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The Investigation Regarding the Dose Change due to the Heterogeneity of Prostate Cancer Treatment with IMRT (전립선암의 세기조절 방사선치료 시 불균질부에 의한 선량변화에 관한 고찰)

  • Yoon, Il-Kyu;Park, Jang-Pil;Lee, Jae-Hee;Park, Heung-Deuk
    • The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.107-112
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    • 2007
  • Purpose: The pelvic phantom was fabricated in the following purposes: (1) Dose verification of IMRT plan using Eclipse planning computer, (2) to study the interface effect at the interface between rectal wall and air. The TLD can be inserted in the pelvic phantom to confirm the dose distribution as well as uncertainty at the interface. Materials and Methods: A pelvic phantom with the dimension of 30 cm diameter, 20 cm height and 20 cm thickness was fabricated to investigate the dose at the rectal wall. The phantom was filled with water and has many features like bladder, rectum, and prostate and seminal vesicle (SV). The rectum is made of 3 cm-dimater plastic pipe, and it cab be blocked by using a plug, and film can be inserted around the rectal wall. The phantom was scanned with Philips Brillance scanner and various organs such as prostate, SV, and rectal wall, and bladder wall were delineated. The treatment parameters used in this study are the same as those used in the protocols in the SNUH. TLD chips are inserted to the phantom to evaluate the dose distribution to the rectal wall (to simulate high dose gradient region), bladder wall and SV (to simulate the high dose region) and 2 spots in anterior surface (to simulate the low dose region). The TLD readings are compared with those of the planning computer (ECLIPSE, Varian, USA). Results: The target TLD doses represented as the prostate and SV show excellent agreements with the doses from the RTP within +/-3%. The rectal wall doses measured at the rectal wall are different from the those of the RTP by -11%. This is in literatures called as an interface effect. The underdosages at the rectal wall is independent of 3 heterogeneity correction algorithm in the Eclipse RTP. Also the low dose regions s represented as surface in this study were within +/-1%. Conclusion: The RTP estimate the dosage very accurately withihn +/-3% in the high dose (SV, or prostate) and low dose region (surface). However, the dosage at the rectal wall differed by as much as 11% (In literatures, the underdosage of 9$\sim$15% were reported). This range of errors occurs at the interface, for example, at the interface between lung and chest wall, or vocal cord. This interface effect is very important in clinical situations, for example, to estimate the NTCP (normal tissue complication probability) and to estimate the limitations of the current RTP system. Monte-carlo-based RTP will handle this issue correctly.

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Feasibility of MatriXX for Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy Quality Assurance (세기변조방사선치료의 품질관리를 위한 이온전리함 매트릭스의 유용성 고찰)

  • Kang, Min-Young;Kim, Yoen-Lae;Park, Byung-Moon;Bae, Yong-Ki;Bang, Dong-Wan
    • The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.91-97
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    • 2007
  • Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of a commercial ion chamber array for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) quality assurance (QA) was performed IMRT patient-specific QA Materials and Methods: A use of IMRT patient-specific QA was examined for nasopharyngeal patient by using 6MV photon beams. The MatriXX (Wellhofer Dosimetrie, Germany) was used for IMRT QA. The case of nasopharyngeal cancer was performed inverse treatment planning. A hybrid dose distribution made on the CT data of MatriXX and solid phantom all of the same gantry angle (0$^\circ$). The measurement was acquired with geometrical condition that equal to hybrid treatment planning. The $\gamma$-index (dose difference 3%, DTA 3 mm) histogram was used for quantitative analysis of dose discrepancies. An absolute dose was compared at the high dose low gradient region. Results: The dose distribution was shown a good agreement by gamma evaluation. A proportion of acceptance criteria was 95.8%, 97.52%, 96.28%, 98.20%, 97.78%, 96.64% and 92.70% for gantry angles were 0$^\circ$, 55$^\circ$, 110$^\circ$, 140$^\circ$, 220$^\circ$, 250$^\circ$ and 305$^\circ$, respectively. The absolute dose in high dose low gradient region was shown reasonable agreement with the RTP calculation within $\pm$3%. Conclusion: The MatriXX offers the dosimetric characteristics required for performing both relative and absolute measurements. If MatriXX use in the clinic, it could be simplified and reduced the IMRT patient-specific QA workload. Therefore, the MatriXX is evaluated as a reliable and convenient dosimeter for IMRT patient-specific QA.

