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Patterns of care for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (KROG 11-06) in South Korea

  • Sung, Soo Yoon;Kang, Min Kyu;Kay, Chul Seung;Keum, Ki Chang;Kim, Sung Hwan;Kim, Yeon-Sil;Kim, Won Taek;Kim, Ji-Yoon;Kim, Jin-Hee;Moon, Sung Ho;Ahn, Yong Chan;Oh, Young Taek;Wu, Hong-Gyun;Lee, Chang-Geol;Chung, Woong-Ki;Cho, Kwan Ho;Cho, Moon-June;Choi, Jin Hwa
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.33 no.3
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    • pp.188-197
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    • 2015
  • Purpose: To investigate the patterns of care for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in South Korea. Materials and Methods: A multi-institutional retrospective study was performed (Korean Radiation Oncology Group [KROG] 11-06) on a total of 1,445 patients from 15 institutions. Results: Of the 1,445 patients, more than half were stages III (39.9%) and IV (35.8%). In addition to patterns of care, we also investigated trends over time with the periods 1988-1993, 1994-2002, and 2003-2011. The frequencies of magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography-computed tomography were markedly increased in the third period compared to previous 2 periods. Concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) was performed on 894 patients (61.9%), neoadjuvant chemotherapy on 468 patients (32.4%), and adjuvant chemotherapy on 366 patients (25.3%). Of stage II-IV patients, CCRT performed on 78.8% in 2003-2011 compared to 15.0% in 1988-1993. For patients treated with CCRT, cisplatin was the most commonly used agent in 81.3% of patients. Over the periods of time, commonly used radiotherapy (RT) techniques were changed from 2-dimensional RT (1988-1993, 92.5%) to 3-dimensional RT (2003-2011, 35.5%) or intensity-modulated RT (IMRT; 2003-2011, 56.5%). Median RT doses given to primary tumors, high-risk lymphatics, and low-risk lymphatics were 70.0 Gy, 58.1 Gy, and 48.0 Gy, respectively. Adoption of IMRT increased the dose per fraction and escalated total radiation dose. Conclusion: Assessment of the patterns of care for NPC patients in South Korea demonstrated that management for NPC including diagnostic imaging, treatment regimen, RT techniques and dose schedule, advanced in accordance with the international guidelines.

The Status of Endangered Plants Distributed in the Middle Eastern Area of Korea and Evaluation of the Risk Factors (우리나라 중동부지역에 분포하는 멸종위기야생식물 현황과 위험요인 평가)

  • Kim, Young-Chul;Chae, Hyun-Hee;Hong, Bo-Ram;Oh, Hyun-Kyung;Lee, Kyeong-Hwa;Lee, Kyu-Song
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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    • v.30 no.3
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    • pp.291-307
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    • 2016
  • Evaluation of the extinction risk of endangered plants at international, national as well as at regional levels is essential to the implementation of plans for direct conservation activities. Reports indicate that 34 endangered plants are distributed in the middle eastern area of Korea. For each endangered plant, we investigated the sites, area of extents, population size, and factors that affect population extinction. We assessed risk factors based on 10 evaluation criteria including the results from the investigation and the life traits each endangered plant has. As a result of evaluating the risk factors, these 34 endangered plants are classified into 3 groups: the first category comprises 12 endangered plants that require active and urgent conservation of habitats due to multiple risk factors; the second group has 16 endangered plants that should be able to persist with the removal of a few direct risk factors; the third category has 6 endangered plants that can persist with minimal management due to comparatively large distributed area and numerous individuals. It was found that most major risk factors in the population of endangered plants are caused by disruption of habitats and population extinction due to the increase of human habitation in the concerned areas, development and illegal harvesting. Futhermore, ecological collapse from decreasing habitats and malfunctioning mechanism of extinction and regeneration due to the changes of vegetational environment can be the other causes. From the area of the present investigations, we selected 5 regions according to the number of species and the frequency of appearance and importance of conservation measures. Also, we suggested a conservation strategy according to the regional characteristics. We suggest that the method for evaluating extinction risk of endangered plants includes distributional data and life traits of species. In addition, we underscore the necessity for understanding population dynamics and ecological niche of the each target species.

