• Title/Summary/Keyword: Physical Functions

Search Result 1,491, Processing Time 0.042 seconds

Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy of Active Galactic Nuclei

  • Doikov, Dmytry N.;Yushchenko, Alexander V.;Jeong, Yeuncheol
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
    • /
    • v.36 no.1
    • /
    • pp.21-33
    • /
    • 2019
  • This paper focuses on the interpretation of radiation fluxes from active galactic nuclei. The advantage of positron annihilation spectroscopy over other methods of spectral diagnostics of active galactic nuclei (therefore AGN) is demonstrated. A relationship between regular and random components in both bolometric and spectral composition of fluxes of quanta and particles generated in AGN is found. We consider their diffuse component separately and also detect radiative feedback after the passage of high-velocity cosmic rays and hard quanta through gas-and-dust aggregates surrounding massive black holes in AGN. The motion of relativistic positrons and electrons in such complex systems produces secondary radiation throughout the whole investigated region of active galactic nuclei in form of cylinder with radius R= 400-1000 pc and height H=200-400 pc, thus causing their visible luminescence across all spectral bands. We obtain radiation and electron energy distribution functions depending on the spatial distribution of the investigated bulk of matter in AGN. Radiation luminescence of the non-central part of AGN is a response to the effects of particles and quanta falling from its center created by atoms, molecules and dust of its diffuse component. The cross-sections for the single-photon annihilation of positrons of different energies with atoms in these active galactic nuclei are determined. For the first time we use the data on the change in chemical composition due to spallation reactions induced by high-energy particles. We establish or define more accurately how the energies of the incident positron, emitted ${\gamma}-quantum$ and recoiling nucleus correlate with the atomic number and weight of the target nucleus. For light elements, we provide detailed tables of all indicated parameters. A new criterion is proposed, based on the use of the ratio of the fluxes of ${\gamma}-quanta$ formed in one- and two-photon annihilation of positrons in a diffuse medium. It is concluded that, as is the case in young supernova remnants, the two-photon annihilation tends to occur in solid-state grains as a result of active loss of kinetic energy of positrons due to ionisation down to thermal energy of free electrons. The single-photon annihilation of positrons manifests itself in the gas component of active galactic nuclei. Such annihilation occurs as interaction between positrons and K-shell electrons; hence, it is suitable for identification of the chemical state of substances comprising the gas component of the investigated media. Specific physical media producing high fluxes of positrons are discussed; it allowed a significant reduction in the number of reaction channels generating positrons. We estimate the brightness distribution in the ${\gamma}-ray$ spectra of the gas-and-dust media through which positron fluxes travel with the energy range similar to that recorded by the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) research module. Based on the results of our calculations, we analyse the reasons for such a high power of positrons to penetrate through gas-and-dust aggregates. The energy loss of positrons by ionisation is compared to the production of secondary positrons by high-energy cosmic rays in order to determine the depth of their penetration into gas-and-dust aggregations clustered in active galactic nuclei. The relationship between the energy of ${\gamma}-quanta$ emitted upon the single-photon annihilation and the energy of incident electrons is established. The obtained cross sections for positron interactions with bound electrons of the diffuse component of the non-central, peripheral AGN regions allowed us to obtain new spectroscopic characteristics of the atoms involved in single-photon annihilation.

The effect of the home environment on the relationship among walking limitation, disability and depression of older people (주택환경이 노년기 보행기능제한, 장애 및 우울의 관계에 미치는 영향 연구)

