• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2014

Due to recent interest of the consumers on safe farm products and the government's political support for eco-friendly agriculture, organic fruit production has been growing continuously. This research was conducted in order to study the effect of cover plants on soil microbial community on cover plants and establish an organic fruit cultivation method through choosing optimal cover plant. As a result of investigating soil microbial population density, the bacterial density in soil showed an increasing trend in June compared to April, and there was a decreasing trend in bacterial density of the soil in August compared to June. The density of actinomycetes in soil increased around 1.6 times in June compared to April when the soil was covered with hairy vetch. The increase of filamentous fungus in crimson clover group was 6.1 times higher in June compared to April and in hairy vetch group, the increase was 4.9 times higher in June compared to April. As a result of analyzing DNA extracted from the soil categorized by different types of cover plants using DGGE method, soil collected from April had higher number of bands detected from different locations according to different types of cover plants. Diversity of the bands from the soil collected from August showed higher range of reduction. As a result of analyzing soil microbial community by different period and the types of cover plants using Pyrosequencing method, microbes were detected in the order of Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes. Distribution rate of Firmicutes increased in the soil collected in August compared to June and this was shown in all types of cover plants by twice the amount.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.73-87
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• 2016

Combining power generation and water production by desalination is economically advantageous. Most desalination projects use fossil fuels as an energy source, and thus contribute to increased levels of greenhouse gases. Environmental concerns have spurred researchers to find new sources of energy for desalination plants. The coupling of nuclear power production with desalination is one of the best options to achieve growth with lower environmental impact. In this paper, we will per-form a sensitivity study of coupling nuclear power to various combinations of desalination technology: {1} thermal (MSF [Multi-Stage Flashing], MED [Multi-Effect Distillation], and MED-TVC [Multi-Effect Distillation with Thermal Vapour Compression]); {2} membrane RO [Reverse Osmosis]; and {3} hybrid (MSF-RO [Multi-Stage Flashing & Reverse Osmosis] and MED-RO [Multi-Effect Distillation & Reverse Osmosis]). The Korean designed reactor plant, the APR1400 will be modeled as the energy production facility. The economical evaluation will then be executed using the computer program DEEP (Desalination Economic Evaluation Program) as developed by the IAEA. The program has capabilities to model several types of nuclear and fossil power plants, nuclear and fossil heat sources, and thermal distillation and membrane desalination technologies. The output of DEEP includes levelized water and power costs, breakdowns of cost components, energy consumption, and net saleable power for any selected option. In this study, we will examine the APR1400 coupled with a desalination power plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as a prototypical example. The KSA currently has approximately 20% of the installed worldwide capacity for seawater desalination. Utilities such as power and water are constructed and run by the government. Per state practice, economic evaluation for these utilities do not consider or apply interest or carrying cost. Therefore, in this paper the evaluation results will be based on two scenarios. The first one assumes the water utility is under direct government control and in this case the interest and discount rate will be set to zero. The second scenario will assume that the water utility is controlled by a private enterprise and in this case we will consider different values of interest and discount rates (4%, 8%, & 12%).

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.683-694
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• 2020

Background and objective: Cancer is the number one cause of death in Korea, and it affects any part of the body regardless of gender and age. Forest healing is a treatment that maximizes the effect of treatment and improves the quality of life. This study aims to provide basic data for the development and implementation of differentiated forest healing programs for cancer patients based on the survey on their interest and needs for the programs. Methods: The subjects were those diagnosed with cancer from October 2018 to April 2019, and this study used 144 copies of the questionnaire retrieved. The sample size of this study (n = 144) was the appropriate size required by G-Power, and the collected responses were analyzed using SPSS 25.0. Results: In the frequency analysis on the interest in forest healing, 79.2% of the subjects had no experience participating in forest healing, but 87% were aware of it, and 82.6% showed the intention to participate in forest healing programs. This indicates that even though not many of them have experience participating in forest healing, they showed high interest and needs for participation. They preferred to participate in spring (29.9%) and fall (27.8%), in programs carried out for 1.5-2 hours in the morning on weekdays. Conclusion: This study has implications for the analysis on forest healing needs of cancer patients, and it is necessary to plan, develop, and implement differentiated forest healing programs that meet the needs of the cancer patients depending on their characteristics. There is also a need to plan forest healing program that can promote both psychological stability and physical health of cancer patients and verify and evaluate their effects based on specialized training of forest healing instructors.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.98-107
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• 2012

