• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.68-74
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• 2009

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), one of ubiquitous organic pollutants in marine environments, are major toxic components of petroleum and are produced during the incomplete combustion of organic materials. As shipyards are located inside of natural or artificial semi-enclosed bay, even a relatively weak environmental disturbance by ship-building activity can cause severe damage to marine ecosystem in the bay. Many studies of pollution in shipyard area have been focused on the antifouling agent, like tributyltin. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ship-building activity on PAH contamination. Total PAHs concentration was higher nearby and inside shipyard area than outside, implying that shipyard could be one of major source area of PAH contamination to pose harmful effects to surrounding environments. Through PAH profile and source recognition index, the source of PAHs inputs in this area was estimated to originate from both petrogenic and pyrogenic origin. PAH levels showed a significant correlation with total butyltins, indicating that ship-building activity influenced PAH concentration and distribution. Vertical distribution of PAHs historically confirmed the correlation between shipbuilding activity and PAHs contamination.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.271-278
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• 2010

Field monitoring was conducted for fish fauna and community assessment at 7 sites from April 2008 to October 2009 in the Chogang Stream. The number of fish samples in this period were 4,669 in 36 species of 9 families. Family Cyprinidae take 66.7 (24 species), Cobitidae, Bagridae, Centropomidae and Odontobutidae occupied 5.6%(each 2 species), respectively. Twenty species (55.6%) including Acheilognathus koreensis and A. yamatsutae were found endemic out of the 36 species. The species of Pseudopungtungia nigra, Gobiobotia macrocephala and Gobiobotia brevibarba were endangered species. The most frequently found one was Zacco koreanus (34.0%, n=1,588) followed by Z. platypus (22.6%, n=1,053) and Coreoleuciscus splendidus (13.3%, n=623). The lower reach of Chogang Stream was more abundance of species, high diversity, evenness and richness, and lower dominance index than those of the upper reach. According to the dendrogram established at 0.5 level of similarity rate, sampling stations were divided into 3 groups. They were divided into upper most stream (St. 1~St. 2), upper stream (St. 3), middle and lower stream (St. 4~St. 7). Overall, it was concluded that the Chogang Stream has been relatively well protected from the anthropogenic disturbance for the legally protected species including the endemic species studied in this study.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.327-349
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• 2010

This study was carried out to investigate the distribution of vascular plants and their use from 2007 to 2009 in Mt. Unmum(Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-Do). The vascular plants were summarized as 605 taxa including 98 families, 304 genus, 514 species, 3 subspecies, 68 varieties, and 20 forma. Among the investigated 605 taxa, 21 rare and endangered plants, 29 Korean endemic plants were included. Based on the list of specially designated plants by Ministry of Environment, 70 taxa included Iris odaesanensis and Gastrodia elata were recorded in the investigated area. The naturalized plants were identified as 23 taxa and the percent of naturalized index(NI) was 3.8% of total 605 taxa vascular plants. Usage of 605 taxa were consists of 225 taxa(37.2%) of edible plants, 191 taxa(31.6%) of medicinal plants, 64 taxa(10.6%) of ornamental plants, 46 taxa(7.6%) of pasture plants, 18 taxa(3.0%) of timber plants, 14 taxa(2.3%) of fiber plants, and 3 taxa(0.5%) of industrial plants. To management of natural resource, we suppose that it is required to establish an ecological learning area to minimize human disturbance and an effective managemet strategy by continuous monitoring for ecosystem change.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.142-156
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• 2020

