• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.297-302
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• 2023

There are several methods for shaping foams, but the most commonly used methods involve the use of resin mixed with a foaming agent, which is then foamed under high temperature and pressure in the case of compression foaming, or foamed under high temperature without applying pressure in the case of atmospheric foaming. The polymers used for foaming require design and analysis of optimal foaming conditions in order to achieve foaming under ambient pressure. Environmentally friendly bio-based polymers face challenges when it comes to foaming on their own, which has led to ongoing research in blending them with resins capable of traditional foam production. This study investigates changes in the characteristics of bio-based polymer-EVA blend foams based on variations in the content of bio-based polymers and explores the optimal foaming conditions according to crosslinking. The correlation between foaming characteristics and mechanical properties of the foams was examined. Through this research, we gained insights into how the content of bio-based polymers affects the properties of foams containing bio-based polymers and identified differences between ambient pressure and high-pressure foaming processes. Additionally, the feasibility of commercializing bio-based polymer-EVA composite foams was confirmed.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.36-48
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• 2018

This study surveyed 599 elementary schools in Seoul to provide measures for the quantitative expansion and sustainable operation of environmentally-friendly school garden. Of all schools, 161 schools had formed and were operating school gardens. The total area of school gardens was $166,901m^2$ and the mean area was $131.2m^2$ in elementary, junior high and high schools in Seoul. Meanwhile, the total area of school gardens was $65,493m^2$ and the mean area was $363m^2$ in 161 schools that participated in the survey, indicating $1.15m^2$ per student. Of these schools, 11.8% were operating gardens themselves, while 50.3% were operating gardens that had been newly renovated or environmentally improved by institutional support projects after initially managing gardens themselves. According to the locations of school gardens, mixed-type gardening (a combination of school gardening and container vegetable gardening) accounted for 34.8%, followed by school gardening at 32.9%, container vegetable gardening at 29.2%, and suburb community gardening at 3.1%. Those in charge of garden operations were teachers at 51.6%, comprising the largest percentage. Facilities built when forming the garden included storage facilities for small-scale greenhouses and farming equipment at 26.1%, accounting for the largest percentage. No additional facilities constructed accounted for 21.7%. The greatest difficulty in operating gardens was garden management at 34.2%. The most needed elements for the sustainable operation of gardens were improvement in physical environment and the need for hiring a paid garden, each accounting for 32%. The most important purpose for school gardening was creating educational environments (81.6%). The major source for gaining information on garden management was consultation from acquaintances (67.8%). Schools that utilize plant waste from gardens as natural fertilizers accounted for 45.8% of all schools. Responses to the impact of operating school gardens for educational purpose were positive in all schools as 'very effective' in 63.2% and 'effective' in 36.8%. This study was meaningful in that it intended to identify the current status of the operation of school gardens in elementary schools in Seoul, support the formation of school gardens appropriate for each school with sustainable operation measures, implement a high-quality education program, develop teaching materials, expand job training opportunities for teachers in charge, devise measures to support specialized instructors, and propose the need for a garden management organization.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.66-73
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• 2019

The Royal Tomb of the Joseon Dynasty, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2009, is a cultural resource recognized for its 'outstanding universal value' around the world. The royal tomb of Joseon has been managed with an emphasis on the preservation of cultural assets since it was designated as a historical site in the 1970s, but it has received many visitors as a valuable historical and cultural resource and haven that connects the past and the present in today's bustling city. In order to investigate and analyze the current status of pavements in the royal palace in terms of quality and quantity, and to suggest the direction of improvement, this study conducted a complete survey of 53 royal palace viewing roads in 18 regions, and the results are as follows. First of all, problems are found in both the early Masato pavement of the creation, which was introduced with an emphasis on the preservation and protection of cultural assets, and the hardening pavement(KAP), which began to be used in the 1990s for the convenience of maintenance. In other words, the Masato pavement used to create a more environmentally friendly atmosphere of the Joseon royal tombs is showing a high percentage of use, but it lacks support for walking activities, such as the slippage of the pavement and water pooling during the rainy season or during the ice season. Also, hardening pavement introduced for convenience of maintenance, such as the movement of repair vehicles, is not functioning properly as it is damaged by physical deformation after construction. In addition, in awe zones such as parking lots, although the first image of the Joseon royal tombs is determined, the formation of the functional landscape centered on the carriageway does not harmonize with the traditional landscape, and, because of its lack of walking and environment-friendly features, there is a need for improvement, such as the experimental introduction of relevant pavement materials developed afterwards and continuous monitoring.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.827-833
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• 2023