This study was carried out to investigate the non-indigenous of Dokdo belong to Ulleung-gun, Gyeongangbuk-do, Korea, from 2008 to 2011. We divided the study into three steps depending on the recorded times of plants on Dokdo since 1973, when the ecosystem was disturbed by many plantation events. The results are as follows: 30 taxa (52.6%) until 1973, 24 taxa (42.1%) after 1973, and 3 taxa (5.3%) of cultivated plants depending on the 57 taxa of Dokdo. Management of the non-indigenous plants of Dokdo is necessary due to the great increase in interest by people, with many visitors to Dokdo.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2002

The tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine (its racemic form being atropine) and scopolamine are used medicinally as anticholinergic agents that act on the parasympathetic nerve system. Because they differ in their actions on the central nervous system, currently there is a 10-fold higher commercial demand for scopolamine, in the N-butylbromide form, than there is for hyoscyamine and atropine combined. Several solanaceous species have been used as the commercial sources of these alkaloids, but the scopolamine contents in these plants often are much lower than those of hyoscyamine. For this reason there has been long-standing interest in increasing the scopolamine contents of cultivated medicinal plants. Naturally occurring and artificial interspecific hybrids of Duboisia have high scopolamine contents and are cultivated as a commercial source of scopolamine in Australia and other countries. Anther culture combined with conventional interspecific hybridization also has been used to breed high scopolamine-containing plants in the genera Datura and Hyoscyamus, but without much success. The use of recombinant DNA technology for the manipulation of metabolic processes in cells promises to provide important contributions to basic science, agriculture, and medicine. In this review, I introduce on the enzymes and genes involved in tropane alkaloid biosynthesis and current progress in metabolic engineering approaches for tropane alkaloid, especially scopolamine, production.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.160-170
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• 2016

The increasing spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens has raised the interest in alternative antimicrobial treatments. In our study, the functionally active gram-negative bacterium bacteriophage CP933 endolysin was produced in Nicotiana benthamiana plants by a combination of transient expression and vacuole targeting strategies, and its antimicrobial activity was investigated. Expression of the cp933 gene in E. coli led to growth inhibition and lysis of the host cells or production of trace amounts of CP933. Cytoplasmic expression of the cp933 gene in plants using Potato virus X-based transient expression vectors (pP2C2S and pGR107) resulted in death of the apical portion of experimental plants. To protect plants against the toxic effects of the CP933 protein, the cp933 coding region was fused at its Nterminus to an N-terminal signal peptide from the potato proteinase inhibitor I to direct CP933 to the delta-type vacuoles. Plants producing the CP933 fusion protein did not exhibit the severe toxic effects seen with the unfused protein and the level of expression was 0.16 mg/g of plant tissue. Antimicrobial assays revealed that, in contrast to gram-negative bacterium E. coli (BL21(DE3)), the gram-positive plant pathogenic bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis was more susceptible to the plant-produced CP933, showing 18% growth inhibition. The results of our experiments demonstrate that the combination of transient expression and protein targeting to the delta vacuoles is a promising approach to produce functionally active proteins that exhibit toxicity when expressed in plant cells.

• CELLMED
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.2.1-2.4
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• 2019

With the improvement of economic status and the desire for beauty, the interest in health and skin care is increasing. For these demands, since ages medicinal plants are in vogue. A variety of plants, cosmetics and foods with novel bioactive ingredients for skin care and beauty are under constant research and development. Skin is influenced by various factors such as Ultra-violet rays, stress, hormones and aging which together lead skin to lose elasticity, changes in pigmentation and wrinkle formation. Many medicinal plants have proven effects in skin care and beauty treatment. From this list of medicinal plants, one which is famous for its beauty, flavor and fragrance is Rosa damascene. Rosa damascene has many therapeutic action and postulated pharmacological studies such as anti-arthritic, anti-microbial, cardio protective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic, immune-modulator, gastro-protective, and skin ameliorative effect. Research in the field of Cosmetology has proven the effect of Rosa damascene in rehydrating skin, reducing scars and stretches, acne management, lowering skin pigmentation, delaying wrinkling and is recommended as a skin vitalizing agent. In this review, the morphology, chemical constituents, and some pharmacological activity are discussed.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.595-608
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• 2021

