• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.18-33
• /
• 2018

A new eddy covariance-based flux tower has been established since June 2016 in a dry direct-seeding rice paddy field in southwestern Korea - Haenam Paddy field KoFlux site (HPK). To assess the competitiveness of direct-seeding agricultural technique in the context of climate-smart agriculture, we have been monitoring the $CO_2$, $CH_4$ and energy fluxes continuously. In this communication, we (1) introduce the HPK site and (2) explain the structure and processes of the HPK-specific data processing and quality control. The latter consists of 10-steps data processing and quality control procedures following the KoFlux standardized protocol and explained each step in layman's term. The final data produced during the data processing were stored in NCAM-DAPS (National Center for AgroMeteorology-Data Acquisition and Processing System, http://daps.ncam.kr). We hope that the introduction of new HPK KoFlux site would serve as a platform to facilitate transdisciplinary efforts in the research and education associated with climate-smart agriculture toward sustainability.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2021

In this study, in order to induce landscape-friendly various development plans established at the district level, the contents of landscape plans appearing in domestic laws and systems and related previous studies are reviewed and comparative analysis is performed to advance the district-level landscape plan. The main focus was to explore the institutional methodology for this. The summary of the research results is as follows. First of all, as a result of analysis of the landscape plan content prescribed in the National Territory Planning Act and the enforcement decree of the same Act, the landscape plan content for natural elements and the landscape plan content for artifacts appeared mixed. Next, looking at the analysis results of the landscape plan contents in the Landscape Act, the Enforcement Decree of the same Act, and the landscape plan establishment guidelines, it is analyzed that the content mainly intended to improve the artificial landscape in terms of aesthetics, such as color, lighting, and buildings. Became. As a result of analysis of the landscape plan contents in the district unit plan establishment guidelines, it was found that the contents of the landscape plan for the skyline, night view, color, advertisements, and viewpoints were presented. As a result of the analysis of the landscape plan contents in the preceding study, the plan contents for ecological, recreational, and micro-visual aspects were revealed, and all three aspects aim to establish a landscape plan within the range of minimizing damage to nature. there was. Appeared to be. The results of this study are considered to be able to induce more landscape and nature-friendly district unit plans being conducted at the district level.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.162-168
• /
• 2016

Proton therapy is increasingly being actively used in the treatment of cancer. In contrast to photons, protons have the potential advantage of delivering higher doses to the cancerous tissue and lower doses to the surrounding normal tissue. However, a range shifter is needed to degrade the beam energy in order to apply the pencil beam scanning technique to tumors located close to the minimum range. The secondary neutrons are produced in the beam path including within the patient's body as a result of nuclear interactions. Therefore, unintended side effects may possibly occur. The research related to the secondary neutrons generated during proton therapy has been presented in a variety of studies worldwide, since 2007. In this study, we measured the magnitude of the secondary neutron dose depending on the location of the detector and the use of a range shifter at the beam nozzle of the proton scanning mode, which was recently installed. In addition, the production of secondary neutrons was measured and estimated as a function of the distance between the isocenter and detector. The neutron dose was measured using WENDI-II (Wide Energy Neutron Detection Instruments) and a Plastic Water phantom; a Zebra dosimeter and 4-cm-thick range shifter were also employed as a phantom. In conclusion, we need to consider the secondary neutron dose at proton scanning facilities to employ the range shifter reasonably and effectively.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.236-247
• /
• 2015

Domestic agricultural and forest management suffers disturbances arising from rapid economic, social and environmental changes including climate change. Sustainable management has emerged as a key to overcoming these challenges. From the domestic and international viewpoint, we have identified mainly three (i.e. indicator, accounting, and ecological) approaches to sustainable management of agricultural and forest ecosystems. Compared to persistent investment in indicator and accounting approaches, we find the paucity of the domestic efforts in ecological approach. The latter approach can be facilitated based on the long-term meteorological and flux data including the ecosystem-level energy, matter and information flows, which have been monitored and managed by Korea Meteorological Administration, Rural Development Administration and Korea Forest Service. In order to keep up with vigorous international efforts toward sustainable ecosystem management, more interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations among diverse domestic sectors and institutes are essential.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
• /
• v.3 no.2 s.6
• /
• pp.1-27
• /
• 2003

