• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.128-134
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• 2022

Nakdong river estuary is being operated with the goal of expanding the period of seawater inflow from this year to 2022 every month and creating a brackish water area within 15 km of the upstream of the river bank. In this study, the deep learning algorithm Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) was applied to predict the salinity of the Nakdong Bridge (about 5 km upstream of the river bank) for the purpose of rapid decision making for the target brackish water zone and prevention of salt water damage. Input data were constructed to reflect the temporal and spatial characteristics of the Nakdong River estuary, such as the amount of discharge from Changnyeong and Hamanbo, and an optimal model was constructed in consideration of the hydraulic characteristics of the Nakdong River Estuary by changing the degree according to the sequence length. For prediction accuracy, statistical analysis was performed using the coefficient of determination (R-squred) and RMSE (root mean square error). When the sequence length was 12, the R-squred 0.997 and RMSE 0.122 were the highest, and the prior prediction time showed a high degree of R-squred 0.93 or more until the 12-hour interval.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.236-243
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• 2022

Background: In the case of multiple exposures to different types of heavy metals, such as the conditions faced by residents living near a smelter, it would be preferable to group hazardous substances with similar characteristics rather than individually related substances and evaluate the effects of each group on the human body. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the utility of factor analysis in the assessment of health effects caused by exposure to two or more hazardous substances with similar characteristics, such as in the case of residents living near a smelter. Methods: Heavy metal concentration data for 572 people living in the vicinity of the Janghang smelter area were grouped based on several subfactors according to their characteristics using factor analysis. Using these factor scores as an independent variable, multiple regression analysis was performed on health effect markers. Results: Through factor analysis, three subfactors were extracted. Factor 1 contained copper and zinc in serum and revealed a common characteristic of the enzyme co-factor in the human body. Factor 2 involved urinary cadmium and arsenic, which are harmful metals related to kidney damage. Factor 3 encompassed blood mercury and lead, which are classified as related to cardiovascular disease. As a result of multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that using the factor index derived through factor analysis as an independent variable is more advantageous in assessing the relevance to health effects than when analyzing the two heavy metals by including them in a single regression model. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that regression analysis linked with factor analysis is a good alternative in that it can simultaneously identify the effects of heavy metals with similar properties while overcoming multicollinearity that may occur in environmental epidemiologic studies on exposure to various types of heavy metals.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.335-345
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• 2022

Pyroptosis is an inflammatory form of programmed cell death that is linked with invading intracellular pathogens. Cardiac pyroptosis has a significant role in coronary microembolization (CME), thus causing myocardial injury. Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) has powerful cardioprotective effects. Hence, this study aimed to identify the effect of Tan IIA on CME and its underlying mechanism. Forty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly grouped into sham, CME, CME + low-dose Tan IIA, and CME + high-dose Tan IIA groups. Except for the sham group, polyethylene microspheres (42 ㎛) were injected to establish the CME model. The Tan-L and Tan-H groups received intraperitoneal Tan IIA for 7 days before CME. After CME, cardiac function, myocardial histopathology, and serum myocardial injury markers were assessed. The expression of pyroptosis-associated molecules and TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB/NLRP3 cascade was evaluated by qRT-PCR, Western blotting, ELISA, and IHC. Relative to the sham group, CME group's cardiac functions were significantly reduced, with a high level of serum myocardial injury markers, and microinfarct area. Also, the levels of caspase-1 p20, GSDMD-N, IL-18, IL-1β, TLR4, MyD88, p-NF-κB p65, NLRP3, and ASC expression were increased. Relative to the CME group, the Tan-H and Tan-L groups had considerably improved cardiac functions, with a considerably low level of serum myocardial injury markers and microinfarct area. Tan IIA can reduce the levels of pyroptosis-associated mRNA and protein, which may be caused by inhibiting TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB/NLRP3 cascade. In conclusion, Tanshinone IIA can suppress cardiomyocyte pyroptosis probably through modulating the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB/NLRP3 cascade, lowering cardiac dysfunction, and myocardial damage.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.50-59
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to analyze the patients hospitalized with damage by injury code based on data for two years in 2020 and 2021 of A institution located in Gangneung, Gangwon-do. Analyzed the injury codes with a large number of occurrences per year, and analyzed the injury codes of external causes accordingly. The cause of the injury code was analyzed by analyzing the frequency of the injury code of external causes. Injury code S0650 had the highest frequency of injury code of external causes W189 and X5999, which was judged to be the cause of traumatic subdural hemorrhage without open intracranial wounds when falling in an unspecified place or toilet. Injury code S72120 had the highest frequency of injury code of external causes W010 and W180, and it was judged to be the cause of obstructive femoral intertrochanteric fracture that occurs when falling in the residence. The injury code S32090 had a high frequency of X5999, and it was analyzed that it caused the obstructive fracture of the lumbar region due to an accident caused by exposure in an unspecified place, and the injury code S72.090 had a high frequency of W010 and W180. It was confirmed that the cause of the obstructive fracture of the femoral neck was mainly caused by slipping or slipping in the residence, and the injury code S0220 had a high frequency of the injury code of external causes Y049, and it was confirmed that the fibula was fractured mainly by the force or fist. As such, the cause of the injury code was analyzed by analyzing the frequency of the injury code for each injury code of external causes.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.350-358
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• 2023

