• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.30-39
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• 2020

The changes in fish stock and biomass before and after fishway renovation located in a Korean estuary were studied and fluctuations in the economic value of the fish resources were estimated. The target fishway located in the east coast area in Korea was renovated in 2014 from the small fish ladder to the ice-harbor fishway. Monitoring was continued for five consecutive years after the renovation(2015 to 2019). Since the renovation of the fish passage, the economic values increased with increases in the fishery resources, except for in 2016 when the drought impact was severe. The yearly average incremental increase in the five years after the renovation was about 227%. The increase in economic value is believed to be due to the increased population of migratory fish as a result of habitat expansion. The exponential rise model showed an increase in economic value with increasing fishery resources (R²=0.896). The model coefficient contributing to economic analysis was 0.582 and the maximum economic value after the renovation was estimated at about 30.4 million. The economic value would be a useful index for quantitative comparison in terms of ecosystem services before and after renovation.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.49-58
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• 2014

This study was implemented as a part of the experiment to develop two kinds of soil-based Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) proficiency testing materials (PTMs) for soil analysis. A test was carried out for the check of solubility of the reference material (high purity reagent) using several solvents. Another test was also conducted for the evaluation of homogeneity and stability of two kinds of candidate soil reference materials. The test analysis of BaP in terms of the candidate materials was conducted according to the Standard Soil Analytical Methods by Ministry of Environment. Dissolution of the reference material was shown to vary depending on solvent type and was higher in the order of Dichloromethane > Acetone > Acetone/MeOH (9 : 1) > N-hexane. In addition, the slope on calibration curve for BaP standard solutions was largest on BaP standard solutions prepared with dichloromethane of the tested solvents. Such tendency appeared egually in the commercial BaP standard solution. Therefore, it is thought to be reasonable to use dichloromethane as the solvent in case of the standard stock solution that is used for the measurement of BaP concentration in soil. ISO 13528 and IUPAC protocol were used for verification of homogeneity on the two kinds of soil candidate materials, Both candidate materials were sufficiently homogeneous. Stability assessment of the two candidate materials was made according to ISO Guide 35 and the result showed that both batches did not have any long-term and short term stability issues that might occur during shipping. However, monitoring results of BaP concentration in soil showed that BaP concentration of the two batches measured at 15 days after the sample preparation was reduced by about 24~37% compared with that of the samples measured on 0 day of the sample preparation. Identification was done with several treatments such as irradiation and sterilization etc. The major cause was shown to be irradiation to the samples.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.397-410
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• 2018

When considering the long-term safety assessment of spent-nuclear fuel management, americium is one of the most radio-toxic actinides. Although spectroscopic methods are widely used for the study of actinide chemistry, application of those methods to americium chemistry has been limited. Herein, we purified $^{241}Am$ to obtain a highly pure stock solution required for spectroscopic studies. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of purified $^{241}Am$ were carried out using liquid scintillation counting, and gamma and alpha radiation spectrometry. Highly sensitive absorption spectrometry coupled with a liquid waveguide capillary cell and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy were employed for the study of Am(III) hydrolysis and oxalate (Ox) complexation. $Am^{3+}$ ions under acidic conditions exhibit maximum absorbance at 503 nm, with a molar absorption coefficient of $424{\pm}8cm^{-1}{\cdot}M^{-1}$. $Am(OH)_3(s)$ colloidal particles formed under near neutral pH conditions were identified by monitoring the absorbance at around 506-507 nm. The formation of ${Am(Ox)_3}^{3-}$ was detected by red-shifts of the absorption and luminescence spectra of 4 and 5 nm, respectively. In addition, considerable enhancements of the luminescence intensities were observed. The luminescence lifetime of ${Am(Ox)_3}^{3-}$ increased from 23 to 56 ns, which indicates that approximately six water molecules are replaced by carboxylate ligands in the inner-sphere of the Am(III). These results suggest that ${Am(Ox)_3}^{3-}$ is formed through the bidentate coordination of the oxalate ligands.

