• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.227-227
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• 2015

The Wairarapa Valley occupies a predominantly rural area in the lower North Island of New Zealand. It supports a mix of intensive farming (dairy), dry stock farming (sheep and beef cattle) and horticulture (including wine grapes). The valley floor is traversed by the Ruamahanga River, the largest river in the Wellington region with a total catchment area of 3,430 km2. Environmental, cultural and recreational values associated with this Ruamahanga River are very high. The alluvial gravel and sand aquifers of the Wairarapa Valley, support productive groundwater aquifers at depths of up to 100 metres below ground while the Ruamahanga River and its tributaries present a further source of water for users. Water is allocated to users via resource consents by Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC). With intensifying land use, demand from the surface and groundwater resources of the Wairarapa Valley has increased substantially in recent times and careful management is needed to ensure values are maintained. This paper describes the approach being taken to manage water resources in the Wairarapa Valley and redefine appropriate limits of sustainable water use. There are three key parts: Quantifying the groundwater resource. A FEFLOW numerical groundwater flow model was developed by GWRC. This modelling phase provided a much improved understanding of aquifer recharge and abstraction processes. It also began to reveal the extent of hydraulic connection between aquifer and river systems and the importance of moving towards an integrated (conjunctive) approach to allocating water. Development of a conjunctive management framework. The FEFLOW model was used to quantify the stream flow depletion impacts of a range of groundwater abstraction scenarios. From this, three abstraction categories (A, B and C) that describe diminishing degrees of hydraulic connection between ground and surface water resources were mapped in 3 dimensions across the Valley. Interim allocation limits have been defined for each of 17 discrete management units within the valley based on both local scale aquifer recharge and stream flow depletion criteria but also cumulative impacts at the valley-wide scale. These allocation limits are to be further refined into agreed final limits through a community-led decision making process. Community involvement in the limit setting process. Historically in New Zealand, limits for sustainable resource use have been established primarily on the basis of 'hard science' and the decision making process has been driven by regional councils. Community involvement in limit setting processes has been through consultation rather than active participation. Recent legislation in the form of a National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (2011) is reforming this approach. In particular, collaborative consensus-based decision making with active engagement from stakeholders is now expected. With this in mind, a committee of Wairarapa local people with a wide range of backgrounds was established in 2014. The role of this committee is to make final recommendations about resource use limits (including allocation of water) that reflect the aspirations of the communities they represent. To assist the committee in taking a holistic view it is intended that the existing numerical groundwater flow models will be coupled with with surface flow, contaminant transport, biological and economic models. This will provide the basis for assessing the likely outcomes of a range of future land use and resource limit scenarios.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.10
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• pp.770-779
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• 2021

Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana expressing an anti-rabies monoclonal antibody (mAb), SO57, was obtained using Agrobacterium-mediated floral dip transformation. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention signal Lys-Asp-Glu-Leu (KDEL) was tagged to the C-terminus of the anti-rabies mAb heavy chain to localize the mAb to the ER and enhance its accumulation. When the inaccurately folded proteins accumulated in the ER exceed its storage capacity, it results in stress that can affect plant development and growth. We generated T₁ transformants and obtained homozygous T₃ seeds from transgenic Arabidopsis to investigate the effect of KDEL on plant growth. The germination rate did not significantly differ between plants expressing mAb SO57 without KDEL (SO plant) and mAb SO57 with KDEL (SOK plant). The primary roots of SOK agar media grown plants were slightly shorter than those of SO plants. Transcriptomic analysis showed that expression of all 11 ER stress-related genes were not significantly changed in SOK plants relative to SO plants. SOK plants showed approximately three-fold higher mAb expression levels than those of SO plants. Consequently, the purified mAb amount per unit of SOK plant biomass was approximately three times higher than that of SO plants. A neutralization assay revealed that both plants exhibited efficient rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test values against the rabies virus relative to commercially available human rabies immunoglobulins. KDEL did not upregulate ER stress-related genes; therefore, the enhanced production of the mAb did not affect plant growth. Thus, KDEL fusion is recommended for enhancing mAb production in plant systems.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.113-132
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• 2021