  • Koo, Bon Mi;Lim, Yenjung;Chai, Choul Gyun
    • 한국노년학
    • /
    • v.40 no.3
    • /
    • pp.543-563
    • /
    • 2020
  • As people age and their physical functions are declined, they stay longer in the home, thus being more affected by the home environment. Many studies have shown the association between the home environment and health. However, little is known about the effect of the home environment on disability and depression of older people with functional limitation. This study, therefore, aimed to examine the moderating effect of the home environment on the pathway between walking limitation and instrumental activity of daily living(IADL) disability, and the relationship between IADL disability and depression. We performed logistic regression and multiple linear regression analyses with data on 3,027 participants from the 2018 Seoul Aging Survey. As results, first, older people who lived home with poor conditions showed a higher risk of walking limitation(OR=1.487, 95% CI: 1.250 - 1.770), IADL disability(OR=1.594, 95% CI: 1.303 - 1.949), and depression(OR=1.943, 95% CI: 1.553 - 2.430). Second, the home environment moderated the relationship between walking limitation and IADL disability. Older people with walking limitation who lived in poor housing condition experienced more IADL disability than others. Third, after controlling for walking limitation, the home environment had significant moderating effect on the relationship between IADL disability and depression. Elderly with IADL disability living in poor home experienced higher risk of depression. Based on these results, the study suggests the necessity of home modification intervention targeting functional limitation of older adults as strategy for preventing disability and depression, and enabling aging in place.

A Study on the Development of Environment Color Checklists for Senior Center Based on Characteristics of the elders (재가노인의 특성을 고려한 경로당 환경색채 체크리스트 개발)

  • Choi, Yerim;Park, Heykyung
    • Korea Science and Art Forum
    • /
    • v.34
    • /
    • pp.327-337
    • /
    • 2018
  • Korea is rapidly becoming an aging society as much as it takes the first place among OECD countries, and as the life expectancy of Korea gradually increases, the proportion of the elders in society increases. Accordingly, the happiness of the elders is contributed to the overall social atmosphere and happiness, however, the lower quality of life of the elders due to physical, psychological and social changes can be developed into social problems such as depression and rising suicide rate. As a result, there is a social interest in improving the quality of life and satisfaction of the elders, and the senior citizen center is receiving renewed attention as a form of welfare facility that can play a pivotal role in the social activities of the elders. In recent years, efforts to improve the environment of the senior citizen center have been made due to the growing role of it, however, there is a controversy over whether the quality of the indoor environment is user-friendly or not due to the limitations of material resources and human resources. It is considered that the quality of the color environment should be improved in the senior citizen center in the way that the color environment is not only an indoor environmental factor which gives high psychological and mental effects to users but also a way to improve the environmental satisfaction at the lowest cost. Previous studies on the facilities related to the elders have been actively carried out, but they were very sporadic and there was very little information about the color environment in the related laws or in the guideline presented by cities. It is necessary to integrate guidelines that are scattered within a comprehensive range without any specific target in order to grasp the current status of the color environment and to properly evaluate it. In addition, considering that the senior citizen center is an important leisure facility for the elders that functions in a residential area with a nationwide network, the results of this study are expected to contribute to the environmental improvement of existing senior citizen center which will be activated in the future by enabling the improvement of psychological satisfaction of the elders.

Suggestion of Community Design for the Efficiency of CPTED - Focused on Community Furniture - (범죄예방환경설계(CPTED)의 효율성 증대를 위한 커뮤니티디자인 제안 - 커뮤니티퍼니쳐를 중심으로 -)

