• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.570-578
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• 2003

Background : Ambient particles during Asian dust events are usually sized less than $10{\mu}m$, known to be associated with the adverse effects on the general populations. But, there has been no considerable evidence linking these particles to the adverse effects on airways. The objectives of this study was to investigate the possible adverse effects of Asian dust events on respiratory function and symptoms in subjects with bronchial asthma. Patients and Methods : From march to June 2002, Asthmatic patients who were diagnosed with bronchial challenge test or bronchodilator response were enrolled. We divided them into three groups; mild, moderate, and severe, according to the severity. Subjects with other organ insufficiency such as heart, kidney, liver, and malignancy were excluded. All patients completed twice daily diaries and recorded peak flow rate, respiratory symptom, and daily activity. Daily and hourly mean pollutant levels of particulate matter < $10{\mu}m$ in diameter($PM_{10}$), nitrogen dioxide($NO_2$), sulphur dioxide($SO_2$), ozone($O_3$) and carbon monoxide(CO) were measured at the 10 different monitoring sites. Results : Dust events occured 14 times during the study period. Daily averages of 4 air pollutant were measured with an increased level of $PM_{10}$, decreased level of $NO_2$ and $SO_2$, and no change in CO during dust days compared to those during control days. An increase in $PM_{10}$ concentration was associated with an increase of subjects with PEF variability of >20% (p<0.05), night time symptom(p<0.05), and a decrease in mean PEF (p<0.05), which were calculated by the longitudinal data analysis. Otherwise, there was no association between $PM_{10}$ level and bronchodialtor inhaler, and daytime respiratory symptoms. Conclusion : This study shows evidence that ambient air pollution, especially $PM_{10}$, during Asian dust events, could be one of the many aggravating factors at least in patients with airway diseases. This data can be used as a primary source to set up a new policy on air environmental control and to evaluate the safety of air pollution index. We also expect that this research will help identify precise components of dust, which are more linked to the adverse effects.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.244-251
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• 2018

The present study aimed to identify the influence of climate change on mating songs of Cicadidae in a phenological perspective. The research sites were located in the central part of the Korean peninsula in which phenological observations by the Meteorological Office are made. The material provided by the Meteorological Office was used for long term phenological analysis. The findings demonstrated, First, the phenological monitoring of cicada is an effective index to detect ecological changes due to climate change, thus indicating the importance of long term phenological investigations for future studies. Second, the analysis on the phenological changes of H. fuscata presented a trend in which the first songs were made at increasingly earlier and later dates, respectively. The phenological data on H. fuscata and average temperatures exhibited a significant negative correlation between the initial mating song period and the average temperatures of June. Furthermore, there was also a significant negative correlation for precipitation in October with the end time and total duration of H. fuscata song. Third, in the regression analysis of the start of H. fuscata song and meteorological factors in Seoul, increasing average air temperature in spring (March to June), which includes June, was associated with an earlier start time of H. fuscata song, with calling starting approximately 3.0-4.5 days earlier per $1^{\circ}C$ increase. Fourth, in the regression analysis of the end of H. fuscata song and meteorological factors in Seoul, increased mean precipitation in October was associated with an early end time and an overall reduction in the length of the song period. The end time of song decreased by approximately 0.78 days per 1mm increase in precipitation, and the total length of the song period decreased by 0.8 days/1mm. This research is important, as it is the initial research to identify the phenological changes in H. fuscata due to climate change.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.53-64
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• 2006

