• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.227-236
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• 2002

For ten firn cores, from both the eastern and the western side of Lambert Glacier basin (LGB), snow accumulation rate and isotopic temperature were measured far the recent 50 years. Results show that snow accumulation for five cores over the eastern side of LGB (GC30, GD03, GD15, DT001, and DT085) at Wilks Land and Princess Elizabeth Land increases, whereas it decreases at the western side (Core E, DML05, W200, LGB 16, and MGA) at Dronning Maud Land, Mizuho Plateau and Kamp Land. For the past decades, the increasing rate was $0.34-2.36kg\;m^{-2}a^{-1}$ at the eastern side and the decreasing rate was $-0.01\;-\;-2.36kg\;m^{-2}\;a^{-1}$ at the western side. Temperatures at the eastern LGB were also increased with the rate of $0.02%o\;a^{-l}$. At the western LGB it was difficult to see clear trends, which were confirmed by Instrumental temperature records at coastal stations. Although statistic analysis and modeling results display that both surface temperature and accumulation rate has increased trends in Antarctic ice sheet during 1950-2000, the regional distributions were much more different for different geographic areas. We believe that ice-core records at Wilks Land and Princess Elizabeth Land reflect the real variations of SST and moisture change in the southern India Ocean. For the Kamp Land and Dronning Maud Land, however circulation pattern was different, by which the climate was more complicated. The International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) aimed to reveal an overall spatial pattern of climate change over Antarctic ice sheet for the past 200 years. This study points the importance of continental to regional circulation to annual-decadal scale climate change in Antarctica.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.17-30
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• 2009

In Iksan city, there have been a lot of complaints caused by offensive odor from residents living near the public environmental infrastructures and the Iksan industrial complex. To solve these problems, it is important to know the present condition of odor pollution level in these areas, the emission characteristics of malodorous gases in temporal and spatial variations in addition to meteorological components, and the facilities of major sources emitting malodorous compounds. The objectives of this study is to make the odor monitoring network for 20 people who lived and worked in areas where the environmental infrastructures and the Iksan industrial complex are located and their neighboring areas for six months from June 1st to October 31st in 2008 in Iksan and to monitor the temporal and regional frequency and characteristics of odor intensity using direct olfactory methods. As a result of odor monitoring, the highest frequency of sensed odor per month and 20 people for six months was found to be 107 in July, followed by 84 in September, 80 in August, 54 in June, 38 in October, respectively. Odor intensity trend showed a regional trend in the decreasing order of Dongsan-dong, Busong-dong, and Palbong-dong. Odor was widely perceived from night through next morning and considered as the sense of excreta, chemicals, sewage, compost, waste, etc. When high odor intensity was sensed, there were constant meteorological characteristics: relative humidity was 80~90%, wind speed was less than 0.5~1 m/sec, and main wind directions were from the east, the southeast, and the south.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.99-106
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• 2018

Extensive monitoring of aquatic organisms in rice paddy fields has been difficult due to laborious sampling methods such as quadrat sampling using a hand net. This study aimed to analyze temporal and regional community compositions of aquatic organisms collected with a less time-consuming sampling method. This method involved using submerged funnel traps in rice paddy fields. Submerged funnel traps were useful for capturing taxa containing species that are indicative of environmental changes and highly mobile species that feed on waterbirds. Fifteen taxa including Ampullariidae, Cobitidae, Chironomidae, Hydrophilidae and Dytiscidae determined the community compositions. Among the major taxa, only Chironomidae resistant to environmental disturbances represented temporal variations of aquatic organism communities in rice paddy fields. Ampullariidae, Dytiscidae, and Hydrophilidae, which are prone to be affected by anthropogenic activities, differed among regions.

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.81-89
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• 2013

Recently, several studies conducted for other countries show that housing price has very close relationship with personal or neighborhood level obesity. Also these studies suggest the use of housing price as a new SES(Socio-Economic Status) variable for health related studies. In this study, whether this relationship can be found in regions of the Seoul Metropolitan Area is investigated. The results of this study show that, as in the cases of other countries, the regions with SES represented by higher housing prices show lower obesity levels. Further, the results show that the differences in regional housing prices well explain the variations of regional obesity levels as other traditional SES variables do. This finding indicates that housing price which is objectively, continuously, and spatially measured in Korea can be used as a new SES indicator for health research in Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.259-267
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• 2015

Objectives: This study evaluated the regional and seasonal concentrations of ambient hazardous heavy metals in an industrial complex area in Daegu City. Methods: A total of 64 SPM (Suspended Particulate Matter) samples were collected in non-industrial and industrial areas during 2014 and were analyzed for hazardous heavy metals elements (As, Cd, Mn, Ni, Pb) with ICP after acid extraction. Results: SPM and hazardous heavy metals concentrations showed regional (industrial complex area>non-industrial complex area) and seasonal (spring, winter>fall, summer) variations. All of the hazardous heavy metals were influenced by anthropogenic sources. The pollution index of hazardous heavy metals was very low, showing roughly one-quarter of the level of the air quality guidelines of WHO. The correlation analysis among SPM and hazardous heavy metals indicated that components of non-industrial complex areas were more related to each other than those of industrial complex areas, and the correlation in the winter was higher than in other seasons. Conclusion: It is necessary to control air pollution sources and establish related policy because hazardous heavy metals from industrial areas can influence residential areas.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.439-449
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• 2016

