• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.63-72
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to identify the life form characteristics, naturalized degree and introduction period of naturalized plants on upland fields in South Korea. The survey sites were selected in 222 upland fields over 9 provinces where are relatively dry soil conditions and are disturbed continuously by farming practices. It seemed that these uplands maintain good condition for the invasion and settlement of alien plants. Field surveys were carried out twice from May to June and from August to September in 2013. The vascular plants of the upland fields were listed into 539 taxa which contain 103 families, 320 genera, 448 species, 2 subspecies, 74 varieties and 15 forms. Ninety nine taxa were naturalized plants composed of 23 families, 64 genera, 91 species and 8 varieties. The urbanization index and naturalized index is 30.65% and 18.37%, respectively. Among total 99 naturalized plants, Compositae (30 taxa) was the most dominant family, and followed by Gramineae (14 taxa). On the basis of dormancy form, 78 taxa were belong to Th (Therophyte). In radicoid form, $R_5$ plants (86 taxa) and $R_3$ plants (14 taxa) were dominantly distributed. In disseminule form, $D_4$ including 63 taxa and $D_2$ containing 26 taxa were dominant. On the basis of growth form, erect form (e) containing 26 taxa was dominant. In conclusion, life form spectrum was $Th-R_5-D_4-e$ type. According to life form analysis, naturalized degree and introduction period, alien plants with unique characteristics may have high ability to settle and spread nationwide after inflow into South Korea. It needs further to observe some plant species with or without ecological features such as widely disseminated seeds by wind or water, high seed productivity, long life-span seeds, high germination rate of seeds, or non-dormant germinable seed.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.501-508
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• 1993

Background: Sleep apnea syndrome is a common disorder which is estimated to affect about 1~4% of adult male population. And if untreated, sleep apnea can cause significant sequelae, such as hypertension, nocturnal cardiac arrhythmia, daytime hypersomnolence, and cognitive impairment. Various kinds of treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have been developed. Among them nasal CPAP, first introduced by Sullivan et al in 1981, has received widespread interest and acclaim as a treatment of OSA, and is currently recommended as first-line treatment for OSA. We evaluated the effect of nasal CPAP in OSA and the side effects of nasal CPAP hindering patients from using nasal CPAP. Methods: We performed sleep studies in 20 OSA patients at 2 consecutive nights; baseline night at first day and CPAP night at second day. We compared apnea index, lowest oxygen concentration during apnea, maximal apnea time, and total apnea duration per total sleep time before and after CPAP. We also evaluated the side effects of CPAP with inquiry to the patients. Results: 1) Apnea index was significantly decreased after CPAP in 17 out of 20 OSA patients (85%) and increased in 3 patients (15%). 2) Average apnea index was significantly decreased after CPAP ($34.1{\pm}18.9/h{\rightarrow}15.4{\pm}10.3/h$, p<0.01). 3) Total apnea duration per total sleep time was also significantly decreased after CPAP ($28.5{\pm}16.0%{\rightarrow}11.9{\pm}9.3%$, p<0.05). 4) The lowest oxygen satuation and maximal apnea time were not significantly changed after CPAP. 5) The most frequent side effect of nasal CPAP was mask discomfort (80%), and the next was drying of nasal passages (65%). Conclusion: Nasal CPAP is an effective treatment for OSA. Futher studies should be concentrated on long term follow up of nasal CPAP for its therapeutic effects and the study of methods to enhance patients' compliance.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.193-200
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• 2010