This study surveyed Gyeongan Stream, a tributary of the Han River Drainage System, from April to October 2017 to investigate the characteristics of fish communities. The survey collected 40 species of 11 families from 48 survey stations using kick nets and cast nets. The dominant and subdominant species were Zacco platypus (48.0%) and Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (17.7%), respectively. The next most abundant species were Pungtungia herzi (6.8%), Z. koreanus (5.0%), Carassius auratus (4.3%), Squalidus gracilis majimae (2.7%), and Rhodeus notatus (2.5%). Among the fish collected, 14 species (35.0%) were Korean endemic species, and the exotic species were Micropterus salmoides, Lepomis macrochirus, and Cyprinus carpio (Israeli type). The land-locked species were Plecoglossus altivelis, Rhinogobius brunneus, and Cottus koreanus, while the species sensitive to climate change was C. koreanus. The community analysis showed that the dominance was higher at the uppermost stream station, whereas diversity and abundance tended to be lower at the upstream station and higher toward the downstream station. The community structure was largely divided into rivers (uppermost stream, upstream, and middle-lower stream) and lake. The river health was mostly good (23 stations, 47.9%) and fair (15 stations, 31.3%). Comparison with past surveys showed that 12 species identified in the past surveys did not appear in this survey; nine species appeared for the first time in this survey; and the ecosystem disturbance species - M. salmoides and L. macrochirus - tended to spread more widely gradually.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.68-71
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• 2005

We report a case of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, which occurred primarily during the REM sleep stage. A 55-year-old female patient who complained of chronic insomnia on the initial visit turned out to have obstructive sleep apnea syndrome of a mild degree (respiratory disturbance index (RDI) of 13.8/hour, %time spent below 90% of SaO2=5.0%) on nocturnal polysomnography. Interestingly, apnea episodes and desaturations mainly occurred during REM sleep stage. And RDI and destaturations during REM sleep stage were found to be severe enough to classify as a severe degree of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. These findings suggest that severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome might be masked under the symptom of chronic insomnia and that apneas can be predominantly localized within REM sleep epochs. In terms of treatment, "REM sleep-dependent" apneas may call for different methods of treatment, especially REM sleep-specific pharmacological intervention.

• Journal of Korea Foresty Energy
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2003

The successional status and potential natural vegetation were examined in the natural deciduous forest in Mt. Chombong area. The examination was based on the subsequent process of generation replacement by understory saplings for the dominant canopy trees within 106 20mx20m square sample plots. The transition matrix model, which was modified from mathematical theory of Markov chain, was employed to analyze the successional status of the study forest. The model suggests that study forest is still seral, and it is considered to be more than 500 years away from the steady state or climax in terms of species composition. The simulations predict a remarkable decrease in the proportion of species composition of the present dominant Quercus mongolica and Kalopanax pictus from current 42.6% and 8.1% to less than 13.3% and 0.5%, respectively, at the steady state. On the contrary, the proportions of Abies holophylla, Acer mono, Fraxinus mandshurica, Tilia amurensis, and Acer pseudo-sieboldianum will increase at the steady state. The change of predicted composition ratio was generally coincide with the result of tolerance index to be compared with the study model. The hypothesis and sensitivity of the model were also discussed to evaluate the applicability to the real situation. The overall results indicated that the present dynamics of the forest must reflect the seral state due to previous disturbance mainly by human related interference.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.2 s.271
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• pp.136-139
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• 2007

Bilateral popliteal artery entrapment syndrome is a rare vascular disease, which leads to ischemic claudication as a result of disturbance to the blood flow from the abnormal relationship of the popliteal artery to the gastrocnemius muscle, a fibrous band or the popliteus muscle in the young male population. A 58-years-old male patient, complaining of ischemic claudication, coldness and 3rd toe gangrene of left leg of 1 month's duration was admitted to our institution. His left ankle-brachial index was decreased; therefore, a femoral artery angiography was peformed, which revealed a total occlusion below the distal superficial femoral artery of the left leg. An EKG revealed atrial fibrillation, suggestive of a thromboembolism of the popliteal artery due to atrial fibrillation; therefore, Urokinase thrombolysis was attempted. After the Urokinase thrombolysis, popliteal artery entrapment syndrome was diagnosed, with MRI then performed for an anatomical diagnosis. The popliteal artery entrapment was type 1, where the popliteal artery was displaced medial to the Gastrocnemius head. After complete removal of the popliteal artery aneurysm, interposition was performed with a contra lateral greater saphenous vein graft. A mild right popliteal artery aneurysm still remained, but surgery was not performed. Currently, the patent is surviving, without complications. Herein, the good results obtained for the surgical treatment of a severely affected leg, and the conservative treatment of a mildly affected leg, are reported.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.664-676
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• 2006