Complexity paradigm is a scientific amalgam that aims to unite a range of theoretical perspectives and research agendas across natural and social sciences. Proponents of complexity paradigm lay claims to an increasing number of areas of study, including artificial life, interpersonal networks, internal/international patterning of organizations, mapping of cyberspace, etc. All of those can be subsumed under the title, 'complexity turn.' Owing to the idea of open system, complexity paradigm has developed a number of new concepts/themes/perspectives that help to account for the complex mechanism of living and non-living creatures. A complex system comprises a number of properties such as disequilibrium, nonlinearity, dissipative structure, self-organization fractal geometry, autopoiesis, coevolution. Following a brief introduction to theoretical development, those properties are succinctly discussed. The complexity turn has provided a wealth of insights that enable to analyze system operations of any kind. It contributes a lot to illuminating the working of social system as well. The most remarkable attempt may be Niklas Luhmann's 'neofunctional system theory.' Merits and shortcomings of complexity paradigm were examined and its future prospect were assessed with the conclusion that complexity paradigm would continue to be useful both as effective transdisciplinary framework and powerful analytical tool.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.92-98
• /
• 2021

Purpose: This study automatically discriminates homogeneous and structure edge regions on computed tomography (CT) images, and it evaluates the noise level and edge preservation ratio (EPR) according to the different types of iterative reconstruction (IR). Methods: The dataset consisted of CT scans of 10 patients reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP), statistical IR (iDose⁴), and iterative model-based reconstruction (IMR). Using the 10th and 85th percentiles of the structure coherence feature, homogeneous and structure edge regions were localized. The noise level was estimated using the averages of the standard deviations for five regions of interests (ROIs), and the EPR was calculated as the ratio of standard deviations between homogeneous and structural edge regions on subtraction CT between the FBP and IR. Results: The noise levels were 20.86±1.77 Hounsfield unit (HU), 13.50±1.14 HU, and 7.70±0.46 HU for FBP, iDose⁴, and IMR, respectively, which indicates that iDose⁴ and IMR could achieve noise reductions of approximately 35.17% and 62.97%, respectively. The EPR had values of 1.14±0.48 and 1.22±0.51 for iDose⁴ and IMR, respectively. Conclusions: The iDose⁴ and IMR algorithms can effectively reduce noise levels while maintaining the anatomical structure. This study suggested automated evaluation measurements of noise levels and EPRs, which are important aspects in CT image quality with patients' cases of FBP, iDose⁴, and IMR. We expect that the inclusion of other important image quality indices with a greater number of patients' cases will enable the establishment of integrated platforms for monitoring both CT image quality and radiation dose.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.77-88
• /
• 2022

This study aims to understand the relationship between the distribution of fish species in the two water ecosystems and the habitat factors according to the survey period targeting Gwanggyo Lake Park in the city. There are studies on the appearance and distribution of species by applying eDNA to freshwater ecosystems. However, in the domestic, streams are the target, and studies on the relationship between species distribution and habitat environment in two water environments are lacking. We conducted to analyze the species list and relationship with habitat factors using eDNA research in May and October at 21 points in Gwanggyo Lake Park, Suwon City, which were connected to lakes and streams. As a result, there was no species difference in the water environment according to the survey period. However, the total number of reads during the spawning season(May) was 3,126,482, which was more than double that after the spawning season(October). Tolerant species appeared in Woncheon Lake with a slow or stagnant flow, but there was no significant correlation between species and habitat factors depending on the survey period. On the other hand, intermediate and sensitive species appeared in the Woncheon stream with high flow. There was a significant correlation between the low temperature during the spawning season and the high dissolved oxygen content after the spawning season(P<0.001, Tem.: 20.7±2.6℃, DO: 8.6±1.7). It is expected that environmental DNA will be used to survey species and suggest monitoring methods according to the survey period.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.52 no.7
• /
• pp.463-468
• /
• 2019