60 Years since the Armistice Treaty, the NLL and the North-Western Islands (정전협정 60년, NLL과 서북 도서)

  • Jhe, Seong-Ho
    • Strategy21
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    • s.31
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    • pp.27-56
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    • 2013
  • The United Nations Command (UNC) and the communist North failed to reach an agreement on where the maritime demarcation line should be drawn in the process of signing a truce after the Korean War because of the starkly different positions on the boundary of their territorial waters. As a result, the Armistice Treaty was signed on July 1953 without clarification about the maritime border. In the following month, Commander of the UNC unilaterally declared the Northern Limit Line (NLL) as a complementing measure to the Armistice. Referring to this, North Korea and its followers in South Korea wrongfully argue that the NLL is a "ghost line" that was established not based on the international law. However, one should note that the waters south of the NLL has always been under South Korea's jurisdiction since Korea's independence from Japan on August 15, 1945. There is no need to ask North Korea's approval for declaring the territorial waters that had already been under our sovereign jurisdiction. We do not need North Korea's approval just as we do not need Japan's approval with regard to our sovereign right over Dokdo. The legal status of the NLL may be explained with the following three characteristics. First, the NLL is a de facto maritime borderline that defines the territorial waters under the respective jurisdiction of the two divided countries. Second, the NLL in the West Sea also serves as a de facto military demarcation line at sea that can be likened to the border on the ground. Third, as a contacting line where the sea areas controlled by the two Koreas meet, the NLL is a maritime non-aggression line that was established on the legal basis of the 'acquiescence' element stipulated by the Inter-Korea Basic Agreement (article 11) and the Supplement on the Non-aggression principle (article 10). Particularly from the perspective of the domestic law, the NLL should be understood as a boundary defining areas controlled by temporarily divided states (not two different states) because the problem exists between a legitimate central government (South Korea) and an anti-government group (North Korea). In this sense, the NLL problem should be viewed not in terms of territorial preservation or expansion. Rather, it should be understood as a matter of national identity related to territorial sovereignty and national pride. North Korea's continuous efforts to problematize the NLL may be part of its strategy to nullify the Armistice Treaty. In other words, North Korea tries to take away the basis of the NLL by abrogating the Armistice Treaty and creating a condition in which the United Nations Command can be dissolved. By doing so, North Korea may be able to start the process for the peace treaty with the United States and reestablish a maritime line of its interest. So, North Korea's rationale behind making the NLL a disputed line is to deny the effectiveness of the NLL and ask for the establishment of a new legal boundary. Such an effort should be understood as part of a strategy to make the NLL question a political and military dispute (the similar motivation can be found in Japan's effort to make Dokdo a disputed Island). Therefore, the South Korean government should not accommodate such hidden intentions and strategy of North Korea. The NLL has been the de facto maritime border (that defines our territorial waters) and military demarcation line at sea that we have defended with a lot of sacrifice for the last sixty years. This is the line that our government and the military must defend in the future as we have done so far. Our commitment to the defense of the NLL is not only a matter of national policy protecting territorial sovereignty and jurisdiction; it is also our responsibility for those who were fallen while defending the North-Western Islands and the NLL.

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Transformation of Asbestos-Containing Slate Using Exothermic Reaction Catalysts and Heat Treatment (발열반응 촉매제와 열처리를 이용한 석면함유 슬레이트의 무해화 연구)

