• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.53-66
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• 2023

Due to COVID-19, the external activities of urban residents have greatly shrunk, causing a lot of damage to the commercial district, such as a decrease in population and sales. The downturn in commercial districts means the collapse of the infrastructure of the national economy, and can have serious side effects on the local economy and individual lives. Therefore, it is necessary to look at the alley commercial area, which is closely related to the national local economy, and pay attention to the damage and stagnation of the alley commercial area where small business owners are concentrated. The purpose of this study is to classify alley commercial districts into growth commercial districts and decline commercial districts by using commercial sales time series data and DTW time series group analysis for the pre- and post-COVID-19 period. The main findings of the study are as follows. First, using the time series data on commercial sales before and after COVID-19, the alley commercial districts were divided into growth commercial districts and decline commercial districts, and it was confirmed that the distribution of growth commercial districts and decline commercial districts was regionally different. Therefore, it is necessary to actively manage commercial districts in areas where many declining commercial districts are distributed, and it is required to prepare policies for each region in consideration of the spatial distribution of declining commercial districts. Second, during the COVID-19 period, face-to-face essential industries, density of guest facilities, and population density negatively affected the sustainability of commercial districts, which is the opposite of previous studies. This is the result of empirically confirming the specificity of the COVID-19 period and the negative effects of the integrated economy, and can be used as basic data for effective commercial district management and policy preparation in the event of a national disaster in the future. Third, the characteristics of the background of the commercial district had a significant effect on the sustainability of the commercial district, and the negative effect of the attracting facilities inducing population concentration in the background area was found. This suggests that it is necessary to consider the characteristics of the background as well as the inside of the commercial district when establishing policies to revitalize the commercial district and support small business owners in a national disaster situation.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2022

Excess nitrogen (N) flowing from livestock manure to water systems poses a serious threat to the natural environment. Thus, livestock wastewater management has recently drawn attention to this related field. This study first attempted to obtain the optimal conditions for the further volatilization of NH₃ gas generated from pig wastewater by adjusting the amount of injected magnesia (MgO). At 0.8 wt.% of MgO (by pig wastewater weight), the volatility rate of NH₃ increased to 75.5% after a day of aeration compared to untreated samples (pig wastewater itself). This phenomenon was attributed to increases in the pH of pig wastewater as MgO dissolved in it, increasing the volatilization efficiency of NH₃. The initial pH of pig wastewater was 8.4, and the pH was 9.2 when MgO was added up to 0.8 wt.%. Second, the residual ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) in pig wastewater was removed by precipitation in the form of struvite (NH₄MgPO₄·6H₂O) by adjusting the pH after adding MgO and H₃PO₄. Struvite produced in the pig wastewater was identified by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. White precipitates began to form at pH 6, and the higher the pH, the lower the concentration of NH₄⁺-N in pig wastewater. Of the total 86.1% of NH₄⁺-N removed, 62.4% was achieved at pH 6, which was the highest removal rate. Furthermore, how struvite changes with pH was investigated. Under conditions of pH 11 or higher, the synthesized struvite was completely decomposed. The yield of struvite in the precipitate was determined to be between 68% and 84% through a variety of analyses.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.729-744
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• 2023

The value of lithium has significantly increased due to the rising demand for electric cars and batteries. Lithium is primarily found in pegmatites, hydrothermally altered tuffaceous clays, and continental brines. Globally, groundwater-fed salt lakes and oil field brines are attracting attention as major sources of lithium in continental brines, accounting for about 70% of global lithium production. Recently, deep groundwater, especially geothermal water, is also studied for a potential source of lithium. Lithium concentrations in deep groundwater can increase through substantial water-rock reaction and mixing with brines. For the exploration of lithim in deep groundwater, it is important to understand its origin and behavior. Therefore, based on a nationwide preliminary study on the hydrogeochemical characteristics and evolution of thermal groundwater in South Korea, this study aims to investigate the distribution of lithium in the deep groundwater environment and understand the geochemical factors that affect its concentration. A total of 555 thermal groundwater samples were classified into five hydrochemical types showing distinct hydrogeochemical evolution. To investigate the enrichment mechanism, samples (n = 56) with lithium concentrations exceeding the 90th percentile (0.94 mg/L) were studied in detail. Lithium concentrations varied depending upon the type, with Na(Ca)-Cl type being the highest, followed by Ca(Na)-SO₄ type and low-pH Ca(Na)-HCO₃ type. In the Ca(Na)-Cl type, lithium enrichment is due to reverse cation exchange due to seawater intrusion. The enrichment of dissolved lithium in the Ca(Na)-SO₄ type groundwater occurring in Cretaceous volcanic sedimentary basins is related to the occurrence of hydrothermally altered clay minerals and volcanic activities, while enriched lithium in the low-pH Ca(Na)-HCO₃ type groundwater is due to enhanced weathering of basement rocks by ascending deep CO₂. This reconnaissance geochemical study provides valuable insights into hydrogeochemical evolution and economic lithium exploration in deep geologic environments.