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An alternative way of Animation Industry : Focusing on Avatar sevice's Lock-in Effect (애니메이션 산업의 대안적 연구 - 아바타 서비스의 소비자 고착화(lock-in) 전략을 중심으로)

  • Han, Chang-Wan
    • Cartoon and Animation Studies
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    • s.6
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    • pp.152-171
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    • 2002
  • This study analyses the avatar service, which is recognized as an alternative strategy of animation industry. The research questions of this study are following: (1) How have the avatar services been developed and what are the present dominant types? (2) Which structural characteristics of e-business environment are needed for the success of avatar services? (3) What is the economic characteristics of avatar business model? To solve these research questions, the basic conditions and the structural characteristics of avatar services have been investigated. In the first place, two forms of avatar service are classified. One is the internet service site whole primary service is to provide chatting service based on avatar service. The other is the portal site in which many kinds of products and services are presented as bundles to meet the needs of internet users. So avatar service is one of bundles which those portal sites are providing with. In this study, the big five internet service sites are selected based on the profits they earned through the sales of avatar service. The result of analysis is that the pricing strategy of those big five sites is very different from those of traditional off-line markets. The pricing mechanism are based on the value which internet users endow with the avatar items, not based on the costs of making the products. Avatar is the representative informative goods. The informative goods have the original cost structures, constant fixed costs and zero marginal costs, so the providers of avatar services make much of the subjective values of consumers. The sayclub, which is the most successful avatar service site and earn the average sales of 3 billing won a month, takes the aggressive strategy of pricing avatar items at highest price in the industry. The avatar service providers which make lots of profits are planning of making differentiate the services, introducing well-known brand items and star-named items. Nevertheless, the fact that the members of the sayclub are not decreasing means that the network effect of the site is so strongly manifest. Moreover, the costs the members have paid for the avatar items are so big not as to switch from one site to the other site, it can be very costly. These switching costs are endemic in high-technology industries and digital contents industries. It can be so large that switching suppliers is virtually unthinkable, a situation known as 'lock-in'. When switching costs are substantial, competition can be intense to attract new customers, since, one they are locked in, they can be a substantial source of profit. The consumers of avatar items have switching costs if they subscribe for the new avatar service site. The switching costs can be subscription costs as well as the costs of giving up the items they already paid for. One common example of switching costs involves specialized supplies, as with inkjet printer cartridges. In this example, the switching cost is the purchase of a new printer. The market is competitive ex ante, but since cartridges are incompatible, it is monopolized dx post. So the providers of printer/cartridges set pricing printer so cheap and cartridges expensive. On the contrary, since the avatar service can be successful with the strong network effect, the providers of avatar services have to compete aggressively for new customers. So they allow the subscription at a low price(almost marginal cost) in the early market. The network effect can be maximized when the members are sufficiently growing. The providers which have the monopoly power with sufficient subscribers. begin to raise the prices over the lifetime of the product and make profits.

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Optimization of Microalgae-Based Biodiesel Supply Chain Network Under the Uncertainty in Supplying Carbon Dioxide (이산화탄소 원료 공급의 불확실성을 고려한 미세조류 기반 바이오 디젤 공급 네트워크 최적화)

  • Ahn, Yuchan;Kim, Junghwan;Han, Jeehoon
    • Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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    • v.58 no.3
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    • pp.396-407
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    • 2020
  • As fossil fuels are depleted worldwide, alternative resources is required to replace fossil fuels, and biofuels are in the spotlight as alternative resources. Biofuels are produced from biomass, which is a renewable resource to produce biofuels or bio-chemicals. Especially, in order to substitute fossil fuels, the research focusing the biofuel (biodiesel) production based on CO2 and biomass achieves more attention recently. To produce biomass-based biodiesel, the development of a supply chain network is required considering the amounts of feedstocks (ex, CO2 and water) required producing biodiesel, potential locations and capacities of bio-refineries, and transportations of biodiesel produced at biorefineries to demand cities. Although many studies of the biomass-based biodiesel supply chain network are performed, there are few types of research handled the uncertainty in CO2 supply which influences the optimal strategies of microalgae-based biodiesel production. Because CO2, which is used in the production of microalgae-based biodiesel as one of important resources, is captured from the off-gases emitted in power plants, the uncertainty in CO2 supply from power plants has big impacts on the optimal configuration of the biodiesel supply chain network. Therefore, in this study, to handle those issues, we develop the two-stage stochastic model to determine the optimal strategies of the biodiesel supply chain network considering the uncertainty in CO2 supply. The goal of the proposed model is to minimize the expected total cost of the biodiesel supply chain network considering the uncertain CO2 supply as well as satisfy diesel demands at each city. This model conducted a case study satisfying 10% diesel demand in the Republic of Korea. The overall cost of the stochastic model (US$ 12.9/gallon·y) is slightly higher (23%) than that of the deterministic model (US$ 10.5/gallon·y). Fluctuations in CO2 supply (stochastic model) had a significant impact on the optimal strategies of the biodiesel supply network.