  • Yoon, Sungjun;Jeong, Hyeonyi;Park, Byungno;Kim, Yongun;Kim, Hyesu;Park, Jaebong;Roh, Yul
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.52 no.6
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    • pp.627-635
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    • 2019
  • Cement-asbestos slate is the main asbestos containing material. It is a product made by combining 10~20% of asbestos and cement components. Man- and weathering-induced degradation of the cement-asbestos slates makes them a source of dispersion of asbestos fibres and represents a priority cause of concern. When the asbestos enters the human body, it causes cellular damage or deformation, and is not discharged well in vitro, and has been proven to cause diseases such as lung cancer, asbestos, malignant mesothelioma and pleural thickening. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has designated asbestos as a group 1 carcinogen. Currently, most of these slats are disposed in a designated landfill, but the landfill capacity is approaching its limit, and there is a potential risk of exposure to the external environment even if it is land-filled. Therefore, this study aimed to exam the possibility of detoxification of asbestos-containing slate by using exothermic reaction and heat treatment. Cement-asbestos slate from the asbestos removal site was used for this experiment. Exothermic catalysts such as calcium chloride(CaCl2), magnesium chloride(MgCl2), sodium hydroxide(NaOH), sodium silicate(Na2SiO3), kaolin[Al2Si2O5(OH)4)], and talc[Mg3Si4O10(OH)2] were used. Six catalysts were applied to the cement-asbestos slate, respectively and then analyzed using TG-DTA. Based on the TG-DTA results, the heat treatment temperature for cement-asbestos slate transformation was determined at 750℃. XRD, SEM-EDS and TEM-EDS analyses were performed on the samples after the six catalysts applied to the slate and heat-treated at 750℃ for 2 hours. It was confirmed that chrysotile[Mg3Si2O5(OH5)] in the cement-asbestos slate was transformed into forsterite (Mg2SiO4) by catalysts and heat treatment. In addition, the change in the shape of minerals was observed by applying a physical force to the slate and the heat treated slate after coating catalysts. As a result, the chrysotile in the cement-asbestos slate maintained fibrous form, but the cement-asbestos slate after heat treatment of applying catalyst was broken into non-fibrous form. Therefore, this study shows the possibility to safely verify the complete transformation of asbestos minerals in this catalyst- and temperature-induced process.

Design Information Management System Core Development Using Industry Foundation Classes (IFC를 이용한 설계정보관리시스템 핵심부 구축)

  • Lee Keun-hyung;Chin Sang-yoon;Kim Jae-jun
    • Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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    • v.1 no.2 s.2
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    • pp.98-107
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    • 2000
  • Increased use of computers in AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) has expanded the amount of information gained from CAD (Computer Aided Design), PMIS (Project Management Information System), Structural Analysis Program, and Scheduling Program as well as making it more complex. And the productivity of AEC industry is largely dependent on well management and efficient reuse of this information. Accordingly, such trend incited much research and development on ITC (Information Technology in Construction) and CIC (Computer Integrated Construction) to be conducted. In exemplifying such effort, many researchers studied and researched on IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) since its development by IAI (International Alliance for Interoperability) for the product based information sharing. However, in spite of some valuable outputs, these researches are yet in the preliminary stage and deal mainly with conceptual ideas and trial implementations. Research on unveiling the process of the IFC application development, the core of the Design Information management system, and its applicable plan still need be done. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to determine the technologies needed for Design Information management system using IFC, and to present the key roles and the process of the IFC application development and its applicable plan. This system play a role to integrate the architectural information and the structural information into the product model and to group many each product items with various levels and aspects. To make the process model, we defined two activities, 'Product Modeling', 'Application Development', at the initial level. Then we decomposed the Application Development activity into five activities, 'IFC Schema Compile', 'Class Compile', 'Make Project Database Schema', 'Development of Product Frameworker', 'Make Project Database'. These activities are carried out by C++ Compiler, CAD, ObjectStore, ST-Developer, and ST-ObjectStore. Finally, we proposed the applicable process with six stages, '3D Modeling', 'Creation of Product Information', 'Creation and Update of Database', 'Reformation of Model's Structure with Multiple Hierarchies', 'Integration of Drawings and Specifications', and 'Creation of Quantity Information'. The IFCs, including the other classes which are going to be updated and developed newly on the construction, civil/structure, and facility management, will be used by the experts through the internet distribution technologies including CORBA and DCOM.