This experiment was performed to evaluate the morphological responses of the duodenal epithelial cells of the mouse, inoculated with Ehrlich carcinoma cells in the inguinal area, following administration of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). In the experimental groups, each mouse was inoculated with $1{\times}10^7$ Ehrlich carcinoma cells subcutaneously in the inguinal area. From next day after inoculations, 0.2 mL of saline or BCG (0.5 mL/25 g B.W.: $0.03{\times}10^8\sim0.32{\times}10^8$ CFU) were injected subcutaneously to the animals every other day, respectively. The day following the 7th injection of saline or BCG, each mouse was injected with a single dose of $0.7{\mu}Ci$/g of methyl-$^3H$-thymidine (25 Ci/mmol, Amersham Lab, England) through tail vein. Seventy minutes after the thymidine injection, animals were sacrificed, and duodenal tissues were taken and fixed in 10% neutral formalin. Deparaffinized sections were coated with autoradiographic emulsion EM-1 (Amersham Lab, England) in a dark room and dried and were placed in a light-tight box. The number of labeled epithelial cells in the duodenal mucosae (mean number of labeled epithelial cells per 3.5 mm length of mucosa) were observed and calculated. On the light microscopic study, duodenal mucosae had no severe morphological changes following the injection of BCG. In the tumor control and BCG treated groups, a number of small lymphocytes and eosinophile leucocytes are slightly increased as compared with those of the normal control ones. On the autoradiographic study, number of the labeled cells of normal control, tumor control and BCG-treated mice were 632.3 (${\pm}14.47$), 761.7 (${\pm}27.65$) and 505.0 (${\pm}17.09$) respectively. From the above results, BCG may suppress the DNA synthesis of the duodenal epithelial cells, but does not results severe structural defect on the duodenal mucosae. And it is suggested that BCG may greatly improve the anticancer therapy on certain kind of cancer.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.1145-1151
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• 2009

This study was performed to investigate the effects of Sineui-Dae (Sasa coreana Nakai, a kind of bamboo) extracts on the improvement of serum lipid composition by using rats fed a hypercholesterol diet for 4 weeks. The experiment animals were administered with the following diets; high cholesterol diet group (HC diet) as a control and three supplemented groups with high cholesterol diets (HCW, HCM or HCH diet). Three kinds of extracts were prepared by orderly extraction with hexane, methanol, and water. We measured free cholesterol, cholesteryl ester, total cholesterol LDL- and HDL-cholesterol triglyceride and phospholipid in the serum of rats in three experimental and control groups. There were no significant differences in body weights and feed intakes between the HC control group and the extract supplemented groups. The levels of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in the serum of extract supplemented groups were lower than that of the group fed with HC diet only. Serum HDL-cholesterol levet which is known as an antiatherosclerosis factor, was higher in all groups supplemented with bamboo extract by 17.2-21.9% compared to the HC control group. All groups supplemented with bamboo extracts showed the lowering effect of atherogenic index compared to the HC control group (HC group: 2.96${\pm}$0.08, HCM group: 1.48${\pm}$0.02, HCW group: 1.69${\pm}$0.04, HCH group: 1.84${\pm}$0.01). Furthermore, serum triglyceride and phospholipid decreased significantly in the HCM diet compared to the HC control diet. These results suggest that Sineui-Dae bamboo extract, especially methanol extract, has improving effects on hyperlipidemia of rats fed a high cholesterol diet.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.99-112
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• 2013

This study aims to show the changes of characteristics of vegetation structure for 20 years(1991~2010) in Naejangsan National Park. As a result of analysis of actual vegetation, the mixed community of Quercus variabilis and Quercus serrata was distributed with 56.1%, and Q. variabilis community showed in southern steep slope with 17.6%. Pinus densiflora community(5.8%) was observed on the ridge and Carpinu tschonoskii community distributed in the slope of the valley with 6.6%. Zelkova serrata and Prunus sargentii community were distributed in valley. The classification by TWINSPAN, ordination by DCA considering importance percentage and property of vegetation class were divided into 4 communities, which are community I(P. densiflora-Q. variabilis community), community II(Q. variabilis community), community III(C. tschonoskii community) and community IV(Mixed deciduous broad-leaved trees community). The age of Pinus densiflora was 32years old and Q. serrata was 36 years old in the community I, that of Q. variabilis was 64 years old in the community II, Q. serrata was 46 years old and C. tschonoskii was 45 years old in the community III, and Acer palmatum was 54 years old and Cornus controversa was 47 years old in the community IV. As the result of Shannon's index of species diversity, the community Iwas ranged from 0.9751 to 1.4199, community II was ranged from 1.0765 to 1.3278, community III was ranged from 1.0353 to 1.2881, and community IV was ranged from 1.1412 to 1.3807. The change of vegetation structure analyzed through the comparison with results of studies carried out 20 years ago were natural selection of P. densiflora, expansion of Quercus spp. and increase of C. tschonoskii. Especially, A. palmatum is dominated by Q. variabilis in canopy layer like the result of study 20 years ago. A. palmatum was analysed by 14.6% in the canopy layer of only mixed deciduous broad-leaved trees community. As a result of analysis of habitat property of Q. variabilis and A. palmatum, Q. variabilis was distributed in dry area with the low value of pH, O.M., exchangeable cations and Avail. P, and A. palmatum was located in the wet valley with huge value of nourishment. The tendency of reduction of bio-diversity by Sasa borealis is same as previous study but, the distributed areas were reduced in Naejangsan area.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.199-207
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• 2016

