• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1997

We investigated the influence of various known sterilization methods on atrazine assimilation. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of autoclaving, sodium azide and mercuric chloride treatment on the assimilation of atrazine in soil and sediment. The sterilization reactor treated with sodium azide resulted in $^{14}CO_2$ generation and atrazine was rapidly disappeared from reactor through chemical reaction with sodium azide. These findings seem to indicate that sodium azide sterilization is not recommended for atrazine studies. In sample reactors autoclaved or treated with mercuric chloride, $^{14}CO_2$ generation was not detected and most of the disappeared atrazine was found to exist as hydroxyatrazine. These results suggested that autoclaving or mercuric chloride treatment could be effective sterilization methods. However, chemical properties(pH and redox potential) of soil and sediment were altered by any of the sterilization methods applied. So it was suspected that these altered properties could affect distribution and mineralization of atrazine in soil and sediment. In addition, both autoclaving and mercuric chloride treatment have altered $K_d$ values of hydroxyatrazine more significantly than those of atrazine. Consequently, although autoclaving and mercuric chloride treatment are effective sterilization methods, one must be careful in using them in practice as these methods may cause chemical degradation of both of atrazine and its metabolites and changes in chemical properties of soil and sediment. In conclusion, careful assessment of sterilization methods must be made for the degradation studies of chemicals in soil and sediment in order to minimize possible undesirable chemical degradation of sample and/or changes in physico-chemical properties of soil and sediment by the selected sterilization methods.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.27-34
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• 2022

Since water flow in the ground depends on the pore structure composed of soil grains, equations to predict the hydraulic properties based on the grain size have low accuracy. This paper presents a methodology to compute constriction-pore size distribution by Silveria's method and estimate saturated and unsaturated hydraulic properties of soils. Well-graded soil shows a uni-modal pore size distribution, and poor-graded soil does a bimodal distribution. Among theoretical models for saturated hydraulic conductivity using pore size distribution, Marshall model is well-matched with experimental results. Model formulas for soil-water characteristic curves and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity using the pore size distribution are proposed for hydraulic analysis of unsaturated soil. Continuous research is needed to select a model suitable to estimate hydraulic properties by applying the developed model formulas to various soils.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.815-830
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• 2017

Due to numerous environmental concerns in recent years, the search for and the development of sustainable technologies have been pursued. In particular, environmentally friendly methods of soil improvement, such as the potential use of biopolymers, have been researched. Previous studies on the use of biopolymers in soil improvement have shown that they can provide substantial strengthening efficiencies. However, in order to fully understand the applicability of biopolymer treated soils, various properties of these soils such as their dynamic properties must be considered. In this study, the dynamic properties of gel-type biopolymer treated soils were observed through the use of resonant column tests. Gellan gum and Xanthan gums were the target gel-type biopolymers used in this study, and the target soil for this study was jumunjin sand, the standard sand of Korea. Through this study it was demonstrated that biopolymers can be used to enhance the dynamic properties of the soil, and that they offer possibilities of reuse to reduce earthquake related soil failures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.339-348
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• 2020

The uncertain geotechnical properties of frozen soil are important evidence for the design, operation and maintenance of the frozen ground. The complex geological, environmental and physical effects can lead to the spatial variations of the frozen soil, and the uncertain mechanical properties are the key factors for the uncertain analysis of frozen soil engineering. In this study, the elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio of warm frozen soil were measured, and the statistical characteristics under different temperature conditions are obtained. The autocorrelation distance (ACD) and autocorrelation function (ACF) of uncertain mechanical properties are estimated by random field (RF) method. The results show that the mean elastic modulus and mean strength decrease with the increase of temperature while the mean Poisson ratio increases with the increase of temperature. The average values of the ACD for the elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio are 0.64m, 0.53m and 0.48m, respectively. The standard deviation of the ACD for the elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio are 0.03m, 0.07m and 0.03m, respectively. The ACFs of elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio decrease with the increase of ratio of local average distance and scale of fluctuation. The ACF of uncertain mechanical properties is different when the temperature is different. This study can improve our understanding of the spatial autocorrelation variations of uncertain geotechnical properties and provide a basis and reference for the uncertain settlement analysis of frozen soil foundation.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.177-179
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• 2001

Traditional wet chemical methods for testing of soil properties require extensive time and labor, and cause the discharge of pollutants, making them undesirable for routine soil analyses. This research was conducted to improve the accuracy of soil properties in soil fertility assessments. A total of 140 finely ground soil samples were used to obtain accurate calibrations and validation for estimating soil moisture, OM, and T-N. Finely ground soil samples satisfied the improved accuracy for routine NIR measuring of the field soils. The results indicated that NIR spectroscopy could be used as a routine method for quantitatively determining OM, moisture, and T-N of field soil, although this technique requires many combinations of sample pretreatments and data manipulations to obtain optimal predictions.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.116-124
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• 2002