Understanding the variability of the monsoon system requires information about the changes in the past. We revealed the Mid- and Late-Holocene paleo-climate changes and Asian monsoon variations in Korea by the speleothem records from Pyeongchang. To this, we used thicknesses of growth laminae, stable-isotope analysis (carbon, oxygen), and radio-carbon age dating. The speleothem grew between ~4580 yr BP to ~660 yr BP and we identified several weak AM(Asian monsoon) events, such as Middle Bronze Age Cold Epoch, Iron Age Cold Epoch, and Dark Age Cold Period. These events might have occurred relatively early compared to those of other studies.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.334-343
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• 2014

The number of malaria cases has been undulating for the past 10 years in Korea since the reemergence of malaria in early 1990's. Considering the spatial variations of malaria incidence across the northmost border areas near the demilitarized zone (DMZ), the occurrence of the disease seems to be influenced by the natural and human environment in the region. Malaria is an infectious disease that is transmitted to humans by the bites of vector-mosquitoes that carry malaria parasites, and its incidence rate depends on specific climatic and sociodemographic factors. This study found that the spatial characteristics of malaria incidence have varied depending on relative proportions of mosquito habitats, distance between mosquito habitats and human residence, the physical and sociodemographic environments of the city by urbanization, and local topography.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.685-690
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• 2021

Harmful shell-boring species of the genus Polydora (Polychaeta: Spionidae) were frequently reported from commercially important mollusk species in Korea, Japan and China. The traditional approach based on the morphological characteristics showed limitations for species discrimination among shell-boring species. Therefore, DNA barcoding was adopted to identify Polydora species using molecular markers. Two Polydora species (P. haswelli and P. hoplura) in abalone shells were reported from our previous molecular phylogenetic study. In this study, we additionally reported the presence of shell-boring Polydora haswelli in commercially sold shellfish. The taxon-specific cox1 marker used in this study successfully allowed the isolation of P. haswelli from cockle Scapharca subcrenata, mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, oyster Crassostrea gigas and scallop Argopecten irradians. Polydora hoplura was not found in these shellfish species. The genetic variations were found on the intraspecific level of P. haswelli and the same genotype was also detected in different shellfish species. This result can provide information on a new host and accurate parasitic Polydora species. Moreover, this report can be used as the biodiversity data of Polydora species on the invasion and transition of harmful Polydora species in mollusk aquaculture farms.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.603-615
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• 2018

Objective: We analyzed the association between regional weather and temporal changes on the daily occurrence of trauma emergencies and their severity. Methods: In this cross-sectional prospective study, we investigated daily atmospheric patterns in trauma episodes in 1,344 patients in Cheongju city, South Korea, from January 2016 to December 2016 and analyzed the association of trauma occurrence and Injury Severity Scores (ISS) with weather conditions on a daily scale. Results: The mean age of trauma patients was $53.0{\pm}23.8years$ and average ISS was $9.0{\pm}2.0$. Incidence of trauma was positively correlated with average temperature (r=0.512, P<0.001) and atmospheric pressure (r=0.332, P=0.010) and negatively correlated with air pollutants (particulate matter less than $2.5{\mu}m^3$ [PM2.5], r=-0.629, P<0.001; particulate matter less than $10{\mu}m^3$ [PM10], r=-0.679, P<0.001). ISS was not significantly correlated with climate parameters and air pollutants, and variability was observed in the frequency and severity of trauma by time of day (highest occurrence, 16-20 pm; highest ISS, 4-8 am), day of the week (highest occurrence and highest ISS, Saturday), month of the year (highest occurrence, July; highest ISS, November), and season (highest incidence, summer; highest ISS, autumn). Conclusion: The study shows a positive relationship between trauma occurrence and specific weather conditions, such as atmospheric temperature and pressure. There was a negative relationship between concentrations of PM2.5 or PM10, and trauma occurrence. However, no correlation was observed between weather conditions or the concentrations of air pollutants and ISS. In addition, seasonal, circaseptan, and circadian variations exist in trauma occurrence and severity. Thus, we suggest that evaluation of a larger, population-based data set is needed to further investigate and confirm these relationships.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.385-394
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• 2021

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the status of regional variations in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) treatment and investigate the association between the presence of a thrombectomy-capable stroke center (TSC) and the case fatality rate (CFR) of AIS within hospital service areas (HSAs). Methods: This observational cross-sectional study analyzed acute stroke quality assessment program data from 262 hospitals between 2013 and 2016. TSCs were defined according to the criteria of the Joint Commission. In total, 64 HSAs were identified based on the addresses of hospitals. We analyzed the effects of structure factors, process factors, and the presence of a TSC on the CFR of AIS using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Among 262 hospitals, 31 hospitals met the definition of a TSC. Of the 64 HSAs, only 20 had a TSC. At hospitals, the presence of a stroke unit, the presence of stroke specialists, and the rate of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) treatment were associated with reductions in the CFR. In HSAs, the rate of EVT treatment (odds ratio [OR], 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.97 to 0.99) and the presence of a TSC (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.88 to 0.99) significantly reduced the CFR of AIS. Conclusions: The presence of a TSC within an HSA, corresponding to structure and process factors related to the quality of care, contributed significantly to lowering the CFR of AIS. The CFR also declined as the rate of treatment increased. This study highlights the importance of TSCs in the development of an acute stroke care system in Korea.