• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.572-580
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• 2019

In view of the numerous discussions on global environmental issues, policies have been implemented to limit emissions in the field of marine transport, which accounts for a major part of international trade. In this study, a ship's emissions were calculated by applying the engine load factor to determine the total quantity of emissions based on the ship's speed reduction. For ships entering and leaving the Busan North Port from 1 January to 31 December 2017, emissions were calculated and analyzed based on the ship's type and its speed in the reduced speed zone (RSZ), which was set to 20 nautical miles. The comparison of the total amount of emissions under all situations, such as cruising, maneuvering, and hotelling modes revealed that the vessels that generated the most emissions were container ships at 76.1 %, general cargo ships at 7.2 %, and passenger ships at 6.8 %. In the cruising and maneuvering modes, general cargo ships discharged a lesser amount of emission in comparison with passenger ships; however, in the hotelling mode, the general cargo ships discharged a larger amount of emission than passenger ships. The total emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), particulate matter (PM), and volatile organic compounds (VOC), were 49.4 %, 45 %, 4 %, and 1.6 %, respectively. Furthermore, the amounts of emission were compared when ships navigated at their average service speed, 12, 10, and 8 knots in the RSZ, respectively. At 12 knots, the reduction in emissions was more than that of the ships navigating at their average service speed by 39 % in NOx, 40 % in VOC, 42 % in PM, and 38 % in Sox. At 10 knots, the emission reductions were 52 %, 54 %, 56 %, and 50 % in NOx, VOC, PM, and Sox, respectively. At 8 knots, the emission reductions were 62 %, 64 %, 67 %, and 59 % in NOx, VOC, PM, and Sox, respectively. As a result, the emissions were ef ectively reduced when there was a reduction in the ship's speed. Therefore, it is necessary to consider limiting the speed of ships entering and leaving the port to decrease the total quantity of emissions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

To investigate the effect of freshwater discharge on the seawater circulation in the semi-closed harbor, a 3-D hydrodynamic model was applied to the International Ferry Terminal (IFT). The model run is conducted for 45 days (from May 15 to June 30, 2020), and the reproducibility of the model for time-spatial variability of current velocity and salinity was verified by comparison with model results and observation data. There are two sources of freshwater towards inside of the IFT: Han River and water reservoir located in the eastern part of IFT. In residual current velocity results, the two-layer circulation (the seaward flow near surface and the landward flow near bottom)derived from the horizontal salinity gradient in only considering the discharge from a Han River is more developed than that considering both the Han River and water reservoir. This suggests that the impact of freshwater from the reservoir is greater in the IFT areas than that from a Han River. Additionally, the two-layer circulation is stronger in the IFT located in southern part than Incheon South Port located in northern part. This process is formed by the interaction between tidal current propagating into the port and freshwater discharge from a water reservoir, and flow with a low salinity (near 0 psu) is delivered into the IFT. This low salinity distribution reinforces the horizontal stratification in front of the IFT, and maintains a two-layer circulation. Therefore, local sources of freshwater input are considered to estimate for mass transport process associated with the seawater circulation within the harbor and It is necessary to perform a numerical model according to the real-time freshwater flow rate discharged.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2023

The East Sea, one of the regions where the most rapid warming is occurring, is known to have important implications for the response of the ocean to future climate changes because it not only reacts sensitively to climate change but also has a much shorter turnover time (hundreds of years) than the ocean (thousands of years). However, the processes underlying changes in seawater characteristics at the sea's deep and abyssal layers, and meridional overturning circulation have recently been examined only after international cooperative observation programs for the entire sea allowed in-situ data in a necessary resolution and accuracy along with recent improvement in numerical modeling. In this review, previous studies on the physical characteristics of seawater at deeper parts of the East Sea, and meridional overturning circulation are summarized to identify any remaining issues. The seawater below a depth of several hundreds of meters in the East Sea has been identified as the Japan Sea Proper Water (East Sea Proper Water) due to its homogeneous physical properties of a water temperature below 1℃ and practical salinity values ranging from 34.0 to 34.1. However, vertically high-resolution salinity and dissolved oxygen observations since the 1990s enabled us to separate the water into at least three different water masses (central water, CW; deep water, DW; bottom water, BW). Recent studies have shown that the physical characteristics and boundaries between the three water masses are not constant over time, but have significantly varied over the last few decades in association with time-varying water formation processes, such as convection processes (deep slope convection and open-ocean deep convection) that are linked to the re-circulation of the Tsushima Warm Current, ocean-atmosphere heat and freshwater exchanges, and sea-ice formation in the northern part of the East Sea. The CW, DW, and BW were found to be transported horizontally from the Japan Basin to the Ulleung Basin, from the Ulleung Basin to the Yamato Basin, and from the Yamato Basin to the Japan Basin, respectively, rotating counterclockwise with a shallow depth on the right of its path (consistent with the bottom topographic control of fluid in a rotating Earth). This horizontal deep circulation is a part of the sea's meridional overturning circulation that has undergone changes in the path and intensity. Yet, the linkages between upper and deeper circulation and between the horizontal and meridional overturning circulation are not well understood. Through this review, the remaining issues to be addressed in the future were identified. These issues included a connection between the changing properties of CW, DW, and BW, and their horizontal and overturning circulations; the linkage of deep and abyssal circulations to the upper circulation, including upper water transport from and into the Western Pacific Ocean; and processes underlying the temporal variability in the path and intensity of CW, DW, and BW.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.247-268
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• 1996

