• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.721-734
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• 2022

This study analyzed the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of major environmental factors such as primary productivity (PP), chlorophyll a, nutrients, sinking particle matters, and organic contamination and biochemical composition of surface sediment on a monthly basis for approximately 2 years around shellfish mariculture in Jaran Bay, Korea. In addition, PP in Jaran Bay was compared with that in other coastal areas and related policy plans were proposed. The average PP of the study area was high in summer and autumn with 6.43~115.43 mgC m^-2 hr^-1 range. This was lower than that in Gamak Bay and Masan Bay, whereas higher than that in Garorim Bay and the West Sea. The PP in coastal waters, where many aquaculture farms were distributed, significantly fluctuated. The different size compositions of phytoplanktons constituting chlorophyll a slightly varied by month, and little restriction existed on the productivity of phytoplanktons owing to the depletion of nutrients. Typically, the Redfield ratio was less than 16, indicating that nitrogen was the limiting factor for the growth of phytoplanktons. The biochemical composition of particulate organic matters in the water column showed the highest carbohydrates, but lipids and protein contents were high in surface sediments. The concentration of TOC and AVS of the surface sediments was high at inside of bay, and sometimes, exceeded the environmental criteria of fishing grounds. The organic C:N ratio of sediments ranged from 8.1 to 10.4 on average. PP had the highest correlation with chlorophyll a, nitrogen and protein of particle organic materials. Recently, chlorophyll a, DIN, and DIP of water column trends tended to decrease, however, the contamination of sediments increased. Considering the annual PP of 125.9 gC m^-2 yr^-1 and mariculture area (oyster) of 4.97 km², the annual carbon production from phytoplanktons was estimated to be about 625 tons, and the annual total wet weight of shellfish (oyster) was estimated to be about 6,250 tons.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2023

Due to water shortages caused by water pollution and climate change, total organic carbon (TOC) standards have been implemented for wastewater discharged from public sewage treatment facilities. Furthermore, there is a growing interest and body of research pertaining to the reuse of sewage treatment water as a secure alternative water resource. The membrane bio-reactor (MBR) method is commonly used for advanced wastewater treatment because it can remove organic and inorganic ions and it does not require or emit any chemicals. However, the MBR process uses a separation membrane (MF), which requires frequent film cleaning due to fouling caused by a high concentration of mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS). In this study, process improvement and microbubble cleaning efficiency were evaluated to improve the differential pressure, water flow, and MF fouling, which are the biggest disadvantages of operating the MF. The existing MBR method was improved by installing a precipitation tank between the air tank and the MBR tank in which raw water was introduced. Microbubbles were injected into a separation membrane tank into which the supernatant water from the precipitation tank was introduced. The microbubble generator was operated with a 15 day on, 15 day off cycle for 5 months to collect discharged water samples (4L) and measure TOC. As the supernatant water from the precipitation tank flowed into the separation membrane tank, about 95% of the supernatant water MLSS was removed so the MF fouling from biological contamination was prevented. Due to the application of microbubbles to supernatant water from the precipitation tank, the differential pressure of the separation membrane tank decreased by 1.6 to 2.3 times and the water flow increased by 1.4 times. Applying microbubbles increased the TOC removal rate by more than 58%. This study showed that separately operating the air tank and the separation membrane tank can reduce fouling, and suggested that applying additional microbubbles could improve the differential pressure, water flow, and fouling to provide a more efficient advanced treatment method.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.112 no.1
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• pp.40-56
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• 2023

Tree species within the Populus genus grow rapidly and have an excellent capacity to absorb carbon, conferring substantial ability to effective purify the environment. Poplar breeding can be achieved rapidly and efficiently if a genetic linkage map is constructed and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) are identified. Here, a high-density genetic linkage map was constructed for the control pollinated progeny using the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technique, which is a next-generation sequencing method. A search was also performed for the genes associated with quantitative traits located in the genetic linkage map by examining the variables of height and diameter at root collar, and resilience to insect damage. The height and diameter at root collar were measured directly, while the ability to recover from insect damage was scored in a 4-year-old breeding population of aspen hybrids (Odae19 × Bonghyeon4 F1) established in the research forest of Seoul National University. After DNA extraction, paternity was confirmed using five microsatellite markers, and only the individuals for which paternity was confirmed were used for the analysis. The DNA was cut using restriction enzymes and the obtained DNA fragments were prepared using a GBS library and sequenced. The analyzed results were sorted using Populus trichocarpa as a reference genome. Overall, 58,040 aligned single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were identified, 17,755 of which were used for mapping genetic linkages. The genetic linkage map was divided into 19 linkage groups, with a total length of 2,129.54 cM. The analysis failed to identify any growth-related QTLs, but a gene assumed to be related to recovery from insect damage was identified on linkage group (chromosome) 4 through genome-wide association study.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.63-75
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• 2023

