• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.549-560
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• 2021

In 2019, at 147 local governments, a total of 872 operations produced aggregates with 414 operations by permission, 458 operations by declaration except the marine operations. The leading aggregate sources were, in descending order of the number of operations, crushed, forest, land, washing, river aggregate. By aggregate type, gravel-only operations were slightly more than sand-only ones. By province, Gyeongsangbuk-do had 149 operations, followed by Gyeonggi-do with 135, Gangwon-do with 113, and Gyeongsangnam-do with 92, Chungcheongbuk-do with 81, and Jeollabuk-do with 70. A review of production by size of operation indicated that about 23,100 thousand m³ (17.6% of the total aggregate) was produced by 17 operations reporting production of more than 1 million m³, about 29,900 thousand m³ was produced by 44 operations reporting production between 500 and <1,000 thousand m³, about 60,000 thousand m³ was produced by 273 operations reporting production between 100 and <200 thousand m³, about 17,000 thousand m³ was produced by 409 operations reporting production between 10 and <100 thousand m³. 129 operations that producted less than 10 thousand m³ accounted for 0.4% of total aggregate produced in Korea in 2019. Operations that produce more than 1 million m³ of aggregate was only from forest and crushed aggregate. The period of permission for aggregate producing based on permission is mostly less than 10 years, and in particular, for river and land aggregates, the permission period is very short, less than 2 years.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_1
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• pp.959-974
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• 2021

Forel-Ule Index (FUI) is an index which classifies the colors of inland and seawater exist in nature into 21 gradesranging from indigo blue to cola brown. FUI has been analyzed in connection with the eutrophication, water quality, and light characteristics of water systems in many studies, and the possibility as a new water quality index which simultaneously contains optical information of water quality parameters has been suggested. In thisstudy, Ocean Colour-Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI) based 4 km FUI was spatially downscaled to the resolution of 500 m using the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) data and Random Forest (RF) machine learning. Then, the RF-derived FUI was examined in terms of its correlation with various water quality parameters measured in coastal areas and its spatial distribution and seasonal characteristics. The results showed that the RF-derived FUI resulted in higher accuracy (Coefficient of Determination (R²)=0.81, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE)=0.7784) than GOCI-derived FUI estimated by Pitarch's OC-CCI FUI algorithm (R²=0.72, RMSE=0.9708). RF-derived FUI showed a high correlation with five water quality parameters including Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus, Chlorophyll-a, Total Suspended Solids, Transparency with the correlation coefficients of 0.87, 0.88, 0.97, 0.65, and -0.98, respectively. The temporal pattern of the RF-derived FUI well reflected the physical relationship with various water quality parameters with a strong seasonality. The research findingssuggested the potential of the high resolution FUI in coastal water quality management in the Korean Peninsula.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_2
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• pp.1259-1268
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• 2021

The 2nd Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI-II) is the successor to the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI), which employs one near-ultraviolet wavelength (380 nm) and eight visible wavelengths(412, 443, 490, 510, 555, 620, 660, 680 nm) and three near-infrared wavelengths(709, 745, 865 nm) to observe the marine environment in Northeast Asia, including the Korean Peninsula. However, the multispectral radiance image observed at satellite altitude includes both the water-leaving radiance and the atmospheric path radiance. Therefore, the atmospheric correction process to estimate the water-leaving radiance without the path radiance is essential for analyzing the ocean environment. This manuscript describes the GOCI-II standard atmospheric correction algorithm and its initial phase validation. The GOCI-II atmospheric correction method is theoretically based on the previous GOCI atmospheric correction, then partially improved for turbid water with the GOCI-II's two additional bands, i.e., 620 and 709 nm. The match-up showed an acceptable result, with the mean absolute percentage errors are fall within 5% in blue bands. It is supposed that part of the deviation over case-II waters arose from a lack of near-infrared vicarious calibration. We expect the GOCI-II atmospheric correction algorithm to be improved and updated regularly to the GOCI-II data processing system through continuous calibration and validation activities.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.250-293
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• 2021

