• Journal of Family Relations
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.77-98
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• 2016

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore perceived meanings of dating and marriage among well-educated Korean couples who were in optimal marriageable ages. Particularly, an emphasis was placed on finding out where the traditional gender norms and post-modern contexts intersect on the couples' course of dating and marriage. Method: We undertook a qualitative analysis of 8 couples (age: 26-34) dating. Participants were limited to university graduates of upper-middle rank universities in Seoul, South Korea. The rationale for choosing such sample was based on the idea that characteristics of class is inherent in the act of dating and marriage, and that such characteristics lead to different contextual experiences in dating and marriage. This study was based on interviews conducted over a three-month time span. The interviews were first transcribed into research text and then subjects and key categories were drawn from the transcripts for analysis. Results: Participants sought meanings of joy, learning, and self-improvement in dating, and they were free from traditional gender norms in their romantic relationships. They viewed marriage as having a permanent companionship with their partner, becoming independent from their parents, and/or a social norm to be followed. Participants reported mixed perceptions about marriage in such fashion that they described their parents' relationship in terms of a gendered leader-supporter relationship, while viewing their own relationship as being genderless partners. In transition to parenthood, however, they regressed to traditional gender norms dichotomized as women being a homemaker and men being a breadwinner. In sum, participants displayed expectations that were inconsistent with regard to dating and marriage over the study period. That is, during the course of dating and early marriage, they did not hold separated gender norms; however, when transitioning from being a newly married couple to giving their first childbirth, expectations shifted to traditional gender norms and values. Conclusion: This suggests that it is not marriage, but the experience of childbirth and motherhood, which strengthen traditional gendered norms, engendering regeneration of the gender norms in families. The results indicate that there is a need to promote co-parenting behavior among the newly-married couples and to educate gender equality about parent roles or for parents in South Korea so that they can overcome traditional gendered norms in family.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.120-127
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• 2021

Plant viruses cause significant yield losses, continuously compromising crop production and thus representing a serious threat to global food security. Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is the most harmful plant virus that mainly infects horticultural crops and has a wide host range. Reverse-transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) has been widely used for detecting TSWV with high sensitivity, but its application is limited owing to the lack of standardization. Therefore, in this study, a sensitive and accurate reverse transcription droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (RT-ddPCR) method was established for TSWV detection. Additionally, we compared the sensitivities of RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR for TSWV detection. Specificity analysis of RT-ddPCR for TSWV showed no amplification for main pepper viruses and negative control. TSWV transcripts levels measured by RT-ddPCR and RT-qPCR showed a high degree of linearity; however, the former yielded results that were at least 10-fold more sensitive and detected lower TSWV copy numbers than the latter. Collectively, our findings show that RT-ddPCR provides improved analytical sensitivity and specificity for TSWV detection, making it suitable for identifying low TSWV concentrations in field samples.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.9
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• pp.658-669
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• 2021

Enhancers have been conventionally perceived as cis-acting elements that provide binding sites for trans-acting factors. However, recent studies have shown that enhancers are transcribed and that these transcripts, called enhancer RNAs (eRNAs), have a regulatory function. Here, we identified putative eRNAs by profiling and determining the overlap between noncoding RNA expression loci and eRNA-associated histone marks such as H3K27ac and H3K4me1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines. Of the 132 HCC-derived noncoding RNAs, 74 overlapped with the eRNA loci defined by the FANTOM consortium, and 65 were located in the proximal regions of genes differentially expressed between normal and tumor tissues in TCGA dataset. Interestingly, knockdown of two selected putative eRNAs, THUMPD3-AS1 and LINC01572, led to downregulation of their target mRNAs and to a reduction in the proliferation and migration of HCC cells. Additionally, the expression of these two noncoding RNAs and target mRNAs was elevated in tumor samples in the TCGA dataset, and high expression was associated with poor survival of patients. Collectively, our study suggests that noncoding RNAs such as THUMPD3-AS1 and LINC01572 (i.e., putative eRNAs) can promote the transcription of genes involved in cell proliferation and differentiation and that the dysregulation of these noncoding RNAs can cause cancers such as HCC.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.1-16
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• 2019

