The presence of organic components in spent scintillation liquid should be considered during all steps of radioactive waste processing for final disposal. Scintillation liquids often referred to as cocktails are generated form radiochemical analyses of radionuclides, which mainly consists of mixtures of liquid organic materials such as toluene and xylene. Typical features of these liquid organic materials are volatility, combustibility and toxicity. These are the reason why special attention must be paid to the management of liquid organic radioactive wastes. To select an appropriate waste management strategy and to design the treatment process of spent scintillation cocktails, it is required to investigate the nature of the waste such as specific radioactivity and moisture content. The analysis results of spent scintillation liquid generated at Wolsong nuclear power plants will be discussed. An overview of the technical approaches available for the treatment of organic radioactive waste will be additionally provided.

Concentrated effluent and spent ion exchange resins (IERs) from nuclear power plants (NPPs) were generated prior to the establishment of a disposal facility site and waste acceptance criteria have been temporarily stored at the NPPs because their suitability for disposal has not been confirmed. In particular, at the Kori Unit 1, which was the first to start the commercial operation in South Korea, the initially generated concentrated effluent and IERs are repackaged in large size of concrete containers and stored without provided regulation standard. The concentrated effluent is package as cementitious form in 200 L drums and repackaged in concrete containers, case of the IERs were solidified or dehydrated and repackaged in round concrete container. In this study, we review and propose a disposal plan for concentrated effluent and IERs repackaging drums that have not been confirmed to be suitable for disposal from the first operating nuclear power plant, Kori Unit 1, 2. First, the concentrated effluent was stored in four 200 L drums respectively, and then, it was again stored in concrete container and which was poured on top using grouted concrete. Therefore, the process was required by cutting concrete container for extracting the internal drums at first. Internal radioactive waste should be crushed to the suitable waste criteria and solidified, finally disposal in to the polymer concrete high integrity container (PC-HIC). IER was repackaged and disposal in square type of 200 L concrete drums respectively covered the cap. So, extracting the internal drums should be extracted after removing the cap of external concrete container. Cement solidification drums can be crushed and re-solidified or disposed in the PC-HIC. Stored IER after dehydrated can be disposal in PC-HIC. In conclusion, the container was used as a package that repackaging the concentrated effluent and IER was separated into two different types of waste depending on the level of contamination of radioactivity, the polluted area is disposed of as radioactivity contamination or the unspoiled area will be treated as self-disposal waste.

The bentonite buffer material is a crucial component for disposing of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Several additives have been proposed to enhance the performance of bentonite buffer materials. In this study, unconfined compression tests were conducted on bentonite mixtures as well as pure bentonite buffer material. Joomunjin and silica sands were added at a 30% ratio, and graphite was added at 3% along with bentonite. The unconfined compression strength (UCS) and elastic modulus of pure bentonite were found to be 20% to 50% higher than those of bentonite mixtures under similar dry density and water content conditions. This decrease in strength can be attributed to the reduced cross-sectional area available for bearing the applied load in the bentonitemixture. Furthermore, the 3% graphite-bentonite mixture exhibited a 10% to 30% higher UCS and elastic modulus compared to the 30% sand-bentonite mixtures. However, since the strength properties of additive-bentonite mixtures are lower than those of pure bentonite, it is essential to evaluate thermohydraulic-mechanical functional criteria when considering the use of bentonite mixtures as buffer materials.