Limestone areas are sedimentary rock outcrops consisting of calcium carbonate created several hundreds of millions of years ago by calcium-secreting marine organisms and subsequently lifted above sea level by tectonic movement. Limestone areas support very high levels of endemic species of plants and are recognized as biodiversity areas with much biological information. The purpose of this study is to devise a strategy for the comprehensive conservation of the vegetation of limestone areas through analyses of the floristics and plant species compositions in ten limestone areas on the Korean Peninsula. The results of 153 field surveys from April of 2010 to October of 2016 identified 1,202 taxa in total, representing 1,096 species, 18 subspecies, 84 varieties, 2 forms, and 2 hybrids in 530 genera and 133 families. Among them, 55 taxa were endemic plants to Korea, and 38 taxa were red data plants. The floristic target plants amounted to 102 taxa, specifically 27 taxa of grade V and 75 taxa of grade IV. In all, 121 alien plants were recorded in the investigated area. Calciphilous plants amounted to 102 taxa, specifically 14 taxa of calciphilous indicator plants, 30 taxa of superlative most calciphilous plants, and 58 taxa of comparative more calciphilous plants. A cluster analysis showed a high degree of similarity between sites that are geographically adjacent with similar habitat environments. Limestone areas also supported groups distinct from those in non-limestone areas, demonstrating the specificity of limestone flora. Plant geography approaches therefore appear to be crucial to gain a better understanding of the level of biodiversity in limestone areas, not only at the interspecific but also at the intraspecific level. These results highlight the importance of protecting limestone habitats to preserve not only their interspecific but also the intraspecific diversity, which is highly threatened.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.299-306
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• 2010

This study was performed to develop new functional red ginseng drinks with Astragali Radix and Opuntia humifusa. Optimum extraction conditions such as solvent property and temperature for Astragali Radix were determined by distilled water vs. ethanol (95%) ratio (0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25) and 60 vs. $80^{\circ}C$. Water-soluble extracts at $80^{\circ}C$ showed higher antioxidant activities than fat-soluble extracts at $60^{\circ}C$. Viscosities of 1-2% (w/v) of Opuntia humifusa solution were similar to that of the 0.1% guar gum solution. Addtion of Astragali Radix (3% and 5%, w/v) and Opuntia humifusa (1.2%, w/v), especially, had effect on the changes of pH of the red ginseng solution(5%, w/v) during storage for 7 days. A significant difference during the storage was shown in total plate counts by addition of Opuntia humifusa (1.2%, w/v) and microorganisms were reduced by six log cycles. Significant antiproliferation effects of red ginseng (5%, w/v) solution with Astragali Radix (3% & 5%, w/v) and Opuntia humifusa (1.2%, w/v) on Colon26m-3.1 carcinoma (colorectal carcinoma) cell and U87-MG neuronale glioblastoma (brain carcinoma) cell were not observed.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.402-409
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• 2019

Korean red ginseng made from steaming and drying fresh ginseng has long been used as a traditional herbal medicine due to its effects on the immune, endocrine, and central nerve systems and its anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of a formulated Korean red ginseng extract (RGE) in response to lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a cell wall component of gram-positive bacteria. RGE inhibited LTA-induced nitric oxide (NO) secretion and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in BV-2 microglial cells, without affecting cell viability. RGE also inhibited nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) p65 and degradation of $I{\kappa}B-{\alpha}$. In addition, RGE increased the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in a dose-dependent manner, and the inhibitory effect of RGE on iNOS expression was abrogated by small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of HO-1. Moreover, RGE induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a transcription factor that regulates HO-1 expression. Furthermore, the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI-3K) inhibitor and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors suppressed RGE-mediated expression of HO-1, and RGE enhanced the phosphorylation of Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), p38, and c-JUN N-terminal kinases (JNKs). These results suggested that RGE suppressed the production of NO, a proinflammatory mediator, by inducing HO-1 expression via PI-3K/Akt- and MAPK-dependent signaling in LTA-stimulated microglia. The findings indicate that RGE could be used for the treatment of neuroinflammation induced by grampositive bacteria and that it may have therapeutic potential for various neuroinflammation-associated disorders.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.173-179
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• 2019

The aim of this study is to investigate the biological activities of Hericium erinaceus. 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity of H. erinaceus extract was higher than positive control. The inhibitory activities of xanthin oxidase, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase, and hyaluronidase was measured as functional food activity, and inhibitory activities on collagenase, tyrosinase, and astringent effect as beauty food activity in water and ethanol extracts from H. erinaceus. In functional food activity, xanthin oxidase inhibitory activities at $50-200{\mu}g/mL$ phenolic concentration in ethanol extracts from H. erinaceus showed inhibitory activity in dose dependent manner. ${\alpha}$-Glucosidase inhibitory activities at $50{\mu}g/mL$ phenolic concentration showed high activity of higher than 80%. Inhibitory activities on hyaluronidase as anti-inflammation factor showed inhibition effect in dose dependent manner both in water and ethanol extracts. In beauty food activity, Inhibitory activities on collagenase at $200{\mu}g/mL$ phenolic concentration in water and ethanol extracts showed high activity to 65.09 and 58.38% dose dependently. Tyrosinase inhibitory activity in water extract showed 9.4-58.24%. Astringent activity as pore shrink effect in ethanol extracts also showed a very high activity of 18.94-100%. Antimicrobial activity on pathogenic bacteria was highly effective on Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteritidis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Escherichia coli at 2.5 mg/mL or above. Therefore, the extracts from H. erinaceus can be used as a functional food and beauty food resources and natural antimicrobial agent on pathogenic bacteria in food.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.237-251
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• 2011

