• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.547-580
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• 2013

As energy conservation can be realized through changes in the composition of goods and services consumed, there is a need to assess indirect and total household energy consumption. The Korean household sector was responsible for more than 55% of Korea's total energy consumption in the 1995 to 2010 period. More than 69% of household energy consumption was indirect. Thus, not only direct but also indirect household energy consumption should be the target of energy conservation. Electricity consumption became in 2009 the main source of household energy consumption in Korea. Households consume more and more electricity intensive goods and services, a sign of increasing living standards. Decrease in energy intensities of products consumed by Korean households contributed greatly to reduce the increase in the total household energy consumption. However, switching took place towards more energy intensive products, thus the structure effect was negative. It is necessary to direct consumption and production towards much less energy intensive goods and services as to reduce energy consumption or its growth rate. The Korean government should readjust low energy and electricity prices to cost-reflective prices levels as these low prices are one of the main reasons for the consumption of more energy intensive products. This study differentiates prices of oil products and electricity between households and industries, as to allow more accurate estimation.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.157-162
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• 2013

Methoxychlor (MXC) was developed to be a replacement for the banned pesticide DDT. HPTE [2,2-bis (p-hydroxyphenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane], which is an in vivo metabolite of MXC, has strong oestrogenic and anti-androgenic effects. MXC and HPTE are thought to produce potentially adverse effects by acting through oestrogen and androgen receptors. Of the two, HPTE binds to sex-steroid receptors with greater affinity, and it inhibits testosterone biosynthesis in Leydig cells by inhibiting cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme activity and cholesterol utilisation. In a previous study, MXC was shown to induce Leydig cell apoptosis by decreasing testosterone concentrations. I focused on the effects of MXC on male mice that resulted from interactions with sex-steroid hormone receptors. Sex-steroid hormones affect other organs including the kidney and liver. Accordingly, I hypothesised that MXC can act through sex-steroid receptors to produce adverse effects on the testis, kidney and liver, and I designed our experiments to confirm the different effects of MXC exposure on the male reproductive system, kidney and liver. In these experiments, I used pre-pubescent ICR mice; the puberty period in ICR mice is from postnatal day (PND) 45 to PND60. I treated the experimental group with 0, 100, 200, 400 mg MXC/kg b.w. delivered by an intra-peritoneal injection with sesame oil used as vehicle for 4 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the mice were sacrificed under anaesthesia. The testes and accessory reproductive organs were collected, weighed and prepared for histological investigation. I performed a chemiluminescence immune assay to observe the serum levels of testosterone, LH and FSH. Blood biochemical determination was also performed to check for other effects. There were no significant differences in our histological observations or relative organ weights. Serum testosterone levels were decreased in a dose-dependent manner; a greater dose resulted in the production of less testosterone. Compared to the control group, testosterone concentrations differed in the 200 and 400 mg/kg dosage groups. In conclusion, I observed markedly negative effects of MXC exposure on testosterone concentrations in pre-pubescent male mice. From our biochemical determinations, I observed some changes that indicate renal and hepatic failure. Together, these data suggest that MXC produces adverse effects on the reproductive system, kidney and liver.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.108-121
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• 2013

