Background: Proprioception in the ankle joint is important for maintaining balance. There is a correlation between joint position sense (JPS), balance and ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (DF-ROM). Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of talocrural joint mobilization (TJM) and muscle energy technique (MET) of plantar flexor muscle (PF) on improving joint position sense (JPS) and static balance. Design: Cross-over randomized trial research. Methods: Sixteen participants (male 10, female 6; 20’s of their age) without ankle instability were recruited. In a randomized, three conditions, no intervention, talocalcaneal mobilization, and PF-MET were all applied to 16 participants. For TJM, the Kaltenborn grade 3 joint gliding method, in which the talus moves posteriorly perpendicular to the tacrocrural joint plane, were used. In the PF-MET, MET method were applied gastrocnemius muscle and soleus muscle with 25% of 1 Repeat Maximum of each muscle. The all participants performed PF-MET and TJM for 18 minutes. DF-ROM measured the weightbearing lunge test. JPS measured using the active joint angle reproduction test. Static balance was measured displacement of center of pressure parameter. Results: PF-MET and TJM had significant differences in DF-ROM and AP displacements. PF-MET significantly increased at 5° and 15° of plantar flexion and 5° of dorsiflexion, and COP velocity significantly decreased in JPS compared to TJM. Conclusion: PF-MET and TJM are effective in increasing DF-ROM. However, PF-MET has a more positive effect on improving JPS and static balance than on talocrural joint mobilization.

During the operation of a nuclear power plant (NPP), the generation of radioactive waste, including dry active waste (DAW), concentrates, spent resin, and filters, mandates the implementation of appropriate disposal methods to adhere to Korea’s waste acceptance criteria (WAC). In this context, this study investigates the potential use of polymer concrete (PC) as a high-integrity container (HIC) material for solidifying and packaging these waste materials. PC is a versatile composite material comprising binding polymers, aggregates, and additives, known for its exceptional strength and chemical stability. A comprehensive analysis of PC’s long-term integrity was conducted in this study. First, its compressive strength, which is crucial for ensuring the structural stability of HICs over extended periods, was evaluated. Subsequently, the resilience of PC was tested under various stress conditions, including biological, radiological, thermal, and chemical stressors. The findings of this study indicate that PC exhibits remarkable long-term properties, demonstrating exceptional stability even when subjected to diverse stressors. The results therefore underscore the potential viability of PC as a reliable material for constructing high-integrity containers, thus contributing to the safe and sustainable management of radioactive waste in NPPs.

This paper described a method for analyzing the structural performance of a metal container used for disposing radioactive waste generated during the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant, and numerical analysis results of a method for reinforcing the container. The containers to be analyzed were those that can be used in near-surface and landfill disposal facilities scheduled to be operated at the Gyeongju radioactive waste disposal facility. Structural reinforcement of the container was performed by lattice reinforcement, column reinforcement, and bottom plate reinforcement. Accordingly, a total of 14 reinforcement cases were modeled. The external force causing damage to the container was set equivalent to the impact of a 9-m fall, accounting for the height of the vault at the near-surface disposal facility. The reinforcement methods with a high contribution to the structural performance of the container were concluded to be lattice and column reinforcements.

