Pepper cultivation requires a great amount of manual labor, especially for varieties needing support stakes to prevent them bending or breaking in heavy winds or rain. In Korea, it is recommended to secure support stakes and string lines carefully, so as to minimize the risk of damage caused by typhoons. The harvesting of peppers is a labor-intensive process with low rates of mechanization.The removal of stakes is particularly time-consuming during mechanical harvesting, and lodging is a major issue during cultivation and mechanical harvesting. Given increased mechanization during pepper harvesting, it is important to consider these issues when undertaking variety development and cultivation method improvements. Further research and development are required to improve cultivation practices and develop pepper varieties that are more resistant to lodging. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of different cultivation methods on pepper lodging, thus broadening our knowledge on the desirable architecture of pepper plants required for lodging tolerance.

신뢰성 있는 토양의 이산요소모델을 개발하기 위해서는 토양의 특성을 고려하여 매개변수를 교정해야 한다. 본 연구에서는 이산요소모델을 구성하는 각 매개변수가 토양 입자의 거동에 미치는 영향을 분석하였고, 분석된 결과를 이용하여 토양의 이산요소모델을 개발하였다. 민감도 분석의 대상이 되는 매개변수는 전단 계수, 마찰 계수, 표면 에너지 등으로 선정하였으며, 교정의 기준이 되는 토양의 특성은 가비중, 안식각, 점착력 및 내부마찰각으로 선정하였다. 또한, 토성이 서로 다른 해안가, 논 및 밭을 구성하는 토양을 대상으로 연구를 수행하여 다양한 토성에 대한 적용성을 확인하였다. 결과적으로 본 연구에서 수행한 민감도 분석 결과를 이용하여 각 토양의 거동을 모사할 수 있는 이산요소모델을 교정하였으며, 시험 결과와의 비교를 통해 교정된 이산요소모델을 검증하였다.

The term ‘lodging’ in agriculture is usually used when the crops fall from their upright position before harvesting. Various factors may be responsible, including inherent weaknesses in the stem, resulting from low lignin content or small root systems.Weather, such as strong winds or rains, will also likely increase lodging. Insect or disease damage can also weaken the plants, and cultural practices, such as fertilization, irrigation, and cultivation techniques, may increase the risk. Most of the research studies on lodging have been undertaken on cereal crops, but this is also an issue with many vegetable crops, and especially those that require mechanized harvesting. In this review, the issue of lodging in solanaceous vegetable crops is discussed, with an emphasis on the key risk factors and potential areas for future research that can identify damage mitigation strategies.

Purpose: This study aims to not only understand the meaning and essence of patients’experiences visiting the Raphael Nanum Homeless Clinic but also explore what kind of healthcare programs they would like to have in the future by appraising patients’experiences in depth. Methods: This study employed a qualitative content analysis method. The data were collected from June 11, 2023, to June 25, 2023. A total of 17 patients who could provide detailed experiences of their visit to the Raphael Nanum homeless clinic participated in this study. We conducted a focus group interview with 6 patients and in-depth one-on-one interviews with the remaining 11 patients. Results: The qualitative content analysis result revealed five themes: “visiting a free clinic for various paths,” “positive experiences at the free clinic,” “negative experiences at the free clinic,” “dissatisfaction with the clinic site,” and “anticipation for the future of the free clinic.” Conclusion: To ensure the right to health and survival of marginalized populations in the future, it is necessary to establish comprehensive healthcare support measures, which include enhancing the facilities of the free clinic and expanding the range of available medical specialties.

This study was conducted to select representative agricultural products (4 types of fruits and 4 types of wild vegetables) in Chungju, define their sensual characteristics, derive suitable flavour-pairing and recipes for each ingredient, and use them as a cornerstone in the development of menus. For the experiment, 10 experts were selected to choose 8 representative agricultural products in Chungju, and 18 menus were selected through a flavour-pairing survey. A consumer panel (a total of 413 people, 105 in their 20s, 103 in their 30s, 103 in their 40s, and 102 in their 50s) for evaluating the characteristics of consumer preferences was selected. After the flavour-pairing survey ‘sweet taste’, ‘light flavour’, ‘soft flavour’, ‘savoury flavour’, ‘familiar flavour’, ‘harmonious flavour’, ‘softness’, and ‘harmoniousness with food ingredients’ were determined as drivers of liking, on the other hand, ‘disturbance with food ingredients’ and ‘soybean fishy smell’ were determined as drivers of disliking. The degree of consumer preference and overall acceptance were found to be related to the consumers' familiarity, suggesting that if a menu should be developed using unfamiliar local agricultural products, it should be configured with familiar recipes and seasoning methods.