Objective This study was designed to investigate the effects of Gamiygin-tang (GY) extract (GYE) and fermented solution (GYF) on body weight, serum lipid level and adipocyte differentiation in high fat diet-fed obese mice. Materials and Methods High fat diet-fed obese mice and 3T3-L1 adipocytes mice were treated with GYE and GYF and obesity related markers were assessed. A cytotoxicity assay was carried out by MTS assay. Inhibitory effects of GYE and GYF on adipocyte differentiation were carried out by Oil Red O staining. The effects of GYE and GYF on the expression of adipocyte differentiation regulatory factors, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ($PPAR{\gamma}$) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (CEBP-${\alpha}$) were measured by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The effects of GYE and GYF on the expression of adipocyte differentiation regulatory factors were also determined in relation to protein production/protein levels by western blotting. The anti obesity effects of GYE and GYF were measured in high fat-diet induced obese mice. Various factors were measured from the serum of the high fat-diet mice. Results Though GYE did not show toxicity at the concentration of 1mg/ml, GYF showed toxicity at the concentration of 1mg/ml. The GYE at 0.1 and 1mg/ml inhibited the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells, and the GYF also inhibited the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells. The effect of GYE on adipocyte differentiation factors including PPAR-${\gamma}$ and CEBP-${\alpha}$ was investigated and compared to the corresponding concentration levels of GYF. GYE and GYF both suppressed the RNA and protein levels of adipocyte differentiation factors. In the animal test both GYE and GYF reduced weight gain. GYE and GYF reduced blood cholesterol, TG and LDL levels. GYF better reduced blood cholesterol levels. Conclusions These results demonstrate that GYE and GYF exerts anti-obesity effect in 3T3-L1 cells and obese mice induced by high-fat diet.

• 한국무역상무학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.45-72
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• 2006

The Equator Principles are a set of voluntary environmental and social guidelines for ethical project finance. These principles commit banks and other signatories to not finance projects that fail to meet these guidelines. The principles were conceived in 2002 on an initiative of the International Finance Corporation and launched in 2003. Since then, dozens of major banks have adopted the Principles, and with these banks among them accounting for more than three quarters of all project loan market volume the Principles have become the de facto standard for all banks and investors on how to deal with potential social and environmental effects of projects to be financed. While regarding the Principles an important initiative, NGOs have criticised the Principles for not producing real changes in financing activities and for allowing projects to go through that should have been screened out by the Principles, such as the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project in Russia. In early 2006, a process of revision of the principles was begun. The Equator Principles state that endorsing banks will only provide loans directly to projects under the following circumstances: - The risk of the project is categorized in accordance with internal guidelines based upon the environmental and social screening criteria of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). - For all medium or high risk projects (Category A and B projects), sponsors complete an Environmental Assessment, the preparation of which must meet certain requirements and satisfactorily address key environmental and social issues. - The Environmental Assessment report addresses baseline environmental and social conditions, requirements under host country laws and regulations, applicable international treaties and agreements, sustainable development and use of renewable natural resources, protection of human health, cultural properties, and biodiversity, including endangered species and sensitive ecosystems, use of dangerous substances, major hazards, occupational health and safety, fire prevention and life safety, socio-economic impacts, land acquisition and land use, involuntary resettlement, impacts on indigenous peoples and communities, cumulative impacts of existing projects, the proposed project, and anticipated future projects, participation of affected parties in the design, review and implementation of the project, consideration of feasible environmentally and socially preferable alternatives, efficient production, delivery and use of energy, pollution prevention and waste minimization, pollution controls (liquid effluents and air emissions) and solid and chemical waste management. - Based on the Environmental Assessment, Equator banks then make agreements with their clients on how they mitigate, monitor and manage those risks through an 'Environmental Management Plan'. Compliance with the plan is required in the covenant. If the borrower doesn't comply with the agreed terms, the bank will take corrective action, which if unsuccessful, could ultimately result in the bank canceling the loan and demanding immediate repayment. - For risky projects, the borrower consults with stakeholders (NGO's and project affected groups) and provides them with information on the risks of the project. - If necessary, an expert is consulted. The Principles only apply to projects over 50 million US dollars, which, according to the Equator Principles website, represent 97% of the total market. In early 2006, the financial institutions behind the Principles launched stakeholder consultations and negotiations aimed at revising the principles. The draft revised principles were met with criticism from NGO stakeholders, who in a joint position paper argued that the draft fails by ignoring the most serious critiques of the principles: a lack of consistent and rigorous implementation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.759-764
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• 2001

