• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.447-459
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• 2016

Many studies have been conducted to understand plant stress responses to salinity because irrigation-dependent salt accumulation compromises crop productivity and also to understand the mechanism through which some plants thrive under saline conditions. As mechanistic understanding has increased during the last decades, discovery-oriented approaches have begun to identify genetic determinants of salt tolerance. In addition to osmolytes, osmoprotectants, radical detoxification, ion transport systems, and changes in hormone levels and hormone-guided communications, the Salt Overly Sensitive (SOS) pathway has emerged to be a major defense mechanism. However, the mechanism by which the components of the SOS pathway are integrated to ultimately orchestrate plant-wide tolerance to salinity stress remains unclear. A higher-level control mechanism has recently emerged as a result of recognizing the involvement of GIGANTEA (GI), a protein involved in maintaining the plant circadian clock and control switch in flowering. The loss of GI function confers high tolerance to salt stress via its interaction with the components of the SOS pathway. The mechanism underlying this observation indicates the association between GI and the SOS pathway and thus, given the key influence of the circadian clock and the pathway on photoperiodic flowering, the association between GI and SOS can regulate growth and stress tolerance. In this review, we will analyze the components of the SOS pathways, with emphasis on the integration of components recognized as hallmarks of a halophytic lifestyle.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.543-554
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• 2018

From November 2013 to December 2016, ambient fine particulate matter ($PM_{2.5}$) was sampled in the downtown area of Jeju City, South Korea, which has seen rapid urbanization. The atmospheric concentrations of elements were measured in the $PM_{2.5}$ samples. This study focused on Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, As, Sb, Sn, V, and Zn. The concentrations of Al, Na, K, Fe, Ca, Mg, Sr, and La were also obtained for reference. The objectives of this study were to examine the contributions of these elements to $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations in downtown Jeju City, and to investigate the inter-element relationships and the elemental sources by using enrichment factors and principal components analysis (PCA). A composition analysis showed that the 19 elements constituted 6.65 % of the $PM_{2.5}$ mass, and Na, K, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, and Zn constituted 98 % of the total ion mass. Seasonal trend analysis for the sampling period indicated that the concentrations of the elements increased from November to April. However, no substantial seasonal variations were found in the concentrations of the elements. The composition ratios of some elements (Cu/Zn, Cu/Cd, Cu/Pb, V/Ni, and V/La) were found to be out of range when compared to the literature from other urban areas. The ratios between the elements and the PCA results showed that local contaminant sources in Jeju City rarely influence the composition of $PM_{2.5}$. This suggests that the major sources of $PM_{2.5}$ in Jeju City may include long-range transport of fine particulate matter produced in other areas.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.231-237
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• 2018

In this study, two important requirements for the home production of a robot to detect and remove improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are presented in terms of the total cost for robot system development and the performance improvement of the mine detection technology. Firstly, cost analyses were performed in order to provide a reasonable solution following an engineering estimate method. As a result, the total cost for a mass production system without the mine detection system was estimated to be approximately 396 million won. For the case including the mine detection system, the total cost was estimated to be approximately 411 million won, in which labor costs and overhead charges were slightly increased and the material costs for the mine detection system were negligible. Secondly, a method for fabricating the carbon nanotube (CNT) based gas detection sensor was studied. The detection electrodes were formed by a photolithography process using a photosensitive CNT paste. As a result, this method was shown to be a scalable and expandable technology for producing excellent mine detection sensors. In particular, it was found that surface treatments by using adhesive taping or ion beam bombardment methods are effective for exposing the CNTs to the ambient air environment. Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) plots were obtained from the electron-emission characteristics of the surface treated CNT paste. The F-N plot suggests that sufficient electrons are available for transport between CNT surfaces and chemical molecules, which will make an effective chemiresistive sensor for the advanced IED detection system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.141-141
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• 2010