A Study Consequence Management System of the Terrorism (테러리즘의 대응관리체제에 관한 고찰 - "9. 11 테러"를 중심으로 -)

  • Kim, Yi-Soo;Ahn, Byung-Soo;Han, Nam-Soo
    • Korean Security Journal
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    • no.7
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    • pp.95-124
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    • 2004
  • It can be said that 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks' in 2001 were not only the indiscriminate attacks on innocent people but also the whole - political, economical and military - attacks on human life. Also, 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks' can be regarded as the significant events in the history of world, which were on the peak of the super-terrorism or new-terrorism that had emerged from the 1980s. However, if one would have analysed the developments of terrorism from the 1970s, they could have been foreknown without difficulty. The finding from this study can be summarized as the followings, First, in spite that the USA responsive system against terrorism had been assessed as perfect before 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks', the fragilities were found in the aspects of the response on the new-terrorism or super-terrorism. The previous responsive system before 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks' had the following defects as the followings: (1) it was impossible to establish the integrated strategy, because the organizations related to the response against terrorism had not integrated; (2) there were some weakness to collect and diffuse the informations related to terrorism; (3) the security system for the domestic airline service in USA and the responsive system of air defense against terrors on aircraft were very fragile. For these reasons, USA government established the 'Department of Homeland Security' of which the President is the head so that the many organizations related to terrorism were integrated into a single management system. And, it legislated a new act to protect security from terrors, which legalized of the wiretapping in spite of the risk of encroachment upon personal rights, increased the jail terms upon terrorists, froze the bank related to terrorist organization, and could censor e-mails. Second, it seem that Korean responsive system against terrors more fragile than that of USA. One of the reasons is that people have some perception that Korea is a safe zone from terrors, because there were little attacks from international terrorists in Korea. This can be found from the fact that the legal arrangement against terrorism is only the President's instruction No. 47. Under this responsive system against terrorism dependent on only the President's instruction, it is expected that there would be a poor response against terrors due to the lack of unified and integrated responsive agency as like the case of USA before 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks'. And, where there is no legal countermeasure, it is impossible to expect the binding force on the outside of administrative agencies and the performances to prevent and hinder the terrorist actions can not but be limited. That is to say, the current responsive system can not counteract effectively against the new-terrorism and super-terrorism. Third, although there were some changes in Korean government's policies against terrorism. there still are problems. One of the most important problems is that the new responsive system against terrorism in Korea, different from that of USA, is not a permanent agency but a meeting body that is organized by a commission. This commission is controled by the Prime Minister and the substantial tasks are under the National Intelligence Service. Under this configuration, there can be the lack of strong leadership and control. Additionally, because there is no statute to response against terrorism, it is impossible to prevent and counteract effectively against terrorism. The above summarized suggests that, because the contemporary super-terrorism or new-terrorism makes numerous casualties of unspecified persons and enormous nationwide damages, the thorough prevention against terrorism is the most important challenge, and that the full range of legal and institutional arrangements for the ex post counteraction should be established. In order to do so, it is necessary for the government to make legal and institutional arrangements such as the permanent agency for protection from terrorism in which the related departments cooperates with together and the development of efficient anti-terror programs, and to show its willingness and ability that it can counteract upon any type of domestic and foreign terrorism so that obtain the active supports and confidence from citizens.

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Effects of Soil Improvement on the Dependence of Rice Nutrient Contents and Grain Quality (논토양개량이 벼의 양분함량과 쌀 품질과의 관계)