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) is a viral infectious disease that occurs in children under 5 years of age. Its main causes are coxsackievirus (CV) and enterovirus (EV). Since there are no efficient therapeutics for HFMD, vaccines are effective in preventing the disease. To develop broad coverage against CV and EV, the development of a bivalent vaccine form is needed. The Mongolian gerbil is an efficient and suitable animal model of EV71 C4a and CVA16 infection used to investigate vaccine efficacy following direct immunization. In this study, Mongolian gerbils were immunized with a bivalent inactivated EV71 C4a and inactivated CVA16 vaccine to test their effectiveness against viral infection. Bivalent vaccine immunization resulted in increased Ag-specific IgG antibody production; specifically, EV71 C4a-specific IgG was increased with medium and high doses and CVA16-specific IgG was increased with all doses of immunization. When gene expression of T cell-biased cytokines was analysed, Th1, Th2, and Th17 responses were found to be highly activated in the high-dose immunization group. Moreover, bivalent vaccine immunization mitigated paralytic signs and increased the survival rate following lethal viral challenges. When the viral RNA content was determined from various organs, all three doses of bivalent vaccine immunization were found to significantly decrease viral amplification. Upon histologic examination, EV71 C4a and CVA16 induced tissue damage to the heart and muscle. However, bivalent vaccine immunization alleviated this in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that the bivalent inactivated EV71 C4a/CVA16 vaccine could be a safe and effective candidate HFMD vaccine.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.15-26
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• 2022

With the recent increase in old and dangerous buildings, the demand for technology in the field of structure demolition is rapidly increasing. In particular, in the case of structures with severe deformation of damage, there is a risk of deterioration in stability and disaster due to changes in the load distribution characteristics in the structure, so rapid structure demolition technology that can be efficiently dismantled in a short period of time is drawing attention. However, structural deformation such as unauthorized extension or illegal remodeling occurs frequently in many old structures, which is not reflected in structural information such as building drawings, and acts as an obstacle in the demolition design process. In this study, as an effective way to overcome the discrepancy between the structural information of old structures and the actual structure, access to actual structures through 3D modeling was considered. 3D point cloud data inside and outside the building were obtained through LiDAR and drone photography for buildings scheduled to be blasting demolition, and precision matching between the two spatial data groups was performed using an open-source based spatial information construction system. The 3D structure model was completed by importing point cloud data matched with 3D modeling software to create structural drawings for each layer and forming each member along the structure slab, pillar, beam, and ceiling boundary. In addition, the modeling technique proposed in this study was verified by comparing it with the actual measurement value for selected structure member.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.152-171
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• 2022

