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The increasing popularity of cloud computing has led to a significant rise in the use of container technology. Docker and Kubernetes have emerged as the de facto standards for container orchestration frameworks due to their reliability, flexibility, and ease of operation, supported by scalable, HTTP-based interfaces. Given the critical nature of infrastructure systems, container components within such orchestration frameworks should adhere to strict security levels. However, administrative misconfigurations can introduce serious vulnerabilities, exposing security-critical container components to external networks and allowing adversaries to discover and exploit them as attack vectors. In this paper, we investigate the security threats posed by misconfigured container components (MCC) that are exposed to the Internet. Through an Internet-scale measurement, we identify a total of 1,003,947 MCCs, with the majority operating under default configurations and outdated software versions. Our analysis reveals that renowned institutes, governments, and enterprises that are operating exposed MCCs, suggesting significant security risks. In addition, we conduct a real-world experiment within multi-branch campus network, scanning 150,235 IP addresses to uncover actual vulnerabilities in MCCs. We identify five distinct vulnerabilities that either leak sensitive information or allow remote code execution, demonstrating the real-world feasibility and potential impact of exploiting these misconfigured container components.

The scale of botnet attacks is on the rise, yet traditional network security systems are inadequate to effectively respond to these threats, primarily due to high false positive rates and the extensive manpower required for analysis. In contrast, the cutting-edge method of intrusion detection, known as provenance-based analysis, offers a novel paradigm by establishing causality between host events for meticulous examination. Nonetheless, this method faces challenges in analyzing the payload of network packets, which contains critical attack information resides, due to performance efficiency constraints from packet inspection. To address these challenges, we introduce BotFence, a pioneering approach that integrates payload inspection of network packets with provenance-based analysis to enhance botnet intrusion detection and response. Notably, our system leverages SmartNICs to minimize the impact on network performance. Our system initially gathers and analyzes events within the host system, representing them as Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP). Concurrently, it collects and scrutinizes the network packets associated with these events, integrating the relationships between these TTPs and the collected network data into a Network-enhanced Threat Provenance Graph (NTPG) model that we devised. Consequently, our system provides a comprehensive security analysis of the network with minimal overhead. Demonstrations with complex attack scenarios show that BotFence successfully identifies and mitigates automated botnet infection in real time, analyzing more than 99. 9% host events in 1 ms, without degrading network performance.

Blockchain technology has ushered in a transformative paradigm of decentralized and transparent systems, offering innovative solutions across diverse sectors. While these systems strive for unparalleled transparency and trustlessness in a fully distributed framework, permissionless blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, encounter vulnerabilities due to their intrinsically public nature. Addressing these vulnerabilities, the emergence of permissioned blockchains presents a fortified alternative, incorporating rigorous access controls and authentication protocols to ensure participation exclusivity and transaction confidentiality. Nevertheless, a keen observation reveals that, despite encryption, the operational traffic within these blockchains manifests distinct time-series patterns and operational relations during sensitive data exchanges. Such patterns hold the potential to inadvertently expose critical details about the network, encompassing its topology and the operational dependencies among nodes. In light of this revelation, we introduce a pioneering blockchain fingerprinting mechanism, denoted as gShock. This system meticulously analyzes periodic patterns and the context of operational relations from the collected blockchain network traffic. It employs a Graph Neural Network (GNN)-based model, adept at capturing the intricate characteristics innate to specialized blockchain operations. Through empirical experiments conducted in a realistic permissioned blockchain environment, comprising various nodes, we ascertain that gShock demonstrates a remarkable proficiency in classifying blockchain operational traffic with an F1-score of $\geq 96$ % and identifying individual dependencies with a macro F1-score of $\geq 93$ %.