  • Kim, Chang-Bae;Lee, Dong-Hun;Choi, Jyung
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.35 no.5
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    • pp.296-305
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    • 2002
  • Rice yield and grain guality were investigated with treatments of silicate fertilizer, straw compost and NPK fertilizer in the paddy soil of silty clay loam from 1975 to 2001. Rice yield of the treatments of silicate fertilizer. $1,500kg\;ha^{-1}$ and straw compost $10,00kg\;ha^{-1}$ were increased by 15%, 10%, respectively, for 27years average yield in comparison with NPK plot. In the plots of NPK+silicate fertilizer $1,500kg\;ha^{-1}$, NPK+silicate fertilizer $2,500kg\;ha^{-1}$, taste value(Toyo instrument) of cooked rice and quality assessment were higher than those in NPK control plot and NPK+straw compost $10,000kg\;ha^{-1}$ plot, but the contents of crude protein, amylose of milled rice grain were lower than those in other treated plots. Nitrogen and phosphorous contents of rice plant were lower, but $SiO_2$ content were higher in the treatment of silicate ferti lizer 1,500, $2,500kg\;ha^{-1}$ than straw compost $10,000kg\;ha^{-1}$ plot. Rice quality assessment was positively correlated with taste value, but it was negatively correlated with crude protein and amylose content of milled rice grain. Ratios of Mg/N, $Mg/N{\cdot}K_2O$, $SiO_2/N$, $SiO_2/P_2O_5$ and $SiO_2/K_2O$ were positively correlated with taste value and quality assessment of rice grain, but negatively correlated with crude protein, amylose and fatty acid content. In soil chemical characteristics related with rice quality after experiment in 2001, soil pH and $SiO_2$ content were positively correlated with taste value and quality assessment of rice grain, but contents of soil $P_2O_5$, ex-K were negatively correlated with them.

The comparative study of anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects by fermented red ginseng and red ginseng (홍삼과 발효홍삼의 항염증 작용 및 항알러지 효과 비교)

  • Park, Hye-Jin;Jung, Da-Hye;Joo, Hae-Mi;Kang, Nam-Sung;Jang, Seon-A;Lee, Jae-Geun;Sohn, Eun-Hwa
    • Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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    • v.23 no.5
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    • pp.415-422
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    • 2010
  • Red ginseng(RG, steamed and dried root of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, family Araliaceae) and fermented red ginseng(FRG, fermented red ginseng by yeast and lactic acid bacteria) are known to show different pharmacological effects by changed composition of saponins through fermentation. We examined the effects of RG and FRG on $\beta$-hexosaminidase secretion, ICAM-1 expression, the mitogen-induced proliferation of lymphocyte from mice in ex vivo systems and HaCaT cell(keratinocyte) proliferation to compare the anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects between both groups. RG groups showed inhibition of $\beta$-hexosaminidase secretion and ICAM-1 expression at $1{\mu}g/ml$, $10{\mu}g/ml$ and the same effects were observed at all concentrations in FRG groups. In our study, RG increased LPS-induced B cell proliferation at $1{\mu}g/ml$ and ConA-induced B cell proliferation at $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ but FRG decreased LPS- and ConA-induced lymphocytes at $100\;{\mu}g/ml$. We showed that FRG increased the proliferation of HaCaT at 1, $10{\mu}g/ml$ but not by RG. These findings suggest that RG and FRG might have anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects, which can be needed to proper clinical concentration to applied to various allergic diseases and inflammation.

Antithrombotic Activities of Cheongkookjang and Cheongkookjang Fermented with Green Tea or Mugwort (청국장 및 녹차, 쑥이 첨가된 청국장의 항혈전 활성)

  • Lee, Kyung-Ae;Jang, Jeong-Oak;Yoon, Hye-Kyung;Kim, Moo-Sung
    • Korean Journal of Microbiology
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    • v.43 no.4
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    • pp.298-303
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    • 2007
  • Antithrombotic activities of water extract of cheongkookjang and cheongkookjang fermented with green tea or mugwort were evaluated on some antithrombosis related activities in vitro and thrombotic death inhibition in vivo. Cheongkookjang made of white soybean (Glycine max) or black small soybean (Rhynchosia nulubilis) showed potent antioxidative activities. Addition of green tea or mugwort during cheongkookjang fermentation increased the antioxidative activity, cheongkookjang with green tea showed more drastic increase compared with cheongkookjang with mugwort. Nitrite scavenging effects of the cheongkookjang extracts were prominent but the addition of green tea or mugwort seldom increased the scavenging effects. All the cheongkookjang extracts showed strong inhibitory activities on platelet aggregation. The inhibitory activities of cheongkookjang were increased considerably by addition of green tea or mugwort even with low concentration. Plasmin unit as fibrinolytic activity was not affected considerably by addition of green tea. Addition of mugwort decreased the activity transiently at low concentration ($0.3{\sim}1.0%$) but increased again slowly at higher concentration ($1{\sim}3%$). In vitro thrombotic death inhibition test, the antithrombotic activity of cheongkookjang made of black small bean with green tea was higher by about 1.5 times compared to that without green tea. As results, cheongkookjang might inhibit antithrombosis not only by fibrinolytic action but also by inhibition of platelet aggregation and antioxidative action. The addition of functional materials such as green tea or mugwort could increase the antithrombotic function, even at low concentration.

