• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.333-342
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• 2014

Limited epidemiologic data is available regarding the cardiovascular effects of mercury exposure. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between mercury exposure from fish consumption and cardiovascular disease in a nationally representative sample of Korean adults using the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV 2008~2009). Survey logistic regression models accounting for the complex sampling were used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) adjusted for fish consumption frequency, age, education, individual annual income, household annual income, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), alcohol consumption status, and smoking status. The mean blood mercury level in the population was $5.44{\mu}g/L$. Trends toward increased blood mercury levels were seen for increased education level (P=0.0011), BMI (P<0.0001), WC (P<0.0001), and fish (i.e., anchovy) consumption frequency (P=0.0007). The unadjusted OR for hypertension in the highest blood mercury quartile was 1.450 [95% confidential interval (CI): 1.106~1.901] times higher than that of the lowest quartile. The fish consumption-adjusted OR for hypertension in the highest blood mercury quartile was 1.550 (95% CI: 1.131~2.123) times higher than that of the lowest quartile, and the OR for myocardial infarction or angina in the highest blood mercury quartile was 3.334 (95% CI: 1.338~8.308) times higher than that of the lowest quartile. No associations were observed between blood mercury levels and stroke. These findings suggest that mercury in the blood may be associated with an increased risk of hypertension and myocardial infarction or angina in the general Korean population.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.28 no.8B
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• pp.707-715
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• 2003

In this paper, we propose a new MAC(Medium Access Control) protocol using Movable-boundary, which tries to guarantee Qos for multimedia traffic in the slotted CDMA system. In this scheme, the traffic scheduler assigns channel resource according to the packet priority per service class and adapts the Movable-boundary concept in which the minimum resource is assigned to each traffic class; the remaining resource if it is available can be assigned dynamically according to the temporal demand of other traffic classes. For performance analysis, we performed computer simulations to obtain throughput and packet loss rate and compared the results with Fixed-boundary system. We observed that the error rate of voice traffic could be maintained below a prescribed value while bursty traffic such as video source shares the same channel. In comparison with Fixed-boundary scheme, our protocol exhibits better throughput and packet loss rate performance.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.358-364
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• 2013

Conventional disaster resources management systems among the several institutes are not mutually connected. In case of NDMS(National Disaster Management System), the data of the system is confined to the resources of the local governments and not connected with any other disaster resource management systems. Therefore, it is difficult to find the needed resources, when the large scale disaster is occurred. In this paper, we developed the integrated model of the distributed resources management framework considering the current resource management environment among the institutes. It is loosely coupling model under the centralized system, called IDRM(Integrated Disaster Resource Manager). The system will be verified with the test sites including Korea Expressway Corporation, JeonBuk local government, and Korea Construction Equipment Association. Via the field testing, the system will be the base of the real available system in the future.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.171-178
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• 2016

Extensive efforts from all over the world have been made to solve energy problems, such as high oil prices, global warning due to the depletion of oil. Among them, biofuel has been drawing attention as a clean energy, which can replace fossil fuels. However, conventional biofuels were often converted from eatable biomass such as sugar cane, corn and soy which should be replaced with uneatable biomass. In this study, a techno-economical evaluation of the gasification of biomass waste with mixed alcohol synthesis process was performed. Considering available domestic biomass wastes, a 2000 ton/day conversion plant were assumed to produce 533000 L/day ethanol. Also, financial data from previous studies were evaluated and used and economical sensitivities with various operation conditions were established. Economic analysis were conducted by the payback period and internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV). Sensitivity analyses of raw material costs, initial investment, the major process cost, ethanol price changes and operating costs were all performed.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.27-48
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• 2021

We extend and modify the canonical epidemiology model of Eichenbaum, Rebelo and Trabandt (2020) to investigate the general equilibrium effects of COVID-19 spread in the Korean economy when vaccine, treatment and social distancing are available. Particularly, we develop a SIR-macro model which considers possibility of moral inattention of the overconfident agents through which people is more likely to be infected. Our model implies that people's decision to cut back on consumption and work reduces the severity of the epidemic and thus exacerbate the size of the economic recession caused by the epidemic. Another finding is that the average 13 weeks to develop the vaccine and treatment will lead to 2% drop of consumption.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.219-225
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• 2022

In this paper, we propose a CAC exploring a RA based dynamic spectrum hole grouping for secondary users' QoS enhancement in multi-classes cognitive radio networks. The RA based dynamic spectrum hole grouping uses SU multi-classes overlaying spectrum structure suggested here. Multiclass SUs are divided into real and non real, and real SUs have a priority for resource utilization against non real. The amount of resource required by real SUs is supported by Wiener prediction and the dynamic spectrum hole grouping, and that required by non real SU is supported by the remained available amount without prediction. In the simulations, we compare the proposed CAC performances using the dynamic spectrum hole grouping in terms of SU connection's blocking(dropping) rate and resource utilization efficiency according to multi-classes traffic characteristics, and then we show the proposed CAC can guarantee the desired QoS of multi-classes secondary users.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.184-184
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• 2023