It has been known for a long time that gonadotropins and steroid hormones play a pivotal role in a series of reproductive biological phenomena including the maturation of ovarian follicles and oocytes, ovulation and implantation, maintenance of pregnancy and fetal growth & development, parturition and mammary development and lactation. Recent investigations, however, have elucidated that in addition to these classic hormones, multiple growth factors also are involved in these phenomena. Most growth factors in reproductive organs mediate the actions of gonadotropins and steroid hormones or synergize with them in an autocrine/paracrine manner. The insulin-like growth factor(IGF) system, which is one of the most actively investigated areas lately in the reproductive organs, has been found to have important roles in a wide gamut of reproductive phenomena. In the present communication, published literature pertaining to the intrauterine IGF system will be reviewed preceded by general information of the IGF system. The IGF family comprises of IGF-I & IGF-II ligands, two types of IGF receptors and six classes of IGF-binding proteins(IGFBPs) that are known to date. IGF-I and IGF-II peptides, which are structurally homologous to proinsulin, possess the insulin-like activity including the stimulatory effect of glucose and amino acid transport. Besides, IGFs as mitogens stimulate cell division, and also play a role in cellular differentiation and functions in a variety of cell lines. IGFs are expressed mainly in the liver and messenchymal cells, and act on almost all types of tissues in an autocrine/paracrine as well as endocrine mode. There are two types of IGF receptors. Type I IGF receptors, which are tyrosine kinase receptors having high-affinity for IGF-I and IGF-II, mediate almost all the IGF actions that are described above. Type II IGF receptors or IGF-II/mannose-6-phosphate receptors have two distinct binding sites; the IGF-II binding site exhibits a high affinity only for IGF-II. The principal role of the type II IGF receptor is to destroy IGF-II by targeting the ligand to the lysosome. IGFs in biological fluids are mostly bound to IGFBP. IGFBPs, in general, are IGF storage/carrier proteins or modulators of IGF actions; however, as for distinct roles for individual IGFBPs, only limited information is available. IGFBPs inhibit IGF actions under most in vitro situations, seemingly because affinities of IGFBPs for IGFs are greater than those of IGF receptors. How IGF is released from IGFBP to reach IGF receptors is not known; however, various IGFBP protease activities that are present in blood and interstitial fluids are believed to play an important role in the process of IGF release from the IGFBP. According to latest reports, there is evidence that under certain in vitro circumstances, IGFBP-1, -3, -5 have their own biological activities independent of the IGF. This may add another dimension of complexity of the already complicated IGF system. Messenger ribonucleic acids and proteins of the IGF family members are expressed in the uterine tissue and conceptus of the primates, rodents and farm animals to play important roles in growth and development of the uterus and fetus. Expression of the uterine IGF system is regulated by gonadal hormones and local regulatory substances with temporal and spatial specificities. Locally expressed IGFs and IGFBPs act on the uterine tissue in an autocrine/paracrine manner, or are secreted into the uterine lumen to participate in conceptus growth and development. Conceptus also expresses the IGF system beginning from the peri-implantation period. When an IGF family member is expressed in the conceptus, however, is determined by the presence or absence of maternally inherited mRNAs, genetic programming of the conceptus itself and an interaction with the maternal tissue. The site of IGF action also follows temporal (physiological status) and spatial specificities. These facts that expression of the IGF system is temporally and spatially regulated support indirectly a hypothesis that IGFs play a role in conceptus growth and development. Uterine and conceptus-derived IGFs stimulate cell division and differentiation, glucose and amino acid transport, general protein synthesis and the biosynthesis of mammotropic hormones including placental lactogen and prolactin, and also play a role in steroidogenesis. The suggested role for IGFs in conceptus growth and development has been proven by the result of IGF-I, IGF-II or IGF receptor gene disruption(targeting) of murine embryos by the homologous recombination technique. Mice carrying a null mutation for IGF-I and/or IGF-II or type I IGF receptor undergo delayed prenatal and postnatal growth and development with 30-60% normal weights at birth. Moreover, mice lacking the type I IGF receptor or IGF-I plus IGF-II die soon after birth. Intrauterine IGFBPs generally are believed to sequester IGF ligands within the uterus or to play a role of negative regulators of IGF actions by inhibiting IGF binding to cognate receptors. However, when it is taken into account that IGFBP-1 is expressed and secreted in primate uteri in amounts assessedly far exceeding those of local IGFs and that IGFBP-1 is one of the major secretory proteins of the primate decidua, the possibility that this IGFBP may have its own biological activity independent of IGF cannot be excluded. Evidently, elucidating the exact role of each IGFBP is an essential step into understanding the whole IGF system. As such, further research in this area is awaited with a lot of anticipation and attention.