The PRIDE scale mechanical decladder is decladding apparatus for separating and recovering fuel material and cladding hull by horizontally slitting rod-cut. In order to enhance mechanical decladdng efficiency, the main requirements were considered as follows. Decladding of the fuel rods may be performed by rotation of three circular cutting blades inserted among the rollers arranged at 120° portion. In a mechanical decladder, a slitting assembly as a unit for slitting the cladding tube may include cutting blades for slitting and rollers for guiding extrusion of the cladding tube. Rotation of the cutting blades may be caused by the fuel rods being extruded from a plurality of rollers. Slitting intervals of rod-cuts having different diameters may be controlled by adding or removing a spacing plate between the cutting blade and a ranch bolt for fixing the slitting blade to the slitting assembly. An extrusion velocity with respect to the fuel rods may be controlled by a hydraulic pressure applied to the fuel rods. A force for cutting the fuel rods may be adjusted by controlling steel plates. Forces applied to a plurality of rollers may be generated by the hydraulic cylinder. The hydraulic pressure may be controlled by hydraulic pressure controller. The PRIDE scale mechanical decladder mainly consists of auto feeding module, hydraulic cylinder module and blade module. A load cell was installed between the hydraulic cylinder and the extrusion pin to measure the decladding force and slitting velocity, and a data acquisition system capable of obtaining data by using the RSC 232 was constructed. Also, the control panel can control the forward and backward movement of the extrusion pin, the hydraulic flow rate, and the hydraulic velocity. In the mechanical decladding test, 40 pieces of simulated rod-cuts were loaded in two auto feeding basket and slit by utilizing the 3-CUT blade modules in the housing, and hulls and simulated pellets were collected in the collection container. As a result, 80 pieces of simulated rodcut (brass pellets + Zry4 tube) were slit continuously without any problem. About 35 min was required to slit 80 rod-cuts and average decladding force was 260 kg. The decladding force of the ceramic simulated rod-cuts (castable) requires 25 kg less force than the brass pellets. Therefore, it is estimated that the spent fuel rod-cut can be fully split into three pieces using the mechanical decladder.

In this study, Bacillus velesensis TJS119, isolated from freshwater, demonstrated growth inhibition against insect pathogenic fungi. The culture medium of the B. velezensis TJS119 strain underwent sequential fractionation with n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water. Notably, the n-butanol fraction exhibited significant antifungal activity against Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana. LC/MS analysis of antifungal peaks identified the production of various lipopeptides by B. velezensis TJS119, including two types of iturin A (C14, C15), four types of fengycin A (C14, C15, C16, C17), and two types of fengycin B (C16, C17). The antifungal efficacy of Iturin A and Fengycin against insect pathogenic fungi was further validated using the paper disc diffusion method. These findings underscore the potential of B. velezensis TJS119 as a promising candidate for future research and applications in the realm of agricultural biological controls against fungal diseases.

Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae from industrial insects are traditionally recognized as functional health foods in South Korea. We evaluated the immuno-modulatory effects of feeding beneficial microorganism (Bacillus velezensis TJS119) to P. brevitarsis larvae as a dietary source. In this study, we investigated the immune-enhancing activities of P. brevitarsis larvae hot-water extract (PLW) and PLW after treatment with B. velezensis TJS119 (PLWB) using the RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line. We examined the effects of PLWB on cell proliferation, cytokine production, and nitric oxide production in RAW264.7 cells. PLWB showed no cytotoxicity at concentrations ranging from 7.8 to 1,000 μg/mL in RAW264.7 cells. Treatment with PLWB increased the production of nitric oxide and pro-inflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β)] at doses of 62.5 to 1,000 μ g/mL in RAW264.7 cells. As a result, PLWB exhibited a stronger immune-enhancing effect compared to PLW. In conclusion, the results of this study offer experimental evidence to support the potential utilization of PLWB as an immunity-enhancing nutraceutical ingredient.

Bacillus velezensis TJS119 was isolated from the freshwater, and antagonistic activity against of pathogenic fungi. Strain TJS119 showed a broad spectrum of antagonistic activities many fungal pathogens, including the green muscardine fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. The whole-genome sequence of B. velzensis TJS119 was analyzed using the illumina platform. The genome comprises a 3,809,913 bp chromosome with a G + C content of 46.43%, 3,834 total genes, 10 rRNA and 73 tRNA genes. The genome contained a total of 8 candidate gene clusters (difficidin, fengycin, bacillaene, macrolactin, bacillibactin, bacilysin, surfactin and butirosin) to synthesize secondary metabolite biosynthesis. Overall, our data will aid future studies of the biocontrol mechanisms of B. velezensis TJS119 and promote its application in insect disease control.