Evaluation of Food Intake and Diet Quality in High School Students (고등학생의 식품섭취 실태 및 식사의 질 평가)

  • Kim Bok-Ran;Kim Young-Mi
    • Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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    • v.17 no.3 s.37
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    • pp.83-96
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    • 2005
  • To assess the food intake and diet quality of high school students who live in Chuncheon area, a dietary survey using 24-hour recall method was conducted with 318 subjects. $71.4\%$ of total food intake was in the form of plant foods and the rest on the form of animal food. Diet quality was assessed by food group pattern, dietary diversity score(DDS), and dietary variety score(DVS). When counting the major food groups consumed, $37.1\%$ of subjects had a DDS of 3 and $48.4\%$ of subjects had a DDS of 4. When investigating the consumption pattern of the major five food groups, only $14.5\%$ of subjects consumed foods from all five groups. On average, subjects habitually consumed 26.7 different foods daily, with the mean score of diet variety for males (27.3) being significantly higher than for females (25.8) . Correlation coefficients between nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) and DVS ranged from r=0.39 for vitamin $B_2$ to r=0.61 for phosphorus. NAR also improved as the number or foods or rna groups consumed increased (p<0.001). Associations between the NAR and high level of DVS was more positive than those between the NAR with DDS. When assessing the dietary quality of subjects using DDS and DVS, many people appeared not to have a desirable food intake. Therefore, to lead them to have nutritionally balanced diet, educating students and their parents on nutrients and suggesting guidelines for a desirable diet is considered to be essential so that they can intake from all of major food group and have various foods in their diet.

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The Great Depression in High School Social Science Textbooks : Critiques and Suggestions (대공황에 대한 고등학교 사회과 교과서 서술의 문제점과 개선방안)

  • Kim, Duol
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.171-209
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    • 2008
  • The Great Depression is one of the most important economic incidents in the twentieth century. A significant and long-lasting impact of this event is the rise of the government intervention to the economy. Under the catastrophic downturn of the economic condition worldwide, people required their government to play an active role for economic recovery, and this $mentalit{\acute{e}}$ prolonged even after the Second World War. Social science textbooks taught at Korean high schools mostly referred to the Great Depression for explaining the reason of government intervention in economy. However, the mainstream view commonly found in the textbooks provides a misleading theological interpretation. It argues that inherent flaws of the market economy causes over-production/under-consumption, and that this mismatch ends up with economic crisis. The chaotic situation was resolved by substitution of the governments for the market, and the New Deal was introduced as the monumental example ('laissez-faire economy ${\rightarrow}$over-production${\rightarrow}$the Great Depression${\rightarrow}$government intervention${\rightarrow}$economic recovery'). Based on economic historians' researches for past three decades, I argue that this mainstream view commits the fallacy of ex-post justification. Unlike what the mainstream view claims, the Great Depression was neither the result of the 'market failure', nor the recovery from the Great Depression but was due to successful government policies. For substantiating this claim, I suggest three points. First, blaming the weakness or instability of the market economy as the cause of the Great Depression is groundless. Unlike what the textbooks describe, the rise of the U.S. stock price during the 1920s cannot be said as a bubble, and there was no sign of under-consumption during the 1920s. On the contrary, a new consensus emerging from the 1980s among economic historians illustrates that the Great Depression was originated from 'the government failure' rather than from the 'market failure'. Policymakers of European countries tried to return to the gold standard regime before the First World War, but discrepancies between this policy and the reality made the world economy vulnerable. Second, the mainstream view identifies the New Deal as Keynesian interventionism and glorifies it for saving the U.S. economy from the crisis. However, this argument is not true. The New Deal was not Keynesian at all. What the U.S. government actually tried was not macroeconomic stabilization but price and quantity control. In addition, New Deal did not brought about economic recovery that people generally believe. Even after the New Deal, industrial production or employment level remained quite low until the late 1930s. Lastly, studies on individual New Deal policies show that they did not work as they were intended. For example, the National Industrial Recovery Act increased unemployment, and the Agricultural Adjustment Act expelled tenants from their land. Third, the mainstream view characterizes the economic order before the Great Depression as laissez-faire, and it tends to attribute all the vice during the Industrial Revolution era to the uncontrolled market economy. However, historical studies show that various economic and social problems of the Industrial Revolution period such as inequality problems, child labor, or environmental problems cannot be simply ascribed to the problems of the market economy. In conclusion, the remedy for all these problems in high school textbooks is not to use the Great Depression as an example showing the weakness of the market economy. The Great Depression should be introduced simply as a historical momentum that had initiated the growth of government intervention. This reform of high school textbooks is imperative for enhancing the right understanding of economy and history.