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Epidemiologic Investigation for the Etiology of an Epidemic Ocurred among Animals and Humans in an Isolated Island, Korea(I) (신안군(新安郡) 낙도(落島)에서 발생(發生)한 괴질(怪疾)의 원인(原因)에 관한 역학적(疫學的) 조사(調査)(I))

  • Kim, J.S.;Heo, Y.;Yoon, H.Y.;Lee, W.Y.
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.22 no.2 s.26
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    • pp.290-301
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    • 1989
  • This is preliminary report on anthrax epidemic occurred in an island with about 100 residents. Since 1982 there had been sudden deaths among all kinds of domestic animals including cattle, dogs, ducks, chicken and goat but only a few among cats in an isolated island about three hours distance away by ferry boat from Mokpo city. From 1986 through 1988 nine human deaths and four patients occurred, which made the government intervene for investigation on June 25 1988. The epidemiological investigation consisted of interview survey and medical examination, medical record analysis, laboratory work to isolate the pathogens under the direction of hypothesis derived from the study and further confirmation of the pathogens by international institute. The summarized results are as followings: 1. According to the interview survey there were many deaths among domestic animals usually in cold and dry season such as January through March and September through November; 36 heads of cattle leaving one head, more than 40 hogs(all), hundreds of chicken leaving few alive, goats that had taken home from mountain and two or three cats out of around 40 had sudden deaths from 1982 till 1985, when the residents stopped to purchase and take them into the island anymore. Also there were eleven persons who had experienced the similar syndrome complex to those of admitted and expired patients and four of them revealed typical chest X-ray findings; from one of these four patients(Rho) B. anthracis is isolated. 2. Medical record on patients who had been admitted, showed common characteristics of the disease course. On admission they had either gastrointestinal or upper respiratory infection symptoms which invariably progressed to septicemic nature with pulmonary interstitial infiltration and mediastinal widening/bulging, and then to deadly acute respiratory distress syndrome. At the end stage chest X-ray revealed multiple bullous emphysema. One of another characteristics was oral ulceration with bleeding occurred in about 50% of the patients. Laboratory test results in common were leukocytosis with left shift and abnormal liver and kidney functions, particularly at the later stage of the illness. 3. Epidemiological characteristics was striking in that both mortality and incidence rates were high: the mortality rate was 8.7% average, male being three times higher than females but there was no distictive clustering by age group. The incidence rate for both sexes was 28.2% and there was no sex difference although a tendency of higher incidence among older ages was noticed. The highest mortality and incidence were observed in Won village where the first death of animal occurred and with the highest frequency among three villages of the island. 4. Among twelve bacilli species isolated from various specimens, two strains, one from patient and the other from soil where the recently died cow is hurried, were confirmed as B. anthracis by Pasteur Institute and CDC of USA(strain from soil). CDC reported that the strain did not produce capsule in bicarbonate media but reacted with the bacteriophage and one of five sera taken from the patients. Mode of transmission as well as incubation period of the agent has not been established yet, which needs further investigation in relation to the antigenic structure of the variant when it is confirmed.

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The Occurrence of Rice Leaf-folder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Lepidoptera : Crambidae) in Suwon and its Responses to Insecticides (혹명나방 개체군의 수원지역 발생 패턴 및 몇가지 약제에 대한 반응)

  • Park, Hong-Hyun;Cho, Jum-Rae;Park, Chang-Gyu;Kim, Kwang-Ho;Goh, Hyun-Gwan;Lee, Sang-Guei
    • Korean journal of applied entomology
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    • v.49 no.3
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    • pp.219-226
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    • 2010
  • This paper presents the occurrence and damage characteristics of the rice leaf-folder populations in the paddy fields of Dangsu-dong, Suwon from 2004 to 2007, and also reports the insecticide response of rice leaf-folder populations, which were collected from 2005 to 2006 in Korea and Vietnam. Laboratory measurements of the head capsule width and body length data enabled the identification of the rice leaf-folder larva stages collected in the field. The rice leaf-folder population in Suwon from 2004 to 2007 has a clear pattern consisting of two different group: the low and high density years. During the low density years (2004 and 2006), only one adult peak was noted in late August, with the damaged-hill percent less than 10% in late July, and the damaged-leaf percent around 2% in September. In contrast, during the high density years (2005 and 2007), two adult peaks were noted in early August and mid-September, with the damaged-hill percent was around 30% in late July, and the damaged-leaf percent 15 to 30% in September, which was beyond the economic injury level of rice leaf-folder. High correlations existed between the occurrence of rice leaf-folder in late July and early August and damages to rice during September. Based on these results, we suggest that the information on the rice leaf-folder population monitored by the adult density or damaged-hill percent in late July and early August would be very useful for predicting the damages later in the season for aiding in decision-making for timely control. In addition, the regional populations of rice leaf-folder showed the similar responses to the insecticides tested: high susceptibility to IGRs (tebufenozide and methoxyfenozide) and organophosphates (chlorpyrifos-methyl, pyridaphenthion), but relatively low to cartap.

