• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.779-797
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• 2016

A calibrated hydrological model is a useful tool for quantifying the impacts of the climate variations and land use/land cover changes on sediment load, water quality and runoff. In the rainy season each year, the Xe Bang Fai river basin is provisionally flooded because of typhoons, the frequency and intensity of which are sensitive to ongoing climate change. Severe heavy rainfall has continuously occurred in this basin area, often causing severe floods at downstream of the Xe Bang Fai river basin. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the climate change impact on river discharge using a Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model based on future climate change scenarios. In this study, the simulation of hydrological river discharge is used by SWAT model, covering a total area of $10,064km^2$ in the central part of country. The hydrological model (baseline) is calibrated and validated for two periods: 2001-2005 and 2006-2010, respectively. The monthly simulation outcomes during the calibration and validation model are good results with $R^2$ > 0.9 and ENS > 0.9. Because of ongoing climate change, three climate models (IPSL CM5A-MR 2030, GISS E2-R-CC 2030 and GFDL CM3 2030) indicate that the rainfall in this area is likely to increase up to 10% during the summer monsoon season in the near future, year 2030. As a result of these precipitation increases, the SWAT model predicts rainy season (Jul-Aug-Sep) river discharge at the Xebangfai@bridge station will be about $800m^3/s$ larger than the present. This calibrated model is expected to contribute for preventing flood disaster risk and sustainable development of Laos

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.255-261
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• 2006

Although some phytoes rogens might have beneficiary rather than adverse effects, most endocrine disrupting compounds(EDCs) are considered to be harmful to human and wildlife health through interfering the endocrine system. Previously we found that prepubertal exposure to genistein(GS), a well-known isoflavone phytoestrogen, could activate the reproductive system of immature female rats resulting precocious puberty. Interestingly, di(2-ethyl hexyl) phthalate(DEHP) exposure brought inverse result, a delayed puberty, in the same experimental regimen. In this study, we examined whether prepubertal exposure to GS or DEHP affect the gene expressions of estrogen receptors($ER\;{\alpha}$ and $ER\;{\beta}$) and LH receptor(LHR) which represent the maturational status of ovary and uterus in immature rats. GS (100 mg/kg/day) was administered daily from postnatal day 25 to the day when the first vaginal opening(VO) was observed, and the animals were sacrificed on the next day(day 32). Similarly, DEHP(l00 mg/kg/day) was administered daily from postnatal day 25 through the day when the first V.O. in control group was observed, and the animals were sacrificed on the next day(day 36). To determine the transcriptional changes in the hormone receptors, total RNAs were extracted from ovary and uterus and were applied to semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR). In the GS group, the transcriptional activities of $ER\;{\alpha}$, $ER\;{\beta}$ and LHR in uterus and LHR in ovary were significantly increased when compared to those of control group. In the DEHP group, the transcriptional activities of all the hormone receptors measured were significantly lowered when compared to those of control group. These alteration of the reproductive hormone receptor expressions in ovary and uterus might be represent the phenotypic aspects(secondary sexual characteristics) such as tissue weights and reproductive hormone levels during perinatal period in immature female rats.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.482-496
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• 2023

Many changes in the scale and structure of the Korean rice cropping system have been made over the past few decades. Still, insufficient research has been conducted on the sustainability of this system. This study analyzed changes in the Korean rice cropping system's sustainability from a system ecology perspective using an emergy approach. For this purpose, an emergy table was created for the Korean rice cropping system in 2011, 2016, and 202, and an emergy-based indicator analysis was performed. The emergy analysis showed that the total emergy input to the rice cropping system decreased from 10,744E+18 sej year^-1 to 8,342E+18 sej year^-1 due to decreases in paddy field areas from 2011 to 2021, and the proportion of renewable resources decreased by 1.4%. The emergy input per area (ha) was found to have decreased from 13.13E+15 sej ha^-1 year^-1 in 2011 to 11.89E+15 sej ha^-1 year^-1 in 2021, and the leading cause was a decrease in nitrogen fertilizer usage and working hours. The amount of emergy used to grow 1 g of rice stayed the same between 2016 and 2021 (specific emergy: 13.3E+09 sej g^-1), but the sustainability of the rice cropping system (emergy sustainability index, ESI) continued to decrease (2011: 0.107, 2016: 0.088, and 2021: 0.086). This study provides quantitative information on the emergy input structure and characteristics of Korean rice cropping systems. The results of this study can be used as a valuable reference in establishing measures to improve the ecological sustainability of the Korean rice cropping system.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.420-427
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• 2010