Cryptocurrencies have increasingly been used as a medium for illicit financial activities by criminals. Annually, billions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin penetrate cryptocurrency exchanges. Despite the critical need for advanced Bitcoin financial forensics to investigate these criminal activities, no novel methods have been developed to detect illicit Bitcoin operations. Existing approaches to identifying illegal Bitcoin activity are limited due to their inadequate consideration of graph data. To address these limitations, we present a novel approach, Hyperedge Classification, to detect illegal transactions with greater precision. This approach introduces a novel cluster-based Hyperedge-Node Switching technique, which enables effective hyperedge classification and visualization of hyperedge relationships. Additionally, we propose a framework named CENSor (Cluster-based Edge Node Switching Detector), which offers more powerful and robust detection capabilities compared to traditional techniques for both illegal entity detection and illegal transaction detection. Our cluster-based Hyperedge-Node Switching technique demonstrates its effectiveness with an F1-score of 0.867, outperforming comparative baselines. Moreover, CENSor visualizes the Bitcoin cluster graph and the Hyperedge-Node switched graph, highlighting the importance of utilizing appropriate graph information in Bitcoin analysis. Finally, we demonstrate that CENSor is resilient to an adversarial attack aimed at evading detection.

Objectives: After the evidence-based Korean medicine clinical practice guidelines (KMCPGs) for 30 targeted diseases were developed in 2021, 34 diseases have been proposed for the second-wave development of the KM-CPGs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the development priorities of the candidate diseases into the second-wave development of KM-CPGs in south Korea. Methods: In this study, we analyzed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service National Patient Sample data from 2017 to 2018 to determine the demand and economic importance of the candidates for the second-wave development of KM-CPGs in real-world clinical settings in Korea.Results: The annual number of visits and patients, annual healthcare expenditure per patient, and healthcare expenditure per institution were analyzed. Musculoskeletal disorders, including sciatica and adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder, were the most important topics regarding the number of visits and patients and annual healthcare expenditure per institution. Specifically, sciatica (52.05% of the total number of visits, 48.34% of the total number of patients, and 42.12% of the total treatment expenditure per institution) showed overwhelmingly high proportions. However, cerebral palsy (36.03% of the total number of inpatient visits and 24.55% of the total number of inpatient patients) was a more important topic in inpatient clinical settings than musculoskeletal conditions or cancer, and healthcare expenditure per patient in this topic had the highest ranking. Furthermore, fractures were found to be highly important in inpatient clinical settings. No patients had influenza A virus infection or posttraumatic stress disorders who visited the KM medical institution of interest.Conclusion: This study highlights the gap between the real-world clinical setting and the research field in some topics. The results of this study can provide guidance for the second- wave development of KM-CPGs in the future.

Finding an arrangement, leading to a higher heat transfer and lower pressure drop, is crucial in the design of heat exchangers. Previous studies have primarily focused on regular arrangements with uniform pitch distances, which lack applicability to general configurations. In this study, we proposed a new procedure of a flow-learned building block (FLBB) to predict heat transfer in an in-line cylinder array with random pitch distances using a neural network-based regression analysis with a systematic data generation process. As a first step, we demonstrated the FLBB’s capability to predict the heat transfer and pressure drop in in-line cylinder arrays with random pitch distances at low Reynolds numbers from 1 to 100 for air ([Formula: see text]). Subsequently, a high-order FLBB approach was proposed to address the spatial interdependency between neighbouring cylinders, particularly in scenarios where vortex shedding occurs in the wake of cylinders at increased Reynolds numbers. The high-order FLBB approach was then shown to successfully describe various flow and temperature patterns using cylinder arrays with random pitch distances. The proposed procedure exhibited remarkable efficiency, requiring only about 1 s. Furthermore, the FLBB was successfully extended to various flow regimes, even encompassing unseen Reynolds numbers from 1 to 100.

Abstract Background Cancer-related incidence and mortality rates are rapidly increasing worldwide. However, no studies have examined the effect of cancer as a single factor on the use of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (T&CAM). We aimed to determine the effect of cancer occurrence on T&CAM utilization using Korea Health Panel (KHP) data. Methods We analyzed longitudinal data (49,380 observations) derived from 12,975 Korean adult participants with complete KHP data from 2011 to 2014 and 2016, and divided them into two groups based on cancer diagnosis. A panel multinomial logit model was used to assess whether the participants used T&CAM or conventional medicine or both in outpatient settings. Additionally, a negative binomial regression model was used to examine the effect of cancer on the number of outpatient visits for T&CAM. Results In total, 25.54% of the study participants in the cancer group used T&CAM, which was higher than that in the non-cancer group (18.37%, p

It is difficult to achieve spatiotemporal control over chemical cascade reactions. Here, the authors report on the generation of transient domains in an aqueous medium using sound induced liquid vibrations allowing for control of chemical gradients and patterns and use this to pattern nanoparticles in hydrogels.