  • Lee, Ho Sang
    • Korea Science and Art Forum
    • /
    • v.29
    • /
    • pp.305-318
    • /
    • 2017
  • The need for recognizing the crime in the urban spaces as a social problem and finding out specific approaches such as the study of space design and various guidelines for crime prevention is increasing. In this regard, "Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design" (marked as "CPTED") is actively underway. Yeomri-dong Salt Way is the first place to which the Seoul Crime Prevention Design Project was appled. The business objective of improving the local environment has been implemented rationally through cooperation and voluntary participation between subject of the project executives and community members. Since its efficiency has been proven, the sites have been expanded since then and becomes a benchmarking example of each local government.This kind of problem solving effort has the same context in purpose and direction of the 'Village Art Project' which has been implemented since 2009 with the aim of promoting the culture of the underdeveloped area and encouraging the participation of the residents by introducing the public art. It is noteworthy that this trend is centered around the characteristics of community functions and values. The purpose of this study is to propose the application method of community furniture as a way to increase the efficiency of CPTED to improve the 'quality of life' of residents. To do this, we reviewed CPTED, community design, public art literature and prior research, and identified the problems and implications based on the site visit Yeomri-dong of Seoul and Gamcheon Village of Pusan which is the successful model of "Seoul Root out Crime by Design" and 'Maeulmisul Art Project' respectively. The common elements of the two case places identified in this study are as follows: First, the 'lives' of community residents found its place in the center through the activation of community by collaborative activities in addition to the physical composition of the environment. Second, community design and introduction of public art created a new space, and thereby many people came to visit the village and revitalize the local economy. Third, it strengthened the natural monitoring, the territoriality and control, and the activity increase among the CPTED factors. The psychological aspect of CPTED and the emotional function of public art are fused with the 'community furniture', thereby avoiding a vague or tremendous approach to the public space through a specific local context based on the way of thinking and emotion of local people and it will be possible to create an environment beneficial for all. In this way, the possibility and implication of the fusion of CPTED and public art are expected to be able to reduce the social cost through the construction of the crime prevention infrastructure such as expansion of the CPTED application space, and to suggest a plan to implement the visual amenity as a design strategy to regenerate city.

Health and quality of life for Korean people in ageing society (고령화 사회에서 한국인의 건강과 삶의 질)

  • Kyung-Hyun Suh
    • Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
    • /
    • v.12 no.5_spc
    • /
    • pp.133-147
    • /
    • 2006
  • Korean society is rapidly becoming an ageing society. The Korean may have to live longer than did their parents. Increasing life expectancy and changing social structure, Korean people are getting interested in quality of life, and well-being is becoming a matter of concern. And, the Korean is fully aware of the importance of health for well-being or good life. This concern about health may bring about specific behaviors related to health. Although health care expenditures of Korea are currently smaller than those of other developed countries, it is continuously increasing. Large portion of increased amount of health care expenditures is to spend for disease prevention and expansion of long-term care facilities. Constructs of well-being of the Korean, not living in western culture, may be different from those of people living in western society. Health is not top-ranked to importance for quality of life in previous studies. It does not mean health isn't determinant factor for good life or well-being. Health is an essential element for well-being. It has been proved in several researches which examined poor quality of life caused by certain diseases and management of health-related quality of life. Some theories relate to health-seeking behaviors suggested the health belief or the attitude toward health, intention to do health behavior, perceived behavioral control, and self efficacy as important factors which could predict health-related behaviors. With getting older, people decline in physical and physiological functions and become vulnerable to chronic diseases. Quality of life depends on how to adjust to these changes in senescence. Social supports, especially supports from offspring, are very important to quality of life in senescence, because supports from offspring have influence on pride of the older, they may be afraid of disclose the conflict with their offspring. Avoiding self-disclosure exclude other source of social supports and harm individual's health, therefore psychological intervention is needed to. Increasing life expectancy of the Korean, Korean government has to provide numerous long-term care facilities as well as psychosocial supports. The Korean, so far, does not recognize that psychologist could render great service to promoting individual or community health and improving individual's quality of life. It is highly expected that psychologists take actively interested and involve in health related to quality of life.

Variation of Water Qualities Due to Freshwater Introduction to Tidal Flat: A Mesocosm Study (메조코즘을 이용한 갯벌의 담수화과정 중 수질 변화)

