This study was conducted to provide comprehensive information on the current status, constraints, and policy responses regarding rice cultivation in Uzbekistan for researchers and policymakers engaged in rice production in Central Asia. Despite annual fluctuations, Uzbekistan’s rice cultivation area has consistently exceeded 100,000 hectares each year. The yield per unit area improved by 19.2%, increasing from 4.21 t/ha in 2021 to 5.02 t/ha in 2024. In terms of cultivation methods, the proportion of doub le c ropping rose f rom 50.7% t o 71.6%, a lthough productivity remained h igher in s ingle cropping (5.35 t/ha) compared to double cropping (4.88 t/ha). Rice demonstrated an economic advantage of 2-5 times per hectare compared to major crops such as wheat, corn, and cotton. However, domestic production growth has not kept pace with rising consumption demands, leading to a sharp increase in imports, from 9,000 tons in 2019 to 108,800 tons in 2023. The structure of rice imports is shifting from a heavy reliance on Kazakhstan (90%) toward diversification, including partnerships with Pakistan, Thailand, and other countries. Major constraints to rice production in Uzbekistan include an arid climate, chronic irrigation water shortages, and soil salinization, which affects 50-70% of irrigated farmland. In response, the government established a comprehensive development strategy through Cabinet Resolution No. 986 in 2019 and is currently promoting economies of scale by establishing 42 clusters across 8 provinces (covering 41,440 hectares, or 29.7% of the total area). To address water scarcity, laser land leveling technology has been implemented on over 700,000 hectares as of 2024, aimed at reducing irrigation water usage and increasing yields, with plans to further expand water-saving cultivation technologies. In terms of international cooperation, the KOPIA project is enhancing quality seed production and distribution, as well as establishing machine transplanting cultivation technology. Partnerships with IRRI and participation in the Council for Partnership on Rice Research in Asia (CORRA) are strengthening the development of climate- adaptive varieties and international networks. Overall, Uzbekistan’s rice industry has the strategic potential to contribute significantly to food security, rural economic development, and regional trade activation through systematic policy implementation and enhanced international cooperation.

Efficient yet realistic ship routing is critical for reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions. However, conventional weather-routing algorithms often produce mathematically optimal routes that conflict with the paths mariners use. This study presents a hybrid approach that constrains physics-based weather routing within an AISderived maritime traffic network (MTN) built from one year of global Automatic Identification System data. The MTN represents common sea lanes as a graph of approximately 10,956 waypoints (nodes) and 17,561 directed edges. Using this network, an optimal low-emission route is computed via graph search and then compared against both a traditional unconstrained route and an advanced weather-routing model (VISIR-2). In a May transitionseason case (Busan–Singapore voyage), the AIS-constrained route reduced fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions by about 1.9% relative to the fastest feasible route, while closely following real traffic corridors (over 90% overlap with actual 2024 AIS tracks). While this 1.9% saving does not reach the high-end potential of an unconstrained, state-of-the-art model like VISIR-2 (which can demonstrate double-digit savings in certain conditions), it is achieved with an increase in transit time of ~6.5 h (≈3.2%). This represents a crucial trade-off, prioritizing operational realism and adherence to real-world traffic corridors over maximum theoretical efficiency.

This study analyzes the fragmented landscape of global loot box regulations, which have emerged from a discourse predominantly focused on negative aspects such as gambling. The analysis reveals a variety of coexisting regulatory models—including prohibition under gambling law, mandatory disclosure, and self-regulation—that lack a unified standard and raise issues of practical effectiveness and reverse discrimination. Consequently, this paper argues for an urgent shift beyond a problem-solving approach toward balanced research that examines the positive functions of loot boxes for players and the industry ecosystem to inform rational policymaking.

