• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.498-508
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• 2021

Micro reactors are increasingly being considered for utilization as distributed power sources. Hence, the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) of a direct supercritical-CO₂-cooled fast reactor, called micro modular reactor (MMR), was performed in this study; this reactor was developed using innovative design concepts. It adopted a modular design and passive safety systems to minimize site constraints. As the MMR is in its conceptual design phase, design weaknesses and valuable safety insights could be identified during PSA. Level 1 internal event PSA was carried out involving literature survey, system characterization, identification of initiating events, transient analyses, development of event trees and fault trees, and quantification. The initiating events and scenarios significantly contributing to core damage frequency (CDF) were determined to identify design weaknesses in MMR. The most significant initiating event category contributing to CDF was the transients with the power conversion system initially available category, owing to its relatively high occurrence frequency. Further, an importance analysis revealed that the safety of MMR can be significantly improved by improving the reliability of reactor trip and passive decay heat removal system operation. The findings presented in this paper are expected to contribute toward future applications of PSA for assessing unconventional nuclear reactors in their conceptual design phases.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.123-134
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• 2021

In this paper, the carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) grids embedded in polymer cement mortar (PCM) shotcrete (CFRP-PCM method) was conducted to repair the degraded tunnel linings with a cavity. Subsequently, the reinforcing effect of the CFRP-PCM method under different degrees of lining deterioration was quantitatively evaluated. Finally, the limit state design method of the M-N interaction curve was conducted to determine whether the structure reinforced by the CFRP-PCM method is in a safe state. The main results indicated that when the cavity is at the shoulder, the lining damage rate is more serious. In addition, the remarkably reinforcing effect on the degraded tunnel linings could be achieved by applying a higher grade of CFRP grids, whereas the optimization effect is no longer obvious when the grade of CFRP grids is too high (CR8); Furthermore, it is found that the M-N numerical values of the ten reinforcing designs of the CFRP-PCM method are distributed outside the corresponding M-N theoretical interaction curves, and these designs should be avoided in the corresponding reinforcing engineering.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.433-440
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• 2021

The fungal genus Trametes is globally distributed and comprises various wood-decay species, including the well-known medicinal mushroom Trametes versicolor, a popular remedy in traditional Asian medicine. Trametes species produce antioxidants, which have a wide range of health benefits. The pressent study evaluated seven indigenous Trametes species from Korea, which were cultivated in three different media (dextrose-yeast extract, DY; malt extract-yeast extract, MY; malt extract broth, MEB) and tested for antioxidant activity using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) assays. We found that the medium consumption rate did not significantly differ between the media and among the strains (72-76%). However, the T. versicolor strains had a relatively low consumption rate (14-65%). The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) tests demonstrated that culture filtrates of T. cf. junipericola, T. orientalis, T. suaveolens, and T. versicolor possessed antioxidant activity against damage from free radicals. In particular, T. cf. junipericola (DY) and T. versicolor (MY) had >80% activity in the DPPH and ABTS assays, compared with that of the positive control (ascorbic acid). Thus, our study identified promising candidates with substantial antioxidant activity among the indigenous strains of Trametes spp. from Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.16-25
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• 2019

While various efforts are being made to ensure aviation safety, air accident rate induced by pilot human factors is still high worldwide. In particular, among pilot human factors, it would be the most important issue for pilots to anticipate and recognize flight environmental factors beyond their control and to make a positive decision making(ADM). In the Republic of Korea Air Force(ROKAF), there were many dizzying experiences induced by bird strike incidents and developed into dangerous moments such as damage to the aircraft and pilots' increased mental stress. It is a matter of serious concern in terms of safety management and human factors to dismiss bird strike incidents as inevitable misfortune due to environmental factors. In 2018, the ROKAF Aviation Safety Agency(ASA) conducted an experimental study to enhance pilots' ADM competence that can anticipate and avoid a bird strike. As the way of the study, 'Bird Strike Preventing Information' had been written and distributed every week by the ASA to flight units in the ROKAF during the period of the study. Through enhanced pilots' perceptual ADM competence, there was a noticeable number of reduction in bird strike incident compared to previous years of the experimental study.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.173-184
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• 2021

Ecological disturbance plants distributed throughout the country are causing a lot of damage to us directly or indirectly in terms of ecology, economy and health. These plants are not easy to manage and remove because they have a strong fertility, and it is very difficult to express them quantitatively. In this study, drone hyperspectral sensor data and Field spectroradiometer were acquired around the experimental area. In order to secure the quality accuracy of the drone hyperspectral image, GPS survey was performed, and a location accuracy of about 17cm was secured. Spectroscopic libraries were constructed for 7 kinds of plants in the experimental area using a Field spectroradiometer, and drone hyperspectral sensors were acquired in August and October, respectively. Spectral data for each plant were calculated from the acquired hyperspectral data, and spectral angles of 0.08 to 0.36 were derived. In most cases, good values of less than 0.5 were obtained, and Ambrosia trifida and Lactuca scariola, which are common in the experimental area, were extracted. As a result, it was found that about 29.6% of Ambrosia trifida and 31.5% of Lactuca scariola spread in October than in August. In the future, it is expected that better results can be obtained for the detection of ecosystem distribution plants if standardized indicators are calculated by constructing a precise spectral angle standard library based on more data.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2022

