• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.265-277
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• 2019

Changes in the amount, intensity, frequency, and type of precipitation, in conjunction with global warming and climate change, critically impact groundwater recharge and associated groundwater level fluctuations. Monthly gravity levels by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) are acquired to monitor total water storage changes at regional and global scales. However, there are inherent difficulties in quantitatively relating the GRACE observations to groundwater level data due to the difficulties in spatially representing groundwater levels. Here three local interpolation methods (kriging, inverse distance weighted, and natural neighbor) were implemented to estimate the areal distribution of groundwater recharge changes in South Korea during the 2002-2016 period. The interpolated monthly groundwater recharge changes are compared with the GRACE-derived groundwater storage changes. There is a weak decrease in the groundwater recharge changes over time in both the GRACE observations and groundwater measurements, with the rate of groundwater recharge change exhibiting mean and median values of -0.01 and -0.02 cm/month, respectively.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.135-156
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• 2009

The two waves of EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007, have been milestones of European integration. While research has been conducted into the impact of these events on both the European and the global economies,1 there have been few attempts to assess the effects of EU enlargement and the introduction of the euro on countries such as Russia, which neighbour the EU but currently have no perspective of accession. This paper aims to provide an assessment of the effects that EU enlargement and the introduction of the euro have had on Russia, the largest country neighbouring the EU. In particular, it focuses on trade and investment links between the EU and Russia, as well as the use of the energy by Russian residents and authorities. Economic links between Russia and the EU are found to have strengthened considerably in the areas of trade, investment and other financial flows in recent years. Strong growth, particularly in Russia, as well as the high price of oil and gas, Russia's major export items, has facilitated this expansion of trade and finance. Moreover, available data do not suggest that EU enlargement has had a negative impact on Russia in terms of trade or investment diversion. Thus, the strategic partnership between Russia and the EU has been increasingly underpinned by an expansion of cross-border economic activities. Thus, the paper contributes to two broad strands of literature on this subject, namely the impact of regional trade and economic arrangements on non-member countries and the international role of currencies.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.64-77
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to objectify the level of case management performance and the factors influencing performance, to improve the case management performance at the Korea Worker's Compensation & Welfare Service (KWCWS) on the basis of the recognition of the objective realities of case management by job coordinators at the KWCWS, to develop a model of case management fit for the KWCWS, and to provide a basis for establishing guidelines for standardized case management. Methods: A total of 156 questionnaires were distributed to job coordinators at the KWCWS's headquarters, six regional headquarters, and 55 branches. One hundred forty-one questionnaires were collected and 126 were analyzed statistically using SPSS 21.0. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were conducted to verify the validity and reliability of the main measurement items in the research model. Frequency analysis was conducted for general characteristics of survey subjects. Frequency analysis or descriptive statistics were conducted to identify the level of independent variables (case manager's individual variables, job variables, institutional and organizational variables). Dependent variables (case management performance) and the degree of correlation were analyzed through correlation analysis between research variables. Multiple regression analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were conducted to examine the effect of independent variables on case management performance. Results: The results of the study showed that the level of overall performance in the five stages of case management was ordinary, with an average level of 3.45 on a 5-point scale. Levels of performance by step were institutional approach and intake (3.69), assessment (3.63), goal setting and intervention planning (3.46), implementation of intervention plan (3.32), and evaluation and termination (3.20), in that order. The explanatory power of case management performance (overall) by case managers with the KWCWS was case manager's institutional and organizational variables, job variables, and individual variables, in that order. At each stage of case management, the explanatory power of a case manager's institutional and organizational variables was found to be the greatest. The model changes at each stage of case management assume similar aspects statistically. In hierarchical regression analysis, it was institutional support that had a significant effect on case management performance (overall), and institutional support had the greatest effect. The results of multiple regression analysis in which all variables are input simultaneously showed that institutional support and expertise as well as self-efficacy had a positive effect. However, case management work experience, expertise (technology), and autonomy were found to have a negative effect during the stage of case management performance. Conclusions: As a result of the study, it was confirmed that raising the case manager's expertise and support from the institution and organization are important factors to improve the level of case management performance. The research also derived practical ways of reinforcement of case manager capacity, institutional and organizational support, operation of rehabilitation-case management teams, and occupational health-related aspects.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6D
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• pp.917-926
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• 2006

