• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.979-988
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• 2022

Halophytes have been reported to possess a variety of physiological activities, such as anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-diabetes, anti-inflammatory, and anti-obesity. Studies on the roots of the halophyte Rosa rugosa, in particular, have shown a variety of physiological activities and are known to be effective for nursing diabetic complications in traditional Korean medicine. In this study, the effect of R. rugosa on adipogenesis was investigated in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes treated with crude extract and solvent fractions (H₂O, n-BuOH, 85% aq. MeOH, and n-Hex) obtained from R. rugosa roots. Treatment with extract and the solvent fractions inhibited the formation of intracellular lipid droplets in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes compared to the untreated group. In particular, n-BuOH and 85% aq. MeOH fractions effectively decreased the expression of adipogenic transcription factors: peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α (C/EBPα), and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP1c) in both mRNA and protein levels. In conclusion, these results suggest that R. rugosa contains anti-adipogenic molecules that can be utilized as a nutraceutical against obesity. Further refining of n-BuOH and 85% aq. MeOH fractions and analysis of their action mechanisms could yield potential therapeutic agents with anti-adipogenic effects.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.36-45
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• 2022

This study examines the historical transition process of Hwanseonjeong Pavilion in Suncheon, identifies the landscape of the original Hwanseonjeong Pavilion in the past and its constituent elements, and compares it with the landscape of the present Hwanseonjeong Pavilion at Jukdobong area. It was intended to identify the problems and draw implications for future restoration of Hwanseonjeong Pavilion. Hwanseonjeong pavilion, the subject of this study, was built in 1543 by Tong-won Shim, the governor of Seungpyeong, as a garden architecture for government. Since then, it has been renovated several times, and as a pavilion representing "Seonhyang(immotal world)" Suncheon in the past, it was located along with an artificially created lake and other elements of the garden at a location where can be seen Dongcheon stream and Jukdobong Peak on the opposite side at a glance. Hwanseonjeong pavilion, which had been safely maintained during the Japanese colonial period, was lost on August 28, 1968 due to a major flood in Suncheon. The difference between Hwanseonjeong Pavilion and other lost is that another Hwanseonjeong Pavilion for the role of archery was built on Jukdobong Peak in 1935, before it was destroyed. The restoration case of Hwanseonjeong pavilion provides the following important implications for the restoration of pavilions as a garden architecture: First, the value of a pavilion is not formed from the building itself, but from the relationship with the surrounding landscape. Therefore, restoration of a pavilion should not be approached in the same way as restoration of buildings. Restoration of a pavilion requires efforts to understand the existing landscape value and to restore landscape elements together with buildings. Second, an artificially created long north-south lake along with Hwanseonjeong pavilion was a very important landscape component and a means of providing a way to enjoy the landscape. For restoration in the cultural context of Hwanseonjeong pavilion, efforts are also required to restore not only the architecture, but also the experience of cultural activities through an integrated examination and restoration based on an understanding of the cultural activities performed in Hwanseonjeong Pavilion. Third, compared to the past original Hwanseonjeong Pavilion, the existing Hwanseonjeong Pavilion shows a different shape, composition, scale, color, etc. In terms of the restoration of buildings, it is thought that restoration will be possible only when restoration is done through more accurate historical evidence, research, and investigation.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.204-212
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• 2022

