• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.228-238
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• 2021

The aim of this research was to develop a rapid and easy multi-residue method for determining dimethipin, omethoate, dimethipin, chlorfenvinphos and azinphos-methyl in agricultural products (hulled rice, potato, soybean, mandarin and green pepper). Samples were prepared using QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) and analyzed using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Residual pesticides were extracted with 1% acetic acid in acetonitrile followed by addition of anhydrous magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄) and anhydrous sodium acetate. The extracts were cleaned up using MgSO₄, primary secondary amine (PSA) and octadecyl (C₁₈). The linearity of the calibration curves, which waas excellent by matrix-matched standards, ranged from 0.005 mg/kg to 0.3 mg/kg and yielded the coefficients of determination (R²) ≥ 0.9934 for all analytes. Average recoveries spiked at three levels (0.01, 0.1, 0.5 mg/kg) and were in the range of 74.2-119.3%, while standard deviation values were less than 14.6%, which is below the Codex guideline (CODEX CAC/GL 40).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.82-94
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Spiropidion and its metabolite are tetramic acid insecticide and require the establishment of an official analysis method for the safety management because they are newly registered in Korea. Therefore, this study was to determine the analysis method of residual spiropidion and its metabolite for the five representative agricultural products. METHODS AND RESULTS: Three QuEChERS methods (original, AOAC, and EN method) were applied to optimize the extraction method, and the EN method was finally selected by comparing the recovery test and matrix effect results. Various adsorbent agents were applied to establish the clean up method. As a result, the recovery of spiropidion was reduced when using the dispersive-SPE method with MgSO₄, primary secondary amine (PSA), graphitized carbon black (GCB) and octadecyl (C₁₈) in soybean. Color interference was minimized by selecting the case including GCB and C18 in addition to MgSO₄. This method was established as the final analysis method. LC-MS/MS was used for the analysis by considering the selectivity and sensitivity of the target pesticide and the analysis was performed in MRM mode. The results of the recovery test using the established analysis method and inter laboratory validation showed a valid range of 79.4-108.4%, with relative standard deviation and coefficient of variation were less than 7.2% and 14.4%, respectively. CONCLUSION(S): Spiropidion and its metabolite could be analyzed with a modified QuEChERS method, and the established method would be widely available to ensure the safety of residual insecticides in Korea.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.136-142
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• 2022

The research aims to develop a rapid and easy analytical method for methoprene using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). A simple, highly sensitive, and specific analytical method for the determination of methoprene in livestock products (beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, and fat) was developed. Methoprene was effectively extracted with 1% acetic acid in acetonitrile and acetone (1:1), followed by the addition of anhydrous magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄) and anhydrous sodium acetate. Subsequently, the lipids in the livestock sample were extracted by freezing them at -20℃. The extracts were cleaned using MgSO₄, primary secondary amine (PSA), and octadecyl (C₁₈), which were then centrifuged to separate the supernatant. Nitrogen gas was used to evaporate the supernatant, which was then dissolved in methanol. The matrix-matched calibration curves were constructed using 8 levels (1, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 150 ng/mL) and the coefficient of determination (R²) was above 0.9964. Average recoveries spiked at three levels (0.01, 0.1, and 0.5 mg/kg), and ranged from 79.5-105.1%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) smaller than 14.2%, as required by the Codex guideline (CODEX CAC/GL 40). This study could be useful for residue safety management in livestock products.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.145-165
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• 2023

Recommendation system plays a significant role on relieving difficulties of selecting information among rapidly increasing amount of information caused by the development of the Internet and on efficiently displaying information that fits individual personal interest. In particular, without the help of recommendation system, E-commerce and OTT companies cannot overcome the long-tail phenomenon, a phenomenon in which only popular products are consumed, as the number of products and contents are rapidly increasing. Therefore, the research on recommendation systems is being actively conducted to overcome the phenomenon and to provide information or contents that are aligned with users' individual interests, in order to induce customers to consume various products or contents. Usually, collaborative filtering which utilizes users' historical behavioral data shows better performance than contents-based filtering which utilizes users' preferred contents. However, collaborative filtering can suffer from cold-start problem which occurs when there is lack of users' historical behavioral data. In this paper, hybrid music recommendation system, which can solve cold-start problem, is proposed based on the playlist data of Melon music streaming service that is given by Kakao Arena for music playlist continuation competition. The goal of this research is to use music tracks, that are included in the playlists, and metadata of music tracks and playlists in order to predict other music tracks when the half or whole of the tracks are masked. Therefore, two different recommendation procedures were conducted depending on the two different situations. When music tracks are included in the playlist, LightFM is used in order to utilize the music track list of the playlists and metadata of each music tracks. Then, the result of Item2Vec model, which uses vector embeddings of music tracks, tags and titles for recommendation, is combined with the result of LightFM model to create final recommendation list. When there are no music tracks available in the playlists but only playlists' tags and titles are available, recommendation was made by finding similar playlists based on playlists vectors which was made by the aggregation of FastText pre-trained embedding vectors of tags and titles of each playlists. As a result, not only cold-start problem can be resolved, but also achieved better performance than ALS, BPR and Item2Vec by using the metadata of both music tracks and playlists. In addition, it was found that the LightFM model, which uses only artist information as an item feature, shows the best performance compared to other LightFM models which use other item features of music tracks.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.534-546
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• 2023

