Veronica L., the largest genus in the family Plantaginaceae, is widespread in various habitats. Due to their long-blooming flowers, Veronica species have high horticultural value as indoor potted, garden, and landscape plants. Furthermore, Veronica plants are extremely important owing to their notable diversity in habitat usage, ploidy level, and evolution. Several native taxa, which are of key interest in breeding programs and phylogenetic studies, have been identified in Korea. The genome sizes and chromosomal characteristics are basic cytogenetic features of all taxa, and their knowledge is a prerequisite when commencing genome sequencing projects. It can provide essential information for cytogenetic, taxonomic, phylogenetic, and evolutionary studies. Thus, cytogenetic analysis and genome size estimation of seven Veronica taxa native to Korea were conducted in this study. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) karyotype analysis and chromosome counting was conducted using metaphase chromosomes probed with 5S and 45S rDNA. Nuclear DNA content and genome size were determined using flow cytometry. FISH karyotype analysis revealed a common number of 5S loci and varying 45S signals that create distinctive rDNA distribution patterns in each taxon. The results indicated that the seven investigated Veronica taxa have calculated genome sizes (1C values) ranging from 517.1 to 862.0 Mbp. This study is the first to report the chromosome number and karyomorphology of seven Veronica taxa native to Korea, as well as the use of rDNA markers for identifying individual chromosomes. These findings contribute to the crucial understanding the genomic characteristics of species within the genus Veronica, serve as a basis for studying Veronica phylogeny and evolution, and provide valuable information for future breeding programs.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a bioactive lipid messenger involved in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation and various diseases. Recent studies have shown an association between periodontitis and neuroinflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and multiple sclerosis. However, the mechanistic relationship between periodontitis and neuroinflammatory diseases remains unclear. The current study found that lysophosphatidic acid receptors 1 (LPAR1) and 6 (LPAR6) exhibited increased expression in primary microglia and astrocytes. The primary astrocytes were then treated using medium conditioned to mimic periodontitis through addition of Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharides, and an increased nitric oxide (NO) production was observed. Application of conditioned medium from human periodontal ligament stem cells with or without LPAR1 knockdown showed a decrease in the production of NO and expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and interleukin 1 beta. These findings may contribute to our understanding of the mechanistic link between periodontitis and neuroinflammatory diseases.

본 연구를 통해 국내미기록속인 까마귀나비속의 푸른줄까마귀왕나비를 최초로 보고한다. 푸른줄까마귀왕나비의 암컷 형태와 생식기, 채집 지 등의 정보를 제공하였다. 또한 신속한 종 동정을 위한 DNA 바코드 염기서열을 정보를 제공하였다.

The Kori Unit 1 and Wolsong Units 1, commercial reactors in South Korea, were permanently shut down due to the expiration of their design lifetime. Therefore, nuclear power plants that have been permanently shut down must be dismantled, and the site must be finally released after removing the remaining radionuclides. Domestic regulatory standards for site remediation should not exceed 0.1 mSv per year based on effective dose. In addition, it is necessary to calculate the preliminary Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGL) to prove that the conditions are met. Therefore, in this study, the input factor considering the geological characteristics of the site of Kori Unit 1 was investigated, and the preliminary Derived Concentration Guideline Levels were calculated and compared with the results of previous studies. As a result of comparative analysis, 60Co, 134Cs, and 137Cs, which are gamma-ray emitting radionuclides, had similar values to DCGL of previous studies A and B. However, 63Ni, a beta-rayemitting nuclide, was 5.94×104 Bq·g−1 in this study and 8.47×101 Bq·g−1in previous study B, resulting in a difference of about 700 times. In addition, in the case of 90Sr, this study and previous study A were derived similarly, but this study was 5.34×101 Bq·g−1 and previous study B was 1.18×10−1 Bq·g−1, resulting in a difference of about 450 times. This difference is judged to be because, unlike this study using only the industrial worker scenario, in the case of previous study B, the resident farmer scenario was mixed and used, which considers the internal exposure caused by ingestion of food produced in the contaminated area. In this study, it was confirmed that DCGL according to the change of geological factors of the site did not have a significant effect on gamma-ray-emitting nuclides. However, it was confirmed that considering the intake of food affects the DCGL of beta-ray-emitting nuclides. Therefore, there is a need to conduct future studies applying intake input factors that meet domestic conditions.

