• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.55-83
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• 2023

In this study, we propose the establishment of a specialized comic and webtoon library within the newly constructed library in Cheongju City. The aim is to create the library as the ultimate multi-cultural space, contributing to the enhancement of local residents' information utilization skills and future competencies. To achieve this, we conducted a foundational survey and current status analysis of a comic and webtoon specialized library, based on which we put forward a plan for its development. The research results yield the following outcomes: First, we provide concrete justifications and feasibility for the establishment of a comic and webtoon specialized library in Cheongju City. Second, we offer specific proposals for the vision, mission, roles, and functions of the comic and webtoon specialized library. Based on these research findings, if a comic and webtoon specialized library is constructed in Cheongju City, it has the potential to become a local landmark and serve as a unique cultural and tourist resource. Furthermore, by providing facilities and resources for various information services related to comic and webtoon creation and experiences, it can contribute to nurturing talents that lead the way in future industries.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.275-284
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• 2024

Monitoring crop growth changes and water content is crucial in the agricultural sector. This study utilized drones equipped with Short Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) sensors, sensitive to moisture changes, to observe soybeans' growth and water content variations. We confirmed that as soybeans grow more vigorously, their water content increases and differences in irrigation levels lead to decreases in vegetation and moisture indices. This suggests that waterlogging slows down soybean growth and reduces water content, highlighting the importance of detailed monitoring of vegetation and moisture indices at different growth stages to enhance crop productivity and minimize damage from waterlogging. Such monitoring could also preemptively detect and prevent the adverse effects of moisture changes, such as droughts, on crop growth. By demonstrating the potential for early diagnosis of moisture stress using drone-based SWIR sensors, this research suggests improvements in the efficiency of large-scale crop management and increases in yield, contributing to agricultural production.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.153-159
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• 2024

Dioscorea alata L, commonly known as "tropical yam" is the most widely consumed yam species among the 650 yam species belonging to the Dioscoreacea family. It is extensively cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions and is a major food source in Africa and India. Also, it is used for medicinal purposes, particularly in China and Taiwan, for its anti-inflammatory properties. In comparison to other yam varieties such as D. batatas or D. opposita, the tropical yam has gained popularity in Korea due to its higher yield per unit area. In this study, the nutritional characteristics and anti-thrombosis activity of the aerial bulbils of D. alata L. tropical yam were compared to those of D. opposita. The results showed that the aerial bulbils of tropical yam exhibited nutritional characteristics and potent anticoagulant activity compared to those of domestic yam varieties. The bulbils extract of tropical yam showed superior anticoagulant activities against thrombin, prothrombin and blood coagulation factors. Furthermore, the bulbils extract of tropical yam exhibited strong platelet aggregation inhibition at 0.25 mg/ml and showed no hemolytic activity up to a concentration of 2.5 mg/ml. These findings suggest the potential development of high-value anti-thrombosis agents utilizing the aerial bulbils of tropical yam.

• Journal of Ginseng Culture
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• v.6
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• pp.80-104
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• 2024

Ginseng, a representative medicinal plant of South Korea, is also highly valued in North Korea. However, due to limited access to information about North Korea, the actual cultivation, research and development trends, and related industry status of ginseng in North Korea are not well known. In this study, we aimed to understand the current status and research trends of the ginseng industry in North Korea based on limited available literature. In the North Korean pharmacopoeia, ginseng is referred to as "Koryo ginseng" and is defined as the roots of 6-year-old ginseng cultivated in the Kaesong region. The pharmacopoeia includes 22 types of ginseng preparations. In addition, 10 ginseng preparations are included in North Korea's Essential Drug List, and various health supplements, cosmetics, and toothpastes containing ginseng have been developed, distributed, and sold. Since 2014, the ginseng industry and research in North Korea have become more active overall. During this period, the ginseng cultivation area in Kaesong has been significantly expanded, and the facilities have been renovated. The Kaesong Koryo Ginseng Processing Plant has been equipped with sterilized, modernized facilities since 2016 and has been in operation. Since 2017, there has been a growing interest in quality control research, leading to the introduction of quality management regulations and certification systems in 2019. In the 1990s, there was significant research on ginseng product development, and since the 2000s, studies on the pharmacological effects and clinical research of ginseng have been reported. Additionally, research on ginseng cultivation and ginseng processing industries to increase yield has been emphasized. Ginseng, as a representative medicinal crop of Korea, holds great importance for both South and North Korea. Given its significance and the potential for synergy through mutual cooperation, ginseng serves as an ideal subject for inter-Korean exchange and collaboration.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.43-61
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• 2016