Objectives : This study was designed to investigate the effects of Sunbanghwalmyung-eum gamibang on Monosodium iodoacetate-induced osteoarthritis rats. Methods : Forty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into 5 groups of 8 rats each. Osteoarthritis (OA) was induced by injecting MIA (2 mg/50 µl) into the joint cavity of the left knee of SD rats belonging to the experimental group, and normal saline was injected into the joint cavity of the left knee instead of MIA in the normal group. To the normal group and the controlled group (OA group), 2 ml of distilled water was orally administered. To the positive control group (Indomethacin group), indomethacin 2 ml at a concentration of 2 mg/kg, to the low concentration group of SHG (Low group), 2 ml of SHG at a concentration of 2 mg/kg, and to the high concentration group of SHG (High group), 2 ml of SHG at a concentration of 4 mg/kg ml was orally administered. The drug was administered for a total of 4 weeks, and histological changes were analyzed by Hematoxylin-Eosin staining and Safranin-O staining. In addition, inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, and MMP-13, TIMP-1, and GAGs were immunohistochemically analyzed. Finally, hematological examination, blood biochemical examination, and liver and kidney biopsy were performed. Results : SHG groups (Low and High) inhibited the matrix destruction and damage of the knee joint cartilage in SD rat model, and significantly prevented the reduction in cartilage thickness. In SHG groups, the expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and MMP-13 were significantly decreased, and the expressions of TIMP-1, GAGs were significantly increased compared with OA group. The safety indicators had no significant differences among five groups. Conclusions : These results show that SHG has cartilage protection capacity, anti-inflammatory effect.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.112 no.3
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• pp.340-351
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• 2023

Landslides are major natural geological hazards that cause enormous property damage and human casualties annually. The vulnerability of mountainous areas to landslides is further exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. Soil depth is a crucial parameter in landslide and debris flow analysis, and plays an important role in the evaluation of watershed hydrological processes that affect slope stability. An accurate method of estimating soil depth is to directly investigate the soil strata in the field. However, this requires significant amounts of time and money; thus, numerous models for predicting soil depth have been proposed. However, they still have limitations in terms of practicality and accuracy. In this study, 71 seismic survey results were collected from domestic mountainous areas to estimate soil depth on hill slopes. Soil depth was estimated on the basis of a shear wave velocity of 700 m/s, and a database was established for slope angle, elevation, and soil depth. Consequently, the statistical characteristics of soil depth were analyzed, and the correlations between slope angle and soil depth, and between elevation and soil depth were investigated. Moreover, various soil depth prediction models based on slope angle were investigated, and corrected linear and exponential soil depth prediction models were proposed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.273-282
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• 2023

Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) has been widely used to evaluate the seismic risk of nuclear power plants (NPPs). However, studies on seismic PSA for process plants, such as gas plants, oil refineries, and chemical plants, have been scarce. This is because the major disasters to which these process plants are vulnerable include explosions, fires, and release (or dispersion) of toxic chemicals. However, seismic PSA is essential for the plants located in regions with significant earthquake risks. Seismic PSA entails probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), event tree analysis (ETA), fault tree analysis (FTA), and fragility analysis for the structures and essential equipment items. Among those analyses, ETA can depict the accident sequence for core damage, which is the worst disaster and top event concerning NPPs. However, there is no general top event with regard to process plants. Therefore, PSA cannot be directly applied to process plants. Moreover, there is a paucity of studies on developing fragility curves for various equipment. This paper introduces PSA for gas plants based on FTA, which is then transformed into Bayesian network, that is, a probabilistic graph model that can aid risk-informed decision-making. Finally, the proposed method is applied to a gas plant, and several decision-making cases are demonstrated.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.242-250
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• 2023

The continuity of urban space is being destroyed by disorderly high-rise development caused by reckless development, and the resulting deterioration of urban landscape is emerging as a major problem. Disordered high-rise development is adversely affecting the urban environment, such as depriving residents of the basic rights of view and sunlight and privatizing the scenery that urban residents should enjoy together. In order to create a continuous urban landscape, indiscriminate high-rise development is restricted and compensation for the affected areas is needed. Various regulations have been carried out to this end, but it is difficult to overcome the pressure and damage to high-rise development by regulations alone. Accordingly, discussions have been underway to introduce a compensation system. Among them, discussions on the introduction of a 'Transfer of Development Right' (TDR) in which land ownership and development rights are separated and compensated for development rights have been drawing attention. However, in Korea, it is difficult to introduce the system due to various problems related to the separation of development rights. In order to overcome the limitations of the introduction of TDR, this paper analyzed the concepts and characteristics of 'Real Estate Investment Trusts' (REITs) and presented a policy model for the development right transfer system incorporating REITs for effective landscape management.