CT(Computed Tomography) contrast agents are commonly used in general hospitals and university hospitals when taking radiographic examinations. The CT contrast medium contains a mixture of a substance called "Iodine", which absorbs radiation energy and makes it appear white in the CT image, further improving the image quality. In addition, the CT contrast agent, which moves like blood in the blood vessels, clearly differentiates it from muscle and water, so CT contrast agents are widely used in hospitals. These CT contrast agents absorb X-rays, but in order to absorb X-rays, they must have a high density or a high radiation absorption coefficient. Since the CT contrast agent is injected into the blood vessels, if the density is high, the blood vessels are strained and the patient is in shock. For this reason, it is necessary to match the density similar to that of water and always pay attention to side effects. In addition, the amount of CT contrast medium is adjusted according to the patient's body shape, and the remaining contrast medium is discarded. However, This study tried to find out the idea of recycling it as a radiation shielding material. Since the CT contrast medium has a high radiation absorption coefficient at a density similar to that of water, the amount to absorb radiation is adjusted, the amount of contrast medium and the amount of water are adjusted, and the amount of radiation absorbed is determined by mixing with water. In addition, a study was conducted to find out the result of the difference in radiation absorption in various ways by comparing the radiation quality coefficient and absorption coefficient with other substances or materials in an environmentally friendly method harmless to the human body by mixing CT contrast medium and water.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.237-242
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• 2015

The use of calcite-forming bacteria (CFB) in crack remediation and durability improvements in construction materials creates a permanent and environmentally-friendly material. Therefore, research into this type of application is stimulating interdisciplinary studies between microbiology and architectural engineering. However, the mechanisms giving rise to these materials are dependent on calcite precipitation by the metabolism of the CFB, which raises concerns about possible hazards to cement-based construction due to microbial metabolic acid production. The aim of this study was to determine target microorganisms that possibly can have bio-corrosive effects on cement mortar and to assess multi-functional CFBs for their safe application to cement structures. The chalky test was first used to evaluate the $CaCO_3$ solubilization feature of construction sites by fungi, yeast, bacterial strains. Not all bacterial strains are able to solubilize $CaCO_3$, but C. sphaerospermum KNUC253 or P. prolifica KNUC263 showed $CaCO_3$ solubilization activity. Therefore, these two strains were identified as target microorganisms that require control in cement structures. The registered patented strains Bacillus aryabhatti KNUC205, Arthrobacter nicotianae KNUC2100, B. thuringiensis KNUC2103 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KNUC2106, reported as multifunctional CFB (fungal growth inhibition, crack remediation, and water permeability reduction of cement surfaces) and isolated from Dokdo or construction site were unable to solubilize $CaCO_3$. Notably, B. aryabhatti KNUC205 and A. nicotianae KNUC2100 could not hydrolyze cellulose or protein, which can be the major constituent macromolecules of internal materials for buildings. These results show that several reported multi-functional CFB can be applied to cement structures or diverse building environments without corrosive or bio-deteriorative risks.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.568-576
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• 2017

As interest in functionality and environmentally friendly cosmetics is growing in recent years, materials that use safe and effective plant extracts have been developed. Therefore, this study also attempted to check the possibility of the graviola extract, which is known to have various efficacy mainly as a health functional material as a functional cosmetic material. In order to find out the antioxidant activity of graviola, we measured total polyphenol, total flavonoid content and DPPH radical scavenging activity and measured the ROS activity inhibition effect and cytoprotective effect on oxidative stress by treating HDF with hydrogen peroxide cells at an appropriate concentration after checking cytotoxicity in HDF cells. Based on the results of this experiment, the graviola extract was found to contain as high as 26.6 mg(CA)/100g, 14.3 mg(Q)/100g of total polyphenol and flavonoid, which are the antioxidant indexes and to have the high radical scavenging activity. The cell survival rate of the HDF cells was measured, and as a result, no significant cytotoxicity was observed at all concentrations and the experiment was carried out at a concentration of $100{\mu}g/mL$ afterwards. Inhibition of ROS activity in HDF cells induced by hydrogen peroxide was measured and the concentration-dependent inhibition of ROS activity was found and the cell protection effect of graviola was measured after hydrogen peroxide was treated for 4, 24 and 48 hours. As a result, the cell protection effect as high as 89.92% was confirmed at a $25{\mu}g/mL$ concentration up to 24 hours. As these results show that the graviola extract has excellent antioxidant activity, almost no toxicity to HDF cells, an effective activity inhibitory effect on active oxygen generated by hydrogen peroxide and excellent cytoprotective effect, the possibility as various functional materials with antioxidant and cytoprotective effects was confirmed.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.21-28
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• 2011