The LID technique began to be applied in Korea after 2009, and LID facilities are installed and operated for rainwater management in business districts such as the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and LH Corporation, public institutions, commercial land, housing, parks, and schools. However, looking at domestic cases, the application cases and operation periods are insufficient compared to those outside the country, so appropriate design standards and measures for operation and maintenance are insufficient. In particular, LID facilities constructed using LID techniques need to maintain the environment inside LID facilities because hydrological and environmental effects are expressed by material circulation and energy flow. The LID facility is designed with the treatment capacity planned for the water circulation target, and the proper maintenance, vegetation, and soil conditions are periodically identified, and the efficiency is maintained as much as possible. In other words, the soil created in LID is a very important design element because LID facilities are expected to have effects such as water pollution reduction, flood reduction, water resource acquisition, and temperature reduction while increasing water storage and penetration capacity through water circulation construction. In order to maintain and manage the functions of LID facilities accurately, the current state of the facilities and the cycle of replacement and maintenance should be accurately known through various quantitative data such as soil contamination, snow removal effects, and vegetation criteria. This study was conducted to investigate the current status of LID facilities installed in Korea from 2009 to 2020, and analyze soil changes through the continuity and current status of LID facilities applied over the past 10 years after collecting soil samples from the soil layer. Through analysis of Saturn, organic matter, hardness, water contents, pH, electrical conductivity, and salt, some vegetation-type LID facilities more than 5 to 7 years after construction showed results corresponding to the lower grade of landscape design. Facilities below the lower level can be recognized as a point of time when maintenance is necessary in a state that may cause problems in soil permeability and vegetation growth. Accordingly, it was found that LID facilities should be managed through soil replacement and replacement.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.417-428
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• 2022

This study analyzed the frequency and level of scientific practices presented in secondary science textbooks. A total of 1,378 student activities presented in 14 middle school science textbooks and 5 high school integrated science textbooks were analyzed, using the definition and level of scientific practice suggested in the NGSS. Findings show that most student activities focus on three practices. Compared to the textbooks for the previous science curriculum, the practice of 'obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information' was more emphasized, reflecting societal changes due to ICT development. However, the practice of 'asking a question', which can be an important element of student-led science learning, was still rarely found in textbooks, and 'developing and using models', 'using math and computational thinking' and 'arguing based on evidence' were not addressed much. The practices were mostly elementary school level except for the practice of 'constructing explanations'. Such repeated exposures to a few and low level of practices mean that many future citizens would be led to a naïve understanding of science. The findings imply that it is necessary to emphasize various practices tailored to the level of students. In the upcoming revision of the science curriculum, it is necessary to provide the definition of practices that are not currently specified and the expected level of each practice so that the curriculum can provide sufficient guidance for textbook writing. These efforts should be supported by benchmarking of overseas science curriculum and research that explore students' ability and teachers' understanding of scientific practices.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.355-365
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• 2022

Precipitation and phase transition of iron minerals in mine drainage greatly affect the behavior of trace elements. However, the precipitation of ferrihydrite, one of the major iron minerals precipitated in drainage, and the related behavior of trace elements have hardly been studied. In this study, the effects of pH change and time on mineral precipitation characteristics in mine drainage from the Munkyeong coal mine were investigated, and the behavioral changes of trace elements related to the precipitation of these minerals were studied. In the case of precipitated mineral phases, goethite was observed at pH 4, and 2-line ferrihydrite mixed with small amount of 6-line ferrihydrite was mainly identified at pH 6 or higher. In addition, it was observed that the precipitation of calcite additionally increased as the pH increased in the samples at pH 6 or higher. The occurrence of goethite was probably due to the phase change of initially precipitated ferrihydrite within a short time under the influence of low pH. Our results showed that the concentration of trace elements was strongly influenced by pH and time. With increasing time, Fe concentration in the drainage showed a abrupt decrease due to the precipitation of iron minerals, and the concentration of As existing as oxyanions in the drainage, also decreased rapidly like Fe regardless of the pH values. This decrease in As concentration was mainly due to co-precipitation with ferrihydrite, and also partly to surface adsorption on goethite at low pH in drainage. Contrary to this observation, the concentration of other trace elements, such as Cd, Co, Zn, and Ni was greatly affected by the pH regardless of the mineral species. The lower the pH value, the higher the concentration of these trace elements were observed in the drainage, and vice versa at higher pH. These results indicate that the behavior of trace elements present as cations is more greatly affected by the mineral surface charge influenced by the pH values than the type of the precipitated mineral.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.551-561
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• 2022