Despite the diverse system development and improvement initiatives that have been created to improve the environments of child birth and nurturing, the birth rate in Korean society remains low. Some minor teenage single parents give birth and raise children. Teenage single parents are supported by the Single-Parent Family Support Act, but some of their needs are still not being addressed. As each single parent has different backgrounds and socioeconomic characteristics, an investigation is required for developing differentiated support in which they will be considered both parents and children. Therefore, this study identifies the unique problems encountered by teenage parents, focuses on single mothers giving birth, and explores measures that teenage parents can use to be independent members of civil society. Three suggestions are presented for the period from pregnancy and childbearing to parenting. First, there should be an education support plan that will enable them to finish tertiary education, and parent education. Second, measures should be created to initiate a change in direction in indifferent biological(real) fathers: these should enlighten and help them participate in rearing their children. Third, in addition to improvements of the current systems only targeting single parent-family support, which will help differentiate teenage parent support from adolescent single parent-family support, assistance should be given for teenage single parents to grow as a Subject of Rights through tailored independent support programs.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.311-318
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• 2021

In this experiment, we investigated the toxicity of tebuconazole (fungicide) using domestic frog embryos, along the FETAX (Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus) protocol. Bufo gargarizans, Hyla japonica, and Pelophylax nigromaculatus embryos were incubated, and investigation of the tebuconazole effect was performed by the probit analysis. As a result, depending on the concentrations of tebuconazole, the mortality and malformation rates were increased and larval body length was decreased. The teratogenic concentrations (EC₅₀) of tebuconazole were 34.4mg L^-1, 10.6mg L^-1, and 14.9mg L^-1, respectively, and the embryo lethal concentrations(LC₅₀) of tebuconazole were 74.7 mg L^-1, 38.5 mg L^-1, and 39.1 mg L^-1, respectively. The teratogenic index (TI) valuesof tebuconazole were 2.19, 3.58, and 2.65; thus, it showed teratogenicity in embryonic development of these three frogs. These results revealed that in this experiment, tebuconazole suppressed the development of embryos at a relatively low concentration. In addition, mortality, malformation ratios, malformation patterns, and growth rates were similar to the results from the other assay systems. Therefore, tebuconazole was thought to have an effect on the embryo development of domestic frogs. In future, it will be necessary to identify species specificity in order to the clarify the causes of differences in mortality, malformation rate, and malformation patterns depending on the species.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.181-190
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• 2019

Recently, Low impact development techniques, a form of nature-based solutions (NBS), were seen cost-efficient alternatives that can be utilized as alternatives for conventional stormwater management practices. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an infiltration trench (IT) and a small constructed wetland (SCW) in treating urban stormwater runoff. Long-term monitoring data were observed to assess the seasonal performance and cite the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing the facilities. Analyses revealed that the IT has reduced performance during the summer season due to higher runoff volumes that exceeded the facility's storage volume capacity and caused the facility to overflow. On the other hand, the pollutant removal efficiency of the SCW was impacted by the winter season as a result of dormant biological activities. Sediment data also indicated that fine and medium sand particles mostly constituted the trapped sediments in the pretreatment and media zones. Sediments in SCW exhibited a lower COD and TN load due to the phytoremediation and microbiological degradation capabilities of the system. This study presented brief comparison LID facilities equipped with pre-treatment zones. The identified factors that can potentially affect the performance of the systems were also beneficial in establishing metrics on the utilization of similar types of nature-based stormwater management practices.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.305-312
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• 2019

The discovery of nitric oxide (NO) as a major signaling molecule in a number of pathophysiological processes - vasodilation, immune response, platelet aggregation, wound repair, and cancer biology - has led to the development of various exogeneous NO delivery systems. However, the development of ideal delivery system for human body application is still left as a challenge due to its high reactivity and short half-life in physiological condition. In this article, an overview of several nano-structures as potential NO delivery system will be presented, along with their recent research results and biomedical applications. Nano-size delivery system has immense advantages compared to others due to its high surface-to-volume ratio and capability for surface modification; thus, it has been proven to be effective in delivering nitric oxide with enhanced performance. Through this novel nano-structure delivery system, we are expecting to achieve sustained release of nitric oxide within adequate range of concentration, which ensures desired drug effects at the target site. Among different nano-structures, in particular, nanoparticle, microemulsion and nanofilm will be reviewed and compared to each other in respect of nitric oxide release profile. The proposed nano-structures for exogeneous NO delivery have a biological significance in that it can be further utilized in diverse biomedical fields as a highly promising therapeutic method.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.239-249
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• 2020

