Even in an era where 8-meter class telescopes are common, small telescopes are considered very valuable research facilities since they are available for rapid follow-up or long term monitoring observations. To maximize the usefulness of small telescopes in Korea, we established the SomangNet, a network of 0.4{1.0 m class optical telescopes operated by Korean institutions, in 2020. Here, we give an overview of the project, describing the current participating telescopes, its scientic scope and operation mode, and the prospects for future activities. SomangNet currently includes 10 telescopes that are located in Australia, USA, and Chile as well as in Korea. The operation of many of these telescopes currently relies on operators, and we plan to upgrade them for remote or robotic operation. The latest SomangNet science projects include monitoring and follow-up observational studies of galaxies, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, symbiotic stars, solar system objects, neutrino/gravitational-wave sources, and exoplanets.

Resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporin in Enterobacteriaceae is increasingly prevalent in South Korea. This study aims to explore the distribution of AmpC genes in Proteus mirabilis isolated from stray and hospital-admitted companion animals in South Korea. AmpC β-lactamases hold clinical significance due to its potential to facilitate antimicrobial resistance to cefoxitin, cefazolin, and most penicillins. A total of 163 bacterial isolates belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family were collected from dogs (n = 158) and cats (n=5). Of them, 134 isolates were from hospital-admitted animals, while 29 isolates from stray animals. Boronic acid tests and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were conducted for an initial screening to detect AmpC β-lactamase resistant P. mirabilis. Gene-specific PCRs were conducted to identify the type of AmpC genes, which include six groups (MOXM, CITM, DHAM, ACCM, EBCM, and FOXM), in the resistant isolates. The boronic acid disk tests revealed 45 (27.6%) positive isolates out of 163 isolates tested. Of these 45 isolates, six were determined to harbor the EBCM gene, 13 for CITM, one for FOXM, and one for DHAM by single detection PCR. No isolates carried for ACCM or MOXM. Thus, a total of 21 out of 163 isolates (12.9%) were demonstrated to possess AmpC genes. No isolates contain more than one group of AmpC gene family. A significantly higher percentage of P. mirabilis was found to possess AmpC genes compared to past studies. Therefore, the increasing trend in antimicrobial resistance in P. mirabilis indicates a dire need to monitor antimicrobial prescription in the veterinary field.

Using data from flies collected with pitfall traps in 365 forests on a nationwide scale in Korea, the abundance and distribution changes of two families (Phoridae and Lauxaniidae) in Korean forests were predicted at the genus level according to two climate change scenarios: RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. The most suitable temperature for the 17 major genera was estimated using a weighted average regression model. Stichillus and Anevrina displayed the lowest optimum temperature with 7.6℃ and 8.5℃ in annual mean temperature, respectively, whereas Chonocephalus had the highest optimum temperature with 12.1℃. Among thirty genera, seven genera (four from Phoridae and three from Lauxaniidae), which showed their abundance in a bell-type or linear pattern along the temperature gradient, were used for predicting the distribution changes according to the future climate change scenarios. All the taxa of this study are expected to decrease in abundance and distribution as a function of temperature increase. Moreover, cold-adapted taxa were found to be more affected than warmadapted taxa.

Despite the validated EIL status, native English accents are commonly regarded as the most appropriate pronunciation-teaching norms, while nonnative accents are still considered inappropriate. This study attempts to explore Korean-speaking elementary teachers’ perceptions of native and nonnative English accents and find out the extent to which the teachers’ ratings of the accents show variance and correlations as regards likeability, familiarity, intelligibility, comprehensibility, and instructional model suitability. For these, 53 in-service Korean-speaking elementary teachers were asked to evaluate two native (American and British) and two nonnative (Filipino and Korean) English accents by the five variables. The results were as follows: 1) The AmE accent was rated most positively, while the FiE accent was least favorable in all the variables; 2) The KoE accent was evaluated to be more familiar, intelligible, and comprehensible than the BrE accent at a significant level. In contrast, the two accents exhibited an insignificant difference in likeability and suitability; 3) Significant correlations were obtained among the variables except for comparisons of likeability-intelligibility, likeability-comprehensibility, and familiarity-comprehensibility; 4) The instructional model suitability had a significant correlation with the four remaining variables. Based on these results, pedagogical implications and implications for teacher education were suggested, followed by this study’s limitations.

본 논문은 고령운전자의 운전 면허증 자진 반납을 유도하기 위하여 운전 시뮬레이터를 활용한 안전 운전 수행능력 평가 콘텐츠를 제안하고자 한다. 사용빈도가 많은 학술 데이터베이스에서 운전 시뮬레이터를 사용한 고령운전자 대상의 운전 능력을 평가하는 관련 문헌들을 검색한 후, 텍스트 네트워크를 사용하여 주행에 관련된 키워드들 간 연결중심성, 근접중심성, 매개중심성을 분석하였다. 이에 대한 결과로 도로유형 별 주행에서는 2차선과 4차선의 고속도로에서 연결중심성, 고속도로와 교차로에서는 매개중심성이 높게 나타났다. 그리고 주행상황 별 평가내용 키워드 분석 결과 에서는 연결중심성이 ‘좌회전’, ‘무단횡단’, ‘정체된 차량 회피’ 등에서 높게 나타났으며, 매개중심성에 서는 ‘좌회전’이 가장 많이 사용되는 평가내용으로 나타났다. 하지만 도로유형별 주행상황과 이에 대한 평가내용에 대한 근접중심성이 매우 유사하게 나타난 것은 각각의 실험 설계가 서로 비슷하다는 것을 의미한다.