• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2024

This study aims to compare the role of the public sector in the U.S. and Korean medical security systems and study response measures in the social risk situation of the COVID-19 virus. The COVID-19 pandemic was a typical case of a 'disaster' that spread across the world across borders in a short period of time and caused serious social welfare losses by increasing the annual number of deaths by approximately 4% in 2020. Threats to health security, such as changes in social order, unpredictable endings, prolonged control of daily life, and deepening inequality, affected the economy, politics, and environment as a whole, and people had to experience anxiety and confusion due to mental and physical stress. Furthermore, developed countries failed to provide help to low-income countries in the face of global disasters. In this situation, the country's disaster management capacity to minimize harm and secure resilience, especially disaster response capacity in the health and medical field, is inevitably very important. Therefore, this study compares how the health insurance system, which is a system to guarantee citizens' right to life, differs from the United States, a liberal health care country, and raises the need to strengthen the role of the public sector.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.127-142
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• 2024

This study aimed to understand the interrelationships between tree species in plant communities through Plant Social Network (PSN) analysis using a large amount of vegetation data surveyed in an island area belonging to a warm-temperate boreal forest. The Machilus thunbergii, Castanopsis sieboldii, and Ligustrum japonicum, which belong to the canopy layer, Pittosporum tobira and Ardisia japonica, which belong to the shrub layer and Trachelospermum asiaticum and Stauntonia hexaphylla, which belong to the vines, appearing in evergreen broad-leaved climax forest community, showed strong positive association(+) with each other. These tree species had a negative association or no friendly relationship with deciduous broad-leaved species due to the large difference in location environments. Divided into 4 group modularizations in the PSN sociogram, evergreen broad-leaved tree species in Group I and deciduous broad-leaved tree species in Group II showed high centrality and connectivity. It was analyzed that the arrangement of tree species (nodes) and the degree of connection (grouping) of the sociogram can indirectly estimate environmental factors and characteristics of plant communities like DCA. Tree species with high centrality and influence in the PSN included T. asiaticum, Eurya japonica, Lindera obtusiloba, and Styrax japonicus. These tree species are common with a wide range of ecological niches and appear to have the characteristics and survival strategies of opportunistic species that commonly appear in forest gaps and damaged areas. They will play a major role in inter-species interactions and structural and functional changes in plant communities. In the future, long-term research and in-depth discussions are needed to determine how these species actually influence plant community changes through interactions

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.22-47
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• 2024

This study aims to reveal the distribution of native plants, rare plants, and specialty plants and provides basic data for efficient ecosystem management through a survey of the flora in Mt. Chijae (Gamagol) and its adjacent areas in Damyang-gun, Jeonnam-do, while also identifying useful plants in the eco-city Damyang-gun for distinctive garden plants. A total of 21 field surveys were conducted from March 2022 to June 2023 to collect and identify 492 taxa consisting of 101 families, 304 genera, 444 species, 10 subspecies, 35 varieties, and 3 formas. The analysis of the prepared sample list showed 14 taxa designated as specialty plants, 9 taxa designated as rare plants by the Korea Forest Service, 7 taxa designated as the national red (i.e., endangered) plants by the Ministry of Environment, and 68 taxa with phylogenetic specific species, of which 45 taxa for Grade I, 5 taxa for Grade II, 16 taxa for Grade III, and 2 taxa for Grade IV were confirmed. The list included 155 taxa of biological resources subject to export approval by the Ministry of Environment and 38 taxa of alien plants of which 7.7 percent were naturalized, and the urbanization index was 6.1 percent. Four taxa were ecosystem-disturbing invasive alien plants designated by the Ministry of Environment introduced artificially or naturally from abroad. This study is expected to contribute to creating unique and attractive landscapes in Damyang if the specific plants found in Mt. Chijae are grown and planted in city gardens.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.148-156
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• 2024

Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum, a plant pathogenic bacterium that can survive for a long time in soil and water, causes lethal wilt in the Solanaceae family. Sigma S is a part of the RNA polymerase complex, which regulates gene expression during bacterial stress response or stationary phase. In this study, we investigated the role of sigma S in R. pseudosolanacearum under stress conditions using a rpoS-defective mutant strain of R. pseudosolanacearum and its wild-type strain. The phenotypes of rpoS-defective mutant were complemented by introducing the original rpoS gene. There were no differences observed in bacterial growth rate and exopolysaccharide production between the wild-type strain and the rpoS mutant. However, the wild-type strain responded more sensitively to nutrient deficiency compared to the mutant strain. Under the nutrient deficiency, the rpoS mutant maintained a high bacterial viability for a longer period, while the viability of the wild-type strain declined rapidly. Furthermore, a significant difference in pH was observed between the culture supernatant of the wild-type strain and the mutant strain. The pH of the culture supernatant for the wild-type strain decreased rapidly during bacterial growth, leading to medium acidification. The rapid decline in the wild-type strain's viability may be associated with medium acidification and bacterial sensitivity to acidity during transition to the stationary phase. Interestingly, the rpoS mutant strain cannot utilize acetic acid, D-alanine, D-trehalose, and L-histidine. These results suggest that sigma S of R. pseudosolanacearum regulates the production or utilization of organic acids and controls cell death during stationary phase under nutrient deficiency.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.165-175
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• 2024