Customer reviews help potential customers make purchasing decisions. However, the prevalence of reviews on websites push the customer to sift through them and change the focus from a mere search to identifying which of the available reviews are valuable and useful for the purchasing decision at hand. To identify useful reviews, websites have developed different mechanisms to give customers options when evaluating existing reviews. Websites allow users to rate the usefulness of a customer review as helpful or not. Amazon.com uses a ratio-type helpfulness, while Yelp.com uses a count-type usefulness index. This usefulness index provides helpful reviews to future potential purchasers. This study investigated the effects of sentiment and readability on useful votes for customer reviews. Similar studies on the relationship between sentiment and readability have focused on the ratio-type usefulness index utilized by websites such as Amazon.com. In this study, Yelp.com's count-type usefulness index for restaurant reviews was used to investigate the relationship between sentiment/readability and usefulness votes. Yelp.com's online customer reviews for stores in the beverage and food categories were used for the analysis. In total, 170,294 reviews containing information on a store's reputation and popularity were used. The control variables were the review length, store reputation, and popularity; the independent variables were the sentiment and readability, while the dependent variable was the number of helpful votes. The review rating is the moderating variable for the review sentiment and readability. The length is the number of characters in a review. The popularity is the number of reviews for a store, and the reputation is the general average rating of all reviews for a store. The readability of a review was calculated with the Coleman-Liau index. The sentiment is a positivity score for the review as calculated by SentiWordNet. The review rating is a preference score selected from 1 to 5 (stars) by the review author. The dependent variable (i.e., usefulness votes) used in this study is a count variable. Therefore, the Poisson regression model, which is commonly used to account for the discrete and nonnegative nature of count data, was applied in the analyses. The increase in helpful votes was assumed to follow a Poisson distribution. Because the Poisson model assumes an equal mean and variance and the data were over-dispersed, a negative binomial distribution model that allows for over-dispersion of the count variable was used for the estimation. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to model count variables with excessive zeros and over-dispersed count outcome variables. With this model, the excess zeros were assumed to be generated through a separate process from the count values and therefore should be modeled as independently as possible. The results showed that positive sentiment had a negative effect on gaining useful votes for positive reviews but no significant effect on negative reviews. Poor readability had a negative effect on gaining useful votes and was not moderated by the review star ratings. These findings yield considerable managerial implications. The results are helpful for online websites when analyzing their review guidelines and identifying useful reviews for their business. Based on this study, positive reviews are not necessarily helpful; therefore, restaurants should consider which type of positive review is helpful for their business. Second, this study is beneficial for businesses and website designers in creating review mechanisms to know which type of reviews to highlight on their websites and which type of reviews can be beneficial to the business. Moreover, this study highlights the review systems employed by websites to allow their customers to post rating reviews.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.141-147
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• 2018

This study aimed to analyze the contents of rutin, procyanidin B3, quercetin, and kaempferol, known to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic effects, among the polyphenol types contained in grape pruning stem extracts (GPSE). It utilized grape stems discarded after harvest to measure the effects of GPSE on skin moisture, inhibition of skin cell proliferation, and anti-inflammatory activity on the damaged skin of HR-1 mice induced with ultraviolet B (UVB), and to verify the applicability of GPSE as a material for functional food and functional cosmetics. The polyphenol was extracted from grape pruning stems with 80% EtOH, and then the extract was used while storing at $-20^{\circ}C$, after filtering, concentrating, and freeze-drying it. The content of an active ingredient of GPSE was analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). From 53 kg of the grape pruning stem specimen, 2.34 kg of the EtOH fraction extracts were extracted to achieve a 4.42% yield ratio. Analysis of the active ingredients showed 0.28 mg/g of procyanidin B3, 12.81 mg/g of rutin, 0.51 mg/g of quercetin, and 8.24 mg/g of kaempferol. After UVB irradiation on the dermis, to confirm the degree of inhibition of collagen synthesis, we examined the protein expression of MMP-9 using immunohistochemical staining. The results of this study confirm the existence of active polyphenol types, such as rutin, kaempferol, quercetin, and procyanidin B3, in GPSE. Moreover, the study found that GPSE has anti-collagenase effects and it decreases the effects of UV damage on skin barrier function. GPSE is a functional ingredient with a potential for skin protection effects, and it has high utilization potential as an ingredient for functional cosmetics.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.836-842
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• 2009