Background and objective: For effective horticultural education, it is required to develop kits for practice. In this study, we developed a horticultural kit for germination that introduces storytelling, characterization, and assembly, and investigated the educational effects of using it to study its educational differentiation and usefulness. Methods: First, we developed a seed germination kit for learning. It consists of three components: the kit main frame for hydroponics, the activity sheet for storytelling, and the instruction manual. It is made into an acrylic assembly in consideration of the ease of delivery for contactless learning. Second, we developed two programs, each using a germination kit for horticultural education (experimental group) and a general germination kit program (control group). At this time, the class consists of pre-questionnaire, the 1st and 2nd classes, observation log writing (total six times for two weeks), the 3rd class, and post-questionnaire. The experimental group and control group were separately executed. Third, the application results were compared and analyzed before and after class. As a quantification questionnaire, the effects before and after class were compared through t-test with a questionnaire on program satisfaction and attitude change toward plants. The quantitative results were analyzed through observation activity sheets and effects before and after the class were analyzed through t-test with quantification and language coding. Results: The effect of horticulture education using the developed kit was estimated by a quantification questionnaire. Both the program satisfaction and the change in attitude toward plants showed high in the experimental group, and this difference was statistically significant (p < .05). As a result of analyzing the observation paper with a qualitative questionnaire, various cognitive and affective expressions appeared in the experimental group as well as the contents of the observation paper. The number of syllables and various qualitative expressions appeared, and these differences were also statistically significant (p < .05). Conclusion: Compared to general germination activities, it was found that the germination activities using storytelling-based horticultural kits would be effective for contactless classes in the post-COVID-19 era and in increasing the educational effect of horticultural activities.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 2021

Background and objective: This study was conducted as part of research to promote garden diversity and seek sustainable garden management plans, as well as to determine the trends in understanding and use of companion plants as an eco-friendly farming method and provide the results as the basic data for sustainable urban agriculture. Methods: To determine the trends in garden activities, eco-friendly pest control, and use of companion plants, a survey was conducted on 230 urban residents participating in the Urban Agriculture Expert course. 223 copies of the questionnaire were collected excluding missing values, and IBM SPSS statistics Ver. 25 Program was used for frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, and regression analysis. Results: Most of the respondents were female (71.3%), homemakers (26.5%), were in their 50s (29.1%), and had 2 members in the family (27.8%). 164 respondents (73.5%) had experience in gardening, most of them once a week (31.7%) and for self-consumption (55.5%). Both men and women raised crops for safe food production (32.3%), and they most preferred the city garden type (39.9%). For the preparation of nourishment for eco-friendly garden management, most respondents (60.1%) purchased fertilizers from the market. For the reason why eco-friendly pest control is necessary, all respondents except 4 of them (98.2%) responded that it is necessary 'because it affects my health as I eat it (73.5%)', indicating that they still had a high level of interest in health. Only 43.9% of the respondents said that they had heard of companion plants, 89.2% responded that companion plants were effective in eco-friendly management, and 87.4% showed the will to participate in gardening using companion plants in the future. Finally, the regression analysis confirmed that the awareness of companion plants and satisfaction with gardening activities are key variables that increase the intention to participate in gardening activities in the future. Conclusion: Since plants require special care depending on the period and various diseases and insect pests occur, there must be continuous research on companion plants as an eco-friendly farming method. Moreover, by actively using companion plants in urban gardens with the utility value in not only eco-friendly pest control but also in helping plant growth, urban agriculture is expected to be continuously activated and promoted by increasing satisfaction in gardening activities with aesthetic landscaping and pest control.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.1486-1492
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• 2011

The Development of science and technology began with the use of fire. In addition to the invention of an artificial light, more time and activity areas were provided so that continuous technological development has continued. Also, artificial lights brought an improvement in productivity through the applications in various fields such as agriculture, livestock farming, fisheries, and so on. Especially, in the field of agriculture, LED has come to the front as an alternative for food security against extreme climatic change. Meanwhile, with great interest, many researches about the convergence of agricultural biotechnology and LED industry are ongoing over the world. This paper shows the correlation of the plants growth using the LED artificial lighting similar to sunlight, which is needed for photosynthesis, in subway station which has actually no natural lights. Also, it is expected that this paper will lay out the groundwork for improving an environmentally friendly image which gives a relief and an emotional effect to passengers by using nature friendly lighting.