• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2021

Hemistepta lyrata Bunge (HL) has been used as a folk remedy to treat cancer, inflammation, bleeding, hemorrhoids and fever, and leaves and young shoots have been used as famine food. Nevertheless, the biological activities and underlying mechanisms of the anti-inflammatory effects remain unclear. In this study, it was undertaken to explore the functions of the aerial part of HL as a suppressor of inflammation by using RAW 264.7 cells. As immune response parameters, the productions of as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), cytokines such tumor necrotic factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 were evaluated. Although the release of TNF-α remained unchanged in HL-treated RAW 264.7 cells, the productions of NO, PGE2 and IL-6 were significantly increased at concentrations with no cytotoxicity. Furthermore, HL significantly attenuated the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) pathway including decreasing the phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases. Collectively, this study provides evidence that HL inhibits the production of major pro-inflammatory molecules in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells via suppression of ERK and P38 MAPK signaling pathways. These findings suggest that the beneficial therapeutic effects of HL may be attributed partly to its ability to modulate immune functions in macrophages.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.27-42
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• 2020

Startup accelerators have emerged as new investment entities that help early startups, which are not easy to survive continuously due to lack of funds, commercialization capabilities, and experiences. As their positive performance on early startups and the ecosystem has been proven, the number of early startups which want to receive their investment is also increasing. However, they are vaguely preparing to attract accelerators' investment because they do not have any information on what factors the accelerators consider important. In addition, researches on startup accelerators are also at an early level, so there are no remarkable prior studies on factors that decide on investment. Therefore, this study aims to help startups prepare for investment attraction by looking at what factors are important for accelerators to invest, and to provide meaningful implications to academia. In the preceding study, we derived five upper level categories, 26 lower level accelerators' investment determinants through the qualitative meta-synthesis method, secondary data analysis, observation on US accelerators and in-depth interviews. In this study, we want to derive important implications by deriving priorities of the accelerators' investment determinants. Therefore, we used AHP that are evaluated as the suitable methodology for deriving importance and priority. The analysis results show that accelerators value market-related factors most. This means that startups that are subject to investment by accelerators are early-stage startups, and many companies have not fully developed their products or services. Therefore, market-related factors that can be evaluated objectively seem to be more important than products (or services) that are still ambiguous. Next, it was found that the factors related to the internal workforce of startups are more important. Since accelerators want to develop their businesses together with start-ups and team members through mentoring, ease of collaboration with them is very important, which seems to be important. The overall priority analysis results of the 26 investment determinants show that 'customer needs' and 'founders and team members' understanding of customers and markets' (0.62) are important and high priority factors. The results also show that startup accelerators consider the customer-centered perspective very important. And among the factors related to startups, the most prominent factor was the founder's openness and execution ability. Therefore, it can be confirmed that accelerators consider the ease of collaboration with these startups very important.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.307-317
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• 2021

In recent years, global warming has led to frequent climate change-related problems, and elevated temperatures, among adverse climatic factors, represent a critical problem negatively affecting crop growth and yield. In this context, the present study examined the physiological traits of wheat plants grown under high temperatures. Specifically, the effects of elevated temperatures on seed development after heading were evaluated, and the vegetation indices of different organs were assessed using hyperspectral analysis. Among physiological traits, leaf greenness and OJIP parameters were higher in the high-temperature treatment than in the control treatment. Similarly, the leaf photosynthetic rate during seed development was higher in the high-temperature treatment than in the control treatment. Moreover, temperature by organ was higher in the high-temperature treatment than in the control treatment; consequently, the leaf transpiration rate and stomatal conductance were higher in the control treatment than in the high-temperature treatment. On all measuring dates, the weight of spikes and seeds corresponding to the sink organs was greater in the high-temperature treatment than in the control treatment. Additionally, the seed growth rate was higher in the high-temperature treatment than in the control treatment 14 days after heading, which may be attributed to the higher redistribution of photosynthates at the early stage of seed development in the former. In hyperspectral analysis, the vegetation indices related to leaf chlorophyll content and nitrogen state were higher in the high-temperature treatment than in the control treatment after heading. Our results suggest that elevated temperatures after the booting stage positively affect wheat growth and yield.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.235-250
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• 2021