This study was conducted to develop a forest fire occurrence model using meteorological characteristics for practical forecasting of forest fire danger rate by reflecting the climate change for the time period of 2000yrs. Forest fire in South Korea is highly influenced by humidity, wind speed, temperature, and precipitation. To effectively forecast forest fire occurrence, we developed a forest fire danger rating model using weather factors associated with forest fire in 2000yrs. Forest fire occurrence patterns were investigated statistically to develop a forest fire danger rating index using times series weather data sets collected from 76 meteorological observation centers. The data sets were used for 11 years from 2000 to 2010. Development of the national forest fire occurrence probability model used a logistic regression analysis with forest fire occurrence data and meteorological variables. Nine probability models for individual nine provinces including Jeju Island have been developed. The results of the statistical analysis show that the logistic models (p<0.05) strongly depends on the effective and relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and rainfall. The results of verification showed that the probability of randomly selected fires ranges from 0.687 to 0.981, which represent a relatively high accuracy of the developed model. These findings may be beneficial to the policy makers in South Korea for the prevention of forest fires.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.528-553
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• 2020

Upland fields are characterized by dry environments, a high degree of disturbance by farming practices such as double-cropping, and a high diversity of crops compared to other field types. This study focused on the floristic composition and characteristics of upland fields in South Korea. Flora surveys were conducted in 36 areas in nine provinces at two times (June and August) in 2015. The results showed that the vascular plants in the upland fields in South Korea included 532 taxa, containing 100 families, 322 genera, 483 species, nine subspecies, 37 varieties, one form, and two hybrids. Among the 100 families, Asteraceae was the most diverse in species (75 taxa), followed by Poaceae (68 taxa), Fabaceae (34 taxa), Polygonaceae (21 taxa), Rosaceae (19 taxa), and Liliaceae (17 taxa). Based on the occurrence frequency of each species, Acalypha australis L. (100%), and Artemisia indica Willd. (100%) were the highest, followed by Humulus scandens (Lour.) Merr., Rorippa palustris (L.) Besser, Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist, Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers., Lactuca indica L., Commelina communis L., Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler, Echinochloa crus-galli(L.) P.Beauv., Cyperus microiria Steud., and Oxalis corniculata L. The biological type of upland fields in South Korea was determined to be Th-R₅-D₄-e type. Rare plants were found in 11 taxa: Taxus cuspidata Siebold & Zucc, Magnolia kobus DC, Clematis trichotoma Nakai, Aristolochina contorta Bunge, Buxus sinica (Rehder & E.H.Wilson) M.Cheng var. koreana (Nakai ex Rehder) Q.L.Wang, Melothria japonica (Thunb.) Maxim, Mitrasacme indica Wight, Lithospermum arvense L., Carpesium rosulatum Miq., Allium senescens L., and Pseudoraphis sordida (Thwaites) S.M.Phillips & S.L.Chen. Ninety-seven taxa contained naturalized plants composed of 24 families, 68 genera, 97 species, one variety, and one form. The urbanization and naturalization indices were 30.5% and 18.4%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.853-860
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• 2012