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), one of the most common human monogenic diseases (frequency of 1/1000-1/400), is characterized by numerous fluid-filled renal cysts (RCs). Inactivation of the PKD1 or PKD2 gene by germline and somatic mutations is necessary for cyst formation in ADPKD. To mechanistically understand cyst formation and growth, we isolated RCs from Korean patients with ADPKD and immortalized them with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Three hTERT-immortalized RC cell lines were characterized as proximal epithelial cells with germline and somatic PKD1 mutations. Thus, we first established hTERT-immortalized proximal cyst cells with somatic PKD1 mutations. Through transcriptome sequencing and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, we found that upregulated genes were related to cell division and that downregulated genes were related to cell differentiation. We wondered whether the upregulated gene for the chemokine CXCL12 is related to the mTOR signaling pathway in cyst growth in ADPKD. CXCL12 mRNA expression and secretion were increased in RC cell lines. We then examined CXCL12 levels in RC fluids from patients with ADPKD and found increased CXCL12 levels. The CXCL12 receptor CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) was upregulated, and the mTOR signaling pathway, which is downstream of the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis, was activated in ADPKD kidney tissue. To confirm activation of the mTOR signaling pathway by CXCL12 via CXCR4, we treated the RC cell lines with recombinant CXCL12 and the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100; CXCL12 induced the mTOR signaling pathway, but the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 blocked the mTOR signaling pathway. Taken together, these results suggest that enhanced CXCL12 in RC fluids activates the mTOR signaling pathway via CXCR4 in ADPKD cyst growth.

• Ultrasonography
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.59-65
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to establish the methodology regarding synthesis of ultrasound contrast agent imaging, and to evaluate the characteristics of the synthesized ultrasound contrast agents, including size or degradation interval and image quality. Materials and Methods: The ultrasound contrast agent, composed of liposome and SF6, was synthesized from the mixture solution of $21{\mu}mol$ DPPC (1, 2-Dihexadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, $C_{40}H_{80}NO_8P$), $9{\mu}mol$ cholesterol, $1.9{\mu}mol$ of DCP (Dihexadecylphosphate, $[CH_3(CH_2)_{15}O]_2P(O)OH$), and chloroform. After evaporation in a warm water bath and drying during a period of 12-24 hours, the contrast agent was synthesized by the sonication process by addition of buffer and SF6 gas. The size of the contrast agent was controlled by use of either extruder or sonication methods. After synthesis of contrast agents, analysis of the size distribution of the bubbles was performed using dynamic light scattering measurement methods. The degradation curve was also evaluated by changes in the number of contrast agents via light microscopy immediate, 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hours, 60 hours, 72 hours, and 84 hours after synthesis. For evaluation of the role as an US contrast agent, the echogenicity of the synthesized microbubble was compared with commercially available microbubbles (SonoVue, Bracco, Milan, Italy) using a clinical ultrasound machine and phantom. Results: The contrast agents were synthesized successfully using an evaporation-drying-sonication method. The majority of bubbles showed a mean size of 154.2 nanometers, and they showed marked degradation 24 hours after synthesis. ANOVA test revealed a significant difference among SonoVue, synthesized contrast agent, and saline (p < 0.001). Although no significant difference was observed between SonoVue and the synthesized contrast agent, difference in echogenicity was observed between synthesized contrast agent and saline (p < 0.01). Conclusion: We could synthesize ultrasound contrast agents using an evaporation-drying-sonication method. On the basis of these results, many prospective types of research, such as anticancer drug delivery, gene delivery, including siRNA or microRNA, targeted molecular imaging, and targeted therapy can be performed.

• The Mathematical Education
• /
• v.59 no.4
• /
• pp.313-329
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this study was to develop an integrated teaching model that integrates mathematics and ethics with social justice theme centric approach. To solve the research problems, the investigator conducted literature studies on the 2015 revised mathematics curriculum, 2015 revised mathematics 3rd to 6th grade textbooks, and the 2015 revised ethics curriculum.. Based on the results of analysis, the mathematics and ethics integrated model for social justice was devised by using the three axes of mathematics subject, ethics subject, and social justice. The integrated class of mathematics and ethics for social justice consists of the steps of problem recognition (ME 1), analysis (ME 2), discussion (ME 3), inquiry and practice (ME 4), and it can be implemented in a total of 27 ways. In order to confirm the effectiveness of the integrated model, two classes of sixth grade were selected as experimental and comparative classes. As a result of the study, the integrated class of mathematics and ethics can be used as a tool to improve the value perception of mathematics, However, it should be conducted with full consideration of students' mathematical tendencies in advance. Also, it can improve students' social consciousness. However, practice and experience-oriented classes are effective to overcome 'reserved agency' problem. Finally, it can improve students' perception of integrated classes and their creative thinking and critical thinking skills.