Objective : Although chronic non-bacterial prostatitis is a common disease, it is very difficult to treat effectively. Lygodium japonicum has been traditionally used in treatment of urinary tract inflammation and voiding disturbance. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects and action mechanism of Lygodium japonicum in the rat model of non-bacterial prostatitis induced by castration and testosterone treatment. Methods : Five-month-old rats were treated with 17$\beta$-estradiol after castration for induction of experimental non-bacterial prostatitis, which is similar to human chronic prostatitis in histopathological profiles. Lygodium japonicum and testosterone were administered as an experimental specimen and a positive control. respectively. The prostates were evaluated by histopathological parameters including the epithelial score and epithelio-stromal ratio for glandular damage. PCNA labeling index for cyto-proliferation and a TUNEL(deoxyuridine triphosphate biotin nick end-labeling) assay for cell apoptosis. Results : While prostates of control rats revealed severe acinar gland atrophy and stromal proliferation, the rats treated with Lygodium japonicum showed a diminished range of tissue damage. Epithelial score was improved in the Lygodium japonicum group over that of the control (P<0.05). The epithelio-stromal ratio was lower in the Lygodiutn japonicum group when compared to that of the control (P<0.05). Although there was no difference in PCNA and TUNEL positive cells of the glandular epithelia. we found an decreased number of PCNA positive cell and concurrent increase of TUNEL positive cells in the stroma of Lygodium japonicum treated rats (P<0.01). Conclusions : These findings suggest that Lygodium japonicum may protect the glandular epithelial cells and also inhibit stromal proliferation in association with suppression of cyto-proliferation and stimulation of apoptosis. We concluded that Lygodium japonicum could be a useful remedy agents for treating chronic non-bacterial prostatitis.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.63-76
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• 2010

The Jangdo wetland is located on a very gentle slope of the mountain area in Daejangdo island, Shinan-gun, Korea, in which the area of the watershed is estimated at 147,000 m². The wetland has been regarded as a peat bog without any sedimentological evidence. This study was conducted to analyze the geomorphological and sedimentological characteristics of the wetland. The geographic information system (GIS) was used to analyze the drainage system, and field surveys were conducted to measure the range and depth of wetland deposits. The grain size analysis, organic matter determination, elements analysis and radiocarbon dating were performed on samples from the wetland. As a result, the wetland deposits were about 30 cm deep on average, the mean grain sizes ranged from 50 to 500 μm, and the average C/N ratio was 11.5. The portion of organic matter it contained was only 5~26%, which did not satisfy the peat standards. The radiocarbon ages from the wetland deposits range 180±50 ¹⁴C yr BP to modern, which indicated that natural and anthropogenic interferences including agricultural activities have continuously happened. We conclude that the Jangdo wetland is still in its infancy, not a steady state, so that it could be very sensitive to a small disturbance.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.112 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2023

This study was established to provide basic information necessary for ecological management to restore the naturalness of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) plantations located in the mountains of Gyeongbuk, Korea. Using vegetation data collected from 200 black locust stands, vegetation types were classified using the TWINSPAN method, the spatial arrangement status according to the environmental gradient was identified through DCA analysis, and a synoptic table of communities was prepared based on the diagnostic species determined by determining community fidelity (Φ) for each vegetation type. The vegetation types were classified into seven types, namely, Quercus mongolica-Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum type, Castanea crenata-Smilax china type, Clematis apiifolia-Lonicera japonica type, Rosa multiflora-Artemisia indica type, Quercus variabilis-Lindera glauca type, Ulmus parvifolia-Celtis sinensis type, and Prunus padus-Celastrus flagellaris type. These types usually reflected differences in complex factors such as altitude, moisture regime, successional stage, and disturbance regime. The mean relative importance value of the constituent species was highest for black locust(39.7), but oaks such as Quercus variabilis, Q. serrata, Q. mongolica, Q. acutissima, and Q. aliena were also identified as important constituent species with high relative importance values, indicating their potential for successional trends. In addition, the total percent cover of constituent species by vegetation type, life form composition, species diversity index, and indicator species were compared.