The objectives of this study were to evaluate potential benefits of intercropping of corn with runner bean for a smallsized farming system, based on land equivalent ratio (LER) and silage yield and quality of corn intercropped with runner bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), in arid conditions of Turkey under an irrigation system. This experiment was established as a split-plot design in a randomized complete block, with three replications and carried out over two (consecutive) years in 2006 and 2007. Seven different mixtures (runner bean, B and silage corn sole crop, C, 10% B+90% C, 20% B+80% C, 30% B+70% C, 40% B+60%C, and 50% B+50%C) of silage corn-runner bean were intercropped. All of the mixtures were grown under irrigation. The corn-runner bean fields were planted in the second week of May and harvested in the first week of September in both years. Green beans were harvested three times each year and green bean yields were recorded each time. After the 3rd harvest of green bean, residues of bean and corn together were randomly harvested from a 1 $m^{2}$ area by hand using a clipper when the bean started to dry and corn was at the dough stage. Green mass yields of each plot were recorded. Silages were prepared from each plot (triplicate) in 1 L mini-silos. After 60 d ensiling, subsamples were taken from this material for determination of dry matter (DM), pH, organic acids, chemical composition, and in vitro DM digestibility of silages. The LER index was also calculated to evaluate intercrop efficiencies with respect to sole crops. Average pH, acetic, propionic and butyric acid concentrations were similar but lactic acid and ammonia-N levels were significantly different (p<0.05) among different mixtures of bean intercropped with corn. Ammonia-N levels linearly increased from 0.90% to 2.218 as the percentage of bean increased in the mixtures up to a 50:50 seeding ratio. While average CP content increased linearly from 6.47 to 12.45%, and average NDF and ADF contents decreased linearly from 56.17 to 44.88 and from 34.92 to 33.51%, respectively, (p<0.05) as the percentage of bean increased in the mixtures up to a 50:50 seeding ratio, but DM and OM contents did not differ among different mixtures of bean intercropped with corn (p>0.05). In vitro OM digestibility values differed significantly among bean-corn mixture silages (p<0.05). Fresh bean, herbage DM, IVOMD, ME yields, and LER index were significantly influenced by percentage of bean in the mixtures (p<0.01). As the percentage of bean increased in the mixtures up to a 50:50 seeding ratio, yields of fresh bean (from 0 to 24,380 kg/ha) and CP (from 1,258.0 to 1,563.0 kg/ha) and LER values (from 1.0 to 1.775) linearly increased, but yields of herbage DM (from 19,670 to 12,550 kg/ha), IVOMD (from 12,790 to 8,020 kg/ha) and ME (46,230 to 29,000 Mcal/ha) yields decreased (p<0.05). In conclusion, all of the bean-corn mixtures provided a good silage and better CP concentrations. Even though forage yields decreased, the LER index linearly increased as the percentage of bean increased in the mixture up to a 50:50 seeding ratio, which indicates a greater utilization of land. Therefore, a 50:50 seeding ratio seemed to be best for optimal utilization of land in this study and to provide greater financial stability for labor-intensive, small farmers.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 2014

