During the course of analysing both single-dish and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) data obtained from the Korean VLBI Network (KVN), we found a systematic oset between ux density measurements from dierent antennas. We were able to attribute a majority of the systematic osets to changes in the \a priori" antenna gains, which were found to have varied up to 10 percent at 22 GHz and up to 30 percent at 43 GHz. Using historical calibrator observations, we present a revised set of gains that may be applied to KVN data taken from 2015 August to 2019 January. Application of the revised gains to the KVN results in a consistency of correlated ux density measurements between the three baselines of approximately ve percent. We found that images from the recalibrated data typically have a 50 percent higher dynamic range, with some cases showing an increase of dynamic range of up to a factor of three.

Humulus japonicus (HJ) is a widely used herbal medicine for pulmonary tuberculosis, hypertension, leprosy, and venomous wounds in Asia, particularly in China. Although HJ has certain physiological activities, such as longitudinal bone growth, antioxidation and alleviation of rheumatism, its anticancer activities, other than in colorectal and ovarian cancer, are yet to be studied. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer activity and mechanism of methanol extracts of HJ (MeHJ) against human FaDu hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. MeHJ suppressed FaDu cell viability without affecting normal cells (L929), which was demonstrated using the MTT and Live & Dead assays. Furthermore, MeHJ effectively inhibited colony formation of FaDu cells, even at non-cytotoxic concentrations, and significantly induced apoptosis through the proteolytic cleavage of caspase-9, -3, -7, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and through the downregulation of BCL-2 and upregulation of BAX in FaDu cells, as determined by DAPI staining, flow cytometry, and western blot analyses. Collectively, these findings suggest that the inhibitory effects of MeHJ on the growth and colony formation of oral cancer cells may be mediated by caspase- and mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathways in human FaDu hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma cells. Therefore, MeHJ has the potential to be used as a natural chemotherapeutic drug against human oral cancer.

Two linyphiid spiders, Saitonia kawaguchikonis Saito & Ono, 2001 and Asthenargus niphonius Saito & Ono, 2001 were confirmed from Korea for the first time. Males of S. kawaguchikonis and a female of A. niphonius were collected with pitfall traps in a leaf litter of mixed forests in three National Parks (Hallyeohaesang National Park, Mt. Naejangsan, and Mt. Sobaeksan) during the seasonal surveys for the spider fauna in mountainous terrain from 2018 to 2020. These two species were formerly known from China and Japan, or only from Japan, respectively. The present study describes these two species with measurements, morphological illustrations, and a distribution map. This report adds the genus Asthenargus Simon & Fage, 1922 from Korea to the Korean spider fauna for the first time.