As the number of aging nuclear power plants increases, the market for dismantling nuclear power plants is growing rapidly. About 40% of the cost of dismantling nuclear power plants is the waste treatment cost incurred during the dismantling process, of which concrete waste accounts for a significant portion of the total waste. Securing technology for reducing and recycling concrete waste is very important not only in terms of economy but also in terms of environment. The objective is to synthesize geopolymer using inorganic materials from cement fine powder in concrete waste. Cement fine powder in concrete waste has a large amount of inorganic elements necessary for filing materials for radioactive waste treatment such as CaO and SiO2. In particular, Ca(OH)2 is synthesized by extracting Ca2+ from concrete waste. It can be used as an alkali activator to synthesize geopolymer. The mortar from crushed concrete was used as a source of calcium. The first step is to react with concrete waste and hydrochloric acid to extract ions. The second step is to react with NaOH and synthesize Ca(OH)2. The product was divided into two stages according to the reaction method and order. The first and second products were washed and dried, and then XRD and XRF were performed. The second product was matched only Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3 at the XRD peak. In the case of XRF, it was analyzed to have a purity of 67.80–78.73%. Synthesis of geopolymer by recycling materials extracted from concrete waste can reduce disposal costs and improve the utilization rate of disposal sites.

In this study, an aerosol process was introduced to produce CaCO3. The possibility of producing CaCO3 by the aerosol process was evaluated. The characteristics of CaCO3 prepared by the aerosol process were also evaluated. In the CaCO3 prepared in this study, as the heat treatment proceeded, the calcite phase disappeared. The portlandite phase and the lime phase were formed by the heat treatment. Even if the CO2 component is removed from the calcite phase, there is a possibility that the converted CO2 component could be adsorbed into the Ca component to form a calcite phase again. Therefore, in order to remove the calcite phase, carbon components should be removed first. The lime phase was formed when CO2 was removed from the calcite phase, while the portlandite phase was formed by the introducing of H2O to the lime phase. Therefore, the order in which each phase formed could be in the order of calcite, lime, and portlandite. The reason for the simultaneous presence of the portlandite phase and the lime phase is that the hydroxyl group (OH−) introduced by H2O was not removed completely due to low temperature and/or insufficient heating time. When the sufficient temperature (900°C) and heating time (60 min) were applied, the hydroxyl group (OH−) was removed to transform into lime phase. Since the precursor contained the hydrogen component, it could be possible that the moisture (H2O) and/or the hydroxyl group (OH−) were introduced during the heat treatment process.

Uranium-235, used for nuclear power generation, has brought radioactive waste. It could be released into the environment during reprocessing or recycling of the spent nuclear fuel. Among the radioactive waste nuclides, I-129 occurs problems due to its long half-life (1.57×107 y) with high mobility in the environment. Therefore, it should be captured and immobilized into a geological disposal system through a stable waste form. One of the methods to capture iodine in the off-gas treatment process is to use silver loaded zeolite filter. It converts radioactive iodine into AgI, one of the most stable iodine forms in the solid state. However, it is difficult to directly dispose of AgI itself in an underground repository because of its aqueous dissolution under reducing condition with Fe2+. It must be immobilized in the matrix materials to prevent release of iodine as a result of chemical reaction. Among the matrix glasses, silver tellurite glass has been proposed. In this study, additives including Al, Bi, Pb, V, Mo, and W were added into the silver tellurite glass. The thermal properties of each matrix for radioactive iodine immobilization were evaluated. The glasses were prepared by the melt-quenching method at 800°C for 1 h. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed to evaluate the thermal properties of the glass samples. From the study, the glass transition temperature (Tg) was increased by adding additives such as V2O5, MoO3, or WO3 in the silver tellurite glass. The relative electro-static field (REF) values of V2O5, MoO3, and WO3 are about three times higher than that of the glass network former, TeO2. It could provide sufficient electro-static field (EF) to the TeO2 interacting with the non-bridging oxygen forming Te-O-M (M = V, Mo, W) links. Therefore, the addition of V2O5, MoO3, or WO3 reinforced the glass network cohesion to increase the Tg of the glass. The addition of MoO3or WO3 in the silver tellurite glass increased Tg and crystallization temperature (Tc) with remaining the glass stability.

During the treatment of spent nuclear fuel, radioactive iodine is generated in a liquefied or gaseous form in a specific process. In the case of iodine 129, it is a long-lived nuclide with a very long halflife and has high groundwater mobility under repository conditions. Despite showing a low radioactivity value, research on the management of radioactive iodine from a long-term perspective is continuously being performed. Although research has been conducted using borosilicate glass as a medium for solidifying iodine, compatibility of I in borosilicate glass is very small and the volatility is high in the solidification process. So it is not suitable as a solidified substance of iodine. Therefore, studies on other solidification media to replace them are continuously being conducted. Our research team tried to develop a new medium that can contain iodine in a solidified body stably through a simple heat treatment process and can improve problems such as volatility and waste loading. Iodine is captured as AgI in the Ag ion-exchanged zeolite. So, TeO2, Ag2O, and Bi2O3 having a high AgI loading rate were used as main components. It was named TAB after taking the first letter of each element. In previous studies, the physical properties, structure, and chemical stability of TAB materials were confirmed. PCT (Product Consistent test) was performed to confirm chemical stability. It is mainly used to compare the chemical stability of glass materials with other glass materials, but there are limitations in evaluating the long-term chemical stability of materials. In this experiment, we tried to evaluate the long-term stability of TAB and compare it with borosilicate, which is conventionally used to treat radioactive waste. In addition, we tried to understand the leaching behavior inside the TAB medium. For this purpose, ASTM C1308 test was performed for 365 days, and distilled water and KURT groundwater were used as leachates to examine the effect of ions in the groundwater on the solidified body. To analyze the leaching behavior, ICP-MS and ICP-OES analyses were performed, and the cross-section of the sample after leaching was observed through SEM.