Biochar (BC) from biomass pyrolysis is a carbonaceous material that has been used to remove various contaminants in the environment. The eliminatory action for burcucumber (Sicyos angulatus L.) as an invasive plant is being consistently carried out because of its harmfulness and ecosystem disturbance. In this study, burcucumber biomass was converted into BCs at different pyrolysis temperatures of 300 and $700^{\circ}C$ under a limited oxygen condition. Produced BCs were characterized and investigated to ensure its efficiency on antibiotics' removal in water. The adsorption experiment was performed using two different types of antibiotics, tetracycline (TC) and sulfamethazine (SMZ). For the BC pyrolyzed at a high temperature ($700^{\circ}C$), the values of pH, electrical conductivity, and the contents of ash and carbon increased whereas the yield, mobile matter, molar ratios of H/C and O/C, and functional groups decreased. Results showed that the efficiency of BCs on antibiotics' removal increased as pyrolysis temperature increased from 300 to $700^{\circ}C$ (38 to 99% for TC and 6 to 35% for SMZ). The reaction of ${\pi}-{\pi}$ EDA (electron-donor-acceptor) might be involved in antibiotics' adsorption to BCs. BC has potential to be a superior antibiotics' adsorbent with environmental benefit by recycling of waste/invasive biomass.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.326-334
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• 2007

Purpose: The estrogen receptor (ER), which is over-expressed in ER-positive breast tumors, has been imaged by positron emission tomography (PET) using $[^{18}F]$ labeled estrogen ligands, especially $[^{18}F]FES$. However, $[^{18}F]$ has relatively short-lived half-life ($t_{1/2}$ =1.8 h) and the labeling yield of radio-fluorination is usually low compared with $^{64}Cu\;(t_{1/2}=12.7\;h)$. 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (cyclen) is used to form stable metal complexes with copper, indium, gallium, and gadolinium. With these in mind, we prepared cyclen-based Cu complexes which mimic estradiol in aspect of two hydroxyl groups. Materials and Methods: 1.7-Protected cyclen, 1.7-bis (benzyloxycarbonyl)-cyclen was synthesized according to the reported procedure. After introducing two 4-benzyloxybenzyl groups at 4,10-positions, the benzyloxycarbonyl and benzyl groups were removed at the same time by hydrogenation on Pd/C to give 1,7-bis(4-hydroxybenzyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (1). Results: The prepared ligand 1 was fully characterized by $^1H,\;^{13}C$ NMR, and mass spectrometer. The synthesized ligand was reacted with copper chloride and copper perchlorate to give copper complexes $[Cu(1)]^{2+}2(CIO_4^-)\;and\;[Cu(1)Cl]^+Cl^-$ which were confirmed by high-resolution mass (FAB). Conclusion: We successfully synthesized a cyclen derivative of which two phenol groups are located on trans position of N-atoms. And, two Cu(ll) complexes of +2 and +1 overall charge, were prepared as a potential PET tracers for ER imaging.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2003

Purpose: Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which is part of the mitogen-activated protin kinase cascade, opposes initiation of the apoptotic cell death which is programmed by diverse cytotoxic stimuli. In this regard, the inhibition of ERK may be useful in improving the therapeutic efficacy of established anticancer agents. Materials and Methods: Murine hepatocarcinoma, HCa-I is known to be highly radioresistant with a TCD50 (radiation dose yield in $50\%$ cure) of more than 80 Gy. Various anticancer drugs have been found to enhance the radioresponse of this particular tumor but none were successful. The objective of this study was to explore whether the selective inhibition of MEK could potentiate the antitumor efficacy of radiation in vivo, particularly in the case on radioresistant tumor. C3H/HeJ mice hearing $7.5\~8\;mm$ HCa-I, were treated with PD98059(intratumoral injection of $0.16\;\mug/50\;\mul$). Results: Downregulation on ERK by PD98059 was most prominent 1h after the treatment. In the tumor growth delay assay, the drug was found to Increase the effect of the tumor radioresponse with an enhancement factor (EF) of 1.6 and 1.87. Combined treatment of 25 Gy radiation with PD98059 significantly increased radiation induced apoptosis. The peak apoptotic index (number on apoptotic nuclei in 1000 nuclei X100) was $1.2\%$ in the case of radiation treatment alone, $0.9\%$ in the case of drug treatment alone and $4.9\%,\;5.3\%$ in the combination treatment group. An analysis of apoptosis regulating molecules with Western blotting showed upregulation of p53, p$p21^{WAF1/CIP1}\;and\;Bcl-X_s$ in the combination treatment group as compared to their levels in either the radiation alone or drug alone treatment groups. The level of other molecules such as $Bcl-X_L4, Bax and Bcl-2 were changed to a lesser extent. Conclusion: The selective inhibition of MEK in combination with radiation therapy may have potential benefit in cancer treatment.