• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.183-200
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• 2019

In this study, the characteristics of seasonal $PM_{2.5}$ behavior in South Korea and other Northeast Asian regions were analyzed by using the $PM_{2.5}$ ground measurement data, weather data, WRF and CMAQ models. Analysis of seasonal $PM_{2.5}$ behavior in Northeast Asia showed that $PM_{2.5}$ concentration at 6 IMS sites in South Korea was increased by long-distance transport and atmospheric congestion, or decreased by clean air inflow due to seasonal weather characteristics. As a result of analysis by applying BFM to air quality model, the contribution from foreign countries dominantly influenced the $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations of Baengnyeongdo due to the low self-emission and geographical location. In the case of urban areas with high self-emissions such as Seoul and Ulsan, the $PM_{2.5}$ contribution from overseas was relatively low compared to other regions, but the standard deviation of the season was relatively high. This study is expected to improve the understanding of the air pollutant phenomenon by analyzing the characteristics of $PM_{2.5}$ behavior in Northeast Asia according to the seasonal weather condition change. At the same time, this study can be used to establish the air quality policy in the future, knowing that the contribution of $PM_{2.5}$ concentration to the domestic and overseas can be different depending on the regional emission characteristics.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.144-151
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• 2019

The establishment rate of foxtail millet seeds is greatly affected by soil environment conditions. To enhance germination viability and stable production of foxtail millet seeds, it is important to select seeds with a high density. Therefore, this study tested the selection of high-quality seeds using salt solution (specific gravity: 1.000, 1.005, 1.010, 1.015, 1.020, 1.025, 1.030, 1.035, and $1.040g\;L^{-1}$) and investigated their germination rates, percentages of emergence, and seeding quality. In this study, three varieties were tested: 'Hwanggeum', 'Samdachal', and 'Kyeongkwan1'. The thousand seed weight of all three varieties increased proportionally with specific gravity. The highest thousand seed weight was observed at the selection with $1.040g\;L^{-1}$ specific gravity, which also had the highest germination rate of 88.3%, 86.7%, and 90.6%, for 'Hwanggeum'; 'Samdachal'; and 'Kyeongkwan1', respectively. The results of seeding quality indicated that higher the specific gravity during selection, the higher were the values of plant growth (plant height, leaf length, stem diameter, root length, root weight, and stem weight). All the three varieties were found to be longer or heavier for seeds selected at the specific gravity of $1.040g\;L^{-1}$. The packing germination viability investigation found that higher the specific gravity for selection of seeds, the higher was the percentage of emergence (PE) and the emergence rate index (ERI). The PE was the highest for seeds selected at $1.040g\;L^{-1}$ specific gravity (85.3, 83.0, and 87.0%), and ERI was also as high as $2.82d^{-1}\;m^{-1}$ or more at $1.040g\;L^{-1}$. Selection of seeds with salt solution resulted in high germination viability of foxtail millet. Therefore, sowing seeds selected at $1.040g\;L^{-1}$ specific gravity is expected to help substantially in increased productivity.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.66-77
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• 2019