A study on the restoration process of a stream ecosystem and the water quality renovation technique by removing algae, vegetation and fish monitoring as evaluating the removal of the algae by dietetic characteristics of fishes were performed on Sangdong stream in the B city after stream restoration it to the artificial stream as the cases, restoring urban stream into close-to-nature stream are being increased domestically with the aim of ecological city. As a result, restoration and rehabilitation of the fundamental stream ecosystem was well maintained 4 years later the reclamation at the moment and total 93 diagnosis which were all vascular plant phylum including 44 families, 73 genuses, 79 species and 14 varieties in flora and vegetation community were observed. 3 families, 8 species and 354 populations in total among Fishes were found and Pseudorasbora Parva, Cyprinus Carpic and Carassius Auratus strongly resistant to water pollution were dominantly appeared in order of 50.5% of Pseudorasbora Parva 21.2% of Cyprinus Carpic, 20.9% of Carassius Auratus, 7.1% of Macropodus chinensis and 0.3% of Misqurnus anguillicaudatus according to relative richness index. It turned out to be that Cyprinus Carpic ingests algae over 90% and Carassius Auratus takes it over 30% according to the analysis about the alimentary object of the fishes as a consequences of algae's excrescent from characteristics of the tested experimental stream. It is reported that a Cyprinus Carpic, about 34 cm in length, ingested wet-weight 43.2g algae on the rough analysis toward the sample which makes us recognize how effective a macro community Cyprinus Carpic is for removing algae.As a consequence of this research, the effect of stream ecosystem characteristics and water quality purification could not be expected by aquatic plants and trees which were eliminated at experimental stream. From now on, a close-to-nature stream should be formed of ecological hydraulic and hydrologic engineered modeling from the beginning so that it can perform the water quality purifying function. It is determined that the structure of food chain will be abundantly influenced by the induction of oversized macro community like Cyprinus Carpic because a biomass of a consumer of higher order is increased. It is estimated that the removal algae by fishes is not effective despite in some cases of dietetic characteristics so much more studies should be executed in the future.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.493-499
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• 2017

This study was conducted to monitor the current status of pesticide residues and sulfur dioxide in a total of 91 functional rice products from February to October 2016. Multi class pesticide multiresidue methods of 220 pesticides was performed by the GC/ECD, GC/NPD, GC/TOF/MS, LC/PDA, and LC/FLD. As a result of analysis, the pesticides were detected in 3 samples, representing a detection rate of 3.3%. The kind of pesticides was propiconazole and isoprothiolane used for germicide in agriculture or plant growth regulator purposes. The detected levels were 0.0340~0.0566 mg/kg, which were under the MRL (Maximum Residues Limits). The contents of sulfur dioxide in 91 samples by the Monier-Williams method were not detected. Risk assessment of pesticides evaluated using human health exposure with the ratio of EDI (Estimated daily intake) to ADI (Acceptable daily intake). %ADI (the ratios of EDI to ADI) were 0.24~1.25% with safety level.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.423-434
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• 2009

The Arctic environment is sensitive to change of sea-ice distribution. The increase and decrease of sea ice work to an index of globe warming progress. In order to predict the progress of hereafter earth global warming, continuous monitoring regarding a change of the sea ice area in the Arctic should be performed. The remote sensing based on an artificial satellite is most effective on the North Pole. The sea ice observation using a passive microwave sensor has been continued from 1970's. The determination of sea ice extent and ice type is one of the great successes of the passive microwave imagers. In this paper, to investigate the seasonal and inter-annual variation of sea-ice distribution we used here the sea ice data from July 2002 to May 2009 around the Arctic within $60^{\circ}N$ for the AMSR-E 12.5km sea-ice concentration, a passive microwave sensor. From an early analysis of these data, the arctic sea-ice extent has been steadily decreasing at a rate of about 3.1%, accounting for about $2{\times}10^5\;km^2$, which was calculated for the sea-ice cover reaching its minimum extent at the end of each summer. It is also revealed that this trend corresponds to a decline in the multi-year ice that is affected mainly by summer sea surface and air temperature increases. The extent of younger and thinner (first-year) ice decreased to the 2007 minimum, but rapidly recovered in 2008 and 2009 due to the dramatic loss in 2007. Seasonal variations of the sea-ice extent show significant year-to-year variation in the seasons of January-March in the Barents and Labrador seas and August-October in the region from the East Siberian and Chukchi seas to the North Pole. The spatial distribution of multi-year ice (7-year old) indicates that the perennial ice fraction has rapidly shrunk recently out of the East Siberian, Laptev, and Kara seas to the high region of the Arctic within the last seven years and the Northeast Passage could become open year-round in near future.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.52 no.spc2
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• pp.811-822
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• 2019