This study was carried out to develop a physics education program for foreign students of university in Korea to improve their ability to major in the field and to prevent them from becoming dropout. The subjects of the study are five Chinese students attending a natural science and engineering college. Prior to the development of the physics education program, the researchers developed basic physics textbooks for the foreign students and questionaries for diagnosis and summative evaluation, and utilized them to apply a total of seven classes. After the application of the classes, the results of the student's diagnosis and summative evaluation, the teacher's diaries, the observer's diaries, and the transcripts were analyzed by triangulation method. In addition, Nvivo12 was used for the analysis of the teacher's and observer's diaries to help with qualitative analysis. The results of the study are as follows: First, the oder and contents of physics education program for students of the natural science and engineering college were presented in detail, and basic physics textbooks and tools for diagnosis and summative assessment were developed. Second, as a result of the analysis of the diagnosis and summative assessment results of the program, the students' basic physics achievement improved by an average of 40 points due to the application of the developed program. Third, as a result of the application of the program using Nvivo12, meaningful node and actual cases were extracted. There were 10 types of nodes created such as understanding of the students, teaching method, rate of the participation, level differences, language problems, relevance to majors, curriculum and methods of education in the country of origin, cooperative learning, and interest inducement. The researcher provided suggestions on physics education methods for students of science and engineering colleges in Korea based on the related cases.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.259-269
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• 2019

The main purpose of this study is to explore the foreign students' learning experiences in natural science basic course at college of engineering in Korea. The subjects were 7 but 4 students took part in the semi-structured interview. All of the interviews were recorded, and the recorded material was transferred and kept. The transcripts were analyzed in a qualitative method. The researchers answered the questionnaire to 7 foreign students who voluntarily participated in the study, and 4 in-depth interviews were also conducted. The interview took 30 minutes to 1 hour, and semi - structured interviewing technique was used. The contents of the interviews were all recorded with the consent of the participants, and the recorded materials were transferred and managed with the interview notes. The transferred data were analyzed based on the coding and categorization process according to the step of the continuous comparison method. The results of this study is the following. There are four themes; problems due to lack of Korean language ability when taking basic courses; problems of terms and concept understanding in major courses; supplementary learning methods of basic courses; necessity of natural science basic education program and requirement of support of the university.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.501-517
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• 2021

In the present age, when the development of science and technology is leading the changes, this study supports the view that students should possess the literacy to participate democratically and critically in socio-scientific issues, and should be positioned as agentic and participatory citizens. Accordingly, we implemented a club activity that emphasize climate social action for elementary students, and explored how students were positioned in relation to climate change. In this study, position is defined as a complex cluster of rights and duties that students have in relation to climate change. The club activity was implemented throughout 46 sessions from March to July, 2019 for 11 sixth graders of 'H elementary School' in Seoul, and transcripts of video and interviews were analyzed by means of a constant comparison method. In the course of the activity consisting of three steps, the students exhibited different positioning and they are as follows: In the global warming modeling activity for Step 1, students were positioned as 'active learners', but at the same time, they showed a contradiction in being positioned as 'apprentice'. In the student-led research activities inherent to Step 2, they were positioned as 'scientists who design and conduct research' and 'bystanders' due to the controversial nature of SSI knowledge. As students participate in the social actions involved in Step 3, the position changed from 'elementary school students facing difficulty in making a change' to 'participatory citizens creating changes.' This study is significant because it shows students' potential to promote participatory and democratic citizenship through action-oriented SSI activities. In addition, pedagogical approaches were discussed dealing with the contradictions and limitations of positioning.

• Health Communication
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.97-110
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• 2017

Purpose: This study is an overview of the experiences of nurses who have participated in a communication education program which was designed to develop proper change-of-shift dialogues. The goal of this program was to improve the communication competencies of outgoing and incoming nurses during handover and takeover of their shifts. Methods: The materials used in this study to analyze the experiences qualitatively were transcripts from narrative interviews with seven nurse participants. The education program consisted of two rounds of change-of-shift simulations by pairs of nurses, planning of a forthcoming change-of-shift, three lectures on ideal dialogue patterns, and time for video feedback. Afterwards the participants' experiences of the program were evaluated generally, highlighting the positive and the negative aspects, and how this educational experiences might affect their future change-of-shift activities. Results: High practicability, originality, professionalism, and effectiveness were some of the positive assessments made by the nurse participants. In addition, they pointed out that the sample video in which two professors performed an ideal handover and takeover and the paper kardex were both quite unrealistic. The location of the change-of-shift simulation was also unfamiliar so it needed to be supplemented. However, most of the nurses took for granted that such a communication education program is necessary and that it will provide a substantial help in their future job performance. In this regard they recommended the program to all related hospitals and nursing schools. Conclusion: The results of this study could be applied to other forms of communication education programs regardless of the specific area where communication takes place.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.565-573
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• 2010

