• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.74-84
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• 2024

Background: Despite many environmental problems, plastic waste emissions have been a significant surge during last few decades in the Republic of Korea. Furthermore, the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has lead to an increased use and disposal of plastic waste worldwide. This paper tried to present summarized data related to the production and disposal of plastics especially before and after the COVID-19 pandemic with environmental impacts of plastics. Also, review of plastic waste reduction policies and feasible policies to promote an act for a safe, sustainable environment are presented. Results: Plastics cause many environmental problems due to their non-degrading properties and have a huge direct and indirect impact on Ecosystems and Public Health. Microplastics need a lot of attention because their environmental effects are not yet fully identified. Despite plastic's significant impact on climate change, the impact is not yet widely known to the public. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of plastic has surged and recycling has decreased due to the increase in delivery food and online shopping. Korea is introducing very active plastic and waste management policies, but it is necessary to implement more active policies by referring to the cases of other countries. Conclusions: In this article, we have scrutinized the evolution of plastic waste generation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and delved into policy frameworks adopted by other nations, which South Korea can draw valuable lessons from. The formidable challenges posed by plastic waste, the remarkable shifts witnessed during the COVID-19 era, and the multifaceted response strategies elucidated in this paper all play a pivotal role in steering South Korea toward a sustainable future.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.119-131
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Happiness is an important factor in life, and food literacy (FL) has been emphasized as a core concept for a happy and healthy life. This study examined the level of happiness of Seoul citizens according to their sociodemographic factors and their association with FL. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study used the data from the Seoul Food Survey, a cross-sectional study conducted on 4,039 Seoul citizens from September to October 2021. FL was measured using a validated questionnaire consisting of 33 items from 3 sub-domains: 14 items in the nutrition and safety domain, 8 items in the cultural and relational domain, and 11 items in the socio-ecological domain. Statistical analysis involved descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: Various sociodemographic factors, such as household income, subjective health status, and food insecurity, were found to be associated with the level of happiness. The level of FL was also associated with the happiness scores. After adjusting for variables associated with happiness, the participants with the highest quartile FL scores were 7.32 times more likely to respond that they were happy than those with the lowest FL score. Three FL domains and total FL showed linear increases in overall happiness after controlling for subjective health status and sociodemographic factors (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: After adjusting for the related covariates, higher levels of FL were associated with higher scores in happiness. Based on this study, it would be meaningful to evaluate ways to intervene in FL to improve the level of happiness among the general population.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.123-134
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• 2022

War films are a general term for films that have battlefields as their main background. Although war films as a genre directly deal with combat situations, they also deal with characters or subjects related to war. War films promote patriotism and nationalism, but they also argue against war by highlighting the disastrous war. This study is based on the color theory that the meaning of film color is temporarily and infinitely generated according to the cultural differences, with Eisenstein's creative theory on film color and pathos. I wanted to clarify the pathos effect and the meaning of color green expressed in the Korean war films. In war films, colors are visualized in art forms such as symbols, similes and metaphors. In war films, color green symbolizes life. On the battlefield, the green of nature stands against the catastrophic situation. The green of ecology, which insists on the flow of life, evokes fear in ecological crises such as war, disaster and climate change. The dark green caused by a catastrophe like war warns of the destruction of life. The connotation of color is temporarily and infinitely expands according to the cultural differences. The dark green, which visualizes the battlefield of destruction, is a form and element of pathos that indicates changes in emotions such as sadness, pity, grief and despair. Pathos as an emotional appeal is a leap from the quality to the quality of the means of expression and refers to the departure from Dasein. The green color that dominates the visuals of war films is a symbol of life and functions as a pathos that makes emotional changes take a new leap. A qualitative leap through pathos means all changes that become new.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

Carbon neutrality refers to a state in which there is no global increase in CO₂ emissions due to human activities. In Korea, for carbon neutrality, green remodeling of existing buildings and customized support tasks for zero energy in new buildings are presented. Germany is showing fundamental changes in energy supply, such as applying renewable energy and higher energy efficiency from nuclear and fossil fuels, which were the existing energy sources. In this study, how Germany establishes policies for carbon neutrality at each state level and the cases applied to increase the energy efficiency of the actually applied residential complexes are analyzed based on this. As a result of the case complex analysis, it was found that the construction direction was being promoted as a zero-energy complex or a carbon-neutral complex by gradually reducing the energy demand in buildings and supplying additional energy with new and renewable energy in the low-energy building distribution in the 1990s. In Germany's ecological complex, energy standards have been strengthened from low-energy architecture to plus-energy architecture over time, and annual heating energy consumption standards and heat transmittance rates for each structure have been achieved at a higher level. The results of this analysis will serve as basic data and derivation of applicable items when planning residential complex development and remodeling of existing buildings for the domestic carbon-neutral goal in the future.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.49-58
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• 2024

