• Mycobiology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.162-170
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• 2016

In this paper, we demonstrate the ability of Arabidopsis thaliana to detect different mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by the common indoor fungus, Aspergillus versicolor, and demonstrate the potential usage of the plant as a bioindicator to monitor fungal VOCs in indoor air. We evaluated the volatile production of Aspergillus versicolor strains SRRC 108 (NRRL 3449) and SRRC 2559 (ATCC 32662) grown on nutrient rich fungal medium, and grown under conditions to mimic the substrate encountered in the built environment where fungi would typically grow indoors (moist wallboard and ceiling tiles). Using headspace solid phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we analyzed VOC profiles of the two strains. The most abundant compound produced by both strains on all three media was 1-octen-3-ol. Strain SRRC 2559 made several terpenes not detected from strain SRRC 108. Using a split-plate bioassay, we grew Arabidopsis thaliana in a shared atmosphere with VOCs from the two strains of Aspergillus versicolor grown on yeast extract sucrose medium. The VOCs emitted by SRRC 2559 had an adverse impact on seed germination and plant growth. Chemical standards of individual VOCs from the Aspergillus versicolor mixture (2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-octen-3-ol, limonene, and ${\beta}-farnesene$), and ${\beta}-caryophyllene$ were tested one by one in seed germination and vegetative plant growth assays. The most inhibitory compound to both seed germination and plant growth was 1-octen-3-ol. Our data suggest that Arabidopsis is a useful model for monitoring indoor air quality as it is sensitive to naturally emitted fungal volatile mixtures as well as to chemical standards of individual compounds, and it exhibits relatively quick concentration- and duration-dependent responses.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.701-716
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• 2022

This study investigated the distribution behaviors of PM2.5 and PM10 at two air quality monitoring sites, Go-eup (GO) and Backseokeup (BS), located in Yangju City, South Korea. The amounts of emissions sources of pollutants were analyzed based on the Clean Air Policy Support System (CAPSS), and the contribution rates of neighboring cities were enumerated in Yangju. Yangju has a geological basin structure, and it is a city with mixed urban and rural characteristics. The emission concentration of particulate matter was affected by geological and seasonal factors for all sites observed in this study. Therefore, these factors should be considered when establishing policies related to particulate matter. Because the official GO and BS station sites in Yangju are both situated in the southern part of the city, the representativeness of both stations was checked using correlation analysis for the measurement of PM2.5 and PM10 by considering two more sites-those of Bongyang-dong (BY) and the Gumjun (GJ) industrial complex. The data included discharge amounts for business types 4 and 5, which were not sufficiently considered in the CAPSS estimates. Because the 4 and 5 types of businesses represent over 92.6% of businesses in this city, they are workplaces in Yangju that have a significant effect on the total air pollutant emission. These types of businesses should be re-inspected as the main discharge sources in industry, and basic data accumulation should be carried out. Moreover, to manage the emission of particulate matter, attainable countermeasures for the main sources of these emissions should be prepared in a prioritized fashion; such countermeasures include prohibition of backyard burning, supervision of charcoal kilns, and management of livestock excretions and fugitive dust in construction sites and on roads. The contribution rates by neighboring cities was enumerated between 6.3% and 10.9% for PM2.5. Cooperation policies are thought to be required with neighboring cites to reduce particulate matter.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.423-437
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• 2008

Until comparatively lately, the annual time series of the $SO_2$ concentration had been shown in a decreasing trend in Ulsan as well as other Korean cities. However, the high concentration of $SO_2$ was frequently found in the specific countermeasure region including the national industrial complex such as Mipo and Onsan in the Ulsan city for the period of $2001{\sim}2004$. There are many conditions that can influence the high concentration of $SO_2$ at monitoring sites in Ulsan, such as: First, annual usage of the fuel including sulfur increased in comparison with the year before in spite of the fuel conversion policy which wants to use low sulfur oil less than 3% and LNG. Second, point source, such as the power plants and the petroleum and chemistry stacks, was the biggest contributor in $SO_2$ emission, as a analyzed result of both the air quality modeling and the stack tole-monitoring system (TMS) data. And third, the air pollutants that occurred in processes of homing and manufacturing of the fuel including sulfur were transported slow into a special monitoring site by accumulating along the frontal area of see-breeze. It was concluded that Ulsan's current environmental policy together with control methods should be changed into the regulation on total amount of emission, including a market-based emission trading with calculating of atmospheric environmental critical loads, for the $SO_2$ reduction like the specific countermeasure for the $O_3$ and PM10 reduction in the Seoul metropolitan area. And this change should be started in the big point sources of $1{\sim}3$ species because they are big contributors of Ulsan's $SO_2$ pollution. Especially it is necessary to revitalize of the self-regulation environmental management. Other control methods for sustaining the $SO_2$ reduction are as follows: maintenance of the fuel conversion policy, reinforcement of the regional stationary source emission standard, and enlargement of the stack TMS.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.56-67
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• 1999