Geophysical exploration methods are very useful for generating high-resolution images of underground structures, and such methods can be applied to investigation of buried cultural properties and for determining their exact locations. In this study, image feature extraction and image segmentation methods were applied to automatically distinguish the structures of buried relics from the high-resolution ground-penetrating radar (GPR) images obtained at the center of Silla Kingdom, Gyeongju, South Korea. The major purpose for image feature extraction analyses is identifying the circular features from building remains and the linear features from ancient roads and fences. Feature extraction is implemented by applying the Canny edge detection and Hough transform algorithms. We applied the Hough transforms to the edge image resulted from the Canny algorithm in order to determine the locations the target features. However, the Hough transform requires different parameter settings for each survey sector. As for image segmentation, we applied the connected element labeling algorithm and object-based image analysis using Orfeo Toolbox (OTB) in QGIS. The connected components labeled image shows the signals associated with the target buried relics are effectively connected and labeled. However, we often find multiple labels are assigned to a single structure on the given GPR data. Object-based image analysis was conducted by using a Large-Scale Mean-Shift (LSMS) image segmentation. In this analysis, a vector layer containing pixel values for each segmented polygon was estimated first and then used to build a train-validation dataset by assigning the polygons to one class associated with the buried relics and another class for the background field. With the Random Forest Classifier, we find that the polygons on the LSMS image segmentation layer can be successfully classified into the polygons of the buried relics and those of the background. Thus, we propose that these automatic classification methods applied to the GPR images of buried cultural heritage in this study can be useful to obtain consistent analyses results for planning excavation processes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.601-610
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• 2022

P. tenebrifer (PT) belongs to the Diptera order and Stratiomyidae family. Recently, insect industry have been focused as food, animal feed and environmental advantages. γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and melatonin have been associated with regulating sleep and depression. GABA is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter and is synthesized via biotransformation of monosodium glutamate (MSG) to GABA by lactic acid bacteria. In this study, we first used a GABA-enhanced PT extract, wherein GABA was enhanced by feeding MSG to PT. The underlying mechanisms preventing stress and insomnia were investigated in a corticosterone (CORT)-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and chronic restraint stress (CRS)-exposed mouse model, as well as in pentobarbital (45 mg/kg)-induced sleep behaviors in mice. In the present study, the GABA peak was detected in high-performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC-ELSD) analysis and showed in Ptecticus tenebrifer water extract (PTW) but not in non-PTW extract. The results showed that PTW and Ptecticus tenebrifer with 70% ethanol extract (PTE) exerted neuroprotective effects by protecting against CORT-induced downregulation of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) expression. In addition, PTW (300 mg/kg) significantly reduced CORT levels in CRS-exposed mice. Furthermore, PTW (100 and 300 mg/kg) significantly reduced sleep latency and increased total sleep duration in pentobarbital (45 mg/kg)-induced sleeping behaviors, which was related to serum melatonin levels. In conclusion, our results suggest that PTW exerts anti-stress and sleep-enhancing effects by regulating serum CORT and melatonin levels.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.69-79
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• 2022