Natural resources fur the construction materials such as good soil, sand, and coarse aggregates have been encountered to be short due to excessive use by human. Even though some soil has been found to be unsuitable for construction materials, soil with reinforcement can naturally be an answer to these alternatives. According to recently published papers on fiber mixed soil, fiber mixed with soil can improve shear strength, compressive strength and post-peak load strength retention. In this study, a series of tests were performed to clarify the characteristics of fiber mixed soil and to give basic data for design and construction and their engineering properties, that is, unconfined compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, shear strength, crack by drying, freeze-thaw, creep and Poisson\`s ratio, were investigated and analyzed. It has been shown that fiber mixed soil is one of good alternatives fur the civil and building construction materials.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.113-117
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• 1991

Comparisons of the physico-chemical properties of earthworm(Lumbricus terrestris) soil casts and top soil of red pine forests in a limestone area were carried out. The casts production durign August and September in 1990 amounted to 6∼7t/ha. The particle of top soil and casts ranged 40∼50% and 10∼20% for sand , 25∼30% and 30∼35% for silt, and 20∼25% and 55∼65% clay, respectively. Significant difference in pH value was not observed between casts and top soil. The casts had 1.4times of organic matter, 1.5times of N, 1.8times of available P, 2times of exchangeable K, 1.3times of exchangeable Ca, and 1.6times of exchangeable Mg than the top 10cm of soil did. Earthworms have altered the soil texture and increased nutrient availability through production of the soil casts in this limestone area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.1069-1080
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• 2008

The mechanical characteristic of Lightweight Foamed Soil(LWFS) are investigated in this research. LWFS is composed of the in-suit soil, cement and foam to reduce the unit-weight and increase compressive strength. The unconfined compressive tests are carried out on the prepared specimens of LWFS with various soil types to investigate the relationship between compressive strength of LWFS and physical properties of soil. The result indicate that coefficient of gradation($C_g$) and liquid limit(LL) are more important factor affecting compressive strength than other physical properties of soil and coefficient of gradation($C_g$) and liquid limit(LL) can standard to determine the optical soil among the in-situ soils for LWFS.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.23
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• pp.53-60
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• 2005

This study was carried out in order to produce useful material for the forest multiple use and forest protection management by soil physio-chemical analysis of studied area in Mt. Namsan. The result of soil physio-chemical analysis and statical analysis represented as following. In side of physical properties of forest soil in Mt. Namsan, Soil depth was average 31.4cm and available soil depth was average 20.0cm. Soil type was Brown forest soil that representative soil type in Korea. Soil texture was sandy loom(SL) except valley area. In side of chemical properties, the range of soil acidity was 4.29 ~ 5.19 (average 4.76), organic matter content was 3.17% that compared the lowest value to organic matter content of Korea forest soil. Available phosphorus was 3.64ppm that was lower than others forest soil. Exchangeable cation content was similar to the Korea brown forest soil. Cation exchange capacity(CEC) was $8.22cmol_c/kg$ in Mt. Narnsan.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.1299-1305
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• 2014

For evaluating the effect of various artificial planting soil properties on the Euonymus fortunei 'Emelad'n Gold' growth, a container green wall system experiment was conducted in a wall of greenhouse at Konkuk University, Glocal campus. The experimental artificial planting grounds were prepared with different organic soil conditioner ratios (Control, $A_4O_1$, $A_2O_1$ and $A_1O_1$) and with drought tolerance and an ornamental value Euonymus fortunei 'Emelad'n Gold' was planted. The soil and plant characteristics were investigated from April to Jun 2010. The volumetric soil moisture contents were significantly increasing order as the amount of organic soil conditioner level increased in order to $A_1O_1$ > $A_2O_1$ > $A_4O_1$ > Control. At 4 treatment, soil chemical properties were inversely related to organic soil container ratios increase. The differences of root collar caliper, number of branch, and survival rate between the organic soil conditioner ratio were not significantly affected by organic soil conditioner. But, plant height, internode length, leaf length and leaf width were significantly shorter on plants planted $A_1O_1$ than plants planted other treatments. Therefore, Euonymus fortunei 'Emelad'n Gold' had good growth response regardless of organic soil conditioner ratio and the plant is expected to be a highly valuable shrub for the green wall system if it should be considered in integration with stormwater retention or as a soil conditioner for increasing soil water contents in artificial planting soil.