This study presents a review on the recent climate change over the Korean peninsula, which has experienced a significant change due to the human-induced global warming more strongly than other regions. The recent measurement of carbon dioxide concentrations over the Korean peninsula shows a faster rise than the global average, and the increasing trend in surface temperature over this region is much larger than the global mean trend. Recent observational studies reporting the weakened cold extremes and intensified warm extremes over the region support consistently the increase of mean temperature. Surface vegetation greenness in spring has also progressed relatively more quickly. Summer precipitation over the Korean peninsula has increased by about 15% since 1990 compared to the previous period. This was mainly due to an increase in August. On the other hand, a slight decrease in the precipitation (about 5%) during Changma period (rainy season of the East Asian summer monsoon), was observed. The heavy rainfall amounts exhibit an increasing trend particularly since the late 1970s, and a consecutive dry-day has also increased primarily over the southern area. This indicates that the duration of precipitation events has shortened, while their intensity became stronger. During the past decades, there have been more stronger typhoons affecting the Korean peninsula with landing more preferentially over the southeastern area. Meanwhile, the urbanization effect is likely to contribute to the rapid warming, explaining about 28% of total temperature increase during the past 55 years. The impact of El Nino on seasonal climate over the Korean peninsula has been well established - winter [summer] temperatures was generally higher [lower] than normal, and summer rainfall tends to increase during El-Nino years. It is suggested that more frequent occurrence of the 'central-Pacific El-Nino' during recent decades may have induced warmer summer and fall over the Korean peninsula. In short, detection and attribution studies provided fundamental information that needed to construct more reliable projections of future climate changes, and therefore more comprehensive researches are required for better understanding of past climate variations.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.194-204
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• 2018

In order to minimize the damage on the red sea bream Pagrus major by a harmful dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides, we investigated the effect of feeding, starvation and stocking density on the survival rate, growth, growth restoration and physiological response of P. major exposure to C. polykrikoides. The experimental groups were divided into three groups such as F-HD (feeding and high density with $6.4kg/m^3$), S-HD (starvation and high density with $6.4kg/m^3$) and S-LD (starvation and low density with $3.2kg/m^3$) according to stocking density and starvation in marine cage ($11m{\times}11m{\times}5m$). The F-HD was fed throughout the experiment for 9 weeks, whereas S-HD and S-LD were not fed for 5 weeks and then refeeding for 4 weeks. Survival rate was the lowest in F-HD (85.5%) and S-LD was the highest (97.3%). The growth rates of S-HD and S-LD were significantly lower than F-HD during starvation period for 4 weeks, but rapidly recovered after feeding. The nutritional status such as ALB, TP, TCH, TG were similar to tendency of growth data. Ht, Hb, AST, ALT and GLU levels were significantly higher in the F-HD than in the starvation groups at the same time (in 3 week) during starvation period. But starvation groups did not differ during starvation period. As a result, F-HD is more sensitive to stress than S-HD and S-LD. Thus, during C. polykrikoides bloom period, starvation and stocking density control can help survival and growth restoration of the red sea bream.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.19-30
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• 2019

To investigate the characteristics of seasonal environment and phytoplankton community structure in the coastal area of Dokdo, a survey of Dokdo around waters was conducted during the four seasons. Phytoplankton of 4 phylum 72 species in four seasons were collected in Dokdo around water. The seasonal mean abundance of phytoplankton were $3.32{\times}10^4cells\;L^{-1}$ in winter, $1.04{\times}10^4cells\;L^{-1}$ in spring, $0.28{\times}10^4cells\;L^{-1}$ in summer, and $4.86{\times}10^4cells\;L^{-1}$ in autumn in Dokdo around water. During winter, the diatoms Chaetoceros spp. had dominated. During spring, when the nutrients in the euphotic layer were depleted, the nano-flagellates and Cryptomonas appeared at surface layer. In summer, the abundance of phytoplankton was relatively low, which lead to occurrence of diatoms such as genus of Chaetoceros, Rhizosolenia, and Skeletonema. In autumn, Pseudo-nitzschia spp. was the most dominant species and tropical species such as Amphisolenia sp. and Ornithocercus magnificus were observed, implying that they may have introduced within warm water current such as Kurosiwo Current. Therefore, although natural phytoplankton communities in the vicinity water of Dokdo are mainly influenced by Tsushima Warm Current branched Kurosiwo Current, their population dynamics was affected on the spatio-temporal change of physicochemical factors by short-term wind events, namely "island effect". Long-term survey research is needed to facilitate food-web response in marine ecosystem associated with phytoplankton biomass and physicochemical factors including the warm water current in oligotrophic offshore water of Dokdo, which may have significant role for sustainable use of Dokdo.