℃ or more, and ash content is 13% or less in ultimate analysis, the ash content in proximate analysis is 15% or less, and the initial deformation temperature(IDT) should be at least 1,200℃ or more

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.657-665
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• 2022

Background: Sarcopenia is a new and emerging risk factor aggravating the quality of life of elderly population. Because Korean Red Ginseng (RG) is known to have a great effect on relieving fatigue and enhancing physical performance, it is invaluable to examine its potential as an anti-sarcopenic drug. Methods: Anti-sarcopenic effect of non-saponin fraction of Korean Red Ginseng (RGNS) was evaluated in C2C12 myoblasts treated with C2-ceramide to induce senescence phenotypes, and 22-month-old mice fed with chow diet containing 2% RGNS (w/w) for 4 further months. Results: The RGNS treatment significantly alleviated cellular senescence indicated by intracellular lipid accumulation, increased amount of lysosomal β-galactosidase, and reduced proliferative capacity in C2C12 myoblasts. This effect was not observed with saponin fraction. In an aged mouse, the 4-month-RGNS diet significantly improved aging-associated loss of muscle mass and strength, assessed by the weights of hindlimb skeletal muscles such as tibialis anterior (TA), extensor digitorum longus (EDL), gastrocnemius (GN) and soleus (SOL), and the cross-sectional area (CSA) of SOL muscle, and the behaviors in grip strength and hanging wire tests, respectively. During the same period, an aging-associated shift of fast-to slow-twitch muscle in SOL muscle was also retarded by the RGNS treatment. Conclusions: These findings suggested that the long-term diet of RGNS significantly prevented aging-associated muscle atrophy and reduced physical performance, and thus RGNS has a strong potential to be developed as a drug that prevents or improves sarcopenia.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.372-380
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• 2022

This study proposes a distributed parallel processing system, called the Fast Analysis System for remote sensing daTa(FAST), for large-scale satellite image processing and analysis. FAST is a system that designs jobs in vertices and sequences, and distributes and processes them simultaneously. FAST manages data based on the Hadoop Distributed File System, controls entire jobs based on Apache Spark, and performs tasks in parallel in multiple slave nodes based on a docker container design. FAST enables the high-performance processing of progressively accumulated large-volume satellite images. Because the unit task is performed based on Docker, it is possible to reuse existing source codes for designing and implementing unit tasks. Additionally, the system is robust against software/hardware faults. To prove the capability of the proposed system, we performed an experiment to generate the original satellite images as ortho-images, which is a pre-processing step for all image analyses. In the experiment, when FAST was configured with eight slave nodes, it was found that the processing of a satellite image took less than 30 sec. Through these results, we proved the suitability and practical applicability of the FAST design.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.415-422
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• 1995

Twenty-four flavones were synthesized with various hydroxyl and/or methoxyl groups on A and B rings. Their antimutagenic properties were evaluated against ben:w(a)pyrene (BaP) and a pool of mutagenic urine concentrate (U) using a modified liquid incubation method of Ames test. The tester strain was Salmonella typhimurium TA98+S9 Mix. The antimutagenic activities were calculated by non linear regression analysis and the doses of flavones (in nmoles) required for a 50% reduction of induced revertants with BaP and U were defined as the inhibition doses (TEX>$ID_{508}{\;}and{\;}ID_{508}$ respectively). Seventeen flavones possessed significant antimutagenic activity against BaP. $ID_{508}$ ranged from 15.1 nmoles (F22) to 1000.6 nmoles (F13). Eighteen f1avones showed significant antimutagenic activity against U. $ID_{50U}$ ranged from 23.5 nmoles (F22) to 354.6 nmoles (F3). The 2',3',4'-trihydroxyflavone (F22, $ID_{508}=15.1$ nmoles, $ID_{50U}=23.5$ nmoles) and the 2',3',4',7-tetrahydroxyflavone (F20, $ID_{508}=37.8$ nmoles; $ID_{50U}=62.3$ nmoles) had antimutagenic activities similar to those of chlorophyllin ($ID_{508}=19.6$ nmoles and $ID_{50U}=44.2$ nmoles) and were evaluated against B(alP 7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide. Against this last mutagen, the flavones which included three OH in B ring showed the highest activity and this property seemed independent of the substituent groups on A ring.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.205-211
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• 2023

INTS14/VWA9, a component of the integrator complex subunits, plays a pivotal role in regulating the fate of numerous nascent RNAs transcribed by RNA polymerase II, particularly in the biogenesis of small nuclear RNAs and enhancer RNAs. Despite its significance, a comprehensive mutation model for developmental research has been lacking. To address this gap, we aimed to investigate the expression patterns of INTS14 during zebrafish embryonic development. We generated ints14 mutant strains using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. We validated the gRNA activity by co-injecting Cas9 protein and a single guide RNA into fertilized zebrafish eggs, subsequently confirming the presence of a 6- or 9-bp deletion in the ints14 gene. In addition, we examined the two mutant alleles through PCR analysis, T7E1 assay, TA-cloning, and sequencing. For the first time, we used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to create a model in which some sequences of the ints14 gene were removed. This breakthrough opens new avenues for in-depth exploration of the role of ints14 in animal diseases. The mutant strains generated in this study can provide a valuable resource for further investigations into the specific consequences of ints14 gene deletion during zebrafish development. This research establishes a foundation for future studies exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying the functions of ints14, its interactions with other genes or proteins, and its broader implications for biological processes.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.371-385
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• 2023

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to analyze Korea's trade relations centered on the MERCOSUR, a major economic integration in Latin America, and identify its problems and suggest measures that can be taken by the government and corporations to reinforce economic cooperation. Design/methodology/approach - To improve the level of contribution of the study, an empirical analysis is necessary. However, due to limited data access, the study will approach the topic of trade relations between Korea and the MERCOSUR with various statistics and literature. Findings - First, there is an urgent need for changes in import-export goods between Korea and the MERCOSUR, as trade is focused on specific items. Second, although foreign direct investment from Korea to the MERCOSUR is centered in manufacturing and mining industries, there should be different investment strategies by countries and industries. Third, it is necessary to reinforce commercial cooperation. Korea currently has Free Trade Agreements with Chile, Peru, and Columbia, but not with MERCOSUR. Therefore, Korea must take active measures to sign an TA with MERCOSUR, which has been put on hold. Research implications or Originality - Latin America has the most thriving market when it comes to Free Trade Agreements worldwide. MERCOSUR is a South American Trade Bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full members are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. However, there is still a lack of research on the MERCOSUR, and corporations that aim to enter the Latin American market face difficulties due to lack of information. By investigating MERCOSUR and its prospects and analyzing the trade relations with Korea, this study will provide strategic measures for corporations that wish to enter the Latin American market.