• Laboraroty Animal Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.317-328
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• 2018

Cognitive impairment responses are important research topics in the study of degenerative brain diseases as well as in understanding of human mental activities. To compare response to scopolamine (SPL)-induced cognitive impairment, we measured altered parameters for learning and memory ability, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, cholinergic dysfunction and neuronal cell damages, in Korl:ICR stock and two commercial breeder stocks (A:ICR and B:ICR) after relevant SPL exposure. In the water maze test, Korl:ICR showed no significant difference in SPL-induced learning and memory impairment compared to the two different ICRs, although escape latency was increased after SPL exposure. Although behavioral assessment using the manual avoidance test revealed reduced latency in all ICR mice after SPL treatment as compared to Vehicle, no differences were observed between the three ICR stocks. To determine cholinergic dysfunction induction by SPL exposure, activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) assessed in the three ICR stocks revealed no difference of acetylcholinesterase activity. Furthermore, low levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and high levels of inflammatory cytokines in SPL-treated group were maintained in all three ICR stocks, although some variations were observed between the SPL-treated groups. Neuronal cell damages induced by SPL showed similar response in all three ICR stocks, as assessed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, Nissl staining analysis and expression analyses of apoptosis-related proteins. Thus, the results of this study provide strong evidence that Korl:ICR is similar to the other two ICR. Stocks in response to learning and memory capacity.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.149-164
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The economic recession caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic disproportionately affected poor and vulnerable populations globally. Better uunderstanding of vulnerability to shocks in food supply and demand in the Asia Pacific region is needed. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Using secondary data from rapid assessment surveys during the pandemic response (n = 10,420 in mid-2020; n = 6,004 in mid-2021) in India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, this study examined the risk factors for reported income reduction or job loss in mid-2021 and the temporal trend in food security status (household food availability, and market availability and affordability of essential items) from mid-2020 to mid-2021. RESULTS: The proportion of job loss/reduced household income was highest in India (60.4%) and lowest in Indonesia (39.0%). Urban residence (odds ratio [OR] range, 2.20-4.11; countries with significant results only), female respondents (OR range, 1.40-1.69), engagement in daily waged labor (OR range, 1.54-1.68), and running a small trade/business (OR range, 1.66-2.71) were significantly associated with income reduction or job loss in three out of 4 countries (all P < 0.05). Food stock availability increased significantly in 2021 compared to 2020 in all four countries (OR range, 1.91-4.45) (all P < 0.05). Availability of all essential items at markets increased in India (OR range, 1.45-3.99) but decreased for basic foods, hygiene items, and medicine in Vietnam (OR range, 0.81-0.86) in 2021 compared to 2020 (all P < 0.05). In 2021, the affordability of all essential items significantly improved in India (OR range, 1.18-3.49) while the affordability of rent, health care, and loans deteriorated in Indonesia (OR range, 0.23-0.71) when compared to 2020 (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term social protection programs need to be carefully designed and implemented to address food insecurity among vulnerable groups, considering each country's market conditions, consumer food purchasing behaviors, and financial support capacity.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.124-138
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• 2018

This research was conducted to examine the availability of spatial data for assessing absorption rates of $CO_2$ in the forest of Ansan-si and evaluate the validity of methods that analyze $CO_2$ absorption. To statistically assess the $CO_2$ absorption rates per year, the 1:5,000 Digital Forest-Map (Lim5000) and Standard Carbon Removal of Major Forest Species (SCRMF) methods were employed. Furthermore, Land Cover Map (LCM) was also used to verify $CO_2$ absorption rate availability per year. Great variations in $CO_2$ absorption rates occurred before and after the year 2010. This was due to improvement in precision and accuracy of the Forest Basic Statistics (FBS) in 2010, which resulted in rapid increase in growing stock. Thus, calibration of data prior to 2010 is necessary, based on recent FBS standards. Previous studies that employed Lim5000 and FBS (2015, 2010) did not take into account the $CO_2$ absorption rates of different tree species, and the combination of SCRMF and Lim5000 resulted in $CO_2$ absorption of 42,369 ton. In contrast to the combination of SCRMF and Lim5000, LCM and SCRMF resulted in $CO_2$ absorption of 40,696 ton. Homoscedasticity tests for Lim5000 and LCM resulted in p-value <0.01, with a difference in $CO_2$ absorption of 1,673 ton. Given that $CO_2$ absorption in forests is an important factor that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, the findings of this study should provide fundamental information for supporting a wide range of decision-making processes for land use and management.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.105-129
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• 2020