목적 : 4차 산업혁명이 진행됨에 따라 타각적 굴절검사값, 수차 및 동공크기 등을 이용하여 최적의 안경처방값 을 도출해주는 머신러닝(machine learning)을 개발하고자 하였다. 방법: 시력에 영향을 줄 수 있는 안질환 및 전신질환이 없고 안구 수술 이력이 없는 근시안(1,000안)을 대상으로 진행하였다. I-Profilerplus(Zeiss, Berlin, Germany)를 사용하여 타각적 굴절이상도(objective-refraction) 및 안구수차(ocular wavefront-aberration), 동공 크기를 측정하였고, 자각적 굴절이상도(subjective-refraction)는 Visuphor500(Zeiss, Berlin, Germany)를 사용하여 구면 굴절력(S, Diopter), 원주 굴절력(C, Diopter), 난시 축(Ax, °)을 측정하였다. 측정 후, 파이썬(Python, version 3.10)을 이용하여 머신러닝 모델 생성 및 예측 성능을 확인하였다. 결과: 자각적 굴절이상도에서 구면 굴절력에 영향을 미치는 요인은 타각적 구면 굴절력, defocus aberration, spherical aberration, trefoil aberration 순으로 높았고, 원주 굴절력에 영향을 미치는 요인은 타각적 원주 굴 절력, defocus aberration, coma aberration, trefoil aberration 순으로 높았으며, 난시 축은 타각적 난시축만 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 구면 굴절력, 원주 굴절력, 난시 축의 자각적 굴절이상도와 머신러닝 예상값은 차이가 없는 것으로 나타났다(p=0.976, 0.948, and 0.349, respectively). 결론 : 자각적 굴절이상도를 예측하는 머신러닝 모델을 생성하였고, 해당 모델의 예측된 값과 자각적 굴절이상 도와 유의한 차이가 없는 것을 통해 예측 정확도를 확인하였으며 앞으로 개인 맞춤형 처방을 위한 정확한 안경처 방값을 도출하는데 기초자료가 될 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.

Silene fissipetala Turcz., which is native to Continental China and Taiwan, was newly found in Chungcheongnam-do, Korea. S. fissipetala is similar to the related taxa S. antirrhina L., S. armeria L., and S. koreana Kom. in that it has glutinous zones. However, S. fissipetala is distinguished from the congeneric species by the presence of laciniate at the petals. The species grows on slopes and roadsides, suggesting that it is likely to have been introduced through the installation of green sites and road construction. A precise description, photographs, voucher specimens and a key to related taxa are provided.

The advent of big data has brought about the need for analytics. Natural language processing (NLP), a field of big data, has received a lot of attention. Topic modeling among NLP is widely applied to identify key topics in various academic journals. The Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering (KSIE) has published academic journals since 1978. To enhance its status, it is imperative to recognize the diversity of research domains. We have already discovered eight major research topics for papers published by KSIE from 1978 to 1999. As a follow-up study, we aim to identify major topics of research papers published in KSIE from 2000 to 2022. We performed topic modeling on 1,742 research papers during this period by using LDA and BERTopic which has recently attracted attention. BERTopic outperformed LDA by providing a set of coherent topic keywords that can effectively distinguish 36 topics found out this study. In terms of visualization techniques, pyLDAvis presented better two-dimensional scatter plots for the intertopic distance map than BERTopic. However, BERTopic provided much more diverse visualization methods to explore the relevance of 36 topics. BERTopic was also able to classify hot and cold topics by presenting ‘topic over time’ graphs that can identify topic trends over time.

Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), commonly known as Holy Basil is a revered herb with a rich history in traditional medicine systems, particularly in Southeast Asia. For its medicinal properties, Tulsi has been regarded as an “Elixir of Life” and has been used to treat various ailments. However, the comprehensive investigation of Tulsi extracts and their potential pharmacological benefits, specifically in relation to antioxidant activity remains limited. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of Tulsi leaf and stem extract using various screening methods. We investigate the antioxidant activity exhibited by the extract using three different methods involved the utilization of the total polyphenol content assay, the ferric reducing power assay and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-14 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. The results revealed that the Tulsi leaf extract (TLE) exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity when compared to the Tulsi stem extract (TSE) in all the performed assays. The higher content of phenolics in TLE may have contributed to its superior antioxidant activity. The HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) analysis of TLE revealed the presence of eugenol, active compound for several therapeutic properties. These findings provide an understanding of the bioactive compounds present in Tulsi extracts and their potential antioxidant benefits.