The effect of thermal anneal on the characteristics of structural properties and the enhancement of luminescence and photovoltaic (PV) characteristics of silicon-rich silicon-nitride films were investigated. By using an ultra high vacuum ion beam sputtering deposition, B-doped silicon-rich silicon-nitride (SRSN) thin films, with excess silicon content of 15 at. %, on P-doped (n-type) Si substrate was fabricated, sputtering a highly B doped Si wafer with a BN chip by N plasma. In order to examine the influence of thermal anneal, films were then annealed at different temperature up to $1100^{\circ}C$ under $N_2$ environment. Raman, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy did not show any reliable evidence of amorphous or crystalline Si clusters allowing us concluding that nearly no Si nano-cluster could be formed through the precipitation of excess Si from SRSN matrix during thermal anneal. Instead, results of Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy clearly indicated that defective, amorphous Si-N matrix of films was changed to be well-ordered thanks to high temperature anneal. The measurement of spectral ellipsometry in UV-visible range was carried out and we found that the optical absorption edge of film was shifted to higher energy as the anneal temperature increased as the results of thermal anneal induced formation of $Si_3N_4$-like matrix. These are consistent with the observation that higher visible photoluminescence, which is likely due to the presence of Si-N bonds, from anneals at higher temperature. Based on these films, PV cells were fabricated by the formation of front/back metal electrodes. For all cells, typical I-V characteristic of p-n diode junction was observed. We also tried to measure PV properties using a solar-simulator and confirmed successful operation of PV devices. Carrier transport mechanism depending on anneal temperature and the implication of PV cells based on SRSN films were also discussed.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.168-172
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• 2002

Budding yeasts maintain an effective system to regulate intracellular pH in response to environmental pH fluctuation. In a previous study we reported that SHC1 plays a role in cell growth at alkaline condition, not at acid pH. We constructed a null mutant deleted an entire open reading frame for SHC1. To test whether the retardation in cell growth was caused by the absence of intracellular pH buffering capacity, we measured intracellular pH with a pH-sensitive fluorescent dye, C.SNARE. The intracellular pH of the mutant cell was much higher than that of wild-type cells, indicating that the mutant cells lack some types of buffering capacity. We also investigated the level of $Na^＋ and K^＋$ content with atomic mass spectroscopy after alkali shock. Wild-type cell showed a higher level of intracellular K^＋$ content, whereas there was no difference in $Na^＋$ level. The result suggested that K^＋$ is more important in the regulation of intracellular pH in yeasts.

• Genes and Genomics
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.1199-1211
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• 2018

Soil acidification is one of major problems limiting crop growth and especially becoming increasingly serious in China owing to excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer. Only the STOP1 of Arabidopsis was identified clearly sensitive to proton rhizotoxicity and the molecular mechanism for proton toxicity tolerance of plants is still poorly understood. The main objective of this study was to investigate the transcriptomic change in plants under the low pH stress. The low pH as a single factor was employed to induce the response of the wheat seedling roots. Wheat cDNA microarray was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A total of 1057 DEGs were identified, of which 761 genes were up-regulated and 296 were down-regulated. The greater percentage of up-regulated genes involved in developmental processes, immune system processes, multi-organism processes, positive regulation of biological processes and metabolic processes of the biological processes. The more proportion of down-regulation genes belong to the molecular function category including transporter activity, antioxidant activity and molecular transducer activity and to the extracellular region of the cellular components category. Moreover, most genes among 41 genes involved in ion binding, 17 WAKY transcription factor genes and 17 genes related to transport activity were up-regulated. KEGG analysis showed that the jasmonate signal transduction and flavonoid biosynthesis might play important roles in response to the low pH stress in wheat seedling roots. Based on the data, it is can be deduced that WRKY transcription factors might play a critical role in the transcriptional regulation, and the alkalifying of the rhizosphere might be the earliest response process to low pH stress in wheat seedling roots. These results provide a basis to reveal the molecular mechanism of proton toxicity tolerance in plants.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.506-513
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• 2021

The use of fossil fuels is a major contributor to the increase atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions. As such problems arise, interest in new and renewable energy devices, particularly fuel cells, is greatly increasing. In this study, various characteristics of mixed strains were observed in wastewater collected by the Jeonju Environment Office to investigate the effects of microorganisms on voltage generation and voltage generation of substrates, electrode materials, electrons, electron transport media, and ash microbial fuel cells. As a result of separately measuring the voltage generated during inoculation, the inoculation voltage of Escherichia coli K12 (E. coli K12) was 0.45 V, and the maximum inoculation voltage of the mixed strain was 1.2 V. Thereafter, voltage values were collected using a digital multimeter and the amount of voltage generated over time was measured. In the case of E. coli K12, the maximum voltage reached 0.45 V, and the cell voltage was maintained above 0.23 V for 140 hours. In contrast, for the mixed strain, the maximum voltage reached 1.2 V and the voltage was slowly decreased to 0.97 V. In addition, the degree of microbial adsorption to the electrod surface after the inoculation test was confirmed using a scanning electron microscope. Therefore, these results showed the possibility of purifying pollutants at the same time as power generation through the production of hydrogen ions using microorganisms and wastewater.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.91-97
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• 2022