This study uses corporate data from 2012 to 2018 when K-IFRS was applied in earnest to predict default risks. The data used in the analysis totaled 10,545 rows, consisting of 160 columns including 38 in the statement of financial position, 26 in the statement of comprehensive income, 11 in the statement of cash flows, and 76 in the index of financial ratios. Unlike most previous prior studies used the default event as the basis for learning about default risk, this study calculated default risk using the market capitalization and stock price volatility of each company based on the Merton model. Through this, it was able to solve the problem of data imbalance due to the scarcity of default events, which had been pointed out as the limitation of the existing methodology, and the problem of reflecting the difference in default risk that exists within ordinary companies. Because learning was conducted only by using corporate information available to unlisted companies, default risks of unlisted companies without stock price information can be appropriately derived. Through this, it can provide stable default risk assessment services to unlisted companies that are difficult to determine proper default risk with traditional credit rating models such as small and medium-sized companies and startups. Although there has been an active study of predicting corporate default risks using machine learning recently, model bias issues exist because most studies are making predictions based on a single model. Stable and reliable valuation methodology is required for the calculation of default risk, given that the entity's default risk information is very widely utilized in the market and the sensitivity to the difference in default risk is high. Also, Strict standards are also required for methods of calculation. The credit rating method stipulated by the Financial Services Commission in the Financial Investment Regulations calls for the preparation of evaluation methods, including verification of the adequacy of evaluation methods, in consideration of past statistical data and experiences on credit ratings and changes in future market conditions. This study allowed the reduction of individual models' bias by utilizing stacking ensemble techniques that synthesize various machine learning models. This allows us to capture complex nonlinear relationships between default risk and various corporate information and maximize the advantages of machine learning-based default risk prediction models that take less time to calculate. To calculate forecasts by sub model to be used as input data for the Stacking Ensemble model, training data were divided into seven pieces, and sub-models were trained in a divided set to produce forecasts. To compare the predictive power of the Stacking Ensemble model, Random Forest, MLP, and CNN models were trained with full training data, then the predictive power of each model was verified on the test set. The analysis showed that the Stacking Ensemble model exceeded the predictive power of the Random Forest model, which had the best performance on a single model. Next, to check for statistically significant differences between the Stacking Ensemble model and the forecasts for each individual model, the Pair between the Stacking Ensemble model and each individual model was constructed. Because the results of the Shapiro-wilk normality test also showed that all Pair did not follow normality, Using the nonparametric method wilcoxon rank sum test, we checked whether the two model forecasts that make up the Pair showed statistically significant differences. The analysis showed that the forecasts of the Staging Ensemble model showed statistically significant differences from those of the MLP model and CNN model. In addition, this study can provide a methodology that allows existing credit rating agencies to apply machine learning-based bankruptcy risk prediction methodologies, given that traditional credit rating models can also be reflected as sub-models to calculate the final default probability. Also, the Stacking Ensemble techniques proposed in this study can help design to meet the requirements of the Financial Investment Business Regulations through the combination of various sub-models. We hope that this research will be used as a resource to increase practical use by overcoming and improving the limitations of existing machine learning-based models.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.103 no.3
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• pp.431-438
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• 2014