A process for manufacturing virally-safe bovine amniotic membrane(BAM) has been developed for biological dressing. BAM was harvested from a healthy bovine placenta, and then the epithelium was removed. The remaining stromal layer was consecutively disinfected with 70% ethanol and 0.05% sodium hypochlorite. The stromal layer was incubated in a decellularization solution containing 0.25%(w/v) trypsin to remove the cellular components. The resulting acelluar BAM was lyophilized to preserve its biochemical and structural integrity. The BAM was packed and exposed to 25 kGy of gamma irradiation for sterilization purpose. Histological, electron microscopical, and biochemical observations showed that the acellualr BAM had intact structural integrity of three dimensional collagen fibers and contained several growth factors, accelerating wound healing, such as EGF (Epidermal growth factor), KGF (Keratinocyte growth factor), and FGF (Fibroblast growth factor). Bovine herpes virus (BHV), bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (BPIV-3), and bovine parvovirus (BPV) were chosen as the biological indicators for validation of viral safety of the acellular BAM. Samples from relevant stages of the production process were spiked with each virus and subjected to viral inactivation processes. Viruses were recovered from the samples and then titrated immediately. All the viruses tested were completely inactivated to undetectable levels within 1 h of 70% ethanol treatment. Enveloped viruses such as BHV, BVDV, and BPIV-3 were more effectively inactivated than BPV by 0.05% sodium hypochlorite treatment. BHV, BVDV, and BPIV-3 were completely inactivated to undetectable levels by 25 kGy of gamma irradiation. Also BPV was effectively inactivated by 25 kGy of gamma irradiation. The cumulative log reduction factors of BHV, BVDV, BPIV-3, and BPV were ${\geq}$13.30, ${\geq}$14.32, ${\geq}$15.22, and ${\geq}$7.57, respectively. These results indicate that the production process for acelluar BAM has a sufficient virus-reducing capacity to achieve a high margin of the virus safety.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.110-119
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• 2012

Recently as the advent of knowledge-based competition, the major industrialized countries including Korea, are expanding their R&D investment and promoting policies for diffusing of R&D performance. For this, NASA, DoD and such agencies in the United States define Technology Readiness Level (TRL) as a quantified indicator for performance management, and also impose Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) as a evaluation system, that evaluates technology maturity using TRL. These tools are judged to be very effective in R&D projects especially with the object of practical use. When this concept is applied to the domestic national construction and transportation R&D project for the purpose of practical use, it is expected that the evaluation system overcomes its weakness of focusing only on academic results and improves significantly on intent of achieving practical use. Thus in this study, TRL/TRA implementation model of construction and transportation R&D project for achieving purpose of practical use is presented through an analysis of TRL/TRA concept and domestic national construction and transportation R&D project's characteristics and current evaluation/management system.

• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.23-31
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• 2019

Objective : The purpose of this study is to repeatedly conduct task-oriented training in scopolamine-induced dementia rats and as a result observe changes in the content of acetylcholine, a marker of cognitive function and central nervous system plasticity, to identify the improvement effect of dementia. Methods : It consisted of two groups. One group I was that did not perform task-oriented training in scopolamine-induced dementia rats and the other group II was that performed task-oriented training. Task-oriented training involved stretching, grasping and moving arms and walking obstacles on the legs. We performed a quantified passive avoidance test in the measurement of memory for cognitive function and compared the change in the content of acetylcholine for the plasticity of the central nervous system. Results : The results of the study are as follows: First, there was a significant improvement in cognitive function since the 4th days after task-oriented training of scopolamine-induced dementia rats(.00). Second, task-oriented training applied to scopolamine-induced dementia rats showed a significant increase in acetylcholine content. Conclusion : In this study, task-oriented training, which is often performed on senile dementia patients during occupational therapy intervention, was scientifically demonstrated in scopolamine-induced dementia rats by enhancement of cognitive function through memory improvement and increase in the content of acetylcholine confirming central nervous system plasticity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.57-67
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• 2014