To reduce the environmental burden caused by the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and maximize the utilization of the repository facility, waste burden minimization technology is currently being developed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KEARI). The technology includes a nuclide management process that can maximize disposal efficiency by selectively separating and collecting major nuclides in spent nuclear fuel. In addition, for efficient storage facility utilization, the short-term decay heat generated by spent nuclear fuel must be removed from the waste stream. To minimize the short-term thermal load on the repository facility, it is necessary to separate heat generating nuclides such as Cs-137 and Sr-90 from the spent fuel. In particular, Sr-90 must be separated because it generates high heat during the decay process. KAERI has developed a technology for separating Sr nuclides from Group II nuclides separated through the nuclide management process. In this study, we prepared Sr ceramic waste form, SrTiO3, by using the solid-state reaction method for long-term storage for the decay of separated Sr nuclides and evaluated the physicochemical properties of the waste form. Also, the radiological and thermal characteristics of the Sr waste form were evaluated by predicting the composition of Sr nuclides separated through the nuclide management process, and the estimation of centerline temperature was carried out using the experimental thermal data and steady state conduction equation in a long and solid cylinder type waste form. These results provided fundamental data for long-term storage and management of Sr waste.

In Korea livestock farms breeding cattle have been suffering from re-emerging problems of Brucella (B.) abortus infection while steady decline of bovine brucellosis. Therefore, this study underscored the identification and association of etiological agent of brucellosis in cattle in South Korea. The incidence of brucellosis in cattle was analyzed by bacteriological and molecular methods in 187 brucellosis-suspicious farms of 11 regions between 2018 and 2020. Brucella isolates from various specimens were identified by Brucella-specific multiplex PCR. Epidemiological data were collected by local official veterinarians through history taking from farmers and animal data systems. In 230 of 560 cattle (40.9%) and 94 of 187 farms (50.3%), a total of 313 B. abortus were isolated from various specimens, the majority of isolates were from supramammary lymph node (41%). In epidemiological findings, the majority of positive cases were mainly caused by resurgence (43.7%) and unknown (37.2%). Of 94 positive cases isolated B. abortus, abortion in cattle infected by B. abortus occurred in 51 farms (54.3%) where led to resurgence in 30 farms and environmental survival of B. abortus in 9 farms. Consequently, these findings revealed the existence of etiological agent of bovine brucellosis in Korea, which still occurred at low levels in distinct regions where are allowed to call for persistent biosecurity. Thus, we highlight that brucellosis in Korea needs to take more effective control strategies with potential evidence. Moreover it is ultimately important to maintain a constant monitoring for eradication of brucellosis.

The rapid development of computer vision and deep learning has enabled these technologies to be applied to the automated classification and counting of microscope images, thereby relieving of some burden from pathologists in terms of performing tedious microscopic examination for analysis of a large number of slides for pathological lesions. Recently, the use of these digital methods has expanded into the field of medical image analysis. In this study, the Inception-v3 deep learning model was used for classification of chondrocytes from knee joints of rats. Knee joints were extracted, fixed in neutral buffered formalin, decalcified, processed and embedded in paraffin, and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained. The H&E stained slides were converted into whole slide imaging (WSI), and the images were cropped to 79 × 79 pixels. The images were divided into training (60.42%) and test (39.58%) sets (46,349 and 30,360 images, respectively). Then, images containing chondrocytes were classified by Inception-v3 and accuracy was calculated. We visualized the images containing chondrocytes in WSIs by adding colored dots to patches. When images of chondrocytes in knee joints were evaluated, the accuracy was within the range of 91.20 ± 8.43%. Therefore, it is considered that the Inception-v3 deep learning model was able to distinguish chondrocytes from non-chondrocytes in knee joints of rats with a relatively high accuracy. The above results taken together confirmed that this deep learning model could classify the chondrocytes and this promising approach will provide pathologists a fast and accurate analysis of diverse tissue structures.

We have prepared MIL-101/graphene oxide (GO) composites with various mixing molar ratio of Fe-containing metal– organic frameworks (MOFs) against GO. When synthesizing MOFs, it was possible to synthesize uniform crystal powders using hydrothermal method. MIL-101 consists of a terephthalic acid (TPA) ligand, with the central metal composed of Fe, which was the working electrode material for supercapacitors. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis had been done to ascertain microstructures and morphologies of the composites. Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements were performed to analyze the electrochemical properties of the composite electrodes in 6 M KOH electrolyte. By controlling the metal ligand mole ratio against GO, we prepared a changed MOF structure and a different composite morphology, which could be studied as one of the promising optimized electrode materials for supercapacitors.