This study was conducted to determine the appropriate seeding dates by verifying the difference in winter survival and productivity of alfalfa according to fall sowing dates in the central area of South Korea. The experiment was conducted for 2 years (2020 and 2021) at the field in the Department of Animal Resources Development, NIAS located in Cheonan. Sowing dates started from September 18 to November 8 with 10 days of intervals during 2020 and 2021; SO1 (September 18), SO2 (September 28), SO3 (October 8), SO4 (October 18), SO5 (October 28), and SO6 (November 8). After sowing, the winter survival rate was measured in the spring of the following year, and the dry matter yield was measured by harvesting at 10% flowering and harvesting five times a year. SO6 failed to winter survival, and SO5 also had a lower winter survival rate than SO1~4 (p<0.05). The average annual dry matter yield of alfalfa linearly decreased with delaying sowing dates (p<0.05). The feed value did not differ in the same year by delaying the sowing date in the same year. These results suggest that sowing date should be started before October 18 to increase winter survival and productivity of alfalfa in the central area of South Korea.

As increasing number of stray cats, it recently has more chance for stray cats to invade people area. Inevitably, the number of cases of inconvenience and damage caused by street cats is also increasing proportionally. Therefore, we investigated and analyzed the current status and implementation of TNR in Korea and suggested the direction in which Korea's policy should go. Domestic TNR has been implemented for about 20 years, but the ratio of stray cats to which TNR is applied insufficient and post-management after TNR is also insufficient. In the case of other countries, a large percentage of TNR is conducted by selecting TNR target cats based on scientific grounds and adoption or additional observation is carried out after TNR. Based on this strategy, the conditions for successful TNR need to expand the decision-making authority of veterinarians involved in TNR and actively invigorate subsequent solutions such as adoption. In addition, the policy should be improved in the way of expanding management and supervision after TNR through food service centers and shelters.

This study was aimed to isolate bacterial inoculants producing chitinase and evaluate their application effects on corn silage. Four corn silages were collected from four beef cattle farms to serve as the sources of bacterial inoculants. All isolates were tested against Fusarium graminearum head blight fungus MHGNU F132 to confirm their antifungal effects. The enzyme activities (carboxylesterase and chitinase) were also measured to isolate the bacterial inoculant. Based on the activities of anti-head blight fungus, carboxylesterase, and chitinase, L. buchneri L11-1 and L. paracasei L9-3 were subjected to silage production. Corn forage (cv. Gwangpyeongok) was ensiled into a 10 L mini silo (5 kg) in quadruplication for 90 days. A 2 × 2 factorial design consists of F. graminearum contamination at 1.0104 cfu/g (UCT (no contamination) vs. CT (contamination)) and inoculant application at 2.1 × 105 cfu/g (CON (no inoculant) vs. INO (inoculant)) used in this study. After 90 days of ensiling, the contents of CP, NDF, and ADF increased (p<0.05) by F. graminearum contamination, while IVDMD, acetate, and aerobic stability decreased (p<0.05). Meanwhile, aerobic stability decreased (p<0.05) by inoculant application. There were interaction effects (p<0.05) on IVNDFD, NH3-N, LAB, and yeast, which were highest in UCT-INO, UCT-CON, CT-INO, and CT-CON & INO, respectively. In conclusion, this study found that mold contamination could negatively impact silage quality, but isolated inoculants had limited effects on IVNDFD and yeast.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), which is a traditional Korean crop, has been known as a health food due to its rich nutrition. This study was conducted to evaluate the change in flavonoid content of flowers and seeds during post-flowering growth of Korean tartary buckwheat variety ‘Hwanggeummiso’, with the aim of providing basic data for the development of functional food and feed additive. Tartary buckwheat took 69 and 99 days from the sowing date to reach the flowering and maturity stages, respectively. As a result of examining the flavonoid components of each part of tartary buckwheat, chlorogenic acid, rutin, and isoquercitrin of flowers increased from the flowering period on 22 May (0 days after flowering) to 42 days after flowering, while quercetin increased until 21 days after flowering and then decreased thereafter. In seeds, chlorogenic acid, rutin, and isoquercitrin were most abundant at the time of seed-bearing on 14 days after flowering, and showed a decreasing tendency thereafter. On the other hand, quercetin showed a tendency to increase until 21 days after flowering and then decrease. Overall, the flavonoid content was higher in flowers than in seeds, with rutin being particularly prominent. Based on this, the possibility as food materials and feed additives was confirmed using buckwheat produced in Korea.