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of activation timing, cell cycle and passage on the development of embryos produced by cumulus cell nuclear transfer in Hanwoo (Korean cattle). Nuclear donor cumulus cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum at $38.5^{\circ}C$ in a humidified atmosphere of 5% $CO_2$ in air. The 1~6 passages of serum deprived or actively dividing cumulus cells were isolated and used as donor cells. The in vitro matured oocytes were enucleated and then the isolated donor cells were introduced. One pulse of 180 volts for $15{\mu}s$ was applied to induce the fusion between karyoplast and cytoplast. The activation was done before or after the fusion. To activate, oocytes were treated with $10{\mu}M$ calcium ionophore for 5 min immediately followed by 2 mM 6-dimethylaminopurine for 3 h. The nuclear transfer embryos were cultured in $500{\mu}l$ of modified CRlaa supplemented with 3 mg/ml BSA in four well dish covered with mineral oil. After 3 days culture, culture medium was changed into modified CRlaa medium containing 1.5 mg/ml BSA and 5% FBS for 4 days. The incubation environment was 5% $CO_2$, 5% $O_2$, 90% $N_2$ at $38.5^{\circ}C$. There was no blastocyst formation when the nuclear transfer embryos were activated before the fusion, whereas, 29.9% of blastocyst formation was shown when the nuclear transfer embryos were activated after the fusion. When serum deprived and actively dividing cumulus cells were used as nuclear donor cells, the developmental rates to blastocyst were 38.5% and 40.6%, respectively. There was no significant difference between serum deprived and actively dividing cells in the developmental rates. The developmental rates to blastocyst according to 1~6 passages were 37.5~44.4%. However, there were no significant differences among passages. These results indicate that 1~6 passage cumulus cell irrespective of cell cycle could support development of nuclear transfer embryos activated after the fusion.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.263-273
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• 2015

We estimated the global inflow and stock of plastic marine debris. In South Korea, we estimated that the annual inflow of plastic marine debris (72,956 tons) was about 1.4% of annual plastics consumption (5.2 million tons) in 2012. By applying this 1.4% ratio to global plastics production from 1950 to 2013, we estimated that 4.2 million tons of plastic debris entered the ocean in 2013 and that there is a stock of 86 million tons of plastic marine debris as of the end of 2013, assuming zero outflow. In addition, with a logistic model, if 4% of petroleum is turned into plastics, the final stock of plastic marine debris shall be 199 million tons at the end. As the inflow and the stock are different units of measurement, better indicators to assess the effectiveness of inflow-reducing policies are needed. And, as the pollution from plastic marine debris is almost irreversible, countermeasures to prevent it should be valued more, and stronger preventive measures should be taken under the precautionary principle. As this is a preliminary study based on limited information, further research is needed to clarify the tendency of inflow and stock of plastic marine debris.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.453-469
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• 2019

The celadon jar with inscription of 'the Fourth Sunhwa Year' is an important chronology that shows the conditions of production of the early celadon due to the inscription on the bottom including its purpose, application, and the producer. This celadon jar has been restored several times in the past. However, concerns over the structural stability, such as the separation and level differences in the joined cracks, have risen because of the aging of the repair materials, which were subjected to various environmental changes over a long time. By examining the conditions of preservation, the major damage was identified as the '入' shaped crack on the front, the 'V' shaped restored part and the crack on its left side, and the 'J' shaped crack on the back side. In the past, the cracks were found to be joined using a refined lacquer containing camphor, drying oil, rosin, etc. mixed with soil powder. The joint line was repainted with the refined lacquer and covered with gold powder. The missing parts were restored with gypsum and colored with acrylic color. After that, the repair materials were aged and emergency treatment was performed at the National Museum of Korea in 1981. At that time, Cemedine C or Cemedine C mixed with microballoons was used for reinforcing the cracks. Conservation treatment focused on removing the past repair materials and reinforcing the physically fragile parts by joining and restoring them based on the examination of the preservation condition. in addition, the area around the restored part was colored for future exhibition.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.286-293
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• 2020