The present study investigated pine trees, which forms a major plantation species in Korea, with the objective of improving the survival rate of pine trees after planting. Growth responses and characteristics were assessed by controlling the level of fertilizer application, which is a basic controlling the growth of pine seedlings, to identify the optimal fertilization treatment. Pine tree seedlings were grown in 104 containers and were examined 8 weeks after planting. Stem height and were measured at 4-week intervals. In terms of fertilization treatment for 1-0 pine seedlings, the treatment group with gradually-increasing fertilizer concentration ($500{\rightarrow}1000{\rightarrow}1000{\rightarrow}1000mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$) had the biggest increase in stem height and diameter at the root. The survey results indicated that the increased concentration treatment group and the gradually-increasing concentration treatment group had more growth compared with that in the fixed concentration treatment group. The gradually-increasing concentration treatment group ($500{\rightarrow}1000{\rightarrow}1000{\rightarrow}1000mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$) had the highest total dry matter production. Nine weeks after fertilization, the tips of the pine leaves turned yellow in the fixed concentration treatment group ($3000mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$). The same phenomenon was observed in the treatment group in which the concentration was increased to $2000mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$, and in the gradually-increasing concentration treatment group, when the concentration was raised up to $2000mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$. We concluded that the optimal fertilization conditions for producing healthy pine 1-0 seedlings involve fertilizing once a week with Multifeed 19 at $500mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ during the seedling period, Multifeed 19 at $1000mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ during the rapid growth period, and Multifeed 32 at $1000mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ during the maturation period.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1354-1360
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to develop a simple, environmentally friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) without the use of chemical reducing agents by exploiting the extracellular synthesis of SNPs in a culture supernatant of Bacillus thuringiensis CH3. Addition of 5 mM $AgNO_3$ to the culture supernatant at a ratio of 1:1 caused a change in the maximum absorbance at 418 nm corresponding to the surface plasmon resonance of the SNPs. Synthesis of SNPs occurred within 8 hr and reached a maximum at 40-48 hr. The structural characteristics of the synthesized SNPs were investigated by various instrumental analysis. FESEM observations showed the formation of well-dispersed spherical SNPs, and the presence of silver was confirmed by EDS analysis. The X-ray diffraction spectrum indicated that the SNPs had a face-centered cubic crystal lattice. The average SNP size, calculated using DLS, was about 51.3 nm and ranged from 19 to 110 nm. The synthesized SNPs exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against a variety of pathogenic Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and yeasts. The highest antimicrobial activity was observed against C. albicans, a human pathogenic yeast. The FESEM observations determined that the antimicrobial activity of the SNPs was due to destruction of the cell surface, cytoplasmic leakage, and finally cell lysis. This study suggests that B. thuringiensis CH3 is a potential candidate for efficient synthesis of SNPs, and that these SNPs have potential uses in a variety of pharmaceutical applications.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.135-144
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• 2018

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to identify the differences of demographic and clinical characteristics between child-adolescents who received medical inpatient care and non-hospitalized adolescents after suicide attempts. Methods : The study included 35 child-adolescents who were hospitalized (Admission group) and 114 child-adolescents who were not hospitalized (Non-Admission group) as a result of a suicide attempt from 2009 to 2015. We compared sociodemographic, clinical, and suicide attempt-related characteristics through a chi-square test and logistic regression analysis to evaluate the differences between the two groups. Results : Child-adolescents of this study most commonly attempted suicide by poisoning, and for motivation of interpersonal problems. Admission group had significantly fewer attempts through injury by sharp objects (${\chi}^2=4.374$, p=0.037) and attempted suicide with a higher chance of actually dying when compared to Risk-Rescue Rating Scale (t=1.981, p=0.049). In addition, Admission group had relatively common motivation for academic problems (${\chi}^2=12.082$, p=0.001) and less motivation for interpersonal difficulties. (${\chi}^2=9.869$, p=0.002) Psychiatric diagnosis at the time of visiting the emergency department showed higher rates of depression in the admission group than Non-Admission group (${\chi}^2=8.649$, p=0.003). The results of logistic regression showed that depression affects hospitalization (OR=2.783, 95% CI 1.092-7.089, p=0.032). Conclusions : This study is meaningful in that it revealed the social and clinical characteristics of all child-adolescents who were hospitalized at a university hospital after attempting suicide. This study identified differences in motivation, methods, and psychiatric diagnosis of hospitalized adolescents and those who were not. Therefore, the results may help adolescent suicide attempters to get a discriminatory approach based on their admission.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.152-168
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• 2019