  • Kim Yeong-Tae;Jeong Yong-Hoon;Chae Youn-Ju;Rhee Choong-Won;Kim Soh-Yong;Choi Kang-Won;Yang Jae-Sam
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
    • /
    • v.11 no.2
    • /
    • pp.49-67
    • /
    • 2006
  • A mesocosm, an artificial tidal flat ecosystem, was constructed outdoors to simulate in situ physical and biochemical environmental conditions of natural tidal flat as much as possible. During the experiment from February to August 2004, the study was focused on the biogeochemical variations of superficial water and porewater after introduction of freshwater into the mesocosm. The mesocosm has three experimental conditions; SW-M-T: maintaining the saline water of approximately 20 psu; FW-M-T: complete exchange of freshwater ul the mesocosm with continuous mixing of water column: FW-NM-T: complete exchange of saline water to freshwater in the mesocosm without mixing of water column. Mass extinction of benthic macrofauna appeared due to drastic decrease of porewater salinity from 20 psu to less than 10 psu between the 63th and 91st day of freshwater introduction in FW-M-T and FW-NM-T. Throughout the periods, 7/8 of bivalves and 2/3 of polychaete populations have been extinguished in the sediment. In FW-NM-T, as temperature rises, both evident decrease of DO in water column and active release of DIP from sediment were observed. ${NO_3}^-$ was removed from water column into sediment throughout the periods. Therefore extremely low ${NO_3}^-$ was found during late spring and summer. Whereas ${NH_4}^+$ exhibited only $1/2{\sim}1/8$ of ${NO_3}^-$ concentration. Unexpectedly even after mass extinction of benthic macrofauna, we were not able to find high ${NH_4}^+$. This mesocosm study suggests that when fresh water introduce to natural tidal flat, its sediment activity functions as a potential source of DIP, but a sink of ${NO_3}^-$.

An Analysis of Wooden Wells from the Three Kingdoms Period in the Yeongsan River Basin (영산강유역 삼국시대 목조우물에 대한 검토)

  • CHOI Misook
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
    • /
    • v.57 no.3
    • /
    • pp.6-22
    • /
    • 2024
  • This paper examines the characteristics of wooden wells from the Three Kingdoms period that were discovered in the Yeongsan River basin, in addition to their functions based on the distribution of the remains and excavated artifacts found near the wells. A total of 11 wooden wells have been found at six archeological sites along the middle and upper reaches of the Yeongsan River basin. These wooden wells were built in a wider variety of forms than wells made of other materials due to the ease of processing resulting from the physical properties of wood. However, due to the limited geological conditions in which these wells can be installed and their rapid decay, the discovery of such wells is rare. They tend to be located in the clay and mud layers of old river channels or near river channels where it was relatively easy to obtain water from the riverbed. The wooden wells are mostly square or rectangular in shape and were assembled transversely, and some include support beams in their construction. The backfill was reinforced with either stone, a mixture of stone and clay, or a mixture of clay and pottery shards. The material mainly used was pine wood boards, with wood from chestnut trees being used as a sub-material. Various artifacts, such as pottery and wooden containers, animal bones, and seeds, have been excavated in small quantities. The excavated pottery items consist mostly of flat cups with a cover, mounted cups, pottery stands, wide-mouthed jars with a hole, and round pottery. Based on the environment and remains of the sites, the wells are thought to have been used for domestic and production purposes. The assumed primary function was to obtain domestic water, as most of the wells were located within residential spaces where the area's inhabitants lived. The wells were also used to obtain water for agricultural purposes, as well as for productive purposes such as for operating kilns and smelters. Lastly, the wooden wells were also found to be strongly associated with rites, as evidenced by the artifacts found inside them.

Study of Patient Teaching in The Clinical Area (간호원의 환자교육 활동에 관한 연구)

