Assessing the Value of Korean School Library Research: A Bibliometric Comparison of Korean and International Journal Papers

This study aimed to assess the value of Korean school library research by comparing Korean and international research on school libraries. To conduct this research, records of international papers indexed by Scopus and domestic papers indexed by the Korean Citation Index (KCI) on school libraries were downloaded. These records were analyzed and compared in terms of publication trends, journals, and author keywords. Approximately, four Korean LIS journals collectively published 39% more papers than the international journals indexed by Scopus, suggesting the substantial contributions made by Korean researchonschool libraries. The unique subtopicsofschool libraries in Korean domestic research were the revitalization of school libraries, reading instruction, curriculum development, library instruction, and the School Library Promotion Act. The results also showed that despite the many papers on school libraries in domestic journals, there was a lack of papers on Korean school libraries in the Scopus database. Consequently, more research is particularly needed for the Korean researchers to effectively share their domestic research with the international academic community

Comparison of the open access status and metrics of Scopus journals published in East Asian countries: a descriptive study

Purpose The objective of this study was to compare Scopus journals published in East Asian countries—China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan—in terms of their open access status and metrics and to explore the implications of those findings for South Korea. Methods To conduct this study, we selected four East Asian countries: China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. We used journal information provided by SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) and Scopus. The following parameters were analyzed for journals published in East Asian countries: open access status, subject categories, quartiles, number of published documents, h-index, publishers, and citation rate. Results In all East Asian countries, numerous commercial publishers publish journals. One exception is Science Press, a Chinese government-sponsored publisher, which published the largest number of journals in the East Asian region. Japan had the highest median number of years covered by SJR. However, the proportion of Q1 journals in Japan was the lowest of the East Asian countries. South Korea had the highest proportion of Q1 journals in the country’s total journal production. Publishers in South Korea published more open access journals than any other East Asian country. Despite publishing a high proportion of prestigious journals, South Korea lagged behind China and Japan in the number of Scopus-indexed journals. Conclusion The findings indicate that South Korea has made significant progress in locally producing influential journals over the years. However, more efforts to publish international journals are required for South Korea to increase the number of Scopus journals

Direct Reprogramming of Rat Neural Precursor Cells and Fibroblasts into Pluripotent Stem Cells

Background: Given the usefulness of rats as an experimental system, an efficient method for generating rat induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells would provide researchers with a powerful tool for studying human physiology and disease. Here, we report direct reprogramming of rat neural precursor (NP) cells and rat embryonic fibroblasts (REF) into iPS cells by retroviral transduction using either three (Oct3/4, Sox2, and Klf4), four (Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc), or five (Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, c-Myc, and Nanog) genes. Methodology and Principal Findings: iPS cells were generated from both NP and REF using only three (Oct3/4, Sox2, and Klf4) genes without c-Myc. Two factors were found to be critical for efficient derivation and maintenance of rat iPS cells: the use of rat instead of mouse feeders, and the use of small molecules specifically inhibiting mitogen-activated protein kinase and glycogen synthase kinase 3 pathways. In contrast, introduction of embryonic stem cell (ESC) extracts induced partial reprogramming, but failed to generate iPS cells. However, when combined with retroviral transduction, this method generated iPS cells with significantly higher efficiency. Morphology, gene expression, and epigenetic status confirmed that these rat iPS cells exhibited ESC-like properties, including the ability to differentiate into all three germ layers both in vitro and in teratomas. In particular, we found that these rat iPS cells could differentiate to midbrain-like dopamine neurons with a high efficiency. Conclusions/Significance: Given the usefulness of rats as an experimental system, our optimized method would be useful for generating rat iPS cells from diverse tissues and provide researchers with a powerful tool for studying human physiology and disease

Discovery of first-in-class inhibitors of ASH1L histone methyltransferase with anti-leukemic activity

ASH1L histone methyltransferase plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of different diseases, including acute leukemia. While ASH1L represents an attractive drug target, developing ASH1L inhibitors is challenging, as the catalytic SET domain adapts an inactive conformation with autoinhibitory loop blocking the access to the active site. Here, by applying fragment-based screening followed by medicinal chemistry and a structure-based design, we developed first-in-class small molecule inhibitors of the ASH1L SET domain. The crystal structures of ASH1L-inhibitor complexes reveal compound binding to the autoinhibitory loop region in the SET domain. When tested in MLL leukemia models, our lead compound, AS-99, blocks cell proliferation, induces apoptosis and differentiation, downregulates MLL fusion target genes, and reduces the leukemia burden in vivo. This work validates the ASH1L SET domain as a druggable target and provides a chemical probe to further study the biological functions of ASH1L as well as to develop therapeutic agents

Assessing the Value of Korean School Library Research: A Bibliometric Comparison of Korean and International Journal Papers