The Hapcheon impact crater is the only meteorite impact crater identified on the Korean peninsula. However, the morphology of the impact crater and the nature of the meteorite collision are unknown. In this study, we analyzed the sedimentary facies using grain size data; computed tomography images, 14C, 10Be, and optically stimulated luminescence dating on a >66-m-long sediment core (20HCL04) recovered from the Hapcheon Basin. Four sedimentary units and 10 types of facies were documented in the Hapcheon Basin sediment core. The sedimentary units comprise 1) a lower part (unit 1) that is dominated by moderately to well-sorted coarse gravel, which contains some impact-related sediments; 2) a middle part (units 2 and 3) dominated by well-laminated mud; and 3) an upper part (Unit 4) that is dominated by poorly sorted coarse gravel supplied from the surrounding mountain slopes by alluvial and fluvial processes. After the meteorite impact, the Hapcheon impact crater was filled with deposits from the crater wall after ca. 1.3 Ma and the Hapcheon Basin became a deep lake environment. After ca. 0.5 Ma, sediments were supplied from the surrounding mountains until the lake was filled. Finally, sediments were deposited in an alluvial fan setting. In addition, the Hapcheon Basin sedimentary cores contain a tephra layer and deformed soft sediments that can be used to investigate volcanic and seismic events on the Korean Peninsula over the past 1.3 Ma.

Malware has plagued the internet and computing systems for decades. The war against malware has always been an arms race. Researchers and industry have constantly improved detection and prevention methodologies against increasingly more evasive malware. Keeping up with the constantly changing adversary tactics for evading defensive efforts and maintaining an efficient malware supply chain is imperative to stay ahead in the competition. In this paper, we present a large-scale and comprehensive analysis of the current state of malware distribution. For the analysis, we accumulated a dataset that contains 99,312 malware binary samples from 38,659 malware distribution sites over 287 days. Using our dataset, we perform a comprehensive analysis of the collected malware binaries and URLs to provide up-to-date statistics and insights into the adversary strategies. We analyze both malware distribution sites and malware binaries collected from them. Regarding binary analysis, we perform a multifaceted analysis on the characteristics on the collected binaries, including malware family label classification and file similarity-based clustering. With distribution site analysis, we analyze the IP addresses, domains, AS registration distribution and URL lexical distribution of malware distribution sites. We further discuss the statistical relationship between malware families and their distribution domains. Most importantly, we discuss the current trends in malware distribution today and reveal adversary strategies through our extensive amount of analysis results. Then, we suggest future directions for fight against malware distribution.

As Internet of Things (IoT) devices have rooted themselves in the daily life of billions of people, security threats targeting IoT devices are emerging rapidly. Thus, IoT vendors have employed security testing frameworks to examine IoT devices before releasing them. However, existing frameworks have difficulty providing automated testing, as they require a lot of manual effort to support new devices due to the lack of information about the input formats of the new devices. To address this challenge, we introduce FuzzDocs, a document-based black-box IoT testing framework designed to automatically analyze publicly accessible API documents about target IoT devices and extract information, including valid inputs used to call each functionality of the target devices. Based on the extracted information, it generates valid-enough test inputs that are not easily rejected by target devices but can trigger vulnerabilities deep inside them. This document-based input generation allows FuzzDocs to support new devices without manual work, as well as provide effective security testing. To prove its feasibility, we evaluated FuzzDocs in a real-world IoT environment, and the results showed that FuzzDocs extracted input formats with 93% accuracy from hundreds of pages of documents. Also, it outperformed the existing frameworks in testing coverage and found 35 potential vulnerabilities, including two unexpected system failures in five popular IoT devices.