  • 강규숙
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
    • /
    • v.2 no.1
    • /
    • pp.3-33
    • /
    • 1971
  • Nursing of today has as one of its objectives the solving of problems related to human needs arising from the demands of a rapidly changing society. This nursing objective, I believe, can he attained by the appropriate application of scientific principles in the giving of comprehensive nursing care. Comprehensive nursing care may be defined as nursing care which meets all of the patient's needs. the needs of patients are said to fall into five broad categories: physical needs, psychological needs, environmental needs, socio-economic needs, and teaching needs. Most people who become ill have adjustment problems related to their new situation. Because patient teaching is one of the most important functions of professional nursing, the success of this teaching may be used as a gauge for evaluating comprehensive nursing care. This represents a challenge foe the future. A questionnaire consisting of 67 items was distributed to 200 professional nurses working ill direct patient care at Yonsei University Medical Center in Seoul, Korea. 160 (80,0%) nurses of the total sample returned completed questionnaires 81 (50.6%) nurses were graduates of 3 fear diploma courser 79 (49.4%) nurses were graduates of 4 year collegiate nursing schools in Korea 141 (88,1%) nurses had under 5 years of clinical experience in a medical center, while 19 (11.9%) nurses had more than 5years of clinical experience. Three hypotheses were tested: 1. “Nurses had high levels of concept and knowledge toward patient teaching”-This was demonstrated by the use of a statistical method, the mean average. 2. “Nurses graduating from collegiate programs and diploma school programs of nursing show differences in concepts and knowledge toward patient teaching”-This was demonstrated by a statistical method, the mean average, although the results showed little difference between the two groups. 3. “Nurses having different amounts of clinical experience showed differences in concepts and knowledge toward patient teaching”-This was demonstrated by the use of a statistical method, the mean average. 2. “Nurses graduating from collegiate programs and diploma school programs of nursing show differences in concepts and knowledge toward patient teaching”-This was demonstrated by a statistical method, the mean average, although the results showed little difference between the two groups. 3. “Nurses having different amounts of clinical experience showed differences in concepts and knowledge toward patient teaching”-This was demonstrated by the use of the T-test. Conclusions of this study are as follow: Before attempting the explanation, of the results, the questionnaire will he explained. The questionnaire contained 67 questions divided into 9 sections. These sections were: concept, content, time, prior preparation, method, purpose, condition, evaluation, and recommendations for patient teaching. 1. The nurse's concept of patient teaching: Most of the nurses had high levels of concepts and knowledge toward patient teaching. Though nursing service was task-centered at the turn of the century, the emphasis today is put on patient-centered nursing. But we find some of the nurses (39.4%) still are task-centered. After, patient teaching, only a few of the nurses (14.4%) checked this as “normal teaching.”It seems therefore that patient teaching is often done unconsciously. Accordingly it would he desirable to have correct concepts and knowledge of teaching taught in schools of nursing. 2. Contents of patient teaching: Most nurses (97.5%) had good information about content of patient teaching. They teach their patients during admission about their diseases, tests, treatments, and before discharge give nurses instruction about simple nursing care, personal hygiene, special diets, rest and sleep, elimination etc. 3. Time of patient teaching: Teaching can be accomplished even if there is no time set aside specifically for it. -a large part of the nurse's teaching can be done while she is giving nursing care. If she believes she has to wait for time free from other activities, she may miss many teaching opportunities. But generally proper time for patient teaching is in the midmorning or midafternoon since one and a half or two hours required. Nurses meet their patients in all stages of health: often tile patient is in a condition in which learning is impossible-pain, mental confusion, debilitation, loss of sensory perception, fear and anxiety-any of these conditions may preclude the possibility of successful teaching. 4. Prior preparation for patient teaching: The teaching aids, nurses use are charts (53.1%), periodicals (23.8%), and books (7.0%) Some of the respondents (28.1%) reported that they had had good preparation for the teaching which they were doing, others (27.5%) reported adequate preparation, and others (43.8%) reported that their preparation for teaching was inadequate. If nurses have advance preparation for normal teaching and are aware of their objectives in teaching patients, they can do effective teaching. 5. Method of patient teaching: The methods of individual patient teaching, the nurses in this study used, were conversation (55.6%) and individual discussion (19.2%) . And the methods of group patient teaching they used were demonstration (42.3%) and lecture (26.2%) They should also he prepared to use pamphlet and simple audio-visual aids for their teaching. 6. Purposes of patient teaching: The purposes of patient teaching is to help the patient recover completely, but the majority of the respondents (40.6%) don't know this. So it is necessary for them to understand correctly the purpose of patient teaching and nursing care. 7. Condition of patient teaching: The majority of respondents (75.0%) reported there were some troubles in teaching uncooperative patients. It would seem that the nurse's leaching would be improved if, in her preparation, she was given a better understanding of the patient and communication skills. The majority of respondents in the total group, felt teaching is their responsibility and they should teach their patient's family as well as the patient. The place for teaching is most often at the patient's bedside (95.6%) but the conference room (3.1%) is also used. It is important that privacy be provided in learning situations with involve personal matters. 8. Evaluation of patient teaching: The majority of respondents (76.3%,) felt leaching is a highly systematic and organized function requiring special preparation in a college or university, they have the idea that teaching is a continuous and ever-present activity of all people throughout their lives. The suggestion mentioned the most frequently for improving preparation was a course in patient teaching included in the basic nursing program. 9. Recommendations: 1) It is recommended, that in clinical nursing, patient teaching be emphasized. 2) It is recommended, that insertive education the concepts and purposes of patient teaching he renewed for all nurses. In addition to this new knowledge, methods and materials which can be applied to patient teaching should be given also. 3) It is recommended, in group patient teaching, we try to embark on team teaching.