This study was conducted to assess forest biomass resource which is a carbon sink and a renewable resource in Korea. The total forest biomass resource potential was 804 million tons, and conifers, broadleaved forest and mixed forest accounted for 265 million tons, 282 million tons, and 257 million tons, respectively. Proportionately to regional forest stocks, biomass potential of Gangwon-do had most biomass potential, followed by Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do. The woody biomass from the byproduct of sawn timber in commercial harvesting was 707 thousand ton/year, and that from the byproduct of forest tending was 592 thousand ton/year. The amount resulted in about 1,300 thousand ton/year of potential supplies from forest biomass resource into the energy market. It's tonnage of oil equivalent(toe) was 585 thousand ton/year. In this study, we developed a program (BiomassMap V2.0) for forest biomass resource mapping. Used system to develop this program was Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office Access ArcGIS and Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. Additionally, This program made use of tool such as ESRI MapObjects2.1 in order to take advantage of spatial information. This program shows the map of total biomass stock, annual biomass growth at forest land in Korea, and biomass production from forest tending and commercial harvesting. The information can also be managed by the program. The biomass resource map can be identified by regional and forest type for the purpose of utilization. So, we expect the map and program to be very useful for forest managers in the near future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.129-140
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• 1998

In this study two sites were selected to investigate groundwater contamination and spatial relationship between pollution level and its source. One is the Asan area, agricultural district where pollution sources are scattered. The other is the Gurogu area of Seoul city, industrial district where industrial complex and residential areas are located. Groundwater samples collected from these districts were analysis for chemical constituents. The attribute value files of the chemical constituents of groundwater and the spatial layers have been constructed and the pollution properties have been investigated to find out spatial relationships between the groundwater constituents and pollution sources using CIS. Relatively high contents of Si and HCO$_3$ in groundwater from the Asan area reflect the effect of water-rock interaction, whereas high contents of Cl, NO$_3$, SO$_4$and Ca in groundwater from the Gurogu area are due to the pollution of various sources. Pollution over the critical level of Korean Dinking Water Standard has been investigated from 15 sampling sites out of 40 in the Asan area, and 33 sampling sites out of 51 in the Gurogu area. There is pollution of NO$_3$, Cl, Fe, Mn, SO$_4$and Zn in groundwater from the Gurogu area, and that of NO$_3$, SO$_4$and Zn in groundwater from the Asan area. Principal pollution in both areas is NO$_3$contamination. Deep groundwater from the Asan area is not contaminated with NO$_3$except for one site and most of shallow groundwater near the potential point sources such as factory and stock farm is contaminated seriously. Groundwater from the Gurogu area has been already polluted seriously considering the fact of contamination of deep groundwater. This study reports a spatial relationship between the pollution level and pollution source using GIS.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.104 no.3
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• pp.421-426
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• 2015

The objective of this paper is to look into the growth of Cryptomeria japonica stand in South Korea along with the evaluation on their yields, followed by their carbon stocks and removals. A total of 106 sample plots were selected from Jeonnam, Gyeongnam, and Jeju, where the groups of standard are grown. We only used 92 plots data except outlier. As part of the analysis, the Weibull diameter distribution was applied. In order to estimate the diameter distribution, the growth estimation equation for each of the growth factors including the height, the diameter at breast height, and the basal area was drafted out and the verification for each equation was examined. The site index for figuring out the forest productivity of Cryptomeria japonica stand for each district was also developed as a Schumacher model and 30yr was used as a reference age for the estimation of the site index. It was found that the site index for Cryptomeria japonica stand in South Korea ranges from 10 to 16 and this result was used as a standard for developing the stand yield table. According to the site 14 in the stand yield table, the mean annual increment (MAI) of the Cryptomeria japonica reaches $7.6m^3/ha$ on its 25yr and its growing stock is estimated to be at $190.1m^3/ha$. This volume is about $20m^3$ as high as that of the Chamaesyparis obtusa. Furthermore, the annual carbon absorptions for a Cryptomeria japonica stand reached the peak at 25yr, which is 2.14 tC/ha/yr, $7.83tCO_2/ha/yr$. When compared to the other conifers, this rate is slightly higher than that of a Chamaecyparis obtusa ($7.5tCO_2/ha/yr$) but lower than that of the Pinus koraiensis ($10.4tCO_2/ha/yr$) and Larix kaempferi ($11.2tCO_2/ha/yr$). With such research result as a base, it is necessary to come up with the ways to enhance the utilization of Cryptomeria japonica as timbers, besides making use of their growth data.