Due to the development of industry, interest in air pollutants has increased. Air pollutants have affected various fields such as environmental pollution and global warming. Among them, environmental diseases are one of the fields affected by air pollutants. Air pollutants can affect the human body's skin or respiratory tract due to their small molecular size. As a result, various studies on air pollutants and environmental diseases have been conducted. Asthma, part of an environmental disease, can be life-threatening if symptoms worsen and cause asthma attacks, and in the case of adult asthma, it is difficult to cure once it occurs. Factors that worsen asthma include particulate matter and air pollution. Asthma is an increasing prevalence worldwide. In this paper, we study how air pollutants correlate with the number of emergency room admissions in asthma patients and predict the number of future asthma emergency patients using highly correlated air pollutants. Air pollutants used concentrations of five pollutants: sulfur dioxide(SO₂), carbon monoxide(CO), ozone(O₃), nitrogen dioxide(NO₂), and fine dust(PM₁₀), and environmental diseases used data on the number of hospitalizations of asthma patients in the emergency room. Data on the number of emergency patients of air pollutants and asthma were used for a total of 5 years from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2017. The model made predictions using two models, Informer and LTSF-Linear, and performance indicators of MAE, MAPE, and RMSE were used to measure the performance of the model. The results were compared by making predictions for both cases including and not including the number of emergency patients. This paper presents air pollutants that improve the model's performance in predicting the number of asthma emergency patients using Informer and LTSF-Linear models.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.95-105
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• 2016

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of nitrate-rich plants extracts on the in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics and rumen methane production. The extracts of nitrate-rich plants, as potato, carrot, chinese cabbage, lettuce and spinach were used in this study. The ruminal fluid was collected from a cannulated Hanwoo cow fed concentrate and timothy in the ratio of 6 to 4. The 20mL of mixture, comparing McDougall's buffer and rumen fluid in the ratio 2 to 1, was dispensed anaerobically 50mL serum bottles containing 0.3g of timothy substrate and extracts of nitrogen-rich plants. The serum bottles were incubated 39℃ for 9, 12, 24, 48 hours. The pH value was decreased by increased incubation times and normal range to 6.31 to 6.96. The dry matter digestibility was significantly(p<0.05) lower in chinese cabbage than in control at 9h incubation time. Ammonia concentration was significantly(p<0.05) lower in potato, chinese cabbage, lettuce than in control and the rumen microbial growth rate was significantly(p<0.05) higher in carrot than in control at 24h incubation time. The concentrations of acetate and propionate was significantly(p<0.05) lower in treatment than in control. The concentration of butyrate was showed a different pattern depending on treatments. Total gas emissions was significantly(p<0.05) lower in chinese cabbage, lettuce, spinach than in control at 12h, 24h incubation time. Methane production was significantly(p<0.05) lower in potato, chinese cabbage, spinach than in control, carbon dioxide production was significantly(p<0.05) lower in treatment than in control. In conclusion, supplementation of the nitrate-rich plant extracts in ruminal fermentation in vitro resulted in decreasing the methane production without adversely affecting the fermentation characteristics. Particularly the chinese cabbage extract was regard as a potential candidate for reducing the methane emission in ruminants.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.209-220
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• 2023

Over the past few centuries, widespread changes to natural ecosystems caused by human activities have severely threatened biodiversity worldwide. Understanding changes in ecosystems is essential to identifying and managing threats to biodiversity. In line with this need, the IUCN Council formed the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (GET) in 2019, taking into account the functions and types of ecosystems. The IUCN provides maps of 10 ecosystem groups and 108 ecological functional groups (EFGs) on a global scale. According to the type classification of IUCN GET ecosystems, Korea's ecosystem is classified into 8 types of Realm (level 1), 18 types of Biome (level 2), and 41 types of Group (level 3). GETs provided by IUCN have low resolution and often do not match the actual land status because it was produced globally. This study aimed to increase the accuracy of Korean IUCN GET type classification by using land cover maps and producing maps that reflected the actual situation. To this end, we ① reviewed the Korean GET data system provided by IUCN GET and ② compared and analyzed it with the current situation in Korea. We evaluated the limitations and usability of the GET through the process and then ③ classified Korea's new Get type reflecting the current situation in Korea by using the national data as much as possible. This study classified Korean GETs into 25 types by using land cover maps and existing national data (Territorial realm: 9, Freshwater: 9, Marine-territorial: 5, Terrestrial-freshwater: 1, and Marine-freshwater-territorial: 1). Compared to the existing map, "F3.2 Constructed lacustrine wetlands", "F3.3 Rice paddies", "F3.4 Freshwater aquafarms", and "T7.3 Plantations" showed the largest area reduction in the modified Korean GET. The area of "T2.2 Temperate Forests" showed the largest area increase, and the "MFT1.3 Coastal saltmarshes and reedbeds" and "F2.2 Small permanent freshwater lakes" types also showed an increase in GET area after modification. Through this process, the existing map, in which the sum of all EFGs in the existing GET accounted for 8.33 times the national area, was modified so that the total sum becomes 1.22 times the national area using the land cover map. This study confirmed that the existing EFG, which had small differences by type and low accuracy, was improved and corrected. This study is significant in that it produced a GET map of Korea that met the GET standard using data reflecting the field conditions. 