국립원예특작과학원에서는 밝은 화색과 안정적인 화형의 생 육이 우수한 빨간색 스탠다드 장미 품종을 육성하기 위해 진한 적색 스탠다드 장미 품종 ‘엔드리스러브(Endless Love)’를 모 본으로, 꽃잎수가 많고 안정적으로 가시가 적은 밝은 노란색 ‘페니레인(Penny Lane)’ 품종을 부본으로 인공교배하였다. 37 개의 교배실생을 양성해 1, 2, 3차에 걸친 특성검정 및 현장실증 을 통해 꽃이 크고 화형이 안정적이며, 재배안정성 및 생산성, 절화특성이 우수한 ‘원교 D1-390’을 최종 선발하였다. 2023년 ‘루비레드(Ruby Red)’로 명명하여 국립종자원에 품종보호출원·등록되었다. ‘루비레드’ 품종은 밝은 적색(R53C)을 가졌으 며, 꽃잎수가 32.8매, 화폭과 화고는 각각 10.9, 5.9cm로 대조 품종보다 크다. 절화장은 평균 71.7cm, 절화수명은 약 16.7일, 수량은 연간 168대/m2로 대조품종인 ‘레드스퀘어(Red Square)’ 대비 절화장이 길고 절화수명도 2배 이상 길며, 수확량도 1.4배 우수하다. 2023년 국내 육성 장미 품종 서울식물원 관람객 대상 공동평가회에서 스탠다드 장미 중 우수한 평가를 받았으며, 현 장 실증 결과 농가별로 균일하고 우수한 수량과 절화품질을 보 였다. 절화용 장미 ‘루비레드’ 품종은 밝은 적색과 우수한 화형 을 가지는 품종으로 해외 대체 품종으로 국내에서 많이 재배될 것으로 기대된다.

본 연구를 통해 국내 미기록속인 그물나비속(Neope)의 검은눈그물나비(Neope muirheadii)를 처음으로 보고한다. 이 종의 채집지 정보와 간단 한 논평을 포함하여, 성충과 생식기의 사진을 함께 제시한다.

본 연구는 서바이벌 게임에서 맵의 디자인 요소를 분석하고 표준화하는 것을 목표로 했다. 상 용 게임 10개를 조사하여 네 가지 주요 맵 유형을 파악하였고, 이를 바탕으로 유니티 에디터를 사용해 네 가지 유형의 맵을 개발 및 구현하였다. 무작위 위치에 장애물을 스폰하고, 타일 재 배치 시스템을 통해 맵을 무한대로 재배치할 수 있도록 했다. 또한, Update() 메서드를 조정해 타일 변위 오류를 해결했다. 마지막으로, ML 에이전트를 사용해 맵을 테스트했으며, 에이전트 가 환경을 탐색하고 장애물과 적대 대상을 인식 및 공격하며 각기 다른 네 가지 맵에서 효과 적으로 대응하는 모습을 확인했다.

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is a globally important food crop that is susceptible to infestation with the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, which causes substantial crop losses. Previous transcriptomic and proteomic analyses identified several genes that displayed differential expression patterns in susceptible and resistant cultivars in response to root-knot nematode (RKN) infection. As a result of previous study, RKN infection was confirmed in the RKN-susceptible sweetpotato cultivar Yulmi. Transcriptome analysis confirmed that among the genes that respond in this process, there are many genes related to ethylene biosynthesis. Therefore, in this study, we focused on the ACC oxidase (ACO) gene, the final enzyme of ethylene biosynthesis, and analyzed the expression patterns under various abiotic stress conditions. Using transcriptome data from our previous study, various expression changes in the four ACO genes used in this study were confirmed during RKN infection. The expression of G25011|TU41034 decreased during RKN infection compared to the untreated control, while the expression of G31097|TU51009, G28360|TU46486, and G15447|TU25395 genes increased in the early stages of RKN infection. Expressions of four ACO genes in leaves of sweetpoato were investigated under abiotic stress conditions such as wounding, high salinity, dehydration, and low temperature stress treatment. Expression of the G25011|TU41034 was significantly increased under abiotic stress conditions except low temperature. G31097|TU51009 was hardly expressed under abiotic stress conditions. Although the expression pattern of G28360|TU46486 and G15447|TU25395 was slightly different depending on the type of abiotic stress, an overall increase in expression was observed. It is expected that this study will be used as basic data on how ethylene biosynthesis responds not only to nematode infection but also to various abiotic stress conditions and will be helpful in functional studies of various crops.

InP quantum dots (QDs) have attracted researchers’ interest due to their applicability in quantum dot light-emitting displays (QLED) or biomarkers for detecting cancers or viruses. The surface or interface control of InP QD core/ shell has substantially increased quantum efficiency, with a quantum yield of 100% reached by introducing HF to inhibit oxide generation. In this study, we focused on the control of bandgap energy of quantum dots by changing the Zn/(In+Zn) ratio in the In(Zn)P core. Zinc incorporation can change the photoluminescent light colors of green, yellow, orange, and red. Diluting a solution of as-synthesized QDs by more than 100 times did not show any quenching effects by the Förster resonance energy transfer phenomenon between neighboring QDs.