Background: Since evidence-based medicine has been pursued in complementary and alternative medicine, the clinical practice guideline (CPG) has become a key factor in providing standardized and validated practices in Korean Medicine (KM). We aimed to review the current status and characteristics of the development, dissemination, and implementation of KM-CPGs. Methods: We searched KM-CPGs and relevant publication via web-based databases. We organized the searching results focused on the year of publications and the development programs to show which and how KM-CPGs have been development. We also reviewed the manuals for KM-CPG development to introduce concise characteristics of the KM-CPGs published in Korea. Results: The KM-CPGs have been developed according to manuals and standard templates for developing evidence-based KM-CPGs. First, CPG developers reviews the previously published CPGs for a clinical condition of interest and plans the CPG development. After finalizing the key clinical questions, the evidence is searched, selected, appraised, and analyzed following the internationally standardized methods. The quality of the KM-CPGs is controlled by a tri-step appraisal process. Second, the CPGs were submitted for the appraisal of the KM-CPG Review and Evaluation Committee. The committee evaluates the CPGs according to the AGREE II tool. Finally, the Steering Committee of the KoMIT project reviews the entire process of developing the CPGs and confirms it for public disclosure and dissemination. Conclusion: Evidence-based KM from research to practice can be achieved with the attention and effort of multidisciplinary entities such as clinicians, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers for the CPGs.

Background and Objectives: This retrospective, cross-sectional, and descriptive study used claims data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) between 2010 and 2019 to analyze the trend of surgical service utilization in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Materials and Methods: The national patient sample data provided by the HIRA, which consisted of a 2% sample of the entire Korean population, was used to assess all patients who underwent decompression or fusion surgery at least once in Korea, with LSS as the main diagnosis from January 2010 to December 2019. An in-depth analysis was conducted to examine the utilization of surgical services, taking into account various demographic characteristics of patients, the frequency of claims for different types of surgeries, reoperation rates, the specific types of inpatient care associated with each surgery type, prescribed medications, and the overall expense of healthcare services. Results: A total of 6194 claims and 6074 patients were analyzed. The number of HIRA claims for patients increased from 393 (2010) to 417 (2019) for decompression, and from 230 (2010) to 244 (2019) for fusion. As for the medical expenses of surgery, there was an increase from United States dollar (USD) 867,549.31 (2010) to USD 1,153,078.94 (2019) for decompression and from USD 1,330,440.37 (2010) to USD 1,780,026.48 (2019) for fusion. Decompression accounted for the highest proportion (65.8%) of the first surgeries, but more patients underwent fusion (50.6%) than decompression (49.4%) in the second surgery. Across all sex and age groups, patients who underwent fusion procedures experienced longer hospital stays and incurred higher medical expenses for their inpatient care. Conclusion: The surgical service utilization of patients with LSS and the prescribing rate of opioids and non-opioid analgesics for surgical patients increased in 2019 compared to 2010. From mid-2010 onward, claims for fusion showed a gradual decrease, whereas those for decompression showed a continuously increasing trend. The findings of this study are expected to provide basic research data for clinicians, researchers, and policymakers.

Bee venom is a natural toxin that is effective in treating various types of pain. The purpose of this paper was to review all the features of clinical studies conducted on bee venom acupuncture (BVA) for the treatment of neck pain in Korean publications. Six Korean databases and 16 Korean journals were searched in August 2022 for clinical studies on BVA for neck pain. We identified 24 trials that met our inclusion criteria, of which 316 patients with neck pain were treated with BVA. The most common diagnosis in the patients with neck pain was herniated intervertebral discs (HIVDs) of the cervical spine (C-spine) (29.2%), and the concentration and dosage per session were 0.05–0.5 mg/mL and 0.1–1.5 mL, respectively. The visual analog scale was most often measured for neck pain severity (62.5%), and all clinical research reported improvements in 16 outcome measures. This study shows that BVA could be recommended for the treatment of neck pain, especially HIVD of the C-spine; however, the adverse effects of BVA must be examined in future studies.

