• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2001

Enormous volumes of mining wastes from the abandoned and closed mines are disposed without a proper treatment in the upper Okdong River basin at Southeastern part of Kangwon Province. Erosion of these wastes contaminates soil, surface water, and sediments with heavy metals. Objectives of this research were to fractionate heavy metals in the mine tailing stored in the Sangdong Tungsten tailing dams and to assess the potential pollution index of each metal fraction. Tailing samples were collected from tailing dams at different depth and analyzed for physical and chemical properties. pH of tailings ranged from 7.3 to 7.9. Contents of total N and organic matter were in the ranges of 3.2~5.5%, and 1.3~9.1%, respectively. Heavy metals in the tailings were higher in the newly constructed tailing dam than those in the old dam. Total concentrations of metals in the tailings were in the orders of Zn > Cu > Pb > Ni > Cd, exceeded the corrective action level of the Soil Environment Conservation Law and higher than the natural abundance levels reported from uncontaminated soils. Relative distribution of heavy metal fractions was residual > organic > reducible > carbonate > adsorbed, reversing the degree of metal bioavailability. Mobile fractions of metals were relatively small compared to the total concentrations. Distribution of metals in the tailing dam profiles was metal specific. Concentrations of Cu at the surface of tailing dams were higher than those at the bottom. Pollution index (PI) values of each fraction of metals were ranged from 4.27 to 8.51 based on total concentrations. PI values of mobile fractions were lower than those of immobile fractions. Results on metal fractions and PI values of the tailing samples indicate that tailing samples were contaminated with heavy metals and had potential to cause a detrimental effects on soil and water environment in the lower part of the stream. A prompt countermeasure to prevent surface of tailings in the dams from water and wind erosions is urgently needed.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.403-411
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• 2009

We inspected seed sizes of 353 genetic accessions of watermelon to diversify functional utility related to seed size and classified them into six representative groups based on their seed sizes. Each group was named as giant seed (GS), big seed (BS), medium size (NS), small size (SS), micro seed (MS) and tomato seed (TS) from the biggest. As the seed size was getting smaller, decreased seed length and seed width, increased seed number per fruit, and decreased seed weight per fruit were observed, but seed shape did not change significantly. In order to study the effect of seed size on fruit weight and seed germination, we developed three near isogenic lines (NILs) with three different seed sizes, SS, MS and TS, from crossing between two accessions 'NT' and 'TDR', and one NIL with seed size of TS from crossing between two accessions 'S55' and 'TDR'. In the study on the fruit weight of NILs with various seed sizes, NS, SS, MS, and TS NILs produced an average of 6.4, 6.3, 5.9, and 4.2 kg fruits, respectively. The bigger seed types showed the better germination rate. NS type showed the highest germination percentage, while TS showed very low germination percentage. Fermentation treatment for 48 hrs increased the germination percentage on TS type seed, but still remained at a low level. In NS, SS, and MS material, the ratio of embryo/whole seed weight was over 50%, meanwhile that of TS was only 44.4% of which low embryo percentage would be one of the reason of low germination percentage. From this study, we concluded that watermelon has very wide genetic diversity on seed size which is somehow related to fruit sizes and germination rate.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.146-169
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• 2018

Artificial or natural artifacts, which have historical, artistic, academic or scenic value as national, ethnic or global assets, are designated as "cultural heritages" under the Act on the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Cultural heritages can be divided into tangible cultural heritages, intangible cultural heritages, and monument and folklore heritages. In addition, depending on the object of designation, a cultural heritage can be designated either as a city or a provincial cultural heritage or a cultural heritage material, by a city mayor or provincial governor, and as a state-designated heritage by the administrator of the Cultural heritage Administration. The regular survey is a part of the policy for the preservation and management of state-designated heritages, which requires that surveys be undertaken every three to five years for the preservation, repair and maintenance of cultural heritages. It was stipulated in the Act on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in 2006, and since then has substantially contributed to the preservation and management of state-designated heritages based on the identification of damage to cultural heritages and the application of appropriate treatment measures. However, some parts of the guidelines on the regular survey, legislated in 2006, occasionally give rise to confusion in managing the regular survey system of state-designated movable cultural heritages, and need to be modified to facilitate the systematic management and improvement of the regular survey system. This study attempts to analyze the structure and operation of the regular survey system of state-designated movable cultural heritages, and proposes plans for improving the way of specifying each department which leads, manages and executes the regular survey, the process of entrusting the survey, and its guidelines and forms. I hope that these plans concerning the regular survey of state-designated movable cultural heritages will contribute to improving the quality and management of the system.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.282-293
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• 2018