It is desired to use a domestically manufactured ocean data buoy for the long-term operational ocean monitoring. The ocean data buoy manufacturing technology was introduced through the research cooperation with the Qingkong University of Taiwan. The introduced ocean data buoy system was further expanded and improved for more efficient application for the marine environmental monitoring in Korea. The size of the ocean data buoy is 2.5 m in diameter, which is smaller compared to the NOAA's 3.0 m discus buoy to allow easy land transportation and ocean deployment as well. From the dynamic response test of the buoy carried out numerically, it was shown that the measurement of waves with period greater than 4 seconds is acceptable. The measurement and control system of the data buoy were improved to increase the number of measuring parameters, to reduce power consumption and to enhance better data analysis and management. Each component of the improved data buoy system was described in detail in this paper. Water quality sensors of water temperature, salinity, DO, pH and turbidity were added to the system in addition to the marine meteorological sensors of wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity, air pressure and wave. Inmarsat satellite communication system is used for the real-time data telemetry from the buoy deployed offshore. A field performance test of the improved and domestically manufactured buoy was carried out for a month at the open sea off Pohang together with DatawelI's Wave-rider buoy to compare the wave data. The results of the test were satisfactory.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.237-246
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• 2011

To explore the sources of carbonaceous material in the airborne particulate matter (PM), comprehensive PM sampling was performed (3 to 14 January 2010) at a traffic hot spot site (HS), Farm Gate, Dhaka using several samplers: AirMetrics MiniVol (for $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$) and MOUDI (for size fractionated submicron PM). Long-term PM data (April 2000 to March 2006 and April 2000 to March 2010 in two size fractions ($PM_{2.2}$ and $PM_{2.2-10}$) obtained from two air quality-monitoring stations, one at Farm Gate (HS) and another at a semi-residential (SR) area (Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka Campus, (AECD)), respectively were also analyzed. The long-term PM trend shows that fine particulate matter concentrations have decreased over time as a result of government policy interventions even with increasing vehicles on the road. The ratio of $PM_{2.5}/PM_{10}$ showed that the average $PM_{2.5}$ mass was about 78% of the $PM_{10}$ mass. It was also found that about 63% of $PM_{2.5}$ mass is $PM_1$. The total contribution of BC to $PM_{2.5}$ is about 16% and showed a decreasing trend over the years. It was observed that $PM_1$ fractions contained the major amount of carbonaceous materials, which mainly originated from high temperature combustion process in the $PM_{2.5}$. From the IMPROVE TOR protocol carbon fraction analysis, it was observed that emissions from gasoline vehicles contributed to $PM_1$ given the high abundance of EC1 and OC2 and the contribution of diesel to $PM_1$ is minimal as indicated by the low abundance of OC1 and EC2. Source apportionment results also show that vehicular exhaust is the largest contributors to PM in Dhaka. There is also transported $PM_{2.2}$from regional sources. With the increasing economic activities and recent GDP growth, the number of vehicles and brick kilns has significantly increased in and around Dhaka. Further action will be required to further reduce PM-related air pollution in Dhaka.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.254-258
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to characterize the indoor-outdoor relationship of airborne pollutants and recognize probable sources in inside and outside individual apartments in Seoul metropolitan. Simultaneous air monitoring in inside and outside of the 16 Korean Apartments classified into 2groups: less than 1 year old and more than 4 years old from October, 2004 to February, 2005were sampled f3r airborne pollutants(volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, respiratory particles, carbon dioxide and bacteria) using the Korean Indoor Air Quality Official Method. The concentrations of $CO_2$, TVOCs, HCHO, bacteria and PM10 in the less than 1 year old apartments were determined to be $773.6{\pm}422.3ppm$, $4,393.8{\pm}2,758.2{\mu}g/m^3$, $98.0{\pm}56.4{\mu}g/m^3$, $254.0{\pm}186.3CFU/m^3$ and $31.7{\pm}14.8{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively, Also, the concentrations of those in the more than 4 years old apartments were determined to be $798.9{\pm}266.5ppm$, $792.7{\pm}398.3{\mu}g/m^3$, $70.0{\pm}30.7{\mu}g/m^3$, $245.6{\pm}122.0CFU/m^3$, $49.7f28.7{\pm}g/m^3$, respectively. The average ratios of the indoor and outdoor concentrations of $CO_2$, TVOCs, HCHO, bacteria and PM10 were 2.2, 3.6, 3.1, 3.9 and 1.4, respectively. These results of this analysis is suggested that $CO_2$, TVOCs, HCHO, bacteria and PM10 in indoor air are both emitted from source within the apartment environment and partly come from outdoor air. With the above considerations in mind, it is suggested that the research for source contribution of indoor air pollutants should be expanded and the detailed interpretation of the results on these needed further study(using principal component analysis(PCA).