In this study, we investigated the antioxidant and anti-winkle activity in human fibroblast cell (CCD-986sk) of Persimmon Leaves (PL) as a cosmetic ingredient. As a result of investigating antioxidant activity through electron-donating ability and ABTS⁺ radical scavenging assay, the PL showed concentration-dependent antioxidant activity similar to ascorbic acid, a control group, at a concentration of 1,000 ㎍/ml. As a result of investigating the anti-wrinkle effect through elastase inhibition and collagenase inhibition assay, the PL showed concentration-dependent antioxidant activity similar to epigallocatechin gallate, a control group, at a concentration of 1,000 ㎍/ml. As a result of measuring the synthesis rate of pro-collagen type I and the inhibition rate of MMP-1 in UVB-induced CCD-986sk cells, the control group EGCG showed a 90.2% pro-collagen synthesis rate at 20 ㎍/ml and PL showed an 88.5% synthesis rate at 30 ㎍/ml. In addition, the inhibition rate of MMP-1 of 33.0% and 40.8% were confirmed in EGCG 20 ㎍/ml and PL 30 ㎍/ml, respectively. As a result of measuring the protein expression of pro-collagen type I and MMP-1 in the PL through western blot, it was confirmed that the protein expression of pro-collagen type I increased, and MMP-1 decreased when the PL was treated together compared to the UVB alone group. According to the above experimental results, it is expected to be used as a natural product material for cosmetics by confirming that the PL prevent photoaging caused by UVB stimulation and have antioxidant and anti-wrinkle effects.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.69-88
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• 2022

One of the characteristics of South Korea's economic structure is that it is highly dependent on exports. Thus, many businesses are closely related to the global economy and diplomatic situation. In addition, small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) specialized in exporting are struggling due to the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a model to forecast exports for next year to support SMEs' export strategy and decision making. Also, this study proposed a strategy to recommend promising export countries of each item based on the forecasting model. We analyzed important variables used in previous studies such as country-specific, item-specific, and macro-economic variables and collected those variables to train our prediction model. Next, through the exploratory data analysis(EDA) it was found that exports, which is a target variable, have a highly skewed distribution. To deal with this issue and improve predictive performance, we suggest a separated learning method. In a separated learning method, the whole dataset is divided into homogeneous subgroups and a prediction algorithm is applied to each group. Thus, characteristics of each group can be more precisely trained using different input variables and algorithms. In this study, we divided the dataset into five subgroups based on the exports to decrease skewness of the target variable. After the separation, we found that each group has different characteristics in countries and goods. For example, In Group 1, most of the exporting countries are developing countries and the majority of exporting goods are low value products such as glass and prints. On the other hand, major exporting countries of South Korea such as China, USA, and Vietnam are included in Group 4 and Group 5 and most exporting goods in these groups are high value products. Then we used LightGBM(LGBM) and Exponential Moving Average(EMA) for prediction. Considering the characteristics of each group, models were built using LGBM for Group 1 to 4 and EMA for Group 5. To evaluate the performance of the model, we compare different model structures and algorithms. As a result, it was found that the separated learning model had best performance compared to other models. After the model was built, we also provided variable importance of each group using SHAP-value to add explainability of our model. Based on the prediction model, we proposed a second-stage recommendation strategy for potential export countries. In the first phase, BCG matrix was used to find Star and Question Mark markets that are expected to grow rapidly. In the second phase, we calculated scores for each country and recommendations were made according to ranking. Using this recommendation framework, potential export countries were selected and information about those countries for each item was presented. There are several implications of this study. First of all, most of the preceding studies have conducted research on the specific situation or country. However, this study use various variables and develops a machine learning model for a wide range of countries and items. Second, as to our knowledge, it is the first attempt to adopt a separated learning method for exports prediction. By separating the dataset into 5 homogeneous subgroups, we could enhance the predictive performance of the model. Also, more detailed explanation of models by group is provided using SHAP values. Lastly, this study has several practical implications. There are some platforms which serve trade information including KOTRA, but most of them are based on past data. Therefore, it is not easy for companies to predict future trends. By utilizing the model and recommendation strategy in this research, trade related services in each platform can be improved so that companies including SMEs can fully utilize the service when making strategies and decisions for exports.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.498-505
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• 2023