The Empirical Study on the Effects of the Team Empowerment caused by the Team-Based Organizational Structure in KBS (팀제가 팀 임파워먼트에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구;KBS 팀제를 중심으로)

  • Ahn, Dong-Su;Kim, Hong
    • 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2006.04a
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    • pp.167-201
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    • 2006
  • Korean corporations are transforming their vertical operational structure to a team-based structure to compete in the rapidly changing environment and for improved performance. However, a high percentage of the respondents in KBS said that despite the appearance of the present team structure, the organization operates much like a vertically-structured organization. This result can be attributed to the lack of study and implementation toward the goal of empowerment, the key variable for the success of the team-based structure. This study aims to provide policy suggestions on how to implement the process of empowerment, by investigating the conditions that hinder the process and the attitude of the KBS employees. For the cross-sectional study, this thesis examined the domestic and international references, conducted a survey of KBS employees, personal interviews and made direct observations. Approximately 1,200 copies of the Questionnaire were distributed and 474 were completed and returned. The analysis used SPSS 12.0 software to process the data collected from 460 respondents. For the longitudinal-study, six categories that were common to this study and "The Report of the Findings of KBS Employees' View of the Team Structure" were selected. The comparative study analyzed the changes in a ten-month period. The survey findings showed a decrease of 24.2%p in the number of responses expressing negative views of the team structure and a decrease of 1.29%p in the number of positive responses. The findings indicated a positive transformation illustrating employees' improved understanding and approval of the team structure. However, KBS must address the issue on an ongoing basis. It has been proven that the employee empowerment increases the productivity of the individual and the group. In order to boost the level of empowerment, the management must exercise new, innovative leadership and build trust between the managers and the employees first. Additional workload as a result of shirking at work places was prevalent throughout all divisions and ranks, according to the survey data. This outcome leads to the conclusion that the workload is not evenly distributed or shared. And the data also showed the employees do not trust the assessment and rewards system. More attention and consideration must be paid to the team size and job allocation in order to address this matter; the present assessment and rewards system need to be complemented. The type of leadership varies depending on the characteristics of the organization's structure and employees' disposition. KBS must develop and reform its own management, leadership style to suit the characteristics of individual teams. Finally, for a soft-landing of KBS team structure, in-house training and education are necessary.

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Playing with Rauschenberg: Re-reading Rebus (라우센버그와 게임하기-<리버스> 다시읽기)