This study aims to assess the current understanding of the landscape of wind power facilities as renewable energy sources that supply sightseeing, tourism, and other opportunities. Therefore, social media data related to the landscape of wind power facilities experienced by visitors from different regions was analyzed. The analysis results showed that the common characteristics of the landscape of wind power facilities are based on the scale of wind power facilities, the distance between overlook points of wind power facilities, the visual openness of the wind power facilities from the overlook points, and the terrain where the wind power facilities are located. In addition, the preference for wind power facilities is higher in places where the shape of wind power facilities and the surrounding landscape can be clearly seen- flat ground or the sea are considered better landscapes. Negative keywords about the landscape appear on Gade Mountain in Taibai, Meifeng Mountain in Taibai, Taiqi Mountain, and Gyeongju Wind Power Generation Facilities on Gyeongshang Road in Gangwon. The keyword 'negation' occurs when looking at wind power facilities at close range. Because of the high angle of the view, viewers can feel overwhelmed seeing the size of the facility and the ridge simultaneously, feeling psychological pressure. On the contrary, positive landscape adjectives are obtained from wind power facilities on flat ground or the sea. Visitors think that the visual volume of the landscape is fully ensured on flat ground or the sea, and it is a symbolic element that can represent the site. This study analyzes landscape awareness based on the opinions of visitors who have experienced wind power facilities. However, wind power facilities are built in different areas. Therefore, landscape characteristics are different, and there are many variables, such as viewpoints and observers, so the research results are difficult to popularize and have limitations. In recent years, landscape damage due to the construction of wind power facilities has become a hot issue, and the domestic methods of landscape evaluation of wind power facilities are unsatisfactory. Therefore, when evaluating the landscape of wind power facilities, the scale of wind power facilities, the inherent natural characteristics of the area where wind power facilities are set up, and the distance between wind power facilities and overlook points are important elements to consider. In addition, wind power facilities are set in the natural environment, which needs to be protected. Therefore, from the landscape perspective, it is necessary to study the landscape of wind power facilities and the surrounding environment.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.145-161
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to develop a content system for the home economics curriculum that integrates Education for Sustainable Development(ESD) and provides basic material for ESD implementation in schools. In view of this, the content elements of the revised home economics curriculum for 2022 were analyzed, and a content system for the home economics curriculum, linked to ESD, was proposed based on the implications drawn from the analysis. The results are as follows. First, the three components of competencies, namely knowledge, values, and skills, were organized equally as a whole. However, the association between the content elements and key competencies in sustainability was found to be insufficient. Consequently, it is proposed that key competencies in sustainability should be cultivated integrally. Second, no content element was identified that can promote social participation. Therefore, it is proposed that solutions should be dealt with at the level of social participation. Third, the connection with Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) was observed in only six of the 28 content elements. Wherever relevant, it is proposed to incorporate key issues related to SDGs. Fourth, the analysis confirmed that only the environmental dimension of sustainable development was considered. Therefore, it is proposed to pursue coexistence based on temporal and spatial relationship and consider the dimensions of environment, society, and economy in an integrated manner.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.273-288
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• 2023

Although many studies have been conducted on techniques and effects that can be applied to forest meditation in domestic forest healing meditation research, there has been little research on the space where forest meditation takes place. Nevertheless, a meditation space is not just a place concept but a forest environment element responsible for the healing function of a forest, i.e., a place containing healing factors, and can be an essential clue to the healing mechanism. Therefore, to determine whether a healing forest meditation space is suitable for meditation, this study selected the attribute items of the meditation space using the Delphi expert survey and then surveyed the user satisfaction of the healing forest meditation space using the IPA (Importance Performance Analysis) technique. The survey was conducted from August to November 2022, targeting 315 adults who used the forest meditation space at the National Center for Forest Therapy, the Saneum Healing Forest, and the Jathyanggi Pureunsup Arboretum in Gyeonggi Province. The result of the IPA analysis showed the average satisfaction with the forest meditation space was relatively high at 4.33 points on a 5-point Likert scale (4.33 points for the National Center for Forest Therapy, 4.34 points for the Saneum Healing Forest, and 4.37 points for the Jathyanggi Pureunsup Arboretum), indicating that the three healing forest meditation spaces were suitable for forest meditation. Satisfaction with the "Sounds of nature" was high in all three forests. On the other hand, all three forests showed a relatively low satisfaction with "Quietness," indicating it to be a priority problem to be addressed. Also, an open-ended questionnaire survey showed that the mediation space's natural elements, such as natural sounds, scenery, air, forest spaces, and scents, had a higher positive impact on meditation satisfaction than artificial elements, such as facilities. Therefore, it is essential to secure sound resources such as the sound of water and birds around the meditation space, and it is also necessary to consider ways to create a meditation forest in an independent area to avoid encounters with visitors and allow only participants in the forest healing meditation program to enter to increase satisfaction with forest meditation.