The Korean fir tree (Abies koreana), an endemic species of South Korea, is experiencing a severe decline in population due to climate change. Studies on the conservation of Korean fir have been extensive, yet research regarding its correlation with rhizosphere bacterial communities remains scarce, warranting further investigation. In this study, metagenome amplicon sequencing targeting the 16S rRNA V4 region was conducted to examine the presence of specific bacterial communities in Korean fir and to investigate potential differences based on habitat types (rhizosphere of native or cultivated trees, soil of dead trees, and bulk soil) and seasonal variations (April, June, September, November). Here we show that although we could not identify specific taxa highly specifically with Korean fir, the rhizosphere bacterial community in native trees exhibited less variability in response to seasonal changes compared to that in bulk soils. Suggesting the establishment of relatively stable bacterial populations around the Korean fir natural habitat. Further research on other types of rhizosphere and/or microbes is necessary to investigate the distinct relationship of Korean fir with microbial communities.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.141-151
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• 2024

Objectives: To compare symptoms and characteristics among patients diagnosed with Hwabyung according to their yin-yang personality types. Methods: A structured clinical interview was conducted to diagnose Hwabyung, followed by a cross-sectional study involving a total of 118 Hwabyung patients (95 females). Various measures including the Sasang Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), Hwabyung Comprehensive Test (HCT), HwaByung Scale (HBS), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Eogul Scale (ES), and Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) were administered. Results: SPQ-total showed significant negative correlations with HBS-personality and STAXI-control, and a significant positive correlation with STAXI-out. SPQ-behavior showed significant positive correlations with HBS-symptom, STAXI-trait, STAXI-in, STAXI-out, BDI-II, BAI, ES, and PHQ-15. SPQ-cognition exhibited significant negative correlations with HBS-personality, STAXI-control, and ES. SPQ-emotion had significant negative correlations with HBS-personality and STAXI-in and a significant positive correlation with STAXI-out. SPQ-Yin demonstrated a significantly higher HBS-personality than SPQ-Yang. SPQ-Yang exhibited significantly higher STAXI-out than SPQ-Yin, whereas SPQ-Yin showed significantly higher STAXI-control and STAXI-in than SPQ-Yang. Although differences in depression, anxiety, resentment, and physical symptoms between yin and yang were not statistically significant, variations in interpretation criteria were observed. Conclusions: Anger expression patterns and physical/psychological symptoms among Hwabyung patients are different based on their yin-yang personality types. These findings can inform the prediction of symptoms in Hwabyung patients according to their yin-yang personality types and aid in establishing appropriate treatment plans.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.217-224
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• 2024

This paper proposes an efficient dimension reduction method (DRM) that considers the nonlinearity of the performance functions in reliability-based design optimization (RBDO). The dimension reduction method evaluates the reliability more accurately than the first-order reliability method (FORM) using integration quadrature points and weights. However, its efficiency is hindered as the number of quadrature points increases owing to the need for an additional evaluation of the performance function. In this study, we assessed the nonlinearity of the performance function in RBDO and proposed criteria for determining the number of quadrature points based on the degree of nonlinearity. This approach suggests adjusting the number of quadrature points during each iteration of the RBDO process while maintaining the accuracy of theDRM while improving the computational efficiency. The nonlinearity of the performance function was evaluated using the angle between the vectors used in the maximum probable target point (MPTP) search. Numerical tests were conducted to determine the appropriate number of quadrature points according to the degree of nonlinearity. Through a 2D numerical example, it is confirmed that the proposed method improves the efficiency while maintaining the accuracy of the dimension reduction method or Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS).

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.185-195
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• 2024

The Incheon Metro Line 1 Geomdan Extension Phase 1 is the first project in South Korea where both a roadheader and TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) are being used together. The shield TBM tunnel section is 1,057 m long, and is mostly composed of rock, including the section beneath the Airport Railroad and the Gyeongin Ara Waterway. A 7.8 m earth pressure balance shield TBM was used for tunnel excavation. The average monthly advance rate for both the North and South tracks is 239.1 m, with a maximum monthly advance rate of 334.5 m. This technical article comprehensively evaluates the productivity of the shield TBM, focusing on the TBM excavation performance. Above all, it aims to provide useful reference material for the successful execution of shield TBM tunnel construction.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.218-230
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• 2024

Recently, many studies have been conducted for safety management in construction sites by incorporating computer vision. Anchor box parameters are used in state-of-the-art deep learning-based object detection and segmentation, and the optimized parameters are critical in the training process to ensure consistent accuracy. Those parameters are generally tuned by fixing the shape and size by the user's heuristic method, and a single parameter controls the training rate in the model. However, the anchor box parameters are sensitive depending on the type of object and the size of the object, and as the number of training data increases. There is a limit to reflecting all the characteristics of the training data with a single parameter. Therefore, this paper suggests a method of applying multiple parameters optimized through data split to solve the above-mentioned problem. Criteria for efficiently segmenting integrated training data according to object size, number of objects, and shape of objects were established, and the effectiveness of the proposed data split method was verified through a comparative study of conventional scheme and proposed methods.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.171-178
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• 2024

In this study, we aimed to determine the various effects of Osmanthus fragrans (O. fragrans) flower extract on the skin in order to utilize it as a cosmetic material. For this purpose, Osmanthus fragrans flower extract (OFFE) of Jeju Island was prepared and used in the experiment. The experiments were evaluated by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and lipid droplet staining assay. First, the OFFE decreased the gene expressions of three representative pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-8, IL-6, and IL-1α) and an inflammation-related enzyme, PTGS2 induced by poly I:C in epidermal keratinocytes. In addition, the OFFE increased the gene expression levels of collagen (COL1A1) and elastin (ELN) in dermal fibroblasts. Further, the OFFE showed the inhibitory effect in sebum production by linoleic acid in sebocytes. Therefore, from this study, it is expected that OFFE can be used as a natural cosmetic material for anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and sebum inhibitory efficacy.