The cohesive non-swelling soil (CNS) cushion technology has been widely applied in the subgrade and slope improvement at expansive soil regions. However, the mechanism of the inhibition effect of the CNS layer on expansive soil (ES) has not been fully understood. We performed four outdoor model tests to further understand the inhibition effect, including different kinds of upper layer and thickness, under the unidirectional seepage condition. The swelling deformation, soil pressure, and electrical resistivity were constantly monitored during the saturation process. It is found that when a CNS layer covered the ES layer, the swelling deformation and electrical resistivity of the ES layer decreased significantly, especially the upper part. The inhibition effect of the CNS layer increases with the increase of CNS thickness. The distribution of vertical and lateral soil pressure also changed with the covering of a CNS layer. The electrical resistivity can be an effective index to describe the swelling deformation of ES layer and analyze the inhibition effect of the CNS layer. Overall, the CNS deadweight and the ion migration are the major factors that inhibit the swelling deformation of expansive soil.

• ALGAE
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.283-294
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• 2023

Previous research indicated that free-living sporangial filament keep hollow morph under high-culture density and form bipartite cells under low-culture density, while the following conchospore release was inhibited by high light. Here, we further explored the molecular bases of these affects caused by light and culture density using a transcriptome analysis. Many differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to carbon dioxide concentration and fixation, photosynthesis, chlorophyll synthesis and nitrogen absorption were upregulated under high-light conditions compared with low-light conditions, indicating the molecular basis of rapid vegetative growth under the former. The stress response- and ion transport-related DEGs, as well as the gene encoding the vacuole formation-brefeldin A-inhibited guanine nucleotide exchange protein (BIG, py05721), were highly expressed under high-density conditions, indicating the molecular basis of the hollow morph of free-living sporangial filaments under high-culture density conditions. Additionally, the brefeldin A treatment indicated that the hollow morph was directly influenced by vacuole formation-related vesicle traffic. Others DEGs related to cell wall components, zinc-finger proteins, ASPO1527, cell cycle and cytoskeleton were highly expressed in the low density with low-light group, which might be related to the formation and release of conchospores. These results provide a deeper understanding of sporangial filaments in Neopyropia yezoensis and related species.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.131-143
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• 2023

Background: This study examined the detection limit of thyroid screening monitoring conducted at the time of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident in 2011 using a Monte Carlo simulation. Materials and Methods: We calculated the detection limit of a NaI(Tl) survey meter to measure ¹³¹I accumulation in the thyroid gland of children. Mathematical phantoms of 1- and 5-year-old children were developed in the simulation of the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System code. Contamination of the body surface with eight radionuclides found after the FDNPP accident was assumed to have been deposited on the neck and shoulder area. Results and Discussion: The detection limit was calculated as a function of ambient dose rate. In the case of 40 Bq/cm² contamination on the body surface of the neck, the present simulations showed that residual thyroid radioactivity corresponding to thyroid dose of 100 mSv can be detected within 21 days after intake at the ambient dose rate of 0.2 µSv/hr and within 11 days in the case of 2.0 µSv/hr. When a time constant of 10 seconds was used at the dose rate of 0.2 µSv/hr, the estimated survey meter output error was 5%. Evaluation of the effect of individual differences in the location of the thyroid gland confirmed that the measured value would decrease by approximately 6% for a height difference of ±1 cm and increase by approximately 65% for a depth of 1 cm. Conclusion: In the event of a nuclear disaster, simple measurements carried out using a NaI(Tl) scintillation survey meter remain effective for assessing ¹³¹I intake. However, it should be noted that the presence of short-half-life radioactive materials on the body surface affects the detection limit.