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.112 no.4
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• pp.502-514
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• 2023

This study was conducted to understand the long-term changes in soil physiochemical properties and seedling growth in Larix kaempferi (larch) stands planted in clear-cut larch and Pinus rigida (pine) forest soils over an 11-year period after reforestation. Two-year-old bare-root larch seedlings were planted in 2009-2010 at a density of 3,000 seedlings ha^-1 in clear-cut areas that harvested larch (Chuncheon and Gimcheon) and pine (Wonju and Gapyeong) stands. We analyzed the physiochemical properties of the mineral soils sampled at 0-20 cm soil depths in the planting year, and the 3^rd, 7^thand 11^th years after planting, and we measured seedling height and root collar diameter in those years. We found significant differences in soil silt and clay content, total carbon and nitrogen concentration, available phosphorus, and cation exchangeable capacity between the two stands; however, seedling growth did not differ. The mineral soil was more fertile in Gimcheon than in the other plantations, while early seedling growth was greatest in Gapyeong. The seedling height and diameter at 11 years after planting were largest in Wonju (1,028 tree ha^-1) and Chuncheon (1,359 tree ha^-1) due to decreases in stand density after tending the young trees. The soil properties in all plantations were similar 11 years after larch planting. In particular, the high sand content and high available phosphorus levels (caused by soil disturbance during clear-cutting and planting) showed marked decreases, potentially due to soil organic matter input and nutrient uptake, respectively. Thus, early reforestation after clear-cutting could limit nutrient leaching and contribute to soil stabilization. These results provide useful information for nutrient management of larch plantations.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.132-141
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• 2024

In this study, the differences in user satisfaction and the variables influencing the satisfaction with demand response transport (DRT) by travel purpose were compared. The purpose of DRT travel was divided into commuting/school and shopping/leisure travel. A survey conducted on 'Shucle' users in Sejong City was used for the analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was applied to minimize the overfitting problems of the multilinear model. The results of the analysis confirmed the possibility that the introduction of the DRT service could eliminate the blind spot in the existing public transportation, reduce the use of private cars, encourage low-carbon and public transportation revitalization policies, and provide optimal transportation services to people who exhibit intermittent travel behaviors (e.g., elderly people, housewives, etc.). In addition, factors such as the waiting time after calling a DRT, travel time after boarding the DRT, convenience of using the DRT app, punctuality of expected departure/arrival time, and location of pickup and drop-off points were the common factors that positively influenced the satisfaction of users of the DRT services during their commuting/school and shopping/leisure travel. Meanwhile, the method of transfer to other transport modes was found to affect satisfaction only in the case of commuting/school travel, but not in the case of shopping/leisure travel. To activate the DRT service, it is necessary to consider the five influencing factors analyzed above. In addition, the differentiating factors between commuting/school and shopping/leisure travel were also identified. In the case of commuting/school travel, people value time and consider it to be important, so it is necessary to promote the convenience of transfer to other transport modes to reduce the total travel time. Regarding shopping/leisure travel, it is necessary to consider ways to create a facility that allows users to easily and conveniently designate the location of the pickup and drop-off point.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.880-890
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• 2020