Hibiscus cannabinus L is a plant in the Malvaceae family. Kenaf was seeded at June 1st in 2010 and harvested at November 18th and dried and evaluated worth as a bulking agent for livestock composting. Harvested and dried Kenaf was divided into the bast, core and leaf. All materials were grinded by hammer mill and the moisture absorption, moisture evaporation, pH, volume weight and C/N ratio were measured. Kenaf was higher water absorption and evaporation ability than those of sawdust and chaff. The pH values of Kenaf were pH $2.8{\pm}0.01$ - $4.34{\pm}0.02$, which is lower pH value than those of sawdust (pH $5.28{\pm}0.01$) and chaff (pH $6.3{\pm}0.02$). The C/N ratio of Kenaf showed 649 of core, 204 of bast and 70 of leaf, which were lower than sawdust (789.1) but higher than chaff (132). In volume weight test, the materials were divided by particle size of Kenaf, named as group A(${\geq}4cm$), B(${\leq}4cm$, ${\geq}0.25cm$) and C(${\leq}0.25cm$). The volume of weight of group A and B for core, bast and leaf showed similar, but group C showed higher than those of sawdust and chaff. Especially, the volume weight of group C for leaf was 5 times higher than those of sawdust and chaff. This study suggested the possibility of using Kenaf as a bulk agent for composting of livestock manure. This is considered that strengthen the competitiveness of farmers through reducing the cost, prevention of environmental pollution caused by livestock manure and environmentally friendly processing of livestock manure.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.15-24
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• 2019

The study was compared for soil chemical and microbial properties as well as growth of the cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme) plants environmentally friendly gown for 3 years and 5 years, which had been fertigated with homemade liquid fertilizer (LF) with indigenous microorganism as an additional fertilizer. Treatment included LF with indigenous microorganism for 3 years (3-year IM-LF) and for 5 years (5-year IM-LF), with an effective microorganism for 10 years (EM-LF), which had been applied with 1,000 times of dilution in the farmhouse. IM-LF and EM-LF materials had increased pH pattern for 16 weeks, in particular for increase of 1.2 for EM-LF. IM-LF material contained slightly higher EC but similar level of 0.2 dS/m to EM-LF. For a pot experiment in the greenhouse, IM-LF treatment increased root dry weight of the cherry tomato plants. In the farmhouse experiment, IM-LF treatment increased to 7.5 of soil pH and 8.4 dS/m of EC, indicating high salt accumulation. EM-LF treatment increased to 62 g/kg of soil OM, which would have affected concentrations of macro essential nutrients, including T-N in the soil. However, the optimum soil chemical levels for growth of cherry tomato plants were observed on the IM-LF plots. EM-LF treatment increased number of bacteria and actinobacteria in the soil. EM-LF treatment increased concentrations of macro essential nutrients in the plants, except for P, with similar nutrient concentrations observed between 3-year IM-LF and 5-year IM-LF-treated plants. Leaf SPAD and PS II levels decreased in the plants treated with 3-year IM-LF. EM-LF treatment increased leaf width and length, number of leaves, canopy area, plant height, and stem diameter in the mid-term stage of growth, which were not significantly different between the treatments. EM-LF treated-plants had two times higher leaf dry weight than those of values observed on the IM-LF plants, which was the opposite result observed on the number of fruit.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2017

Arsenic (As) has been considered as the most toxic one among various hazardous materials and As contamination can be caused naturally and anthropogenically. Major forms of arsenic in groundwater are arsenite [(As(III)] and/or arsenate [(As(V)], depending on redox condition: arsenite and arsenate are predominant in reduced and oxidized environments, respectively. Because arsenite is much more toxic and mobile than arsenate, there have been a number of studies on the reduction of its toxicity through oxidation of As(III) to As(V). This study was initiated to develop photocatalytic oxidation process for treatment of groundwater contaminated with arsenite. The performance of two types of light sources (UV lamp and UV LED) was compared and the feasibility of goethite as a photocatalyst was evaluated. The highest removal efficiency of the process was achieved at a goethite dose of 0.05 g/L. Based on the comparison of oxidation efficiencies of arsenite between two light sources, the apparent performance of UV LED was inferior to that of UV lamp. However, when the results were appraised on the basis of their emitting UV irradiation, the higher performance was achieved by UV LED than by UV lamp. This study demonstrates that environmentally friendly process of goethite-catalytic photo-oxidation without any addition of foreign catalyst is feasible for the reduction of arsenite in groundwater containing naturally-occurring goethite. In addition, this study confirms that UV LED can be used in the photo-oxidation of arsenite as an alternative light source of UV lamp to remedy the drawbacks of UV lamp, such as long stabilization time, high electrical power consumption, short lifespan, and high heat output requiring large cooling facilities.