Globally, agriculture is one of the largest consumers and polluters of water resources, contributing to the unsustainable use of limited water resources. To reduce the resource use and environmental footprints associated with current and future food systems, researchers and policy makers have recommended the transition to sustainable and healthier diets and the reduction of food loss and waste along the food supply chain. However, there is limited information on the synergistic effects and trade-offs of adopting the two measures. In this study, we assessed the water-saving potential of the two measures in South Korea using environmentally extended input-output relying on the EXIOBASE database for the reference year 2020, along with scenario analysis to model the potential outcomes. Specifically, we analyzed scenarios where meat consumption was reduced by 30% and 50% and in combination with a 50% reduction in food waste at the consumption stage for each scenario. According to our findings, by considering individual measures of dietary change and food waste reduction, shifting to a diet with 30% and 50% less meat consumption could lead to reduction in water footprint by 6.9% and 7.5%, respectively, while 50% reduction in food waste at the consumption stage could save about 14% of water footprint. However, the synergistic effects of the two measures such as 30% less meat consumption and 50% food waste reduction, and 50% less meat consumption and 50% food waste reduction result to 20% and 24% reductions in water footprint, respectively. Moreover, our findings also showed that increasing food consumption with high environmental impacts could promote resources use inefficiency when waste occurs. Thus, policy strategies that address synergistic effects of both dietary change and food waste reduction should be strengthened to achieve sustainable food system. International and national policies can increase resource efficiency by utilizing all available reduction potentials while considering strategies interactions.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.13-19
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• 2023

Lunar ice is a resource available for future human exploration in deep space and long-term extraterrestrial habitat. However, the origin and nature of lunar ice remains unclear. In addition to remote sensing, international space agencies are competitively planning and conducting missions for lunar surface exploration to determine the existence and resource extent of lunar ice. If a sufficient amount of lunar ice is confirmed, its future in-situ resource utilization is expected to be greatly beneficial. However, due to ice extraction, settlement may occur, which should be taken into account from a geotechnical engineering perspective. Herein, experimental investigations of the potential settlement caused by lunar ice extraction were conducted and different textures of lunar ice were simulated. Consequently, it was confirmed that significant settlement occurs even at the initial water content of ~10% in lunar regolith simulant-ice-mixed soil.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.453-461
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• 2019

This study was conducted to monitor the soil characteristics and growth of Pinus densiflora and to determine the effect of soil characteristics on growth rate five years after an ecological restoration project in Baekdudaegan ridge including Ihwaryeong, Yuksimnyeong, and Beoljae sites. The ecological restoration project was executed with the forest of P. densiflora in 2012-2013. In April 2018, we collected soil samples from each site and measured the height and the diameter at breach height (DBH) of P. densiflora. Although there was no significant change of soil pH compared to the early stage of restoration (one year after the project), it was high in Ihwaryeong, and Beoljae with values of 7.7 and 6.4, respectively. Also, the organic matter decreased by 70-80%, and the available phosphorus (P) was unchanged in three restoration sites. The decreased organic matter can be attributed to restriction of inflow and thus decomposition of litter in the early stage after the restoration. The tree height growth rate ($m\;yr^{-1}$) of P. densiflora in Yuksimnyeong was the highest at 1.02, followed by Beolja at 0.75 and Ihwaryeong at 0.17. The height growth rate showed negative relationships with soil pH and cations, including Na and Ca concentrations and a positive relationship with available phosphate. The low growth rate in the Ihwaryeong site, in particular, might result from the poor nutrient availability due to high soil pH and the decrease in water absorption into the root due to high Na and Ca concentrations. The substantial reduction of organic matter after five years indicates that the need for soil improvement using chemical fertilizer and biochar.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.211-211
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• 2020

The concept of virtual water has been largely applied in the study of regional, national, and global water flows with particular emphasis on water scarcity. Despite water traditionally being managed locally, certain global forces influence the local water resource scarcity/availability and hence virtual water exchanges worldwide. It is therefore of necessity that the significant forces be examined to understand the relationship between available water in a region and the variability and trends in environmental, social, and economic factors that are of utmost importance in the formulation of water resources management policies. This study therefore reviewed recent literature from 2003 - 2019 to determine the significant indicators of virtual water trade at different spatiotemporal levels. The study examined and compared the major approaches to virtual water trade flows accounting, and also identified and discussed policy implications and future research options concerning the analysis of virtual water trade. Available information has shown that virtual water trade is significantly influenced by economic (GDP, Demand-Supply of goods and services), geographical (Distance), institutional (population) and environmental (water availability, arable land, precipitation) factors. Reports further show that the selection of a given approach for virtual water trade flows accounting will depend on the scope of the study, the available datasets, and other research preferences. Accordingly, this study suggests that the adoption of multidisciplinary approaches to virtual water trade, taking into consideration the spatial and temporal variations in water resources availability and the complexity of environmental and socioeconomic factors will be pivotal for establishing the basis for the conservation of water resources worldwide.