In this study, non-destructive technologies that can be applied to evaluate the integrity of valve materials, safety against internal pressure caused by corrosion, and the blocking function of large-diameter water valves during operation without requiring specimen collection or manpower entering the inside of the valve were tested to assess the reliability of the technologies and their suitability for field application. The results showed that the condition of the graphite structure inside the valve body can be evaluated directly through the optical microscope in the field without specimen collection for large-diameter water butterfly valves, and the depth of corrosion inside the valve body can be determined by array ultrasound and the tensile strength can be measured by instrumented indentation test. The reliability of each of these non-destructive techniques is high, and they can be widely used to evaluate the condition of steel or cast iron pipes that are significantly smaller in thickness than valves. Evaluation of blocking function of the valves with mixed gas showed that it can be detected even when a very low flow rate of mixed gas passes through the disk along with the water flow. Finally, as a result of evaluating the field applicability of non-destructive technologies for three old butterfly valves installed in the US industrial water pipeline, it was found that it is possible to check the material and determine the suitability of large-diameter water valves without taking samples, and to determine the corrosion state and mechanical strength. In addition, it was possible to evaluate safety through the measurement results, and it is judged that the evaluation of the blocking function using mixed gas will help strengthen preventive response in the event of an accident.

In this study, the physical properties and fracture characteristics according to the tensile load are evaluated on the materials of the polymeric filler and carbon fiber-based composite sleeve technique. The polymeric filler and the composite sleeve technique are applied to areas where the pipe body thickness is reduced due to corrosion in large-diameter water pipes. First, the tensile strength of the polymeric filler was 161.48~240.43 kgf/cm2, and the tensile strength of the polyurea polymeric filler was relatively higher than that of the epoxy. However, the tensile strength of the polymeric filler is relatively very low compared to ductile cast iron pipes(4,300 kgf/cm2<) or steel pipes(4,100 kgf/cm2). Second, the tensile strength of glass fiber, which is mainly used in composite sleeves, is 3,887.0 kgf/cm2, and that of carbon fiber is up to 5,922.5 kgf/cm2. The tensile strengths of glass and carbon fiber are higher than ductile cast iron pipe or steel pipe. Third, when reinforcing the hemispherical simulated corrosion shape of the ductile cast iron pipe and the steel pipe with a polymeric filler, there was an effect of increasing the ultimate tensile load by 1.04 to 1.06 times, but the ultimate load was 37.7 to 53.7% compared to the ductile cast iron or steel specimen without corrosion damage. It was found that the effect on the reinforcement of the corrosion damaged part was insignificant. Fourth, the composite sleeve using carbon fiber showed an ultimate load of 1.10(0.61T, 1,821.0 kgf) and 1.02(0.60T, 2,290.7 kgf) times higher than the ductile cast iron pipe(1,657.83 kgf) and steel pipe(2,236.8 kgf), respectively. When using a composite sleeve such as fiber, the corrosion damage part of large-diameter water pipes can be reinforced with same level as the original pipe, and the supply stability can be secured through accident prevention.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore advanced response policies and psychological and emotional support measures for early infected people in the event of an infectious disease by analyzing the experiences of self-employed women who experienced confirmation in the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: Data were collected through in-depth interviews with six experiences of self-employed women confirmed with COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic selected through the intentional sampling process, and then analyzed and interpreted through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: Through analyzing the meaningful statement of the study participants, several themes were identified, including “The pressure of dying from an incurable illness”, “The fear of quarantine and the fear of death”, “The difficulty of being a self-employed woman”, “The pain of social stigma”, “The driving force of one’s overcoming”, and “Expansion of perspective due to new experiences”. Conclusion: The study found that participants experienced anxiety and fear during the transfer process and admission to the facility after confirmation, due to the lack of guidance and face-to-face interactions. The non-face-to-face treatment increased their anxiety, as they could not receive accurate information about their health conditions and care. This highlights the impact of inaccurate information regarding COVID-19 and media reports focusing on severely ill patients and deaths. In addition, the study participants experienced social stigma caused by COVID-19, resulting in changes in their interpersonal relationships and life attitudes. Implications are suggested based on the results of this study.