The rapid advancement of generative large language models has revolutionized various real-life domains, emphasizing the importance of exploring their applications in healthcare. This study aims to examine how generative large language models are implemented in the medical domain, with the specific objective of searching for the possibility and potential of integration between generative large language models and East Asian medicine. Through a comprehensive current state analysis, we identified limitations in the deployment of generative large language models within East Asian medicine and proposed directions for future research. Our findings highlight the essential need for accumulating and generating structured data to improve the capabilities of generative large language models in East Asian medicine. Additionally, we tackle the issue of hallucination and the necessity for a robust model evaluation framework. Despite these challenges, the application of generative large language models in East Asian medicine has demonstrated promising results. Techniques such as model augmentation, multimodal structures, and knowledge distillation have the potential to significantly enhance accuracy, efficiency, and accessibility. In conclusion, we expect generative large language models to play a pivotal role in facilitating precise diagnostics, personalized treatment in clinical fields, and fostering innovation in education and research within East Asian medicine.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.105 no.4
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• pp.401-413
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• 2016

Forest resources utilization and variable disturbance history have been affected the rarity and conservation value of forest relict trees, which served as habitat for forest biodiversity, important carbon stock and cultural role include human and natural history in South Korea. This study was conducted to establish the baseline data for forest resources conservation by clarifying species diversity, spatial distribution and ecological characteristics (individual and habitat) of forest relict trees (DBH > 300 cm) based on the data getting from mountain trail, high resolution aerial photos and field professionals and field survey. As results, 54 taxa (18 family 32 genus 48 species 1 subspecies 3 variety and 2 form) as about 22% of tree species in Korea was identified in the field. 837 individuals of forest relict trees were observed and the majority of the trees was in Pinaceae, deciduous Fagaceae and Rosaceae, which families are abundant in population diversity. High elevation area was important to relict trees as mean altitudinal distribution was 1,200 m a.s.l as likely affected by human activity gradients and mid-steep slope and North aspect was important environment for the trees remain. Many individuals exhibited 'damage larger branch' (55.6%) and consequent relatively lower mean canopy coverages (below 80%). Synthetically, present diversity and abundance of relict forest trees in South Korea were the result of complex process among climate variation, local weather and biological factors and the trees of big and old were estimated to important forest biodiversity elements. In the future, clarifying the role and function of relict trees in forest ecosystem, in- and ex- situ programmes for important trees and habitat, and activities for building the background of conservation policy such as "Guideline for identifying and measurement of forest relict trees".

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.197-207
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• 2016

This study aims at providing basic data to objectively evaluate the areas suitable for reintroduction of the species of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) in order to effectively preserve the Asiatic black bears in the Korean protection areas including national parks, and for the species restoration success. To this end, this study predicted the potential habitats in East Asia, Southeast Asia and India, where there are the records of Asiatic black bears' appearances using the Maxent model and environmental variables related with climate, topography, road and land use. In addition, this study evaluated the effects of the relevant climate and environmental variables. This study also analyzed inhabitation range area suitable for Asiatic black and geographic change according to future climate change. As for the judgment accuracy of the Maxent model widely utilized for habitat distribution research of wildlife for preservation, AUC value was calculated as 0.893 (sd=0.121). This was useful in predicting Asiatic black bears' potential habitat and evaluate the habitat change characteristics according to future climate change. Compare to the distribution map of Asiatic black bears evaluated by IUCN, Habitat suitability by the Maxent model were regionally diverse in extant areas and low in the extinct areas from IUCN map. This can be the result reflecting the regional difference in the environmental conditions where Asiatic black bears inhabit. As for the environment affecting the potential habitat distribution of Asiatic black bears, inhabitation rate was the highest, according to land coverage type, compared to climate, topography and artificial factors like distance from road. Especially, the area of deciduous broadleaf forest was predicted to be preferred, in comparison with other land coverage types. Annual mean precipitation and the precipitation during the driest period were projected to affect more than temperature's annual range, and the inhabitation possibility was higher, as distance was farther from road. The reason is that Asiatic black bears are conjectured to prefer more stable area without human's intervention, as well as prey resource. The inhabitation range was predicted to be expanded gradually to the southern part of India, China's southeast coast and adjacent inland area, and Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia in the eastern coastal areas of Southeast Asia. The following areas are forecast to be the core areas, where Asiatic black bears can inhabit in the Asian region: Jeonnam, Jeonbuk and Gangwon areas in South Korea, Kyushu, Chugoku, Shikoku, Chubu, Kanto and Tohoku's border area in Japan, and Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian border area in China. This study is expected to be used as basic data for the preservation and efficient management of Asiatic black bear's habitat, artificially introduced individual bear's release area selection, and the management of collision zones with humans.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.197-208
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• 2020

This study was carried out to analyze spatial and temporal incidence characteristics of scrub typhus and predict the future incidence of scrub typhus since the incidences of scrub typhus have been rapidly increased among vector-borne diseases. A maximum entropy (MaxEnt) ecological model was implemented to predict spatial distribution and incidence rate of scrub typhus using spatial data sets on environmental and social variables. Additionally, relationships between the incidence of scrub typhus and critical spatial data were analyzed. Elevation and temperature were analyzed as dominant spatial factors which influenced the growth environment of Leptotrombidium scutellare (L. scutellare) which is the primary vector of scrub typhus. A temporal number of diseases by scrub typhus was predicted by a deep neural network (DNN). The model considered the time-lagged effect of scrub typhus. The DNN-based prediction model showed that temperature, precipitation, and humidity in summer had significant influence factors on the activity of L. scutellare and the number of diseases at fall. Moreover, the DNN-based prediction model had superior performance compared to a conventional statistical prediction model. Finally, the spatial and temporal models were used under climate change scenario. The future characteristics of scrub typhus showed that the maximum incidence rate would increase by 8%, areas of the high potential of incidence rate would increase by 9%, and disease occurrence duration would expand by 2 months. The results would contribute to the disease management and prediction for the health of residents in terms of public health.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 1989

The seventeen barnyardgrass [Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv.] accessions, which were collected national-widely in 1986 and selected two times through 1987, were experimented at 1988. To identify the ecological properties of the collected accessions of native barnyardgrass species as a weed, the experiment was conducted with Wagner pots in size of I/500a and under PE film house. 1. Accessions were classified into 5 specific groups in plant type properties by use of data from plant height, number of maximum tillers, erectness, culm length and panicle type, among others. 2. As for species identification, they were clustered into 3 similar groups and 2 individual species by use of data from color, first-glumer type, and erectness. 3. Four groups were identified for elongational properties by plant height of 22 days old seedling, length of culm, panical, leaf length and width, and inter-node and spikelet, among others. 4. Properties on quanititative growth were classified into 4 groups and 1 individual accession corresponding to differential plant height of 22 days old seedling, length of culm, panical, inter-node, leaf-sheath, spikelet, first-glumes length, grain, number of tillers, spike, and grain weight. 5. Due to different daily increasing rate in seedling height, dry weight, number of tillers and ratio in dry weight to plant height, the growth rate properties were clustered into 4 groups and one individual accession. 6. Properties on seedling growth were classified into 4 groups by use of differential date in length and width of first-leaf, plant height, number of tillers, and dry weight of young and medium aged seedling. 7. Responding to heading date, the accessions were classified into 3 groups : temperative sensitive, medium, and short-day length sensitive types, respectively. 8. By integrating of all quanititative and attributable characters, the seventeen accessions were clustered into 4 groups and 2 individual accessions.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.395-407
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• 2002

A 3D hydrodynamic-ecological coupled model was applied to estimate a food supply to oysters in Geoje-Hansan Bay where is one of the oyster culturing sites in Korea, In this study, the primary productivity (PP) was adopted as an index of food supply, and the spatial patterns of average chlorophyll a concentration during a culturing seasons from September to May of the following year were simulated by the model, The numerical result showed that PP was high in the inner part of the bay and the adjacent areas of Hwado island, but low in the outer. This result indicates that PP is essentially influenced by anthropogenic nutrient loadings in the system. The model was calibrated using the field data in May which is non culturing season of oysters and a simulated phytoplankton biomass agreed fairly well with the observed data ($R^{2}=0.70$, $RE=10.3\%$). The computed food supply varied from 0.19 to $1.27\;gC/m^{2}/day$ with a mean value of $0.62 gC/m^{2}/day$ from September to May. The highest value was showed in May ($1.27 gC/m^{2}/day$) and the lowest was in February ($0.19 gC/m^{2}/day$).