This study aimed to assess the value of Korean school library research by comparing Korean and international research on school libraries. To conduct this research, records of international papers indexed by Scopus and domestic papers indexed by the Korean Citation Index (KCI) on school libraries were downloaded. These records were analyzed and compared in terms of publication trends, journals, and author keywords. Approximately, four Korean LIS journals collectively published 39% more papers than the international journals indexed by Scopus, suggesting the substantial contributions made by Korean researchonschool libraries. The unique subtopicsofschool libraries in Korean domestic research were the revitalization of school libraries, reading instruction, curriculum development, library instruction, and the School Library Promotion Act. The results also showed that despite the many papers on school libraries in domestic journals, there was a lack of papers on Korean school libraries in the Scopus database. Consequently, more research is particularly needed for the Korean researchers to effectively share their domestic research with the international academic community

Implications of Punctuation Mark Normalization on Text Retrieval

This research investigated issues related to normalizing punctuation marks from a text retrieval perspective. A punctuated-centric approach was undertaken by exploring changes in meanings, whitespaces, words retrievability, and other issues related to normalizing punctuation marks. To investigate punctuation normalization issues, various frequency counts of punctuation marks and punctuation patterns were conducted using the text drawn from the Gutenberg Project archive and the Usenet Newsgroup archive. A number of useful punctuation mark types that could aid in analyzing punctuation marks were discovered. This study identified two types of punctuation normalization procedures: (1) lexical independent (LI) punctuation normalization and (2) lexical oriented (LO) punctuation normalization. Using these two types of punctuation normalization procedures, this study discovered various effects of punctuation normalization in terms of different search query types. By analyzing the punctuation normalization problem in this manner, a wide range of issues were discovered such as: the need to define different types of searching, to disambiguate the role of punctuation marks, to normalize whitespaces, and indexing of punctuated terms. This study concluded that to achieve the most positive effect in a text retrieval environment, normalizing punctuation marks should be based on an extensive systematic analysis of punctuation marks and punctuation patterns and their related factors. The results of this study indicate that there were many challenges due to complexity of language. Further, this study recommends avoiding a simplistic approach to punctuation normalization

In-Depth Examination of Coverage Duration: Analyzing Years Covered and Skipped in Journal Indexing

Journals that have consistently maintained uninterrupted indexing over an extended period can be assumed to possess stability and sustainability in journal indexing. Building on this assumption, the objective of this study is to scrutinize the years omitted in the indexing of Scopus-indexed journals. To conduct this study, three coverage duration indicators—nyears-covered (total years covered), nyears-skipped (years skipped), and skipped/covered ratio (proportion of years skipped to total years covered)—were formulated. Data from SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) for 2022, consisting of 16,762 records (62% of downloaded data) with a coverage duration of 25 years or less, were used for this study. The results revealed that around 10% of Scopus-indexed journals experienced exclusions or coverage gaps. Longer coverage correlates positively with documents published, h-index, and citations, while skipped years decrease with these indicators. Open access (OA) journals exhibited a lower skipped/covered ratio than non-OA journals, suggesting a better sustainability of indexing than non-OA journals. Disciplinary differences in Scopus journal coverage duration revealed notable variation, suggesting that coverage duration indicators can be effectively used to evaluate journal stability within Scopus. Overall, the coverage gaps reflect Scopus’s efforts to regulate the journals it indexes. The coverage duration indicators proposed in this study can be applied to assess the stability of periodicals in any database, providing insights into the broader dynamics and quality standards maintained by a database, where the database periodically adds and removes its indexed contents

<i>Minjung</i> Theology in Contemporary Korea: Liberation Theology and a Reconsideration of Secularization Theory

The Sewol Ferry tragedy in April 2014 has drawn a renewed attention to the role of religion in South Korea. Theologians and religiously-motivated NGOs in Korea at the time and thereafter have called for the need for religion, and religious organizations, to become more actively involved with societal needs, especially after disasters, to help alleviate their pain by providing relief aid and counselling. Such calls for the greater involvement of religion in relief efforts have coincided with Pope Francis&#8217; repeated calls for the Catholic Church&#8217;s greater involvement in social affairs on behalf of the poor and the underprivileged. This paper contends that these developments in and outside of Korea provide an opportune time to renew discussion on oft-misunderstood liberation theology. This is because the latter&#8217;s advocacy of an interpretation of the teachings of Jesus Christ from the perspective of the poor and the marginalized for the purpose of alleviating unjust economic, social, or political conditions is as compelling today as it was some 60 years ago when it first arose. The paper offers a reassessment of the role of religion in light of liberation theology, arguing that religion can make itself more relevant to people&#8217;s lives today by engaging more actively with social issues. The paper will pay special attention to liberation theology in the Korean context, namely minjungshinhak or &#8220;people&#8217;s theology.&#8222; The paper also discusses the implications of liberation theology for secularization theory, arguing, among others, that the former refutes the &#8220;decline of religion&#8222; thesis of the latter, since liberation theology manifests a different role of religion in contemporary society rather than its diminishing significance