  • PDF

In the Treatment I-131, the Significance of the Research that the Patient's Discharge Dose and Treatment Ward can Affect a Patient's Kidney Function on the Significance of Various Factors (I-131 치료시 환자의 신장기능과 다양한 요인으로 의한 퇴원선량 및 치료병실 오염도의 유의성에 관한 연구)

  • Im, Kwang Seok;Choi, Hak Gi;Lee, Gi Hyun
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
    • /
    • v.17 no.1
    • /
    • pp.62-66
    • /
    • 2013
  • Purpose: I-131 is a radioisotope widely used for thyroid gland treatments. The physical half life is 8.01 and characterized by emitting beta and gamma rays which is used in clinical practice for the purpose of acquiring treatment and images. In order to reduce the recurrence rate after surgery in high-risk thyroid cancer patients, the remaining thyroid tissue is either removed or the I-131 is used for treatment during relapse. In cases of using a high dosage of radioactive iodine requiring hospitalization, the patient is administered dosage in the hospital isolation ward over a certain period of time preventing I-131 exposure to others. By checking the radiation amount emitted from patients before discharge, the patients are discharged after checking whether they meet the legal standards (50 uSv/h). After patients are discharged from the hospital, the contamination level is checked in many parts of the ward before the next patients are hospitalized and when necessary, decontamination operations are performed. It is expected that there is exposure to radiation when measuring the ward contamination level and dose check emitted from patients at the time of discharge whereby the radiation exposure by health workers that come from the patients in this process is the main factor. This study analyzed the correlation between discharge dose of patients and ward contamination level through a variety of factors such as renal functions, gender, age, dosage, etc.). Materials and Method: The study was conducted on 151 patients who received high-dosage radioactive iodine treatment at Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital during the period between 8/1/2011~5/31/2012 (Male: Female: 31:120, $47.5{\pm}11.9$, average dosage of $138{\pm}22.4$ mCi). As various factors expected to influence the patient discharge dose & ward contamination such as the beds, floors, bathroom floors, and washbasins, the patient renal function (GFR), age, gender, dosage, and the correlation between the expected Tg & Tg-Tb expected to reflect the remaining tissue in patients were analyzed. Results: In terms of the discharge dose and GFR, a low correlation was shown in the patient discharge dose as the GFR was higher (p < 0.0001). When comparing the group with a dosage of over 150mCi and the group with a lower dosage, the lower dosage group showed a significantly lower discharge dose ($24{\pm}10.4uSv/h$ vs $28.7{\pm}11.8uSv/h$, p<0.05). Age, gender, Tg, Tg-Tb did not show a significant relationship with discharge dose (p> 0.05). The contamination level in each spot of the treatment ward showed no significant relationship with GFR, Tg, Tg-Tb, age, gender, and dosage (p>0.05 ). Conclusion: This study says that discharge of the dose in the patient's body is low in GFR higher and Dosage 150mCi under lower. There was no case of contamination of the treatment ward, depending on the dose and renal association. This suggests that patients' lifestyles or be affected by a variety of other factors.