Objective: Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of corn particle size and lipid form on the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of energy and nutrients in diets for growing pigs. Methods: In Exp. 1, thirty barrows (initial body weight [BW], 53.1±3.9 kg) were allotted to 1 of 5 diets formulated with 96.9% corn ground to 441, 543, 618, 659, and 768 ㎛, respectively. In Exp. 2, thirty-six barrows (initial BW, 54.7±3.6 kg) were allotted to 1 of 6 diets formulated by including 2% or 15% corn germ (CG 2 or CG 15), 1% or 6% corn oil (CO 1 or CO 6), 1% CO+2% corn germ meal (CO 1+CGM 2), or 6% CO+15% corn germ meal (CO 6+CGM 15), respectively. Results: The ATTD of gross energy (GE) and the digestible energy (DE) in diet and corn grain linearly decreased as the corn particle size increased (p<0.05) from 441 to 768 ㎛. Particle size had a quadratic effect (p<0.05) on the ATTD of neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber in diets, and which firstly increased and then decreased as the corn particle size increased from 441 to 618 ㎛ and 618 to 768 ㎛, respectively. The ATTD of GE, ether extract (EE), and the DE in CO 1 diet and CO 6 diet was greater (p<0.05) than that in CG 2 diet and CG 15 diet, respectively. The ATTD of EE in CO 6 diet and CO 6+CGM 15 diet was greater (p<0.05) than that in CO 1 diet and CO 1+CGM 2 diet. Conclusion: Less than 618 ㎛ was recommended for corn particle size in growing pig's diet and extracted lipid had greater digestibility than the intact lipid in corn. Higher concentration of extracted CO had greater digestibility of EE compared with lower concentrations of CO diet.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.277-283
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• 1993

In order to brew foxtail millet wine, a folk wine of Cheju, properties of raw materials, optimum brewing conditions were inveatigated. Carbohydrate and crude fat content of glutinuous foxtail millet are 71.27% and 3.47%, respectively. Since the ratio of water to steamed millet and ethanol concentration of wine showed negative correlation, less than 250% water had to added to steamed millet to maintain ethanol concentration in wine above 13%, Sugar consumption and ethanol production increased rapidly for the first 2 days, and main fermentation was done in 4 days. Ethanol concentrations were $13.0{\sim}13.4%$ when foxtail millet was used, and they were $14.0{\sim}14.3%$ for the mixture substrates of 90% millet and 10% rice or barley. Organic acids in millet wine were lactic acid, malic acid and succinic acid. The residual carbohydrates after fermentation were mainly xylose and oligosaccharides. A trace of methanol was detected in millet wine. The content of fusel oil was low, while the concnetration of organic acids was high. Optimum conditions for millet wine-making were as follows. Glutinuous foxtail millet with 10% rice as fermentation source need to be soaked in water and steamed for enough time. Water was added to steamed millet with the ratio of 2 : 1. The resulting mixture was stmnultaneously saccharified and fermented by Aspergillus orzae and Saccharomyces cerevisiae IAM 4274 at $20^{\circ}C$ for a week. Millet wine was prepared after filtering fermented broth while pressing for a week.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.506-513
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• 2010

Plant growth promoting ability of Methylobacterium oryzae CBMB20 was evaluated under different levels of organic fertilizer application on red pepper plants in a pot experiment. Oil cake as an organic N fertilizer was applied at the rates of 70, 85, 100 and 120% of the conventional recommended level. Each treatment was further treated with or without M. oryzae CBMB20 inoculation. The recommended amount of compost for red pepper was added in all the treatments. Results revealed that plant height, dry biomass and fruit yield were enhanced in increasing order as the rate of fertilization increased. Overall plant growth was improved due to the inoculation of M. oryzae CBMB20 and red pepper fruit yield was also increased by 10-35% in the plants inoculated with M. oryzae CBMB20 at different rates of organic fert1izer application. Total methylotrophic bacterial population in rhizosphere soil measured at the time of harvest was significantly higher in M. oryzae CBMB20 inoculated treatments. The growth promoting effect of M. oryzae CBMB20 found in red pepper could be due to the effective colonization of the bacteria in the rhizosphere and its ability of enhancing nutrient availability and producing plant growth hormones. With the plant growth promoting effect of M. oryzae CBMB20, the rate of organic fertilizer application can be reduced without any significant decreases in biomass production and yield of red pepper.