The overarching question of this study is how a typical rice cultivation system in Gimje, Korea was keeping up with the triple-win challenge of climate-smart agriculture (CSA). To answer this question, we have employed (1) quantitative data from direct measurement of energy, water, carbon and information flows in and out of a rice cultivation system and (2) appropriate metrics to assess production, efficiency, GHG fluxes, and resilience. The study site was one of the Korean Network of Flux measurement (KoFlux) sites (i.e., GRK) located at Gimje, Korea, managed by National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration. Fluxes of energy, water, carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) were directly measured using eddy-covariance technique during the growing seasons of 2011, 2012 and 2014. The production indicators include gross primary productivity (GPP), grain yield, light use efficiency (LUE), water use efficiency (WUE), and carbon uptake efficiency (CUE). The GHG mitigation was assessed with indicators such as fluxes of carbon dioxide (F_CO2), methane (F_CH4), and nitrous oxide (F_N2O). Resilience was assessed in terms of self-organization (S), using information-theoretic approach. Overall, the results demonstrated that the rice cultivation system at GRK was climate-smart in 2011 in a relative sense but failed to maintain in the following years. Resilience was high and changed little for three year. However, the apparent competing goals or trade-offs between productivity and GHG mitigation were found within individual years as well as between the years, causing difficulties in achieving the triple-win scenario. The pursuit of CSA requires for stakeholders to prioritize their goals (i.e., governance) and to practice opportune interventions (i.e., management) based on the feedback from real-time assessment of the CSA indicators (i.e., monitoring) - i.e., a purpose-driven visioneering.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.644-663
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• 2021

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the safety of iodine intake based on ingestion levels and urinary iodine excretion of women of childbearing age (15-45 years old) using data from the 2013-2015 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods: Iodine intake was calculated using the 24 hours dietary recall method and urinary iodine excretion. The iodine nutrition database for the analysis of dietary iodine intake was constructed using the food composition database of the Rural Development Administration (RDA), the Korean Nutrition Society (KNS), the Ministries of Food and Drug Safety, China and, Japan. The World Health Organization (WHO) evaluation criteria and hazard quotient (HQ) calculated using biomonitoring equivalents (BE) were applied to evaluate the safety of the iodine intake. Results: Of the study subjects, 15.22% had a urinary iodine concentration level of less than 100 ㎍/L, which was diagnosed as deficient, and 48.16% had an excessive iodine concentration of over 300 ㎍/L. Urinary iodine concentration was 878.71 ㎍/L, iodine/creatinine was 589.00 ㎍/g, and iodine/creatinine was significantly higher at the age of 30-45 years. The dietary iodine intake was 273.47 ㎍/day, and the iodine intake calculated from the urinary iodine excretion was 1,198.10 ㎍/day. Foods with a high contribution to iodine intake were vegetables, seafood, seaweed and processed foods. The HQ was 1.665 when the urinary iodine content was > 1,000 ㎍/L. Conclusion: The results of this study implicate that the urinary iodine concentration, rather than the dietary iodine intake, is more appropriate to evaluate the iodine status under the current situation that a comprehensive iodine database for Koreans has not been established.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2022

Stone has been used for various purposes, such as for building stones, megaliths, ornamental stones, hunting and grinding throughout history. The global stone production amounted to around 153 million tons in 2018 excluding quarry waste, up 0.8% on year. Of them, stone residues accounted for 71%. The worldwide stone trading decreased 1.5 million tons to 56.5 million tons in 2018. The average price of stone was 34.1 USD per square meter, down 2.5% from the previous year. It's down 7% when only considering trading between the world's top twelve exporters. But in the three leading countries, Italy, Greece and Brazil, the price saw a sharp increase. In 2018, stone imports and exports totaled 815 million square meters, raising over 20 billion USD of revenue. Imports were largely led by six countries: China, Italy, Turkey, India, Brazil, Spain and Portugal, from largest to smallest.) In terms of stone use per 1,000 population, it was 117 square meters in 2001, and it increased to 264 square meters in 2017 and 266 square meters in 2018. The volume more than doubled during the period, but it has been declining slightly in recent years. China, India, Saudi Arabia and Belgium were the only countries that the stone use per 1,000 population exceeded 1,000 square meters. The increase rate was steepest in China, India and the United States, from largest to smallest. The global stone production is likely to grow to 69.85 million tons by 2025, despite the global economic downturn.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.527-536
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to predict changing traffic environments and related economic effects by reflecting the changed KTDB and socio-economic indicators pertaining to Mulgeum station, a general railway stop, when it is confirmed as a KTX stop. To analyze the data of this study, socioeconomic indicators and the general status of transportation facility operations were investigated with reference to related statistical data, centered on the country overall and on Yangsan city in particular. In addition, we investigated and referenced the railroad facility construction plan and train operation plan, which are national high-level plans related to land development and transportation network construction. Currently, there are only ITX trains (4 times/day) and Mugunghwa trains (29 times/day) that stop at Mulgeum station in Yangsan, meaning that passengers cannot use KTX trains in the Yangsan area. In particular, the need for a KTX stop at Mulgeum station has been continuously raised because train users in the Yangsan area have inconvenient transportation in that they must travel 40 minutes to Ulsan station or 30 minutes to Gupo station to use the KTX. As a result of analyzing railroad transportation demand that will change in the future as the KTX stop at Mulgeum station is confirmed, the number of passengers boarding and arriving at Mulgeum station is predicted to be 1,674 passengers/day by 2025. In addition, the numbers of train passengers that are converted from Ulsan and Gupo stations due to the stop at Mulgeum station are predicted to be 594 passengers/day boarding and 562 passengers/day arriving by 2025. In the future, if Yangsan citizens use the KTX Mulgeum station, the access time to Mulgeum station can be shortened to 22 minutes from 65 minutes, and it is predicted that the inconvenience of transferring between railroads will be resolved, with the waiting time for transfers reduced by up to a maximum of 40 minutes. Therefore, the economic effect of creating a KTX stop at Mulgeum station was analyzed to be B/C=1.823 when general railroad operating costs are not taken into account and B/C=2.127 when general railroad operating costs are considered. In conclusion, when using KTX trains to visit the Seoul Metropolitan Area, it takes 2 hours and 43 minutes to use Mulgeum station without using Ulsan station or Gupo station, which is considered to be very effective for reducing travel times and improving the economic feasibility of this development; it is also expected that Yangsan city will be able to improve accessibility and mobility to the Seoul Metropolitan Area by breaking free from the disgrace of being a remote location given its link to KTX in the future.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.311-324
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• 2022