Pine Wilt Disease (PWD) is a disease causing mass deaths of pine trees in South Korea, and the dead trees serve as breeding grounds for insect vectors responsible for spreading the disease to other host trees. Because the PWD requires early monitoring to minimize its damage on domestic forestry, this study aims to develop a species distribution model for predicting the potential distribution of PWD by using artificial neural network (ANN) with time-series data. Among the architectures, the Convolutional Neural Network exhibited the highest performance, achieving a validation accuracy of 0.854 and a cross-entropy loss of 0.401, and the InceptionTime model emerged as the second-best performer. This study identified the best-performing ANN architecture for a spatiotemporal evaluation of PWD occurrence, emphasizing the importance for determining hyperparameters with ecological characteristics and data types to apply deep learning into SDMs.

Anoplophora horsfieldii (Hope, 1843), 국명 노랑알락하늘소(가칭)는 아열대 지역에 주로 분포하는 종으로 2019 년에 제주도 용연계곡에서 처음 발견되었으며, 2023년에 국내 정착이 보고되었다. 국내에서는 팽나무에서 발생 하는 것으로 알려졌으나, 섭식방식, 산란 선호성 등 생태적 특성에 대해서는 국내외 연구가 전무하다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 노랑알락하늘소의 기초적인 생태정보를 제공하고자 실내 산란 선호성 조사 및 야외조사를 진행 했다. 산란 선호성 실험은 기주식물로 알려진 팽나무, 멀구슬나무와 제주도내 대표 수종인 동백나무, 종가시나무 을 대상으로 했다. 이 중 팽나무에서만 산란이 확인었으며, 상대적으로 굵은 팽나무에서 더 많은 산란이 확인되었 다. 야외조사에서는 최대 발생지인 용연계곡을 기준으로 반경 3 km 내에서 노랑알락하늘소의 탈출공이 확인된 32 그루의 팽나무를 대상으로 피해를 조사하였다. 나무의 굵기는 흉고직경이 20-40 cm인 팽나무에서 탈출공이 많이 확인되었고, 높이는 지면으로 부터 0-100 cm 구간에서 가장 많은 탈출공이 발견되었다.

Riptortus pedestris has established symbiotic interactions with specific bacteria from soil environment in every generations. The soil environment is extremely heterogeneous with microbial diversity, suggesting that bacterial composition of the R. pedestris can be affected by surrounding environments. Therefore, we investigated spatiotemporal variation of bacterial communities in wild R. pedestris collected from five mainland areas and Jeju Island in South Korea across insect generations. Among the 390 R. pedestris adults collected, we detected a total of 28 bacterial genera from the symbiotic region of insects. Among the bacterial genera, genus Caballeronia bacteria was the most abundantly detected regardless of sampling site and generation. Nevertheless, bacterial richness varied among the insect generations with 10 genera detected in overwintered generation, 15 genera in the 1st generation and 18 genera in the 2nd generation. Moreover, we found five bacterial genera that were exclusively detected from the Jeju island compared to the mainland areas surveyed.

Nutrient acquisition by insect herbivores affect all aspect of the the lifespan of individauls. For seed-sucking insect herbivores, they face challenges with nutrient acquisition due to requirement for extra-oral digestion of seed contents into a readily-ingestible state. In this study, we demonstrated environmentally-transmitted Caballeronia insecticola allow seed-sucking R. pedestris to overcome challenges with extra-oral digestion. Through the evaluation, first, we found symbiotic insects exhibited enhanced feeding efficiency by consuming significantly larger amount of food per feeding attempt compared to apo-symbiotic insects (P<0.05). Then, we observed feeding behavior modification in the symbiotic insects from the behavior tracking evaluation. Symbiotic insects displayed dichotomic behavior which can be generally divided into early focused feeding and later subdued resting periods. By contrast, apo-symbiotic insects displayed unordered behavior by frequent switches between feeding and walking behavior.