Transportation Economies of scale are the essential properties of hub networks. One critical property of the hub network design problem is to quantify cost savings which stem from economies of scale, the costs of operating hub facilities and opportunity costs associated with delays stemming from consolidation of traffic flows. Due to the NP-complete property of the hub location problem, however, most previous researchers have focused on the development of heuristic algorithms for approximate solutions. The purpose of this paper is to develop a hub network design model considering transportation economies of scale from the consolidation of traffic flows. The model is designed to consider the uniqueness of hub networks and to determine several cost components. The heuristic algorithms for the developed model are suggested and the results of the model are compared with recently published studies using real data. Results of the analysis show that the proposed model reflects transportation economies of scale due to consolidation of flows. This study can form not only the theoretical basis of an effective and rational hub network design but contribute to the assessment of existing and planned logistics systems.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.4B
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• pp.363-369
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• 2006

A simple and an improved methods for the economic analysis of the flood control project has been in previous studies in Korea. In 2004, the Multi-Dimensional Flood Damage Analysis (MD-FDA) was developed and now it is widely used for the economic analysis of flood control project. However, the MD-FDA was developed for general damage assessment and analysis without consideration of specific regional characteristics such as urban and rural areas. To compensate the MD-FDA for the application in urban area, a part of damage estimation components is modified and a component for the flood damage estimation is suggested. The component we suggest is for the consideration of the capability of stormwater pump stations in the study area. When flood is occurred in the urban area, the damage potential is larger than the rural area because of the concentration of human lives and properties. So, many stormwater pump stations are located in the urban area and the inundation depth is estimated by considering the capabilities of pump stations. We also compensate the damage components such as the damages of industrial area, and public facilities for the flood damage estimation of the urban area. The results by the compensated MD-FDA for the urban area application with those by original MD-FDA are compared. As a result the B/C ratio showed 6.75 and 5.51 respectively for the modified and original MD-FDA. This difference might be largely affected by the damage rate of the public facilities.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.215-241
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• 2023

As competition between ports intensifies, port efficiency has always been a hot topic in the port and shipping economy. Boosting regional and national economies by improving port efficiency and promoting sustainable development of ports is also a concern for port operators and local and national governments. In this situation, this study has the following objectives. First, using panel data from 2010 to 2017, the efficiency of 14 major inland ports along the Yangtze River was analyzed, and changes in port efficiency over time were examined. Second, 14 inland ports are divided into the middle, upper, and lower Yangtze River port groups to compare and review differences in efficiency levels of ports by basin. For the study, we applied a three-step DEA analysis method, which evaluated the pure relative efficiency of the port itself by removing the effects of environmental factors and statistical noise that could affect the efficiency evaluation and presented the results. As a result, it was confirmed that there was a clear difference in the efficiency value of the port between the first-stage and the third-stage efficiency evaluation result. In addition, the downstream ports showed relatively high efficiency compared to the middle and upstream ports.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.51 no.10
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• pp.905-916
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the climate change impact on watershed hydrology and flow duration in Geum River basin ($9,645.5km^2$) especially by extreme scenarios. The rainfall related extreme index, STARDEX (STAtistical and Regional dynamical Downscaling of EXtremes) was adopted to select the future extreme scenario from the 10 GCMs with RCP 8.5 scenarios by four projection periods (Historical: 1975~2005, 2020s: 2011~2040, 2050s: 2041~2070, 2080s: 2071~2100). As a result, the 5 scenarios of wet (CESM1-BGC and HadGEM2-ES), normal (MPI-ESM-MR), and dry (INM-CM4 and FGOALS-s2) were selected and applied to SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) hydrological model. The wet scenarios showed big differences comparing with the normal scenario in 2080s period. The 2080s evapotranspiration (ET) of wet scenarios varied from -3.2 to +3.1 mm, the 2080s total runoff (TR) varied from +5.5 to +128.4 mm. The dry scenarios showed big differences comparing with the normal scenario in 2020s period. The 2020s ET for dry scenarios varied from -16.8 to -13.3 mm and the TR varied from -264.0 to -132.3 mm respectively. For the flow duration change, the CFR (coefficient of flow regime, Q10/Q355) was altered from +4.2 to +10.5 for 2080s wet scenarios and from +1.7 to +2.6 for 2020s dry scenarios. As a result of the flow duration analysis according to the change of the hydrological factors of the Geum River basin applying the extreme climate change scenario, INM-CM4 showed suitable scenario to show extreme dry condition and FGOALS-s2 showed suitable scenario for the analysis of the drought condition with large flow duration variability. HadGEM2-ES was evaluated as a scenario that can be used for maximum flow analysis because the flow duration variability was small and CESM1-BGC was evaluated as a scenario that can be applied to the case of extreme flood analysis with large flow duration variability.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.307-316
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• 2010