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.365-371
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• 2007

To evaluate the effect of air pollution on respiratory health in children, We conducted a longitudinal study in which children were asked to record their daily levels of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate(PEFR) using potable peak flow meter(mini-Wright) for 4 weeks. The relationship between daily PEFR and ambient air particle levels was analyzed using a mixed linear regression models including gender, age in year, weight, the presence of respiratory symptoms, and relative humidity as an extraneous variable. The daily mean concentrations of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ over the study period were $64.9{\mu}g/m^3$ and $46.1{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The range of daily measured PEFR in this study was $182{\sim}481\;l/min$. Daily mean PEFR was regressed with the 24-hour average $PM_{10}(or\;PM_{2.5})$ levels, weather information such as air temperature and relative humidity, and individual characteristics including sex, weight, and respiratory symptoms. The analysis showed that the increase of air particle concentrations was negatively associated with the variability in PEFR. We estimated that the IQR increment of $PM_{10}$ or $PM_{2.5}$ were associated with 1.5 l/min (95% Confidence intervals -3.1, 0.1) and 0.8 l/min(95% CI -1.8, 0.1) decline in PEFR. Even though this study showed negative findings on the relationship between respiratory function and air particles, it was worth noting that the findings must be interpreted cautiously because exposure measurement based on monitoring of ambient air likely resulted in misclassification of true exposure levels and this was the first Korean study that $PM_{2.5}$ measurement was applied as an index of air quality.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.646-657
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to suggest methods to investigate continuous monitoring of concentration levels and assess the exposure of individuals considering the actual time activity of residents for formaldehyde and particulate matter (PM₁₀, PM_2.5) in the indoor and outdoor air of a house, assess the health risks of children and adults based on the results of the exposure assessment, and provide basic data on studies for assessing exposure and health risks in Korea in the future. Methods: The concentration levels of formaldehyde and particulate matter were measured in a family home in Gyeonggi-do Province from April 25 to July 31, 2019, using electrochemical sensors (formaldehyde) and light scattering sensors (PM₁₀, PM_2.5). Risk assessment by the duration of exposure by time activity was performed by dividing between weekdays and weekends, and indoors and outdoors. Results: The greatest level of carcinogenic risk from inhaling formaldehyde was indoors during the weekdays for both children and adults. For children, the risk was at 7.5 per approximately 10,000 people, and for adults, the risk was at 4.1 per approximately 10,000 people. PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 also showed the greatest values indoors during the weekdays, with children at 1.7 people and 1.4 per approximately 100 people, respectively, and adults at 8.2 per approximately 1,000 and 1.8 per approximately 100 people, respectively. Conclusions: The risks of formaldehyde, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 were shown to be high indoors. Therefore, consideration of exposure assesment for each indoor pollutant and management of indoor air quality is necessary.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.527-534
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to develop unmanned equipment that can automatically move to the desired point and measure water quality at the correct depth. For this purpose, we constructed a water sampling lift and water sampling container, an unmanned vessel equipped with a VRS-GPS, an acoustic echo sounder, and a water quality sensor. Also, we developed an automatic navigation algorithm and program, an automatic water sampling program, and a water quality map generation program. As a result of the experiment in the detention pond, the unmanned vessel sailed along the planned route with an accuracy of about 93% within the error range of 3m. In addition, the water quality sensor installed in the lift was able to acquire the water quality of the target area in real time and transmit it to the server via wireless Internet, and it was possible to monitor the water quality of each site in real time. Through field experiments, the water sampling lift was able to control the desired length with an accuracy of about 94%. The stretch length accuracy experiment of the water sampling lift was impossible to measure directly in the water, so it was replaced land-based experiment. We also found some unstable problems due to the weight of the water sampling lift and the weight of the air compressor to operate the water container. Except these two problems, we accomplished purpose of this study. An automated water quality measurement method using an unmanned vessel can be used to measure the quality of water in a difficult to access area and to secure the safety of the worker.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.237-247
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• 2023

In middle- and long-distance imaging systems, due to the atmospheric turbulence caused by temperature, wind speed, humidity, and so on, light waves propagating in the air are distorted, resulting in image-quality degradation such as geometric deformation and fuzziness. In remote sensing, astronomical observation, and traffic monitoring, image information loss due to degradation causes huge losses, so effective restoration of degraded images is very important. To restore images degraded by atmospheric turbulence, an image-restoration method based on improved compound multibranch feature fusion (CMFNetPro) was proposed. Based on the CMFNet network, an efficient channel-attention mechanism was used to replace the channel-attention mechanism to improve image quality and network efficiency. In the experiment, two-dimensional random distortion vector fields were used to construct two turbulent datasets with different degrees of distortion, based on the Google Landmarks Dataset v2 dataset. The experimental results showed that compared to the CMFNet, DeblurGAN-v2, and MIMO-UNet models, the proposed CMFNetPro network achieves better performance in both quality and training cost of turbulent-image restoration. In the mixed training, CMFNetPro was 1.2391 dB (weak turbulence), 0.8602 dB (strong turbulence) respectively higher in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio and 0.0015 (weak turbulence), 0.0136 (strong turbulence) respectively higher in terms of structure similarity compared to CMFNet. CMFNetPro was 14.4 hours faster compared to the CMFNet. This provides a feasible scheme for turbulent-image restoration based on deep learning.