The heading response of rice varieties is determined by the combined effects of their basic vegetative phase (BVP), photoperiod-sensitivity (PS), and thermo-sensitivity (TS). This study was performed to analyze the effect of differences among heading ecotypes of rice on their heading response in the field. To do this, we investigated the heading response of 15 varieties grown under different day-length and temperature conditions in a phytotron. The characteristics of heading ecotypes were compared to the heading responses in the field-grown rice varieties that were used in the phytotron experiments. The ranges of these characteristics across the 15 varieties were 18 - 35 days for BVP, 12 - 61 days for PS, and 12 - 35 days for TS. In comparisons of coupled varieties that differed only in a single trait among BVP, PS, and TS, the variety with the longer BVP and that with the higher PS had a longer period from sowing to heading (DTH), while the variety with the higher TS had a shorter DTH. The comparative magnitude of DTH in the coupled varieties followed the PS trait when BVP and PS were involved, the BVP trait when BVP and TS were involved, and the PS trait when PS and TS were involved in the heading response of field-grown rice. When comparing the coupled varieties with different traits of the three examined factors, the heading response was consistent with the PS trait. The DTH in all 15 varieties was significantly correlated with the PS, and the DTH in 9 selected varieties with a relatively small PS was correlated with BVP. The reduced DTH of rice in the July 10 seeding treatment compared to those in the June 25 and May 11 seeding treatments was positively associated with PS, but not with TS. We concluded that the heading response of rice varieties under natural conditions in Korea is mainly governed by the PS trait and is also greatly affected by the BVP trait when the PS is small.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1507-1515
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• 2018

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is characterized by prostatic hypertrophy mainly in the elderly. Corni Fructus is reportedly effective in the prevention and treatment of various diseases, but its efficacy on BPH has not been previously studied. In the present study, we investigated whether or not a Corni Fructus water extract (CF) could prevent testosterone-induced prostatic hyperplasia in rats. To induce BPH, castrated rats were subcutaneously injected with testosterone propionate (TP). CF was administered daily by oral gavage, along with the TP injections, and finasteride, a selective inhibitor of $5{\alpha}$-reductase type 2, was used as a positive control. The results show that CF significantly reduces prostate weight and histopathologic changes while also decreasing levels of serum dihydrotestosterone, similar to the finasteride-treated group. CF also suppresses TP-induced $5{\alpha}$-reductase expression and concentration in prostate tissue and serum, respectively. Furthermore, CF markedly inhibited TP-induced expression of the androgen receptor (AR) and the steroid receptor coactivator 1, an AR coactivator, which was associated with a decrease in prostate-specific antigen levels in both serum and prostate tissue. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that CF weakens BPH status by inactivation of $5{\alpha}$-reductase and AR.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

This study was conducted to predict the energy requirements for maintenance and growth of female Korean black goats during their growth and pregnancy phases. Fifty female goats ($18.7{\pm}0.27kg$) in their growth phase with an average age of 5 months were stratified by weight and randomly assigned into 5 groups. They were fed 5 diets varying in metabolic energy (ME) [2.32 (G1), 2.49 (G2), 2.74 (G3), 2.99 (G4), and 3.24 (G5) Mcal/kg] until they were 9-month-old. After natural breeding, 50 female goats ($30.7{\pm}0.59kg$) were stratified by weight and randomly assigned into 5 groups. They were fed 5 diets varying in ME [2.32 (P1), 2.43 (P2), 2.55 (P3), 2.66 (P4), and 2.78 (P5) Mcal/kg]. The average feed intake ranged between 1.5 and 2.0% of the body weight (BW), and there was no significant difference between the treatment groups with goats in growth or pregnancy phases. Average daily gain (ADG) in diet demand during the growth phase increased with an increasing ME density and ranged from 46 to 69 g/d (p<0.01). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) improved with the ME density during the growth phase (p<0.01). The intercept of the regression equation between ME intake and ADG indicated that energy requirement for maintenance of goats during growth and pregnancy phases was $103.53kcal/BW^{0.75}$ and $102.7kcal/BW^{0.75}$, respectively. These results may serve as a basis for the establishment of goat feeding standards in Korea. Further studies are required to assess the nutrient requirement of goats using various methods for improving accuracy.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1027-1033
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• 2019

Recently, Korea has seen a rapid increase in the elderly population. As a result, osteoporosis, a geriatric disease, has become a social problem. To investigate the novel and natural materials for promoting osteoblastogenesis, we investigated the osteoblastogenic activity of Tenebrio molitor larvae oil (TMO) on the MG-63 preosteoblast cells. The cytotoxicity and proliferation effects of TMO on MG-63 cells were measured by MTS assay. There was no cytotoxicity up to $80{\mu}g/ml$. At 40 and $80{\mu}g/ml$ of TMO (treated for 48 hr), cell proliferation was elevated about 120% compared to the control. The osteoblastogenic activity of TMO was measured with alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity at 5 days. Doses of 5 to $80{\mu}g/ml$ of TMO increased ALP activities significantly compared with the control. In addition, expression of ALP and Runx2 (osteoblastogenic markers) were markedly increased after treatment of TMO for 5 days. These results provide evidence that TMO promotes osteoblastogenesis by increasing the gene and protein expression of ALP and Runx2, and they suggest that TMO may be a potential agent for bone formation and preventing osteoporosis.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.299-308
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• 2021