Complex terrain refers to irregular surface properties of the earth that influence gradients in climate, lateral transfer of materials, landscape distribution in soils properties, habitat selection of organisms, and via human preferences, the patterning in development of land use. Complex terrain of mountainous areas represents ca. 20% of the Earth's terrestrial surface; and such regions provide fresh water to at least half of humankind. Most major river systems originate in such terrain, and their resources are often associated with socio-economic competition and political disputes. The goals of the TERRECO-IRTG focus on building a bridge between ecosystem understanding in complex terrain and spatial assessments of ecosystem performance with respect to derived ecosystem services. More specifically, a coordinated assessment framework will be developed from landscape to regional scale applications to quantify trade-offs and will be applied to determine how shifts in climate and land use in complex terrain influence naturally derived ecosystem services. Within the scope of TERRECO, the abiotic and biotic studies of water yield and quality, production and biodiversity, soil processing of materials and trace gas emissions in complex terrain are merged. There is a need to quantitatively understand 1) the ecosystem services derived in regions of complex terrain, 2) the process regulation occurred to maintain those services, and 3) the sensitivities defining thresholds critical in stability of these systems. The TERRECO-IRTG is dedicated to joint study of ecosystems in complex terrain from landscape to regional scales. Our objectives are to reveal the spatial patterns in driving variables of essential ecosystem processes involved in ecosystem services of complex terrain region and hence, to evaluate the resulting ecosystem services, and further to provide new tools for understanding and managing such areas.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.438-479
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• 2021

Basic information such as flora and their distribution are the key factors to consider for preserving plant diversity on a regional level. The number of plant species identified through a survey is closely related to the survey area and the number of habitats distributed within the survey area. In this study, we surveyed the flora of Mt. Maryong-san (PH) and Mt. Daeso-san (YH) located in Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, six and nine times, respectively. We planned to include a variety of habitats in the survey routes. As a result, we identified a total of 594 taxa composing of 112 families, 349 genera, 548 species, 10 subspecies, 34 varieties, and 2 formulas in the Mt. Maryong-san (PH) area and a total of 434 taxa composing of 89 families, 270 genera, 400 species, 9 subspecies, and 25 varieties in the Mt. Daeso-san (YH) area. Of the plants observed in the 21 habitats, the plants distributed in the transition zone around the valley and the dry grassland accounted for the highest proportion. The traditional graveyards located on the coast also served as the major habitat for the distribution of some plant species. In the two graveyards, 19 taxa of endemic plant species were surveyed. Moreover, the identified floristic target species included 1 taxon for grade V, 11 taxa for grade IV, and 24 taxa for grade III. A total of 77 taxa of naturalized plants were identified, and four of them were invasive alien plants as designated by the Ministry of Environment. The differences in the plants distributed in the area of Mt. Maryong-san (PH) and Mt. Daeso-san (YH) were mainly due to the difference in the size of each habitat distributed within the survey area. Moreover, it was judged that the entire vicinity of Mt. Daeso-san (YH) was not connected to the surrounding mountains and was an isolated area surrounded by farmland and residential areas.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.187-201
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• 2019

This study examined the physicochemical water quality and evaluated the ecological health in 14 sites of Geum River (upstream, mid-stream, and downstream) using the fish community distribution and guilds and eight multi-variable matrices of FAI (Fish Assessment Index) during June 2008-May 2009. The analysis of the water quality variables showed no significant variation in the upstream and mid-stream but a sharp variation due to the accumulation of organic matter from the point where the treated water of Gap and Miho streams flew. The analysis of physicochemical water properties showed that BOD, COD, TN, TP, Cond, and Chl-a tended to increase while DO decreased to cause eutrophication and algae development from the downstream where Miho and Gap stream merged. The analysis of fish community showed that the species richness index and species diversity index increased in the mid-stream area but decreased in the downstream area, indicating the stable ecosystem in the upper stream and the relatively unstable ecosystem in the downstream. The analysis of the species distribution showed that the dominant species were Zacco platypus that accounted for 20.9% of all fish species and Zacco koreanus that accounted for 13.1%. The analysis of the fish tolerance and feeding guild characteristics showed that the sensitive species, the insectivore species, and the aquatic species were dominant in the mid-stream point. On the other hand, contaminants from the sewage water treatment plant of Miho stream had a profound effect in the downstream to show the dominance of tolerant species, omnivorous species, and lentic species. Therefore, it is necessary to improve water quality by reducing the load of urban pollutants and to pay attention to the conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems.