• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.355-366
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• 2014

Objectives: This study seeks to evaluate the vulnerability assessment of the human health sector for $PM_{10}$, which is reflected in the regional characteristics and related disease mortality rates for $PM_{10}$ in Busan over the period of 2006-2010. Methods: According to the vulnerability concept suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), vulnerability to $PM_{10}$ is comprised of the categories of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The indexes of the exposure and sensitivity categories indicate positive effects, while the adaptive capacity index indicates a negative effect on vulnerability to $PM_{10}$. Variables of each category were standardized by the rescaling method, and each regional relative vulnerability was computed through the vulnerability index calculation formula. Results: The regions with a high exposure index are Jung-Gu (transportation region) and Saha-Gu (industrial region). Major factors determining the exposure index are the $PM_{10}$ concentration, days of $PM_{10}{\geq}50$, ${\mu}g/m^3$, and $PM_{10}$ emissions. The regions that show a high sensitivity index are urban and rural regions; these commonly have a high mortality rate for related disease and vulnerable populations. The regions that have a high adaptive capacity index are Jung-Gu, Gangseo-Gu, and Busanjin-Gu, all of which have a high level of economic/welfare/health care factors. The high-vulnerability synthesis of the exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity indexes show that Dong-Gu and Seo-Gu have a risk for $PM_{10}$ potential effects and a low adaptive capacity. Conclusions: This study presents the vulnerability index to $PM_{10}$ through a relative comparison using quantitative evaluation to draw regional priorities. Therefore, it provides basic data to reflect environmental health influences in favor of an adaptive policy limiting damage to human health caused by vulnerability to $PM_{10}$.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.492-504
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• 2013

Objectives: This analysis seeks to evaluate the impact of environmental health factors (EHF; e.g. hospital beds per capita, employees of medical institutions) on extreme-heat vulnerability assessment in Busan Metropolitan City during 2006-2010. Methods: According to the vulnerability concept suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), extreme-heat vulnerability is comprised of the categories of Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity (including EHF). The indexes of the Exposure and Sensitivity categories indicate positive effects, while the Adaptive capacity index indicates a negative effect on extreme-heat vulnerability. Variables of each category were standardized by the re-scaling method, and then each regional relative vulnerability was computed with the vulnerability index calculation formula. Results: The extreme-heat vulnerability index (EVI) excepting EHF was much higher in urban areas than in suburban areas within the metropolitan area. When EHF was considered, the difference in the EVI between the two areas was reduced due to the increase of the Adaptive capacity index in urban areas. The low EVI in suburban areas was induced by a dominant effect of natural environmental factors (e.g. green area) within the Adaptive capacity category. Conclusions: To reduce the vulnerability to extreme heat in urban areas, which were more frequently exposed to extreme heat than others areas, public health and natural environments need to be improved in sensitive areas.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.141-154
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• 2016

This study was conducted laying the focus on finding the mutual action between the substantial ecological value and economic system in the national land, and calculating the environmental carrying capacity and sustainability of the national land using the emergy synthesis. Particularly, this study pays attention watchfully to the reality that the analytic framework to analyze sustainability is not arranged well, as the concept of sustainable development considering environmental carrying capacity, which becomes a widely discussed topic today, is defined differently according to the subjective views of respective researchers, and the situation which needs in-depth evaluation on the interaction between nature and economy which becomes the fundamental of sustainable development. This study also aims at groping for correct direction for the national land development by calculating the environmental carrying capacity and index value which is appropriate to the national land and providing the framework for preparing the policy to induce the sustainable use and management of the national land. The concept of emergy synthesis which is used for the evaluation of environmental carrying capacity and sustainability in the national land, as in this case, can notify the information on current situation of the national land as well as explain how the national land transforms according to time pass (the role of information synthesis), and gives knowledge if the national land policies advances toward the direction of sustainable development (the role of policy evaluation and observation). Emergy synthesis also can take role for selecting best policy on the process of decision making on the exploitation of the national land (the role on the process of decision making).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.878-881
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• 2002

The goal of the current research was to assess the influence of the growth rate of Nocardia amarae on its overall metal binding capacity. Batch sorption isotherms for cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and nickel (Ni) showed that Nocardia cells harvested from chemostat cultures at a dilution rate of $0.33d^-1$ had a significantly higher metal sorption capacity than cells grown at 0.5 and $1d^-1$. The cell surface area estimated using a dye technique indicated that pure N. amarae cells grown at a lower growth rate had a significantly more specific surface area than cells harvested from a higher growth rate operation. Accordingly, this difference in the specific surface area seemed to indicate that the higher metal sorption capacity of the slowly growing Nocardia cells was due to their higher specific surface area.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.22-31
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• 2006

AnnAGNPS model would be applied to simulate the pollutant removal capacity with the buffer strip in the Deachung reservoir watershed. In 2002, 2,270 tons of TN and 221 tons of TP were discharged from the nonpoint source pollutants in this watershed. During the rainy season, from June to September, 66.4% of TN and 71.9% of TP resulted from nonpoint source loads. AnnAGNPS model was also used to simulate the nutrients removal capacity from the buffer strip under the condition that the present landuse would be changed to forest. As the result of simulation, the removal rates of nutrients from the buffer strip of Daecheong reservoir watershed are 406 tons of TN, 39 tons of TP, which means reduction rates are TN 17.9%, TP 17.8%, respectively.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.21 no.3 s.54
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• pp.255-266
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• 2006

Soil organic matter (OM) is well documented for its capacity to retain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and thus is important in dictating the environmental partitioning of POPs between media such as air, water, and soil. Black carbon (BC) is a small component of OM and exhibitt a 10$\sim$100 times greater sorption capacity of POPs than humified OM. Furthermore, due to the inherent long environmental life time of BC, a result of its resistance to physical and biological degradation, POPs can continue to accumulate in BC over a long period of time. The unique properties of BC have been of particular interest over the last 30 years and have resulted in broad research being conducted into its effects of POP cycling in atmospheric, oceanographic and soil matrices. The results of such studies have proved valuable In providing new research initiatives into the role of BC in the cycling of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) as well as giving further insight into the long range atmospheric transport (LRAT) potential and subsequent risk assessment criteria for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In this report, we introduce a novel study examining the relationships between BC and OM with respect to their POP sorption capacity and discuss the role of BC in influencing the environmental regulation of organic pollutants.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.951-960
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• 2006

The eco-hydrodynamic model was used to estimate the environmental capacity in Gamak Bay. It is composed of the three-dimensional hydrodynamic model for the simulation of water flow and ecosystem model for the simulation of phytoplankton. As the results of three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation, the computed tidal currents are toward the inner part of bay through Yeosu Harbor and the southern mouth of the bay during the flood tide, and being in the opposite direction during the ebb tide. The computed residual currents were dominated southward flow at Yeosu Harbor and sea flow at mouth of bay, The comparison between the simulated and observed tidal ellipses at three station showed fairly good agreement. The distributions of COD in the Gamak bay were simulated and reproduced by an ecosystem model. The simulated results of COD were fairly good coincided with the observed values within relative error of 1.93%, correlation coefficient(r) of 0.88. In order to estimate the environmental capacity in Gamak bay, the simulations were performed by controlling quantitatively the pollution loads with an ecosystem model. In case the pollution loads including streams become 10 times as high as the present loads, the results showed the concentration of COD to be $1.33{\sim}4.74mg/{\ell}(mean\;2.28mg/{\ell})$, which is the third class criterion of Korean standards for marine water quality In case the pollution loads including streams become 30 times as high as the present loads, the results showed the concentration of COD to be $1.38{\sim}7.87mg/{\ell}(mean\;2.97mg/{\ell})$, which is the third class criterion of Korean standards for marine water quality. In case the pollution loads including streams become 50 times as high as the present loads, the results showed the concentration of COD to be $1.44{\sim}9.80mg/{\ell}(mean\;3.56mg/{\ell})$, which is the third class criterion of Korean standards for marine water quality.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.366-373
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• 2020

The autonomous vehicles (AVs) could make a positive or negative impact on reducing mobile emissions. This study investigated the changes of mobile emissions that could be caused by large-scale adoption of AVs. The factors of road capacity increase and speed limit increase impacts were simulated using a conceptual modeling approach that combines a hypothetical speed-emission function and a traffic demand model using a virtual transportation network. The simulation results show that road capacity increase impact is significant in decreasing mobile emissions until the market share of AVs is less than 80%. If the road capacity increases by 100%, the mobile emissions will decrease by about 30%. On the other hand, driving speed limit increase impact is significant in increasing mobile emissions, and the environmentally desirable speed limit was found at around 95 km/h. If the speed limit increases to 140 km/h, the mobile emissions will increase by about 25%. This is because some vehicles begin to bypass the congested routes at high speeds as speed limit increases. Based on the simulation results, it is clear that the vehicle platooning technology implemented at reasonable speed limit is one of the AV technologies that are encouraging from the environmental point of view.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2010

The recommended factored design wind load effects for overhead lattice transmission line towers by codes and standards are evaluated based on the applicable wind load factor, gust response factor and design wind speed. The current factors and design wind speed were developed considering linear elastic responses and selected notional target safety levels. However, information on the nonlinear inelastic responses of such towers under extreme dynamic wind loading, and on the structural capacity curves of the towers in relation to the design capacities, is lacking. The knowledge and assessment of the capacity curve, and its relation to the design strength, is important to evaluate the integrity and reliability of these towers. Such an assessment was performed in the present study, using a nonlinear static pushover (NSP) analysis and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA), both of which are commonly used in earthquake engineering. For the IDA, temporal and spatially varying wind speeds are simulated based on power spectral density and coherence functions. Numerical results show that the structural capacity curves of the tower determined from the NSP analysis depend on the load pattern, and that the curves determined from the nonlinear static pushover analysis are similar to those obtained from IDA.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2015

Removal characteristics of Cu(II) ions by solid-phase extractant immobilized D2EHPA and TBP in PVC were investigated. Cu(II) ion concentrations in the solution and removal capacity of Cu(II) ion according to operation time were compared. The lower the initial concentration of Cu(II) ion in aqueous solution was, the removal capacity of Cu(II) ion by solid-phase extractant was increased relatively. The bigger the initial concentration of Cu(II) ion was, the removal capacity of Cu(II) ion was increased relatively. The pseudo-second-order kinetics according to operation time was showed more satisfying results than the pseudo-first-order kinetics for the removal velocity of Cu(II) ion. The removal capacity of Cu(II) ion was 0.025 mg/g in aqueous solution of pH 2, but the removal capacity of Cu(II) ion was increased to 0.33 mg/g mg/g in aqueous solution of pH 4 according to increasing pH.