To estimate potential use of fly ash in reducing $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ emission from soil, $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ fluxes from a paddy soil mixed with fly ash at different rate (w/w; 0, 5, and 10%) in the presence and absence of fertilizer N ($(NH_4)_2SO_4$) addition were investigated in a laboratory incubation for 60 days under changing water regime from wetting to drying via transition. The mean $CH_4$ flux during the entire incubation period ranged from 0.59 to $1.68mg\;CH_4\;m^{-2}day^{-1}$ with a lower rate in the soil treated with N fertilizer due to suppression of $CH_4$ production by $SO_4^{2-}$ that acts as an electron acceptor, leading to decreases in electron availability for methanogen. Fly ash application reduced $CH_4$ flux by 37.5 and 33.0% in soils without and with N addition, respectively, probably due to retardation of $CH_4$ diffusion through soil pores by addition of fine-textured fly ash. In addition, as fly ash has a potential for $CO_2$ removal via carbonation (formation of carbonate precipitates) that decreases $CO_2$ availability that is a substrate for $CO_2$ reduction reaction (one of $CH_4$ generation pathways) is likely to be another mechanisms of $CH_4$ flux reduction by fly ash. Meanwhile, the mean $CO_2$ flux during the entire incubation period was between 0.64 and $0.90g\;CO_2\;m^{-2}day^{-1}$, and that of N treated soil was lower than that without N addition. Because N addition is likely to increase soil respiration, it is not straightforward to explain the results. However, it may be possible that our experiment did not account for the substantial amount of $CO_2$ produced by heterotrophs that were activated by N addition in earlier period than the measurement was initiated. Fly ash application also lowered $CO_2$ flux by up to 20% in the soil mixed with fly ash at 10% through $CO_2$ removal by the carbonation. At the whole picture, fly ash application at 10% decreased global warming potential of emitted $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ by about 20%. Therefore, our results suggest that fly ash application can be a soil management practice to reduce green house gas emission from paddy soils. Further studies under field conditions with rice cultivation are necessary to verify our findings.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.24-42
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• 1983

To develop Ilex cornuta which grow naturally in the southwest seaside district as new ornamental tree, the author chose I. cornuta growing in the four natural communities and those cultivated in Kwangju city as a sample, and investigated its ecology, morphology and characteristics. The results obtained was summarized as follows; 1) The natural distribution of I. cornuta marks $35^{\circ}$43'N and $126^{\circ}$44'E in the southwestern part of Korea and $33^{\circ}$20'N and $126^{\circ}$15'E in Jejoo island. This area has the following necessary conditions for Ilex cornuta: the annual average temperature is above $12^{\circ}C$, the coldness index below $-12.7^{\circ}C$, annual average relative humidity 75-80%, and the number of snow-covering days is 20-25 days, situated within 20km of from coastline and within, 100m above sea level and mainly at the foot of the mountain facing the southeast. 2) The vegetation in I. cornuta community can be divided that upper layer is composed of Pinus thunbergii and P. densiflora, middle layer of Eurya japonica var. montana, Ilex cornuta and Vaccinium bracteatum, and the ground vegetation is composed of Carex lanceolata and Arundinella hirta var. ciliare. The community has high species diversity which indicates it is at the stage of development. Although I. cornuta is a species of the southern type of temperate zone where coniferous tree or broad leaved, evergreen trees grow together, it occasionally grows in the subtropical zone. 3) Parent rock is gneiss or rhyolite etc., and soil is acidic (about pH 4.5-5.0) and the content of available phosphorus is low. 4) At maturity, the height growth averaged $10.48{\pm}0.23cm$ a year and the diameter growth 0.43 cm a year, and the annual ring was not clear. Mean leaf-number was 11.34. There are a significant positive correlation between twig-elongation and leaf-number. 5) One-year-old seedling grows up to 10.66 cm (max. 18.2 cm, min. 4.0 cm) in shoot-height, with its leaf number 12.1 (max. 18, min), its basal diameter 2.24 mm (max. 4.0 mm, min. 1.0 mm) and shows rhythmical growth in high temperature period. There were significant positive correlations between stalk-height and leaf-number, between stalk-height and basal-diameter, and between number and basal diameter. 6) The flowering time ranged from the end of April to the beginning of May, and the flower has tetra-merouscorella and corymb of yellowish green. It has a bisexual flower and dioecism with a sexual ratio 1:1. 7) The fruit, after fertilization, grows 0.87 cm long (0.61-1.31 cm) and 0.8 cm wide (0.62-1.05 cm) by the beginning of May. Fruits begin to turn red and continue to ripen until the end of October or the beginning of November and remain unfading until the end of following May. With the partial change in color of dark-brown at the beginning of the June fruits begin to fall, bur some remain even after three years. 8) The seed acquision ratio is 24.7% by weight, and the number of grains per fruit averages 3.9 and the seed weight per liter is 114.2 gram, while the average weight of 1,000 seeds is 24.56 grams. 9) Seeds after complete removal of sarcocarp, were buried under ground in a fixed temperature and humidity and they began to develop root in October, a year later and germinated in the next April. Under sunlight or drought, however, the dormant state may be continued.