  • Rhee, Ji-Eun
    • The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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    • no.2
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    • pp.27-48
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    • 2004
  • Robert Rauschenberg's artistic career has often been regarded as having reached its culmination when the artist won the first prize at the 1964 Venice Biennale. With this victory, Rauschenberg triumphantly entered the pantheon of all-American artists and firmly secured his position in the history of American art. On the other hand, despite the artist's ongoing new experiments in his art, the seemingly precocious ripeness in his career has led the critical discourses on Rauschenberg's art to the artist's early works, most of which were done in the mid-1950s and the 1960s. The crux of Rauschenberg criticism lies not only in focusing on the artist's 50's and 60's works, but also in its large dismissal of the significance of the imagery that the artist employed in his works. As art historians Roger Cranshaw and Adrian Lewis point out, the critical discourse of Rauschenberg either focuses on the formalist concerns on the picture plane, or relies on the "culturalist" interpretation of Rauschenberg's imagery which emphasizes the artist's "Americanness." Recently, a group of art historians centered around October has applied Charles Sanders Peirce's semiotics as art historical methodology and illuminated the indexical aspects of Rauschenberg's work. The semantic inquiry into Rauschenberg's imagery has also been launched by some art historians who seek the clues in the artist's personal context. The first half of this essay will examine the previous criticism on Rauschenberg's art and the other half will discuss the artist's 1955 work Rebus, which I think intersects various critical concerns of Rauschenberg's work, and yet defies the closure of discourses in one direction. The categories of signs in the semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce and the discourse of Jean-Francois Lyotard will be used in discussing the meanings of Rebus, not to search for the semantic readings of the work, hut to make an analogy in terms of the paradoxical structures of both the work and the theory. The definitions of rebus is as follows: Rebus 1. a representation or words or syllables by pictures of object or by symbols whose names resemble the intended words or syllables in sound; also: a riddle made up wholly or in part of such pictures or symbols. 2. a badge that suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs. Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged. Since its creation in 1955, Robert Rauschenberg's Rebus has been one of the most intriguing works in the artist's oeuvre. This monumental 'combine' painting($6feet{\times}10feet$ 10.5 inches) consists of three panels covered with fabric, paper, newspaper, and printed reproductions. On top of these, oil paints, pencil and crayon drawings connect each section into a whole. The layout of the images is overall horizontal. Starting from a torn election poster, which is partially read as "THAT REPRE," on the far left side of the painting. Rebus leads us to proceed from the left to the right, the typical direction of reading in a Western context. Along with its seemingly proper title. Rebus, the painting has triggered many art historians to seek some semantic readings of it. These art historians painstakingly reconstruct the iconography based on the artist's interviews, (auto)biography, and artistic context of his works. The interpretation of Rebus varies from a 'image-by-image' collation with a word to a more general commentary on Rauschenberg's work overall, such as a work that "bridges between art and life." Despite the title's allusion to the legitimate purpose of the painting as a decoding of the imagery into sound, Rebus, I argue, actually hinders a reading of it. By reading through Peirce to Rauschenberg, I will delve into the subtle anxiety between words and images in their works. And on this basis, I suggest Rauschenberg's strategy in playing Rebus is to hide the meaning of the imagery rather than to disclose it.

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A Proposal for Promotion of Research Activities by Analysis of KOSEF's Basic Research Supports in Agricultural Sciences (한국과학재단의 농수산분야 기초연구지원 추이분석을 통한 연구활동지원 활성화 제언)

  • Min, Tae-Sun;Choi, Hyung-Kyoon;Kim, Seong-Yong;Bai, Sung-Chul;Kim, Yoo-Yong;Yang, Moon-Sik;Chung, Bong-Hyun;Hwang, Joon-Young;Han, In-Kyu
    • Applied Biological Chemistry
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    • v.48 no.1
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    • pp.23-33
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    • 2005
  • Agricultural sciences field in South Korea has many strong points such as numerous researchers, establishment of research infra-structure, excellence in research competitiveness and high technological level. However, there are also many weaknesses including insufficient leadership at related societies and institutes, deficiency of the next generation research group, and insufficiency in research productivity. There are many opportunities including increasing the importance of the biotechnological industry, activating international cooperation researches, and exploring the multitude of possible research areas to be studied. However, some threats still exist, such as pressure from the government of developed countries to open the agricultural market, the decrease of specialized farms, and intensification for researches to gratify economic and social demands. To encourage research activities in the agricultural sciences field in Korea, the following actions and systems are required: 1) formulation of a mid- and a long-term research master plan, 2) development of a database on the man power in related fields, 3) activation of top-down research topics, and associated increase of individual research grants, 4) development of special national programs for basic researches in agricultural sciences, 5) organization of a committee for policy and planning within the related societies, and 6) system development for the fair evaluation of the research results.