Abstract Background Low back pain is a common symptom and continuous or recurrent pain results in chronic low back pain (CLBP). While many patients with CLBP have tried various treatments, complementary and alternative medicine including acupuncture and herbal medicine is one of the commonly used treatments. Palmijihwang-hwan is a herbal medicine used frequently in clinical practice but there has been no report of the efficacy, safety, or cost-effectiveness analysis of Palmijihwang-hwan for CLBP. Methods This study is a randomized, assessor-blinded, multicenter, clinical trial with two parallel groups. Four Korean medicine hospitals will recruit 84 participants and randomly allocate them into the control or treatment group in a 1:1 ratio. The control group will receive acupuncture treatment at 11 local and 4 distal acupuncture points for 20 min twice a week for 6 weeks. The treatment group will receive the same acupuncture treatment as the control group and also take Palmijihwang-hwan for 6 weeks. The primary outcome will be the change in visual analog scale (VAS) score between baseline (visit 1) and completion of the intervention (visit 12), and secondary outcomes will be pain-related clinical relevance (minimal clinical important difference or the proportion of the participants who decrease more than 30, or 50% on VAS), disability (Roland and Morris Disability Questionnaire), quality of life (EuroQol-5D), global assessment (Patient Global Impression of Change), and economic analysis (cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analysis). Additionally, safety will be assessed. Discussion The results of our study will provide the clinical evidence about the efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness analysis of Palmijihwang-hwan for CLBP. There will be a chance to provide multiple subdivided influence of this treatment with various outcome measures, but lack of placebo is our limitation. Trial registration Clinical Research Information Service, KCT0002998. Registered on 12 July 2018.

Abstract Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by continuous impairment in communication and social interaction and by limited and repetitive behaviors, interests, or activities. Behavioral, educational, and pharmaceutical interventions have been shown to reduce behavioral disabilities, improve verbal/non-verbal communication, and help patients acquire self-reliance skills. However, there has been a lack of systematic verification and consensus regarding the treatment of the core symptoms of ASD because of its unclear etiology. Ukgansangajinpibanha (UGSJB), a legitimately prescribed herbal medicine for nervousness, insomnia, night crying, and malnutrition in South Korea and Japan, has been used for angry, sensitive, nervous, and unsettled children with ASD. Methods/design This trial is a prospective, multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, clinical trial. The 4- to 6-year-old children with ASD will be randomly assigned to following groups:1.A UGSJB granule with acupuncture, twice daily (n = 120)2.A placebo group with acupuncture, twice daily (n = 120). The following outcome measures will be used: behavior by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Autism Behavior Checklist, and Aberrant Behavior Checklist; social maturity by the Social Maturity Scale; quality of life by the Child Health Questionnaire and EuroQoL Five-dimension Five-level Youth; and parental stress by the Parenting Stress Index at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 weeks after the beginning of treatment. In addition, to evaluate safety, we will investigate the adverse reactions that may be caused by UGSJB granule. Finally, we will make an economic evaluation of UGSJB for the treatment of ASD. Discussion We prepared a well-designed clinical trial to investigate the safety and effectiveness of UGSJB on ASD symptoms compared with placebo treatment. The results from this study will provide clinical evidence on the safety, effectiveness, and economic value of UGSJB combined with acupuncture in children with ASD. Trial registration Clinical Research Information Service: KCT0003007 (registered on April 5, 2018)