Honey bees are crucial pollinators for agricultural and natural ecosystems, but are experiencing heavy mortality in Korea due to a complex suite of factors. Extreme winter losses of honey bee colonies are a major threat to beekeeping but the combinations of factors underlying colony loss remain debatable. Finding solutions involves knowing the factors associated with high loss rates. To investigate whether loss rates are related to Varroa control and climate condition, we surveyed beekeepers in korea after wintering (2021–2022 to 2022–2023). The results show an average colony loss rate of 46%(2022) and 17%(2023), but over 40% colony loss before wintering at 2022. Beekeepers attempt to manage their honey bee colonies in ways that optimize colony health. Disentangling the impact of management from other variables affecting colony health is complicated by the diversity of practices used and difficulties handling typically complex and incomplete observational datasets. We propose a method to 1) Varroa mite population Control by several methods , and 2) Many nursing bee put in hive before wintering.

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.

From the standpoint of developing a transformative service to create improvements in collective wellbeing (Anderson & Ostrom, 2015), evidence of a sport–resilience relationship is gradually accumulating in the literature (Kim et al., 2022). Sport management and social science scholars are making considerable efforts to understand how sport entities with transformative services can contribute to consumer resilience—an intervention through a sport consumption experience that affects people’s abilities to cope with adversity (Inoue et al., 2022; MacIntosh et al., 2020). However, little is known about the sport industry and spatial consumer behavior in terms of consumer resilience. Although previous researchers have identified a macro-level association between sport industry and community resilience from a bird's eye view (Kim et al., 2021), it could not determine how and where sport industry at a macro level can be related to individual-level resilience through metaphors of Consumer Desire. Specifically, the spatial patterns of sport consumption (i.e., consumer spatial behavior) can be a result of sport consumer behavior affected by spatial context upon heterogeneous features of sport industry across regions (Kim et al., 2021) in the environment–behavior paradigm (Olsson & Gale, 1968). The macrolevel clustering of the sport industry in a region (environment) can be a community resource to provide individuals with the opportunity for sport consumption (behavior), which promotes the micro-level psychosocial factors for sport consumer resilience (Inoue et al., 2022). Furthermore, recent work illustrates heterogeneous spatial interaction at the regional level of the sport industry and individual-level sport consumption (Kim et al., 2022), suggesting the elaboration of cross-level spatial interaction models (Kim et al., 2021). Accordingly, in this study we aim to not only (a) determine spatially heterogeneous interactions in the association between sport industry and consumer spatial behavior in affecting consumer resilience, but also (b) identify what effect spatial interaction has on cross-level relationships. Using data focused on a multiscale-based nested geographic structure (e.g., individual-level consumption by zip code, county, state, and nation) that could elucidate the sport consumer spatial behavior, We collected multiple types of data from Florida, including the location quotient of the main seven sport industries (e.g., sport facilities) and socioeconomic factors (e.g., social vulnerability) at the county level from secondary sources. In addition, we acquired individual-level data from Qualtrics panels (1,107 Florida residents) to measure sport consumer spatial behavior (e.g., location-based sport consumption experience) and consumer resilience using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. To address spatial interaction and heterogeneity, we used a comprehensive analytical model for global and local spatial analysis, including a spatial multilevel mediation (SMM) model and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model. As a result of the SMM model, the county-level cluster of sport facilities affected individual-level participatory sport consumption, which enhanced consumer resilience (cross-level interaction effect). However, considerable spatial non-stationarity appeared in the spatial interaction, indicating interregional interactions in the cross-level effects within a county. The results of MGWR indicated significant spatially heterogeneous patterns in the association between the cluster of sport facilities and participatory sport consumption. That is, it was clarified that the spatial heterogeneous effects of the clustering of sport facilities on sport consumer spatial behavior are associated with consumer resilience. This empirical interdisciplinary work, including sport management, geography, and consumer psychology, advances knowledge of consumer spatial behavior and resilience by demonstrating heterogeneous spatial interactions. Practically, the current study calls for spatial management planning and strategy in sport industry for enhancing consumer resilience through spatial sport consumption, considering spatially varying patterns.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming healthcare, yet little is known about how consumers experience and make decisions regarding follow-up care with medical AI. We take an interdisciplinary approach combining behavioral research and neuroscience to examine how anthropomorphism and personalization influence well-being and follow-up decisions. Study 1 found that consumers felt well-being after interacting with a highly personalized interaction, whether human or AI doctor. However, they preferred follow-up visits with the human doctor. Empathy mediated these effects. Study 2 used fMRI to show that the anterior cingulate cortex had greater activation when interacting with the human doctor, indicating more emotional processing and conflict resolution. These findings suggest that medical AI cannot currently replace human doctors, who remain vital for actual medical consultations and treatment. However, consumers viewed AI doctors positively and expressed a belief that AI will enhance well-being. By integrating neuroscience, this research provides biological evidence complementing behavioral findings.