Thinning of apple fruitlets is one of the most laborious and important works for the improvement of fruit quality and for the promotion of sufficient flower bud formation to prevent alternate bearing in commercial cultivars. Lateral fruits of self-thinning apple cultivars fall naturally within 30 days after full bloom and only central fruit remains to mature. Differences of gene expression between central fruit and lateral fruit were investigated by differential display (DD) PCR. Partial cDNAs of 30 clones from the central fruit and 24 clones from the lateral fruit were selected for nucleotide sequence determination and homology searches. The levels of transcripts coding for proteins involved in pathogenesis related proteins, senescence, temperature stress, protein degradation, fruit browning, sorbitol metabolism were significantly higher in pedicels of lateral fruit than in pedicels of central fruit. On the other hand, the up-regulation of proteins involved in anthocyanin and flavanol biosynthesis and ethylene synthesis were observed in pedicels of central fruit. In Real time PCR analysis, cytochrome P450 gene was confirmed as showing a higher expression level in lateral fruit than in central fruit. The results of this study indicate that differentially expressed genes are related to self-thinning characteristics in apple tree.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.405-414
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• 2019

As a case study, we analyzed the professor's teaching professionalism in college of science-engineering based on pedagogical content knowledge. Two professors from the college of science-engineering located in Chungcheongbuk-do participated in this study. After collecting their syllabi, we observed their classes and conducted semi-structured interview before and after the classes. Analysis were conducted on their syllabi, taped videos, field notes and transcripts of the interview. As a result, both professors' orientation to teaching was not only related to learning subject matter knowledge, but also developing job competencies or communication skills. Their orientations were transformed according to the educational situation. After establishing the final learning goals, the professors organized weekly plan by listing the topics. However, they were unaware that the goals of each topic should be presented in detail in the class. Also, one of them presented a lack of understanding of the students' prior knowledge and showed low understanding of what aspects of the topics make students difficult to learn. In addition, the two professors applied various teaching strategies such as giving examples, questioning, and problem solving, but the degree of students' participation was not enough in the process of teaching. In the aspect of assessment, the professors had low understanding in students' achievement or feedback. Based on the results of the analysis, this study proposed methods and strategies for improving the teaching professionalism of science-engineering professors.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.167-179
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• 2019

Ovarian cancer is the fifth main cause of pre-senescent death in women. Although chemotherapy is generally an efficient treatment, its side effects and the occurrence of chemotherapeutic resistance have prompted the need for alternative treatments. In this study, ${\alpha}$-mangostin and apigenin were evaluated as possible anticancer alternatives to the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin, used herein as a positive control. The ovarian adenocarcinoma cell line SKOV-3 (ATCC No. HTB77) was used as model ovarian cancer cells, whereas the skin fibroblast line CCD-986Sk (ATCC No. CRL-1947) and lung fibroblast line WI-38 (ATCC No. CCL-75) were used as model untransformed cells. Apigenin and doxorubicin inhibited the growth of SKOV-3 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. After 72 hr exposure, doxorubicin was mostly toxic to SKOV-3 cells, whereas apigenin was toxic to SKOV-3 cells but not CCD-986Sk and WI-38 cells. ${\alpha}$-Mangostin was more toxic to SKOV-3 cells than to CCD-986Sk cells. A lower cell density, cell shrinkage, and more unattached (floating round) cells were observed in all treated SKOV-3 cells, but the greatest effects were observed with ${\alpha}$-mangostin. With regard to programmed cell death, apigenin caused early apoptosis within 24 hr, whereas ${\alpha}$-mangostin and doxorubicin caused late apoptosis and necrosis after 72 hr of exposure. Caspase-3 activity was significantly increased in ${\alpha}$-mangostin-treated SKOV-3 cells after 12 hr of exposure, whereas only caspase-9 activity was significantly increased in apigenin-treated SKOV-3 cells at 24 hr. Both ${\alpha}$-mangostin and apigenin arrested the cell cycle at the $G_2/M$ phase, but after 24 and 48 hr, respectively. Significant upregulation of BCL2 (apoptosis-associated gene) and COX2 (inflammation-associated gene) transcripts was observed in apigenin- and ${\alpha}$-mangostin-treated SKOV-3 cells, respectively. ${\alpha}$-Mangostin and apigenin are therefore alternative options for SKOV-3 cell inhibition, with apigenin causing rapid early apoptosis related to the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, and ${\alpha}$-mangostin likely being involved with inflammation.