Many investigations have been conducted on the biological damage and environmental conditions necessary to preserve the Janggyeong Panjeon and Daejanggyeongpan (woodblocks). We performed a survey on the concentration and diversity of airborne fungi in the Janggyeong Panjeon and compared them with the results of a survey from 2012. The temperature of the Beopbojeon building was slightly lower, while the relative humidity was higher than those found at the Sudarajang building. The concentration of airborne fungi in the Beopbojeon was 1.44-fold that of the Sudarajang. It was confirmed that the concentration and diversity of airborne fungi in the Janggyeong Panjeon differed depending on the sampling site. In total, 23 fungal genera were identified from the air samples, and 11 fungal and 1 bacterial genera were identified from the surface of the woodblocks. Among these, only five types of fungi were commonly distributed in the indoor air and surface of the Daejanggyeongpan; however, 58.3% of the fungi identified on the surface of the woodblocks were not observed in the in the air samples. The surface-dwelling fungi may accumulate dust to form microbial communities over time.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.5
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• pp.575-590
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• 2022

In this paper, bond-slip behavior of high strength concrete filled circular steel tube (HSCFCST) after elevated temperatures treatment was studied. 17 specimens were designed for push-out test. The influence was discussed as following parameters: (a) concrete strength, (b) constant temperature, and (c) bond length. The results showed that (1) after elevated temperatures treatment, the bond strength of the HSCFCST specimens increased first and then decreased with temperature rising; (2) the bond strength increased with the increase of concrete strength at room temperature, while the influence subsided after elevated temperatures treatment; (3) the strain of the circular steel tube was distributed exponentially along its length, the stress changed from exponential distribution to uniform distribution with the increase of load; (4) the bond damage process was postponed with the increase of constant temperature; and (5) the energy consumption capacity of the bonding interface increased with the rise of concrete strength and constant temperature. Moreover, computational formulas of ultimate and residual bond strength were obtained by regression, and the bond-slip constitutive models of HSCFCSTs after elevated temperatures was established.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.5
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• pp.675-684
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• 2022

The conventional single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system is appropriate for dynamic response analysis of paneltype structures without an opening. However, the typical building structures usually have four-sided fixed walls having an opening. Therefore, it may induce a considerable error when dynamic responses are estimated based on the conventional SDOF system, since the SDOF system cannot consider the effect of an opening during the SDOF analysis. For this reason, this study proposes a new SDOF system to consider the effect of an opening by adjusting its load-mass factor. The load-mass factor can be modified based on the assumption that the behaviors of the four-sided fixed wall with an opening is very similar to the behaviors of the same size wall without an opening, when the uniformly distributed blast loaded area is identical. In order to confirm a feasibility of the proposed SDOF system, a series of numerical simulations were carried out for the four-sided fixed reinforced concrete (RC) wall under a blast load. The dynamic responses estimated from the proposed SDOF system and the conventional SDOF system were compared with the dynamic responses evaluated from the finite element (FE) analysis. Especially, for the maximum dynamic responses except for 50% opening case, the proposed SDOF system had about 1.1% to 25.7% normalized errors while the conventional SDOF system had about 4.1% to 49.1% normalized errors.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.194-200
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• 2022

Albizia julibrissin Durazz. (AJ; family Minosaceae) is widely distributed worldwide, and its stem bark has been used as a traditional herbal medicine. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a clinical syndrome that results in sudden loss of renal function. This study aimed to investigate the effects of AJ against cisplatin-induced AKI using a human kidney proximal tubule epithelial cell line (HK-2) and cisplatin-treated mice. In vitro, cisplatin treatment increased apoptosis in HK-2 cells. However, AJ treatment decreased apoptosis of cisplatin-treated HK-2 cells. In vivo, cisplatin treatment accelerated renal injury by increasing the levels of renal injury markers, such as blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, kidney injury molecule 1, and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, which were reversed by AJ treatment. Histopathologically, AJ treatment resulted in decreased renal damage with less tubular necrosis and brush border desquamation compared with the AKI group. Additionally, cisplatin treatment upregulated mitochondrial fission, a pathological characteristic of AKI, which was downregulated by AJ treatment. Along with increased mitochondrial fission, AJ treatment also reduced cisplatin-induced apoptosis. These results suggest that AJ may be a potential therapeutic agent for cisplatin-induced AKI.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.4-4
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• 2020

Three wildfires severely damaged local towns and forests in Gangwon-do, South Korea in 2019 April 4-5. Local hydrological regime could be greatly altered by the wildfires, therefore it is important to assess its damage (e.g. area and severity) and also resultant changes in hydrological fluxes. We retrieved the Normalized-Burned Ratio (NBR) index using remote-sensing data (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 500-m 8-day surface reflectance data), and delineated the damaged-area based on the difference in the NBR (dNBR) before and after the wildfires. We then estimated changes in the annual evapotranspiration (AET) in 2019 using the MODIS evapotranspiration data (500-m 8-day). It was found that the damaged-area of the three wildfires was 29.50 km^2 in total, which take up 1.00-6.19% area of five catchments. It was estimated that the AET would be decreased as 0.05-1.56% over those five catchments, as compared to the pre-fire AET (2004-2018). The impact of the wildfires on the catchment AET was less severe than expected (i.e. up to 1.56%) mostly because two big wildfires were distributed across two catchments respectively (i.e. four catchments for the two wildfires) and the other wildfire was small and not severe. This study highlights the importance of assessing the area and severity of a wildfire when estimating its impact on the local hydrological cycle.