본 연구는 신생아 검사 중 포수클로랄(chloral hydrate)을 투여 후 진행되는 신생아 진정 검사 대비 진정 대체 방식 중 하나인 피드 및 랩(feed and wrap) 방식의 유용성을 평가한 연구이다. 본 연구에선 진정으로 진행한 신생아의 두뇌 T2 축면 영상과 피드 및 랩 방식으로 진행한 같은 영상 각 30개의 운동 허상(motion artifact)과 백질과 회백질의 구분 정도를 두 명의 영상의학과 전문의가 정성적으로 평가하였고, 운동 허상을 측정하기 위해서 위상부호화(phase encoding) 방향의 배경 영역(background area)의 평균 신호 강도(mean signal intensity)를 구하여서 정량적 방식으로 평가하였다. 또한 총검사 시간을 정리한 뒤 정량적 방식으로 평가하였고 투약 기록의 여부와 간호일지를 토대로 피드 및 랩 방식의 총 39건의 검사 건수 대비 성공률을 측정하였다. 운동 허상의 정량적 평가와 영상 품질의 정성적 평가 모두에서 두 집단은 유의미한 차이가 없었으나, 검사 시간의 정량적 평가에선 p값이 0.001로 유의한 차이가 있었다. 피드 및 랩 방식의 총검사 건수 대비 성공률은 100%였다. 결론적으로 본 논문에선 피드 및 랩 방식과 진정 방식의 영상 품질이 유의한 차이가 없고 성공률이 높기에 유용하다고 판단하였으나, 검사 시간이 더 지연되는 한계가 있다는 사실을 확인하였다.

A low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste repository contains different types of radionuclides and organic complexing agents. Their chemical interaction in the repository can result in the formation of radionuclide-ligand complexes, leading to their high transport behaviors in the engineered and natural rock barriers. Furthermore, the release of radionuclides from the repository can pose a significant risk to both human health and the environment. This study explores the impact of different experimental conditions on the transport behaviors of 99Tc, 137Cs, and 238U through three types of barrier samples: concrete, sedimentary rock, and granite. To assess the transport behavior of the samples, the geochemical characteristics were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The adsorption distribution coefficient (Kd) was used as an indicator of transport behavior, and it was determined in batch systems under different conditions such as solution pH (ranging from 7 to 13), temperature (ranging from 10 to 40°C), and with the presence of organic complexing agents such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and isosaccharinic acid (ISA). A support vector machine (SVM) was used to develop a prediction model for the Kd values. It was found that, regardless of the experimental parameters, 99Tc may migrate easily due to its anionic property. Conversely, 137Cs showed low transport behaviors under all tested conditions. The transport behaviors of 238U were impacted by the order of EDTA > NTA> ISA, particularly with the concrete sample. The SVM models can also be used to predict the Kd values of the radionuclides in the event of an accidental release from the repository.