This study analyzed the types of scientific emoticons made by science-gifted elementary school students and their perceptions on making scientific emoticons. To do this, 71 students from 4th to 6th graders of two gifted science education center in Seoul were selected. Scientific emoticons made by the students were analyzed according to the number and types. Their perceptions on making scientific emoticons were also analyzed through a questionnaire and group interviews. In the analyses for types of text in the scientific emoticons, 'word type' and 'sentence type' were made more than 'question and answer type'. And the majority of students made more 'pun using pronunciation type' and 'mixed type' than other types. They also made more 'graphic type' and 'animation type' than 'text type' in the images of the scientific emoticons. In the analyses for the information of the scientific emoticons, 'positive emotion type' and 'negative emotion type' of scientific emoticons were made evenly. The students made more 'new creation type' than 'partial correction type' and 'entire reconstruction type'. They also used scientific knowledge that preceded the knowledge of science curriculum in their grade level. The scientific knowledge of chemistry was used more than physics, biology, earth science, and combination field. 'Name utilization type' was more than 'characteristic utilization type' and 'principle utilization type'. Students had various positive perceptions in making scientific emoticons such as 'increase of scientific knowledge', 'increase of various higher-order thinking abilities', 'ease of explanation, use, memory, and understanding of scientific knowledge', 'increase of fun, enjoyment, and interest about science and science learning', and 'increase of opportunity to express emotions'. They were also aware of some limitations related to 'difficulties in the process of making scientific emoticons', 'lack of time', and 'limit that it may end just for fun'. Educational implications of these findings are discussed.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.113-129
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• 2020

In this study we examined the topic analysis and correlation analysis by text mining to extract meaningful information or rules from the self introduction letter of freshman at Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries in 2020. The analysis items are described in items related to 'academic' and 'in-school activities' during high school. In the text mining results, the keywords of 'academic' items were 'study', 'thought', 'effort', 'problem', 'friend', and the key words of 'in-school activities' were 'activity', 'thought', 'friend', 'club', 'school' in order. As a result of the correlation analysis, the key words of 'thinking', 'studying', 'effort', and 'time' played a central role in the 'academic' item. And the key words of 'in-school activities' were 'thought', 'activity', 'school', 'time', and 'friend'. The results of frequency analysis and association analysis were visualized with word cloud and correlation graphs to make it easier to understand all the results. In the next study, TF-IDF(Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency) analysis using 'frequency of keywords' and 'reverse of document frequency' will be performed as a method of extracting key words from a large amount of documents.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.292-303
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• 2021

This study identifies the terms frequently used together with energy in online science news articles and topics of the news reports to find out how the term energy is used in everyday life and to draw implications for science curriculum and instruction about energy. A total of 2,171 online news articles in science category published by 11 major newspaper companies in Korea for one year from March 1, 2018 were selected by using energy as a search term. As a result of natural language processing, a total of 51,224 sentences consisting of 507,901 words were compiled for analysis. Using the R program, term frequency analysis, semantic network analysis, and structural topic modeling were performed. The results show that the terms with exceptionally high frequencies were technology, research, and development, which reflected the characteristics of news articles that report new findings. On the other hand, terms used more than once per two articles were industry-related terms (industry, product, system, production, market) and terms that were sufficiently expected as energy-related terms such as 'electricity' and 'environment.' Meanwhile, 'sun', 'heat', 'temperature', and 'power generation', which are frequently used in energy-related science classes, also appeared as terms belonging to the highest frequency. From a network analysis, two clusters were found including terms related to industry and technology and terms related to basic science and research. From the analysis of terms paired with energy, it was also found that terms related to the use of energy such as 'energy efficiency,' 'energy saving,' and 'energy consumption' were the most frequently used. Out of 16 topics found, four contexts of energy were drawn including 'high-tech industry,' 'industry,' 'basic science,' and 'environment and health.' The results suggest that the introduction of the concept of energy degradation as a starting point for energy classes can be effective. It also shows the need to introduce high-tech industries or the context of environment and health into energy learning.