Canine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2) has been reported worldwide as a major pathogen associated with acute hemorrhagic enteritis. The disease is a major infectious cause of death, particularly in young dogs. The earliest type of CPV-2 was replaced with three main subspecies, CPV-2a, CPV-2b, and CPV-2c, within a few years. Vaccination is carried out regularly, but the emergence of antigenic variants and the influence of maternal antibodies have limited the efficacy of commercial vaccines. New vaccines, such as the subunit vaccine, have been developed for alternative, safe, and effective vaccination. The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is an excellent eukaryotic expression system with a high-level expression of foreign proteins and the ability of post-translational modification. Therefore, it is used widely to produce recombinant protein and subunit vaccines. In this study, the VP2 protein of CPV-2b cloned in the gateway vector system was generated using a baculovirus expression system in Spodoptera frugiperda (SF9) insect cells. Hemagglutination assay (HA) titers (24) were obtained, and the expression was detected in 6-His tagged VP2 and monoclonal antibody (mAb) against CPV-2 by western blotting. The VP2 protein of CPV-2b expressed in this study may provide a basis for a clinical diagnosis and vaccination applications for CPV-2.

The present study was conducted to analyze agronomic characteristics of 8 ecotypes of Arundinella hirta (A. hirta) and the correlation among them. Changes in phenotypic characteristics of 8 ecotypes were measured at equal intervals of time from May to September. Among ecotypes, Jangsoo-1 has the highest plant height (172.33 cm), number of leaves (9.00) and leaf length (55 cm) while the ecotype Youngduk has the highest leaf width (1.57 cm), fresh mass (26.63 g), dry mass (7.06 g), number of spikelets per spike (53.33), amount of seeds per spike (0.74 g) and amount of seeds per 10 spikes (7.23 g). The ecotype Jinju-1 has the shortest plant height (119 cm) and leaf number (6.33), while Okgye-2 has shortest leaf length (30.67 cm), leaf width (0.93 cm), fresh mass (12.60 g), dry mass (3.30 g), spike length (30.33 cm), spikelet per spike (39.67), amount of seeds per spike (0.61 g) and amount of seeds per 10 spikes (6.00 g). Correlation coefficients were estimated among the studied agronomic characteristics which showed positive and significant association with each other. In the present study, the agronomic data collected would be useful to understand the potential of A. hirta as a forage resource and helpful in selecting the high-yielding genetic resource for future forage improvement.

A one-year-old, female, Maltese dog was presented with head tilting, horizontal nystagmus, and tetraparesis. Blindness was first identified, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning revealed diffuse lesion which was hyperintense on T2-weighted image over the cerebellum and brainstem. The immunosuppressive therapy had been administered, but the patient had no improvement. Re-performed MRI revealed the progression of the pre-existed inflammatory lesions. Treatment with prednisolone, leflunomide, cyclosporine, and cytosine arabinoside was initiated. However, neurological signs had been progressive, and the patient was euthanized. The histopathological examination revealed the disseminated granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis (GME). This GME case suggests the importance of initiation of treatment at the appropriate time.

With the recent advent of Metaverse, the character industry that reflects the characteristics of users' faces is drawing attention. there is a hassle that users have to select face components such as eyes, nose, and mouth one by one. In this paper, we propose a diffusion-based model that automatically generates characters from content human photographs. Our model generates user artistic characters by reflecting content information such as face angle, direction, and shape of a content human photo. In particular, our model automatically analyzes detailed information such as glasses and whiskers from content photo images and reflects them in artistic characters generated. Our network generates the final character through a three-step: diffusion process, UNet, and denoising processes. We use image encoders and CLIP encoders for the connection between style and input data. In the diffusion process, a collection of noise vectors is gradually added to a style vector to enable lossless learning of the detailed styles. All input values except for the style images are vectorized with CLIP encoders and then learned with noise style vectors in the UNet. Subsequently, noise is removed from the vectors through the UNet to obtain the artistic character image. We demonstrate our performance by comparing the results of other models with our results. Our method reflects content information without loss and generates natural high-definition characters.