The vigor condition of trees is an important indicator for the management of urban forested area. But difficulties in how to assess the tree vigor condition still remain. Previous efforts were limited in the 1) measurement of single indicator rather than using multiple indices, 2) purpose-oriented measurement such as for air-pollution effect or specific pathological symptom, and 3) ordinal-scale evaluations by field crews 4) despite human errors based on his/her experiences or prior knowledge. Therefore, this study attempted to develop a quantitative and objective methodology for assessing tree vigor condition, by measuring multiple modules and building the profile inventory. Furthermore, the possibility and limitations were discussed in terms of schematic frames describing tree vigor condition. The vigor condition of 56 flowering cherry plants in urban park were assessed by in-situ measurements of following eight items; growth of crown(Gc), growth of shoots, individual tree volume(Vol), plant area index, woody area index, leaf area index, leaf chlorophyll content(Lc) and leaf water content(Lw). For validation, these measurements were compared with the ranks of holistic tree vigor condition, which were visually assessed using a 4-point grading scale based on the expert's knowledge. As a result, the measures of each evaluation item successfully highlighted a variety of aspects in tree vigor condition, including the states of both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic parts. The variation in the results depending on evaluated parts was shown within an individual tree, even though the broad agreement among the results was found. The result of correlation analysis between the tested measurements and 4-point visual assessment, demonstrated that the state of water-stressed foliage of the season (Lw) or the development of plant materials since sapling phase (Vol) could be better viewed from the outer appearance of trees than other symptoms. But only based on the visual assessment, it may be difficult to detect the quality of photosynthesis (Lc) or the recent trend in growth of trees (Gc). To make this methodology simplified for the broad-scale application, the tested eight measurements could be integrated into two components by principal component analysis, which was labelled with 'the amount of plant materials' and 'vigor trend', respectively. In addition, the use of these quantitative and multi-scale indicators underlies the importance of assessing various aspects of tree vigor condition, taking into account the response(s) on different time and spatial scale of pressure(s) shown in each evaluated module. Future study should be advanced for various species at diverse developing stages and environment, and the application to wide areas at a periodic manner.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.131-144
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• 2018

The urban center of a large city has a high concentration ratio of population, commerce, and traffic. Therefore, the expected effect is high from the introduction of the urban utility tunnel and it also has sufficient economic feasibility considering life cycle cost. Moreover, the construction cost can be greatly reduced if it is included in a large underground development such as a subway or a complex transfer center construction. However, it is not reflected in actual underground development plan. When planning a urban utility tunnel in Korea, it is expected to have difficulties such as the cost of relocation of the existing Life-Line, conflicts among the individual facility institutions, procurement of construction resources and sharing. Furthermore, it is possible to promote the project only if a consensus is drawn up by a collective council composed of all facilities and project developers. Therefore, an optimal alternative should be proposed using economic analysis and feasibility assessment system. In this study, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is performed considering the characteristics of urban areas and the importance of each indicator is quantified. As a result, we can support reasonable design capacity optimization using the feasibility assessment system.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.111-123
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• 2017

The phycocyanin pigment (PC) is a marker for cyanobacterial presence in eutrophic inland water. Accurate estimation of low PC concentration in turbid inland water is challenging due to the optical complexity and criticalforissuing an early warning of potentialrisks of cyanobacterial bloom to the public. To monitor cyanobacterial bloom in eutrophic inland waters, an approach is proposed to partition non-water absorption coefficient from measured reflectance and to retrieve absorption coefficient of PC with the aim of improving the accuracy in remotely estimated PC, in particular for low concentrations. The proposed inversion model retrieves absorption spectra of PC ($a_{pc}({\lambda})$) with $R^2{\geq}0.8$ for $a_{pc}(620)$. The algorithm achieved more accurate Chl-a and PC estimation with $0.71{\leq}R^2{\leq}0.85$, relative root mean square error (rRMSE) ${\leq}39.4%$ and mean relative error(RE) ${\leq}78.0%$ than the widely used semi-empirical algorithm for the same dataset. In particular, low PC ($PC{\leq}50mg/m^3$) and low PC: Chl-a ratio values of for all datasets used in this study were well predicted by the proposed algorithm.