Solanum tuberosum Linnaeus cv Hongyoung, which represents red potato, was developed in Korea. Hongyoung is known to have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-tumor properties, but no research has been conducted on the growth inhibition and apoptosis effects of hongyoung in YD-10B oral cancer cells. In this study, the combined treatment of hongyoung ethanol extract (HEE) and cisplatin were examined to determine its ability to inhibit cancer cell growth, induce apoptosis, and inhibit matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 cancer metastasis. The cell viability was investigated using a 2-(2-methoxy-4-nitrophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2H- tetrazolium monosodium salt (MTS) assay, and the ability to induce apoptosis was analyzed using an FACS analyzer. The mRNA expression and protein activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were measured via RT-PCR and zymography. The YD-10B oral cancer cells showed an increase in growth inhibition as the concentration of HEE increased. The combination of 200 µM cisplatin and 500 ㎍/ml HEE reduced the growth of the YD-10B oral cancer cells by more than 50% compared to cisplatin alone. When phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-treated YD-10B oral cancer cells were co-treated with 200 µM cisplatin and 500 ㎍/ml HEE, both the mRNA expression and protein activity of the MMP-2 and MMP-9 decreased. In addition, the percentage of the sub-G1 phase, which indicates apoptosis ability, more than doubled when treated in combination with 200 µM cisplatin and 500 ㎍/ml HEE than when cisplatin alone was used. The results of this study therefore suggest the possibility of using a combination of HEE and cisplatin in the development of effective drugs to treat oral cancer.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.555-564
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• 2023

In this study, the anti-oxidant activity, elastase inhibitory activity, and skin moisturizing effect of mixed extracts of Acanthopanax senticosus and Citrus unshiu fermented with Bovista plumbea (B-MEAC) were evaluated to verify the availability as a material for inner beauty. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of B-MEAC was showed in a dose-dependent manner (SC₅₀=156.1±0.82 ㎍/ml). Also, B-MEAC inhibited the elastase activity in a concentration-dependent manner (p<0.001). To study the effect of B-MEAC on mouse skin hydration, skin moisture content and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) measured. As a result, skin moisture content increased (p<0.001) and TEWL decreased (p<0.01) compared to the dry-induced control group. The effect on the change of collagen fibers in the dry-induced mouse skin was examined through Masson's trichrome staining. In the group administered with B-MEAC, the amount of collagen relatively increased compared to the control group, and the intensity of blue color increased. The effect on the moisturizing function of the dry-induced mouse skin was examined by Western blot method. In the group administered with B-MEAC, the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) protein decreased compared to the control group. In addition, the expression level of collagen1A1 (COL1A1), hyaluronan synthase-2 (HAS2), filaggrin, and aquaporin-3 (AQP3) recovered (p<0.001). Therefore, these results suggest the potential of B-MEAC as a skin hydration agent for inner beauty.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.25-37
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to survey startup founders within 7 years of founding the importance and satisfaction of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem at the national level in Korea and analyze the direction of scale-up policy by component using IPA (importance-performance analysis). Since the perception of founders, who are the subjects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, affects the quantity and quality of start-ups, research is needed to analyze and diagnose the perception of scale-up components. For the development of the national economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem, companies that emerge from startups to scale-up and unicorns must be produced, and for this, elements for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem are needed. The results of this study are as follows. First, the importance ranking of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem recognized by founders was in the order of "Financial support by growth stage," "Support for customized scale-up for enterprises," "Improvement of regulations," "Funds dedicated to scale-up," "large-scale investment," and "nurturing technical talents." Second, the factors that should be intensively improved in the importance-satisfaction matrix in the future were 'Pan-Government Integration Promotion Plan', 'Scale-Up Specialized Organization Operation', 'Company Customized Scale-Up Support', 'Regulatory Improvement', and 'Building a Korean Scale-Up Model'. As a result, various and large financial capital for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem, diversification of scale-up programs by business sector, linkage of start-ups and scale-up support, deregulation of new technologies and new industries, strengthening corporate-tailored scale-up growth capabilities, and providing overseas networking opportunities can be derived. In addition, it is expected to contribute to policy practice and academic work with research that derives the components of the domestic scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem and diagnoses its perception.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.153-161
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• 2023

The worldwide effects of COVID-19 have led to a surge in online shopping and contactless services. The consumption pattern has caused the issues such as the environmental pollution together with the increase of plastic waste. Reducing the reliance on the petroleum based plastic use for the package and replacing it with environmentally friendly material are the simple ways in order to solve those problems. Paper is an eco-friendly product with high recyclability as the food packaging materials but has still poor barrier properties. A barrier coating on surface of the paper can be achieved with the proper packaging materials featuring water, gas and grease barrier. Polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP) coatings which are generally laminated or coated to paper are widely used in food packaging applications to protect products from moisture and provide water or grease resistance. However, recycling of packaging containing PE or PP matrix is limited and costly because those films are difficult to degrade in the environment. This study investigated the recyclability of modified acrylic emulsion coating papers compared to PE and PP polymer matrixes as well as their mechanical and gas barrier properties. The results showed that PE or modified acrylic emulsion coated papers had better mechanical properties compared to the uncoated paper as a control. PE or PP coating papers showed strong oil resistance property, achieving a kit rating of 12. Those papers also had a significantly higher percentage of screen reject during the recycling process than modified acrylic coated paper which had a screen rejection rate of 6.25%. In addition an uncoated paper had similar value of a screen rejection rate. It may suggest that modified acrylic emulsion coating paper can be more easily recycled than PE or PP coating papers. The overall results of the study found that modified acrylic emulsion coating paper would be a viable alternative to suggest a possible solution to an environmental problem as well as enhancing the weak mechanical and poor gas barrier properties of the paper against moisture.