The element arsenic, which is abundant in the Earth's crust, is used for various industrial purposes including materials for disease treatment and household goods. Various human activities, such as the disposal of soil waste, metal mining and smelting, and combustion of fossil fuels, have caused the pollution of the environment with arsenic. Recently, guidelines for arsenic in rice have been adopted by the Korean ministry of food and drug safety to prevent health risks based on rice consumption. Because of the exposure to arsenic and its accumulation in the human body through various channels, such as air inhalation, skin contact, ingestion of drinking water, and food consumption, integrated multimedia risk assessment is required to adopt appropriate risk management policies. Therefore, integrated human health risk assessment was carried out in this study using integrated exposure assessment based on multimedia (e.g., air, water, and soil) and multi-route (e.g., oral, inhalation, and dermal) scenarios. The results show that oral uptake via drinking water is the most common pathway of arsenic into the human body, accounting for 57%-96% of the total arsenic exposure. Among various age groups, the highest exposures to arsenic were observed in infants because the body weight of infants is low and the surface areas of infant bodies are large. Based on the results of the exposure assessment, the cancer and non-cancer risks were calculated. The cancer risk for CTE and RME is in the range of 2.3E-05 to 6.7E-05 and thus is negligible because it does not exceed the cancer probability of 1.0E-04 for all age groups. On the other hand, the cancer risk for RME varies from 6.4E-05 to 1.8E-04 and from 1.3E-04 to 1.8E-04 for infants and preschool children, exceeding the excess cancer risk of 1.0E-04. The non-cancer risks range from 5.4E-02 to 1.9E-01 and from 1.5E-01 to 6.8E-01, respectively. They do not exceed the hazard index 1 for all scenarios and all ages.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.34-42
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• 2019

Baseflow which is one of the unmeasurable components of streamflow and slowly flows through underground is important for water resource management. Despite various separation methods from researches preceded, it is difficult to find a significant separation method for baseflow separation. This study applied the MRC method and developed the improved approach to separate baseflow from total streamflow hydrograph. Previous researchers utilized the whole streamflow data of study period at once to derive synthetic MRCs causing unreliable results. This study has been proceeded with total nine areas with gauging stations. Each three areas are selected from 3 domestic major watersheds. Tool for drawing MRC had been used to draw MRCs of each area. First, synthetic MRC for whole period and two other MRCs were drawn following two different criteria. Two criteria were set by different conditions, one is flow condition and the other is seasonality. The whole streamflow was classified according to seasonality and flow conditions, and MRCs had been drawn with a specialized program. The MRCs for flow conditions had low R2 and similar trend to recession segments. On the other hand, the seasonal MRCs were eligible for the baseflow separation that properly reflects the seasonal variability of baseflow. Comparing two methods of assuming MRC for baseflow separation, seasonal MRC was more effective for relieving overestimating tendency of synthetic MRC. Flow condition MRCs had a large distribution of the flow and this means accurate MRC could not be found. Baseflow separation using seasonal MRC is showing more reliability than the other one, however if certain technique added up to the flow condition MRC method to stabilize distribution of the streamflow, the flow conditions method could secure reliability as much as seasonal MRC method.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.217-244
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• 2018

As Chinese insurance market grows rapidly due to market reforms, China got recognition as second-largest insurance market in the world in 2016. However Korean insurance companies have had difficulties to grow in Chinese insurance market despite Chinese participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the growth of chinese insurance market. The reason for the decline in Korean insurance companies is economic retaliation due to the deployment of THAAD in Korea. However, this is not a fundamental reason. The underlying cause of the effects of economic retaliation is the result of insufficient negotiations in Korea-China FTA services sector. In Service sector of Korea-China FTA, the level of concession between Korea and China differs greatly, when comparing China and South Korea's FTA. In addition, it has only been a few years since China collected the position of the WTO Doha Agenda, which currently deals with concessions on intellectual property rights and services. More important is that the Korea-China FTA service sector, as it stopped short of being protected by the most-favored-nation state treatment level when Korean insurance companies entered China. Further negotiations to supplement the weak points in the Korea-China FTA service sector were promised in December 2017, but international tensions over THAAD deployment made it impossible to hold such negotiations. However, due to changes in international affairs in 2018, the first additional negotiation was decided and held. This paper implicates strategies of further negotiation between Korea and China for service and investment chapter. Consequently, the aim of this paper suggests directions how to re-enter Chinese insurance market to Korean insurance companies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of International Agriculture
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.370-375
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• 2018