  • PDF

Potassium Physiology of Upland Crops (밭 작물(作物)의 가리(加里) 생리(生理))

  • Park, Hoon
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
    • /
    • v.10 no.3
    • /
    • pp.103-134
    • /
    • 1977
  • The physiological and biochemical role of potassium for upland crops according to recent research reports and the nutritional status of potassium in Korea were reviewed. Since physical and chemical characteristics of potassium ion are different from those of sodium, potassium can not completely be replaced by sodium and replacement must be limited to minimum possible functional area. Specific roles of potassium seem to keep fine structure of biological membranes such as thylacoid membrane of chloroplast in the most efficient form and to be allosteric effector and conformation controller of various enzymes principally in carbohydrate and protein metabolism. Potassium is essential to improve the efficiency of phoro- and oxidative- phosphorylation and involve deeply in all energy required metabolisms especially synthesis of organic matter and their translocation. Potassium has many important, physiological functions such as maintenance of osmotic pressure and optimum hydration of cell colloids, consequently uptake and translocation of water resulting in higher water use efficiency and of better subcellular environment for various physiological and biochemical activities. Potassium affects uptake and translocation of mineral nutrients and quality of products. potassium itself in products may become a quality criteria due to potassium essentiality for human beings. Potassium uptake is greatly decreased by low temperature and controlled by unknown feed back mechanism of potassium in plants. Thus the luxury absorption should be reconsidered. Total potassium content of upland soil in Korea is about 3% but the exchangeable one is about 0.3 me/100g soil. All upland crops require much potassium probably due to freezing and cold weather and also due to wet damage and drought caused by uneven rainfall pattern. In barley, potassium should be high at just before freezing and just after thawing and move into grain from heading for higher yield. Use efficiency of potassium was 27% for barley and 58% in old uplands, 46% in newly opened hilly lands for soybean. Soybean plant showed potassium deficiency symptom in various fields especially in newly opened hilly lands. Potassium criteria for normal growth appear 2% $K_2O$ and 1.0 K/(Ca+Mg) (content ratio) at flower bud initiation stage for soybean. Potassium requirement in plant was high in carrot, egg plant, chinese cabbage, red pepper, raddish and tomato. Potassium content in leaves was significantly correlated with yield in chinese cabbage. Sweet potato. greatly absorbed potassium subsequently affected potassium nutrition of the following crop. In the case of potassium deficiency, root showed the greatest difference in potassium content from that of normal indicating that deficiency damages root first. Potatoes and corn showed much higher potassium content in comparison with calcium and magnesium. Forage crops from ranges showed relatively high potassium content which was significantly and positively correlated with nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium content. Percentage of orchards (apple, pear, peach, grape, and orange) insufficient in potassium ranged from 16 to 25. The leaves and soils from the good apple and pear orchards showed higher potassium content than those from the poor ones. Critical ratio of $K_2O/(CaO+MgO)$ in mulberry leaves to escape from winter death of branch tip was 0.95. In the multiple croping system, exchangeable potassium in soils after one crop was affected by the previous crops and potassium uptake seemed to be related with soil organic matter providing soil moisture and aeration. Thus, the long term and quantitative investigation of various forms of potassium including total one are needed in relation to soil, weather and croping system. Potassium uptake and efficiency may be increased by topdressing, deep placement, slow-releasing or granular fertilizer application with the consideration of rainfall pattern. In all researches for nutritional explanation including potassium of crop yield reasonable and practicable nutritional indices will most easily be obtained through multifactor analysis.

  • PDF