Objective: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are known to be at risk of osteoporosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between thoracic vertebral bone density measured on chest CT (D_Thorax) and clinical variables, including survival, in patients with COPD. Materials and Methods: A total of 322 patients with COPD were selected from the Korean Obstructive Lung Disease (KOLD) cohort. D_Thorax was measured by averaging the CT values of three consecutive vertebral bodies at the level of the left main coronary artery with a round region of interest as large as possible within the anterior column of each vertebral body using an in-house software. Associations between D_Thorax and clinical variables, including survival, pulmonary function test (PFT) results, and CT densitometry, were evaluated. Results: The median follow-up time was 7.3 years (range: 0.1-12.4 years). Fifty-six patients (17.4%) died. D_Thorax differed significantly between the different Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stages. D_Thorax correlated positively with body mass index (BMI), some PFT results, and the six-minute walk distance, and correlated negatively with the emphysema index (EI) (all p < 0.05). In the univariate Cox analysis, older age (hazard ratio [HR], 3.617; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.119-6.173, p < 0.001), lower BMI (HR, 3.589; 95% CI, 2.122-6.071, p < 0.001), lower forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) (HR, 2.975; 95% CI, 1.682-5.262, p < 0.001), lower diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide corrected with hemoglobin (DL_CO) (HR, 4.595; 95% CI, 2.665-7.924, p < 0.001), higher EI (HR, 3.722; 95% CI, 2.192-6.319, p < 0.001), presence of vertebral fractures (HR, 2.062; 95% CI, 1.154-3.683, p = 0.015), and lower D_Thorax (HR, 2.773; 95% CI, 1.620-4.746, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with all-cause mortality and lung-related mortality. In the multivariate Cox analysis, lower D_Thorax (HR, 1.957; 95% CI, 1.075-3.563, p = 0.028) along with older age, lower BMI, lower FEV₁, and lower DL_CO were independent predictors of all-cause mortality. Conclusion: The thoracic vertebral bone density measured on chest CT demonstrated significant associations with the patients' mortality and clinical variables of disease severity in the COPD patients included in KOLD cohort.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.555-568
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• 1995

Background: It is most physiologic to measure the diffusing capacity of the lung by using oxygen, but it is so difficult to measure partial pressure of oxygen in the capillary blood of the lung that in clinical practice it is measured by using carbon monoxide, and single-breath diffusing capacity method is used most widely. However, since the process of withholding the breath for 10 seconds after inspiration to the total lung capacity is very hard to practice for patients who suffer from cough, dyspnea, etc, the intra-breath lung diffusing capacity method which requires a single exhalation of low-flow rate without such process was devised. In this study, we want to know whether or not there is any significant difference in the diffusing capacity of the lung measured by the single-breath and intra-breath methods, and if any, which factors have any influence. Methods: We chose randomly 73 persons without regarding specific disease, and after conducting 3 times the flow-volume curve test, we selected forced vital capacity(FVC), percent of predicted forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume within 1 second($FEV_1$), percent of forced expiratory volume within 1 second, the ratio of forced expiratory volume within 1 second against forced vital capacity($FEV_1$/FVC) in test which the sum of FVC and $FEV_1$ is biggest. We measured the diffusing capacity of the lung 3 times in each of the single-breath and intra-breath methods at intervals of 5 minutes, and we evaluated which factors have any influence on the difference of the diffusing capacity of the lung between two methods[the mean values(ml/min/mmHg) of difference between two diffusing capacity measured by two methods] by means of the linear regression method, and obtained the following results: Results: 1) Intra-test reproducibility in the single-breath and intra-breath methods was excellent. 2) There was in general a good correlation between the diffusing capacity of the lung measured by a single-breath method and that measured by the intra-breath method, but there was a significant difference between values measured by both methods($1.01{\pm}0.35ml/min/mmHg$, p<0.01) 3) The difference between the diffusing capacity of the lung measured by both methods was not correlated to FVC, but was correlated to $FEV_1$, percent of $FEV_1$, $FEV_1$/FVC and the gradient of methane concentration which is an indicator of distribution of ventilation, and it was found as a result of the multiple regression test, that the effect of $FEV_1$/FVC was most strong(r=-0.4725, p<0.01) 4) In a graphic view of the difference of diffusing capacity measured by single-breath and intra-breath method and $FEV_1$/FVC, it was found that the former was divided into two groups in section where $FEV_1$/FVC is 50~60%, and that there was no significant difference between two methods in the section where $FEV_1$/FVC is equal or more than 60% ($0.05{\pm}0.24ml/min/mmHg$, p>0.1), but there was significant difference in the section, less than 60%($-4.5{\pm}0.34ml/min/mmHg$, p<0.01). 5. The diffusing capacity of the lung measured by the single-breath and intra-breath method was the same in value($24.3{\pm}0.68ml/min/mmHg$) within the normal range(2%/L) of the methane gas gradient, and there was no difference depending on the measuring method, but if the methane concentration gradients exceed 2%/L, the diffusing capacity of the lung measured by single-breath method became $15.0{\pm}0.44ml/min/mmHg$, and that measured by intra-breath method, $11.9{\pm}0.51ml/min/mmHg$, and there was a significant difference between them(p<0.01). Conclusion: Therefore, in case where $FEV_1$/FVC was less than 60%, the diffusing capacity of the lung measured by intra-breath method represented significantly lower value than that by single-breath method, and it was presumed to be caused largely by a defect of ventilation-distribution, but the possibility could not be excluded that the diffusing capacity of the lung might be overestimated in the single-breath method, or the actual reduction of the diffusing capacity of the lung appeared more sensitively in the intra-breath method.