In order to promote the mechanized cultivation of perilla for seed, which has been increasing in cultivation area and production recently as demand increases according to the health-functional effects, we carried out this experiment to determine the optimum sowing time of perilla to minimize the seed loss at harvest and increase the yield. We used two different types of perilla varieties, 'Sodam(small-branch)' and 'Deulsaem(multi-branch)', and the sowing time was June 15, June 30, July 15 and August 1. As the sowing time is late, days of growth from sowing to flowering were shortened, and they were shortened from 14, 26 and 31~32 days on June 30, July 15 and August 1 as compared with June 15, respectively. And, the stem length and culm diameter were shortened or tapered and the number of nodes tended to decrease. The number of effective branch was 82%, 61% and 56% on June 30, July 15 and August 1 as compared with June 15, respectively. Accordingly, it seems to make against in securing the yield from July 15. And, the lowest cluster height was generally shorter as the sowing time is late, and the height was below 15cm on July 15 and August 1. It seems that this may work against the machine harvest. There was a high degree of significance between the sowing time and the yield. Although, the total yield was not statistically significant among June 15, June 30 and July 15, the ratio of shattering seed at harvest was in order of July 15, August 1(30.3%)> June 15(15.3%)> June 30(13.5%). Therefore, the net yield except for shattered seed was higher in order of June 30${\geq}$ June 15> July 15> August 1. This tendency was characteristic regardless of variety and sowing method. And, the protein content in perilla seed increased as the sowing time was delayed, and the content was the highest on August 1. The content of crude fat was relatively high on June 15 and July 15 in 'Sodam', and June 30 and July 15 in 'Deulsaem', respectively. And, the content of linolenic acid was found to be the highest on August 1. As a result, the optimal sowing time for machine harvest of perilla for seed is about June 30. At this time, it is determined that the sowing time is the most suitable to be advantageous in increasing the yield of perilla seed, while minimizing the seed loss due to the shattering at harvest.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.6_2
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• pp.1165-1178
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• 2018

Collapse of an Antarctic ice shelf and its flow velocity changes has the potential to reduce the restraining stress to the seaward flow of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which can cause sea level rising. In this study, variations in ice velocity from 2000 to 2017 for the Nansen Ice Shelf in East Antarctica that experienced a large-scale collapse in April 2016 were analyzed using Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images. To extract ice velocity, image matching based on orientation correlation was applied to the image pairs of blue, green, red, near-infrared, panchromatic, and the first principal component image of the Landsat multispectral data, from which the results were combined. The Landsat multispectral image matching produced reliable ice velocities for at least 14% wider area on the Nansen Ice Shelf than for the case of using single band (i.e., panchromatic) image matching. The ice velocities derived from the Landsat multispectral image matching have the error of $2.1m\;a^{-1}$ compared to the in situ Global Positioning System (GPS) observation data. The region adjacent to the Drygalski Ice Tongue showed the fastest increase in ice velocity between 2000 and 2017. The ice velocity along the central flow line of the Nansen Ice Shelf was stable before 2010 (${\sim}228m\;a^{-1}$). In 2011-2012, when a rift began to develop near the ice front, the ice flow was accelerated (${\sim}255m\;a^{-1}$) but the velocity was only about 11% faster than 2010. Since 2014, the massive rift had been fully developed, and the ice velocity of the upper region of the rift slightly decreased (${\sim}225m\;a^{-1}$) and stabilized. This means that the development of the rift and the resulting collapse of the ice front had little effect on the ice velocity of the Nansen Ice Shelf.