Background: Sipjeondaebo-tang (SJDBT, Shi-quan-da-bu-tang in Chinese) is a widely prescribed herbal medicine in traditional Korean medicine. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of SJDBT for treating chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Methods: Ninety-six eligible participants were randomly allocated to either the SJDBT or placebo groups in a 1:1 ratio. Nine grams of SJDBT or placebo granules were administered to the patients for 8 weeks. The primary outcome was the response rate, defined as the proportion of participants with a score of 76 or higher in the Checklist Individual Strength assessment. Other measurements for fatigue severity, quality of life, and qi/blood/yin/yang deficiency were included. Safety was assessed throughout the trial. Results: At week 8, the response rate did not significantly differ between the groups (SJDBT: 35.4%; placebo: 54.2%; P = 0.101, effect size [95% confidence interval] = 0.021 [-0.177, 0.218]). However, the scores of the visual analogue scale (P = 0.001, -0.327 [-0.506, -0.128]), Fatigue Severity Scale (P = 0.020, 0.480 [0.066, 0.889]), and Chalder fatigue scale (P = 0.004, -0.292 [-0.479, -0.101]) for the SJDBT group showed significant improvements in fatigue severity at the endpoint. Quality of life was not significantly different. Furthermore, SJDBT significantly ameliorated the severity of qi deficiency compared to that in the placebo group. No serious adverse events were observed. Conclusion: This trial failed to show a significant improvement in fatigue severity, as assessed by the CIS-deprived response rate. It merely showed that SJDBT could alleviate the severity of fatigue and qi deficiency in patients with CFS. However, the further study is needed to confirm the details.

Abstract Background Practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine have suggested that acupuncture could alleviate poststroke shoulder pain, based on the clinical evidence. This study protocol is aimed at showing the effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture therapy for stroke survivors with shoulder pain. Methods After assessing their eligibility, 60 stroke survivors with shoulder pain will be enrolled from two traditional Korean medicine hospitals and randomly divided into either the verum or the sham electroacupuncture (EA) group with a 1:1 ratio. The participants will receive 9 sessions of EA procedures for 3 weeks. The verum EA consists of needling on 6 unilateral acupoints (LI4, LI15, TE14, SI9, SI11, and GB21) with electronic stimulation. A non-penetrating Park sham device and fake electronic stimulation will be used in the sham group on the same acupoints. Patients and outcome assessors will be blinded throughout the entire study. A visual analog scale will be used primarily for the evaluation, and pain rating scale, Fugl-Meyer assessment for upper extremity, modified Ashworth scale, manual muscle test, passive range of motion test, Korean version of a modified Barthel index, and Korean version of the Beck depression inventory will be also be measured. A blinding index will be assessed. For safety, adverse events will be recorded. Data will be statistically analyzed by two-sample t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test for efficacy and a chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test for safety, at 5% of significance level. Discussion We expect this double-center, randomized, sham-controlled, patient- and assessor-blinded parallel trial to explore the effectiveness and safety of EA therapy, compared with sham EA, for poststroke shoulder pain. Trial registration https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03086863

The Nakdong River delta, located in southeastern Korea, preserves thick and wide sediments, which are suitable for the high-resolution study of the evolution of depositional environments in the lower delta plain area. This study traces the Holocene evolution of the Nakdong River delta using deep drill core (ND-3; 46.60 m thick) sediments from the present delta plain. Sedimentary units of the sediments were classified based on grain size compositions and sedimentary structures: (A) alluvial zone, (B) estuarine zone, (C) shallow marine, (D) prodelta, (E) delta front, and (F) delta plain. The weathered sediment, paleosol, was observed at 43.16 m below the surface. There is an unconformity (43.10 m) to separate a Pleistocene sediment layer in the lowermost part differentiating from a Holocene sediment layer in the upper part of the core. The shallow marine sedimentary unit (32.20~23.50 m), in which grain size decreases upward is overlain by the prodelta unit (23.50~15.10 m), which consists of fine-grained sediments and relatively homogeneous sedimentary facies. The boundary between the delta front unit (15.10~8.00 m) and the delta plain unit (8.00~0.00 m) appears to lie at 8.0 m, and the variation in grain size is different; coarsening upward in the delta front unit and fining upward in the delta front unit, respectively. These sediments are characterized by a lot of sand–mud couplets and mica flakes aligned along with cross-stratification, which may be deposited in relatively high-energy environments. Until 13 cal ka BP, the sea level was 70 m below the present level and the drilling site might be located onshore. At 10 cal ka BP, the sea level was located 50 m below the present level and the drilling site might be moved to an estuarine environment. From 8 to 6 cal ka BP, a transgression phase occurred as a result of coastline invasion by the rapid rise of the sea level. Thus, the drilling site was drowned in a shallow marine environment. After 6 cal ka BP, the sea level reached the present level, and, since then, progradation might begin to form, primarily by more sediment input. After this period, the progradation phase continues as the sediments have advanced and the delta grows.