To find out the cause of the fire blight outbreak in apples and pears of Korea in 2019, we investigated disease appearing situation of thirty fire blight infected orchards, and interviewed farmers to determine the cultivation characteristics. Fire blight occurred mostly in orchards that had infected more than 2 years before. The cause of this were as follows: farmers did not know the symptoms of the disease properly. It is presumed that it has spread from the first occurrence to the surrounding orchards by flower-visiting insects or farmers and to a short distance or a long distance by the same cultivator or co-farmer. These series of processes repeated in the newly spreading area, and then disease reports increased as farmers became aware of fire blight. To minimize the spread of fire blight in Korea, it suggested that thorough education of farmers for early diagnosis and quantitative detection technology that can diagnose even in no symptom showing plants. And chemical or biological spraying systems suitable for domestic cultivation methods, which are producing large fruits, and molecular epidemiological studies of pathogens.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.562-565
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• 2011

In this study, we developed a bioprocess using Clostridium ljungdahlii as a biological catalyst to produce bio-ethanol, and the effect of pH on microbial growth and ethanol production was investigated. From the results of fermentation at various initial pH condition without pH control, pH of fermentation broth decreased to 4.5 within 24 h due to accumulation of by-product acetic acid and both microbial growth and ethanol production were stopped. The experimental result of initial pH 8 showed the highest microbial growth and ethanol production (0.53 g/L), since the pH drop was relatively slow. From the experiment of pH 7 maintained fermentation using pH controllable bioreactor, the maximum cell dry weight of 1.65 g/L and the maximum ethanol concentration of 1.43 g/L were obtained within 24 h. In conclusion, the C. ljungdahlii growth was enhanced by pH maintenance of neutral range, and the ethanol production was also enhanced based on the growth-associated ethanol production characteristics of C. ljungdahlii.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.222-231
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• 2020

To use the external connection implant (EXT) appropriately, the inter-implant distance should be carefully considered during placement, and the bones raised above the implants should be trimmed during the second surgery. The hex abutment is more useful than the non-hex abutment. EXT is particularly useful when the inter-arch space is limited. The tissue level (TL, internal butt connection) implant has a biomechanical advantage of coronal wall thickness and a biological advantage of an inherent transmucosal smooth surface. During TL implant restoration, an abutment can be selected using the abutment and fixture margins with considerations for the inter-arch space. Since no single type of implant can satisfy all the cases, it is necessary to select the appropriate type, considering the occlusal force and the bone condition.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.150-158
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• 2021

Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) refers to acute bleeding inside the intracranial vault. Not only does this devastating disease record a very high mortality rate, but it can also cause serious chronic impairment of sensory, motor, and cognitive functions. Therefore, a prompt and professional diagnosis of the disease is highly critical. Noninvasive brain imaging data are essential for clinicians to efficiently diagnose the locus of brain lesion, volume of bleeding, and subsequent cortical damage, and to take clinical interventions. In particular, computed tomography (CT) images are used most often for the diagnosis of ICH. In order to diagnose ICH through CT images, not only medical specialists with a sufficient number of diagnosis experiences are required, but even when this condition is met, there are many cases where bleeding cannot be successfully detected due to factors such as low signal ratio and artifacts of the image itself. In addition, discrepancies between interpretations or even misinterpretations might exist causing critical clinical consequences. To resolve these clinical problems, we developed a diagnostic model predicting intracranial bleeding and its subtypes (intraparenchymal, intraventricular, subarachnoid, subdural, and epidural) by applying deep learning algorithms to CT images. We also constructed a visualization tool highlighting important regions in a CT image for predicting ICH. Specifically, 1) 27,758 CT brain images from RSNA were pre-processed to minimize the computational load. 2) Three different CNN-based models (ResNet, EfficientNet-B2, and EfficientNet-B7) were trained based on a training image data set. 3) Diagnosis performance of each of the three models was evaluated based on an independent test image data set: As a result of the model comparison, EfficientNet-B7's performance (classification accuracy = 91%) was a way greater than the other models. 4) Finally, based on the result of EfficientNet-B7, we visualized the lesions of internal bleeding using the Grad-CAM. Our research suggests that artificial intelligence-based diagnostic systems can help diagnose and treat brain diseases resolving various problems in clinical situations.