Environmental flows in the downstream sections of Yongdam Dam, Wonju Stream Dam, and Hongcheon River were estimated with selected target fish species such as Nigra for the site of Yongdam Dam, Splendidus for the site of Wonju Stream Dam, and Signifer for the site of Hongcheon River by considering endangered and domestic species. Physical habitat analysis was performed to estimate environmental flows for the study sites by applying the Physical Habitat Simulation (PHABSIM) and RIVER2D which combined hydraulic and habitat models. Based on the monitored data for ecological environment, the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) for the target species was estimated by applying the Instream Flow and Aquatic Systems Group (IFASG). In particular, based on the result of fish monitoring, the HSI for each stage of the growth for target species was analyzed. As a result, the Weighted Usable Area (WUA) was maximized at $4.9m^3/s$ of flow discharge during spawning, $5.8m^3/s$ during the period of juvenile, and $8.9m^3/s$ during the adult fish season at the downstream section of Yongdam Dam. The result of the Wonju Stream Dam showed an optimal environmental flow of $0.4m^3/s$, $1.0m^3/s$, and $1.5m^3/s$ during the period of spawning, juvenile, and adult. The habitat analysis for the site of Hongcheon River, which is a non-regulated stream, produced an optimum environmental flow of $5m^3/s$ in the spawning period, $4m^3/s$ in the juvenile stage and $6m^3/s$ in the adult stage.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.878-886
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• 2011

The soybean is one of the oldest cultivated crops in the world. Microwave remote sensing is an important tool because it can penetrate into cloud independent of weather and it can acquire day or night time data. Especially a ground-based polarimetric scatterometer has advantages of monitoring crop conditions continuously with full polarization and different frequencies. In this study, soybean growth parameters and soil moisture were estimated using polarimetric discrimination ratio (PDR) by radar scatterometer. A ground-based polarimetric scatterometer operating at multiple frequencies was used to continuously monitor the soybean growth condition and soil moisture change. It was set up to obtain data automatically every 10 minutes. The temporal trend of the PDR for all bands agreed with the soybean growth data such as fresh weight, Leaf Area Index, Vegetation Water Content, plant height; i.e., increased until about DOY 271 and decreased afterward. Soil moisture lowly related with PDR in all bands during whole growth stage. In contrast, PDR is relative correlated with soil moisture during below LAI 2. We also analyzed the relationship between the PDR of each band and growth data. It was found that L-band PDR is the most correlated with fresh weight (r=0.96), LAI (r=0.91), vegetation water content (r=0.94) and soil moisture (r=0.86). In addition, the relationship between C-, X-band PDR and growth data were moderately correlated ($r{\geq}0.83$) with the exception of the soil moisture. Based on the analysis of the relation between the PDR at L, C, X-band and soybean growth parameters, we predicted the growth parameters and soil moisture using L-band PDR. Overall good agreement has been observed between retrieved growth data and observed growth data. Results from this study show that PDR appear effective to estimate soybean growth parameters and soil moisture.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_1
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• pp.989-998
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• 2021

In the utilization of optical satellite imagery, which is greatly affected by clouds, periodic composite technique is a useful method to minimize the influence of clouds. Recently, a technique for selecting the optimal pixel that is least affected by the cloud and shadow during a certain period by directly inputting cloud and cloud shadow information during period compositing has been proposed. Accurate extraction of clouds and cloud shadowsis essential in order to derive optimal composite results. Also, in the case of an surface targets where spectral information is important, such as crops, the loss of spectral information should be minimized during cloud-free compositing. In thisstudy, clouds using two spectral indicators (Haze Optimized Tranformation and MeanVis) were used to derive a detection technique with low loss ofspectral information while maintaining high detection accuracy of clouds and cloud shadowsfor cabbage fieldsin the highlands of Gangwon-do. These detection results were compared and analyzed with cloud and cloud shadow information provided by Sentinel-2A/B. As a result of analyzing data from 2019 to 2021, cloud information from Sentinel-2A/B satellites showed detection accuracy with an F1 value of 0.91, but bright artifacts were falsely detected as clouds. On the other hand, the cloud detection result obtained by applying the threshold (=0.05) to the HOT showed relatively low detection accuracy (F1=0.72), but the loss ofspectral information was minimized due to the small number of false positives. In the case of cloud shadows, only minimal shadows were detected in the Sentinel-2A/B additional layer, but when a threshold (= 0.015) was applied to MeanVis, cloud shadowsthat could be distinguished from the topographically generated shadows could be detected. By inputting spectral indicators-based cloud and shadow information,stable monthly cloud-free composited vegetation index results were obtained, and in the future, high-accuracy cloud information of Sentinel-2A/B will be input to periodic cloud-free composite for comparison.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.74-93
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• 2019