The purpose of this review was to demonstrate the definition of the original symptom (OS) and how it works in medical procedures as to the Sasang medicine based on the Jema Lee's Donguisusebowon (Longevity and Life Preservation in Eastern Medicine). OS is defined as the sum of all clinical information featured by an individual's intrinsic characteristics as Sasangin and health state prior to onset. It is the key factor in the clinical application of Sasang medicine including the diagnosis of constitutional type and Sasang symptomatology because the imbalance of metabolic functions of each Sasangin originates from that. The working principles of the OS and Sasang symptomatology can be summarized as follows. First, clinical information regarding cold or heat intolerance determines the cold or heat pattern of Sasang symptomatology. Another is the present worsening of the severity of Sasang symptomatology by one level as compared with that in the past. Symptoms prior to the onset worsen to a higher level of severity after any disorder breaks out. Finally, the treatment strategy and progress of each Sasangin are determined following the characteristics of the OS. Theoretical and clinical studies should be conducted to show the specific criteria for the diagnosis of Sasang symptomatology in the future.

We obtained a 15 m drill core from Deukryang Bay on the southwest coast of Korea, which is now an area of reclaimed land used for agriculture. We investigated changes in the depositional environment and hydrological climate responses to sea level changes using sedimentary facies, radiocarbon ages, grain-size analysis, total organic carbon (TOC), total sulfur (TS), and stable carbon isotopes (δ13C). Sediment deposition began at 12,000 cal yr BP and was divided into four stages based on changes from fluvial to intertidal environments related to Holocene marine transgression events. Stage 1 (>10,000 cal yr BP) is represented by fluvial sediments; Stage 2 (10,000–7080 cal yr BP) is represented by the deposition of mud facies in an intertidal zone in response to sea level rise; Stage 3 (7080–3300 cal yr BP) was a period of gradually descending sea level following the Holocene maximum sea level and is characterized by gradual changes in TOC, TS, and C/S ratios compared with the mud facies of Stage 2. Stage 4 (3300 to present) was deposited in a supratidal zone and contains low TS and an abundance of TOC. Based on our TS and C/S ratio results, the south coast of Korea was mainly affected by sea level rise between 7000 and 3000 cal yr BP, during the middle Holocene. At 3000 cal yr BP, sea level began to stabilize or gradually decrease. In addition, changes in δ13C values are clearly observed since ca. 5000 cal yr BP, in particular, large hydrological changes via freshwater input are confirmed in 4000–3000 cal yr BP. We consider these shifts in freshwater input indicators of an increased influence of El Niño and La Niña conditions, related to the weakening of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) and changes in sea surface temperature (SST) of the Western Pacific Ocean during the middle Holocene climatic optimum (between 7800 and 5000 cal yr BP). The cooling periods of SST in East Asia between 8400 and 6600 cal yr BP reported from the west coast of Korea are related closely to changes in vegetation (as evidenced by δ13C) from 7700 cal yrs BP to the present in the southwest coast of Korea. We interpret the freshwater input events at 4000–3000 cal yr BP to be related to changes in SST in response to the weakening of the EASM on the southwest coast of Korea. However, additional research is needed to study the southward migration effect of the westerly jet related to SST and atmospheric circulation controlling terrestrial climate in the middle Holocene.

Continuous strip casting (CSC) has been developed to fabricate thin metal plates while simultaneously controlling the microstructure of the product. A numerical analysis to understand the solid-liquid interface behaviors during CSC was carried out and used to identify the solidification morphologies of the plate, which were then used to obtain the optimum process conditions. In this study, we used a modified level contour reconstruction method and the sharp-interface method to modify the interface tracking, and we performed a simulation analysis to identify the differences in the material properties that affect the interface behavior. The effects of the process parameters such as the heat transfer coefficient and extrusion velocity on the behavior of the solid-liquid interface are estimated and also used to improve the CSC process.