Fe(II) released from mining activities is precipitated as various Fe(III)-oxyhydroxides when exposed to an oxidizing environment including mine drainage. Ferrihydrite, one of the representative precipitated Fe(III) minerals, is easy to adsorb heavy metals and other pollutants due to the large specific surface area caused by very low crystallinity. Ferrihydrite is transformed to thermodynamically more stable goethite in the natural environment. Hence, information on the transformation of ferrihydrite to goethite and the related mobility of heavy metals in the acid mine drainage is important to predict the behaviors of those elements during ferrihydrite to goethite transition. The behaviors of heavy metals during the transformation of ferrihydrite to goethite were investigated for core samples collected from an AMD treatment system in the Heungjin-Taemaek coal mine by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical analysis, and statistical analysis. XRD results showed that ferrihydrite gradually transformed to goethite from the top to the bottom of the core samples. Chemical analysis showed that the relative concentration of As was significantly high in the core samples compared with that in the drainage, indicating that As was likely to be adsorbed strongly on or coprecipitated with iron oxyhydroxide. Correlation analysis also indicated that As can be easily removed from mine drainage during iron mineral precipitation due to its high affinity to Fe. The concentration ratio of As, Cd, Co, Ni, and Zn to Fe generally decreased with depth in the core samples, suggesting that mineral transformation can increase those concentrations in the drainage. In contrast, the concentration ratio of Cr to Fe increased with depth, which can be explained by the chemical bond of iron oxide and chromate, and surface charge of ferrihydrite and goethite.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.1
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• pp.53-63
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• 2021

Sophora koreensis Nakai is an indigenous plant in Koreawith a restricted natural range, part of which is in Gangwon province. The species is known to contain phytochemicals that have beneficial effects on human health, and it is economically important in bioindustry. Because of the limited number of plants in a small range of habitats, the mass-propagation method should be developed for use and conservation. In vitro tissue culture is a reliable method in terms of mass propagation from selected clones of the species. We investigated the optimal conditions of the medium in this process, especially focusing on the concentrations of plant growth regulators(PGRs) in the culture of stem-containing axillary buds. Three statistical methods, i.e., ANOVA, response surface method(RSM), and fuzzy clustering were used to analyze the plant growth, number of shoots induced, and shoot length with various combinations of PGRs. Results from the RSM differed from those of the other two methods; thus, the method was not suitable. ANOVA and fuzzy clustering showed similar results. However, more accurate results were obtained using fuzzy clustering because it provided a probability for each treatment. On the basis of the fuzzy clustering analysis, stem tissue produced the greatest number of shoots(11.03 per explant; 63.33%) on a medium supplemented with 5-��M 6-benzylaminopurine and 2.5-��M thidiazuron(TDZ). Proliferation of shoots(2.18 ± 0.21 cm, 63.33%) was attained on a medium supplemented with 2.5-��M BA, 2.5-��M TDZ, and 2.5-��M gibberellic acid.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.333-344
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• 2022

The quarrying and utilization of natural building stones such as granite and marble are rapidly emerging in developing countries. A huge amount of wastes is being generated during the processing, cutting and sizing of these stones to make them useable. These wastes are disposed of in the open environment and the toxic nature of these wastes negatively affects the environment and human health. The growth trend in the world stone industry was confirmed in output for 2019, increasing more than one percent and reaching a new peak of some 155 million tons, excluding quarry discards. Per-capita stone use rose to 268 square meters per thousand persons (m²/1,000 inh), from 266 the previous year and 177 in 2001. However, we have to take into consideration that the world's gross quarrying production was about 316 million tons (100%) in 2019; about 53% of that amount, however, is regarded as quarrying waste. With regards to the stone processing stage, we have noticed that the world production has reached 91.15 million tons (29%), and consequently this means that 63.35 million tons of stone-processing scraps is produced. Therefore, we can say that, on a global level, if the quantity of material extracted in the quarry is 100%, the total percentage of waste is about 71%. This raises a substantial problem from the environmental, economical and social point of view. There are essentially three ways of dealing with inorganic waste, namely, reuse, recycling, or disposal in landfills. Reuse and recycling are the preferred waste management methods that consider environmental sustainability and the opportunity to generate important economic returns. Although there are many possible applications for stone waste, they can be summarized into three main general applications, namely, fillers for binders, ceramic formulations, and environmental applications. The use of residual sludge for substrate production seems to be highly promising: the substrate can be used for quarry rehabilitation and in the rehabilitation of industrial sites. This new product (artificial soil) could be included in the list of the materials to use in addition to topsoil for civil works, railway embankments roundabouts and stone sludge wastes could be used for the neutralization of acidic soil to increase the yield. Stone waste is also possible to find several examples of studies for the recovery of mineral residues, including the extraction of metallic elements, and mineral components, the production of construction raw materials, power generation, building materials, and gas and water treatment.