The Bird Track Site in the Haman Formation in Yongsanri (Natural Monument No. 222) was reported on the named Koreanaornis hamanensis and Jindongornipes kimi sauropod footprint Brontopodus and ichnospecies Ochlichnus formed by Nematoda. This site has outstanding academic value because it is where the second-highest number of bird tracks have been reported in the world. However, only 25% of the site remains after being designated a natural monument in 1969. This is due to artificial damage caused by worldwide fame and quarrying for flat stone used in Korean floor heating systems. The Haman Formation, including this fossil site, has lithofacies showing reddish-grey siltstone and black shale, alternately. The boundary of the two rocks is progressive, and sedimentary structures like ripple marks and sun cracks can clearly be found. This site was divided into seven formations according to sedimentary sequences and structures. The results of a nondestructive deterioration evaluation showed that chemical and biological damage rates were very low for all formations. Also, physical damage displayed low rates with 0.49% on exfoliation, 0.04% on blistering, 0.28% on break-out; however, the joint crack index was high, 6.20. Additionally, efflorescence was observed on outcrops at the backside and the northwestern side. Physical properties measured by an indirect ultrasonic analysis were found to be moderately weathered (MW). Above all, the southeastern side was much fresher, though some areas around the column of protection facility appeared more weathered. Furthermore, five kinds of discontinuity surface can be found at this site, with the bedding plane showing the higher share. There is the possibility of toppling failure occurring at this site but stable on plane and wedge failure by means of stereographic projection. We concluded that the overall level of deterioration and stability were relatively fine. However, continuous monitoring and conservation treatment and management should be performed as situations such as the physicochemical weathering of the fossil layer, and the efflorescence of the mortar adjoining the protection facility's column appear to be challenging to control.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.378-401
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• 2019

This study generated a list of plants in eight sections from the Baekdansa ticket office (874m) to Cheonjedan (1,560m) divided in the interval of 100m above sea level to examine the species diversity patterns and distribution changes of the vascular plants at different altitudes in Taebaeksan National Park. Four site surveys found a total of 385 taxa: 89 families, 240 genera, 345 species, 5 subspecies, 34 varieties, and 1 form. A result of analyzing the change of species diversity along elevational gradients showed that it decreased with increasing elevation and then increased from a certain section. A result of analyzing habitat affinity types showed that the proportion of forest species increased with increasing elevation. On the other hand, the ruderal species appeared at a high rate in the artificial interference section. A result of comparing the proportion of woody and herb plants showed that the woody plants gradually increased with elevation and rapidly decreased in the artificial interference section. On the other hand, the herb plants showed the opposite trend. A result of analyzing the change of distribution of species according to altitude with the DCA technique showed that the vascular plants were divided into three groups according to the elevation in order on the I axis with the boundaries at 900m and 1,300m above sea level. The arrangement of each stand from right to left along the altitude on the I axis with a significant correlation with warmth index (WI) confirmed that the temperature change along the altitude could affect the distribution of vascular plants, composition, and diversity. Therefore, the continuous monitoring is necessary to confirm ecological and environmental characteristics of vegetation, distribution ranges, changes of habitat. We expect that the results of this study will be used as the basic data for establishing the measurement measures related to the preservation of biodiversity and climate change.