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.

In ruminants, Interferon-τ (IFN-τ) has the role of recognizing pregnancy signals produced by the embryo and it may have an important role during the luteolysis. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of IFN-τ on prostaglandin synthesis, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene expression in vitro and secretion of progesterone (P4) in vivo. The epithelial and stromal cells isolated from bovine endometrium were cultured with different doses of IFN-τ (0, 0.02, 0.2 and 2 μg/ml). Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, 1.5 IU/ml) was used as a positive control. Prostaglandin E2 and F2α levels in the culture media were analyzed by enzyme immunoassays, and total RNA was extracted from the cells for RT-PCR. P4 concentrations in blood samples were assayed by chemiluminescent immunoassay system. In epithelial cells, COX-2 gene expression was increased in the presence of IFN-τ (p<0.05), but it was not significantly different in all groups of stromal cells except 2 μg/ml IFN-τ group (p<0.05). Although IFN-τ did not affect PGE2 and PGF2α production in epithelial cells, it decreased PGE2 and PGF2α production significantly in stromal cells (p<0.05). In vivo experiment, the P4 concentrations in blood sample was significantly increased after injection of 1 μg/ml IFN-τ. These results indicate that PG production was mediated by COX-2 expression in the stromal cells but it did not affect in the epithelial cells, and suggest that treatment of IFN-τ was to improve the implantation environment of uterine by maintenance of high P4 concentration. * This work was carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project No. PJ907008)” Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

The fuel test loop consisted an in-pile test section (IPS) and an out-pile system (OPS) is an nuclear fuel irradiation test facility installed in HANARO and its operating temperature and pressure are similar to those of commercial nuclear power plant’s. Penetration pipe connecting the IPS and OPS at the reactor concrete wall is supported by pool-wall pipe support. The existing pool-wall pipe support established in the HANARO have insulations even thought the leak tightness is not ensured. So, the need for an isolation of the insulations from the HANARO cooling water makes the existing pool-wall pipe support newly designed. In this study a structural evaluation for the pool-wall pipe support in accordance with the 2001 ASME B&PV Section III NF is implemented. The most critical primary and secondary stress intensities occur at the modified connection area of the main cooling water pipe and plate ring, but those values are less than the allowable stress. It is concluded that the existing pool-wall pipe support could be modified to a newly designed shape having an isolated insulation from a HANARO cooling water.

In-Pool By-Pass Pipe is a structure which connects the 2 In-Pool Pipes instead of In-Pile Test Section(IPS). It is designed to accommodate the 17.5 MPa and 80 ℃ under the consideration of the FTL pre-operation conditions but the need for high temperature, over 200 ℃, during FTL pre-operation make the additional assessment to be performed. For this study 2 models are used. One is an In-Pool By-Pass Pipe model which affected by HANARO water's elevation, another is an In-Pool By-Pass Pipe Nozzle which has 2 boundary conditions; water and air. After the heat transfer analysis linear stress analysis was performed to achieve Tresca stress. In the region of high stress model's detailed behavior is observed by ASME SectionⅢ NB code. Consequentially it concluded that the model of In-Pool By-Pass Pipe Structure is in reasonable agreement with those code.

The small break loss-of-coolant accidents for the HANARO fuel test loop have been predicted by MARS code. Conservative method was used for the prediction of the loss-of-coolant accidents. The maximum peak cladding temperature was calculated as 1286K, which was lower than the design limit temperature (1477K) of nuclear fuels for the HANARO fuel test loop. The maximum peak cladding temperature occurred for the cold leg break in the HANARO pool. The hydrogen generation and oxidation of the fuel cladding were also negligible. Consequently, it is ensured that the emergency cooling water system for the HANARO fuel test loop is appropriate for the small break loss-of-coolant accidents.