• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.93-108
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• 2019

To investigate the temporal-spatial distribution of picophytoplankton in relation to different water masses in the northern East China Sea (ECS), picophytoplankton abundance were investigated using flow cytometry with environmental factors in 2016-2017. The results from the analysis of flow cytometer data showed that Synechococcus appeared across all seasons, exhibiting its minimum abundance in winter and maximum abundance in summer. Furthermore, high abundance was detected in the surface mixed layer during spring and summer when vertical stratification occurs; in particular, Synechococcus exhibited maximum abundance in thermocline layer, indicating a close correlation to water temperature and thermocline formation. In addition, the abundance of Synechococcus indicated a decrease in the western seas in 2017 compared to 2016 under the strong influence of the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW). This was determined by the significant influence of the CDW on the abundance of Synechococcus during summer in the northern waters of the ECS. In contrast, Prochlorococcus did not appear during winter and spring, and its distribution was limited during summer and autumn in the eastern seas under the influence of the Kuroshio current. The largest range of Prochlorococcus distribution was confirmed during autumn without the influence of the CDW. Thus, the distribution pattern of each picophytoplankton genus was found to be changing in accordance to the extension and reduction of sea current in different seasons and periods of time. This is anticipated to be a useful biological marker in understanding the distribution of sea currents and their influence in the northern waters of the ECS.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.131-142
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• 2019

The Bupjusa and Seonamsa temples are located at places with geographically different condition, and therefore, differ with respect to building's structure and layout. In addition, evident difference can be appeared by the regional climate. For the 2 years, we studied the concentration and diversity of the seasonal airborne fungi inside and outside of the 2 temples. In Seonamsa temple, airborne fungi concentration in the indoor and outdoor air was higher and the species diversity in the indoor air was lower, whereas, concentration variation was larger than that of Bupjusa temple. A total of 173 fungal isolates (including 54 genera) and 162 isolated (including 49 genera) were obtained from the indoor air of Bupjusa and Seonamsa temple, respectively. Whereas, 80 fungal isolates (including 33 genera) and 74 isolates (including 39 genera) were collected form the outdoor air of Bupjusa and Seonamsa temple, respectively. However, more fungal varieties were observed to be distributed inside Bupjusa and outside Seonamsa temples. Amongst all the fungi identified, ascomycetes were more dominant (plus or minus 90% points), followed by basidiomycetes and zygomycetes; which more presented in outdoor air than in indoor air. The airborne fungi concentration in spring (month of April) and autumn was higher than in any other season, for Seonamsa and Bupjusa temples, repectively. Genus Cladosporium was isolated from each site and season, with its dramatic increase noted in autumn. In addition, the highest basidiospore(s) number was obtained after the rain. Consequently, the results suggest that Seonamsa temple was more susceptible to biological damage than Bupjusa temple was.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.167-174
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• 2019

A process-oriented crop growth model can simulate the biophysical process of rice under diverse environmental and management conditions, which would make it more versatile than an empirical crop model. In the present study, we examined chronology and background of the development of the rice growth models in Korea, which would provide insights on the needs for improvement of the models. The rice crop growth models were introduced in Korea in the late 80s. Until 2000s, these crop models have been used to simulate the yield in a specific area in Korea. Since then, improvement of crop growth models has been made to take into account biological characteristics of rice growth and development in more detail. Still, the use of the crop growth models has been limited to the assessment of climate change impact on crop production. Efforts have been made to apply the crop growth model, e.g., the CERES-Rice model, to develop decision support system for crop management at a farm level. However, the decision support system based on a crop growth model was attractive to a small number of stakeholders most likely due to scarcity of on-site weather data and reliable parameter sets for cultivars grown in Korea. The wide use of the crop growth models would be facilitated by approaches to extend spatial availability of reliable weather data, which could be either measured on-site or estimates using spatial interpolation. New approaches for calibration of cultivar parameters for new cultivars would also help lower hurdles to crop growth models.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.74-93
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• 2019

The Bird Track Site in the Haman Formation in Yongsanri (Natural Monument No. 222) was reported on the named Koreanaornis hamanensis and Jindongornipes kimi sauropod footprint Brontopodus and ichnospecies Ochlichnus formed by Nematoda. This site has outstanding academic value because it is where the second-highest number of bird tracks have been reported in the world. However, only 25% of the site remains after being designated a natural monument in 1969. This is due to artificial damage caused by worldwide fame and quarrying for flat stone used in Korean floor heating systems. The Haman Formation, including this fossil site, has lithofacies showing reddish-grey siltstone and black shale, alternately. The boundary of the two rocks is progressive, and sedimentary structures like ripple marks and sun cracks can clearly be found. This site was divided into seven formations according to sedimentary sequences and structures. The results of a nondestructive deterioration evaluation showed that chemical and biological damage rates were very low for all formations. Also, physical damage displayed low rates with 0.49% on exfoliation, 0.04% on blistering, 0.28% on break-out; however, the joint crack index was high, 6.20. Additionally, efflorescence was observed on outcrops at the backside and the northwestern side. Physical properties measured by an indirect ultrasonic analysis were found to be moderately weathered (MW). Above all, the southeastern side was much fresher, though some areas around the column of protection facility appeared more weathered. Furthermore, five kinds of discontinuity surface can be found at this site, with the bedding plane showing the higher share. There is the possibility of toppling failure occurring at this site but stable on plane and wedge failure by means of stereographic projection. We concluded that the overall level of deterioration and stability were relatively fine. However, continuous monitoring and conservation treatment and management should be performed as situations such as the physicochemical weathering of the fossil layer, and the efflorescence of the mortar adjoining the protection facility's column appear to be challenging to control.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.37
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• pp.327-348
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• 2004

In this study, after analyzing several local climate characteristics of South Korea, I validated distribution, invasion, foraging, underground activities, attack season as ecological characteristics and also temperature, relative humidity, and tree species as preference characteristics of Korean termites (Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis Morimoto). Especially, southern part of the Korean peninsula is a suitable area for inhabitation and motion of termites holding same ecological characteristic like R. speratus kyushuensis. Busan is a neighboring district at field distribution north limiting temperature of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and Chuncheon is a passing area through the Korean Peninsula of field distribution north limiting temperature of Reticulitermes speratus Kolbe. The termite attack of wood devices was about 34.5% for 3 years in the forest of Jongmyo. Although the attack rate of termite increased each year, the detection rate decreased and the missing rate was high by degrees. I confirmed a foraging habits which is a part of termite colony was a role of continuous decomposition and another was a role of new food hunt as experimental results. The foraging termites were found under ground at Jongmyo in Seoul from April to November in the 2001 and the most active period was on July and August. The termite invasion rate of bait station increased in every monitoring. Through the increasing attack rate of bait station during 2nd monitoring (November, 2000) and 3rd monitoring(March, 2001), I confirmed that termites moved into the deep underground in winter, and were working continuously to forage. R. speratus kyushuensis inhabiting at the Korean Peninsula is a species which has food consumption rate with higher temperature. The termite revealed the greatest amount of food(filter paper) at $30^{\circ}C$(90% RH), but showed increasing death rate at over $32^{\circ}C$. Also, survival rate of this termite was 97% at 84% RH($30^{\circ}C$), but killed 100% at 52% RH($30^{\circ}C$) and 70% RH($30^{\circ}C$). For wood feeding, this was observed the preference in a pine tree(Pinus densiflora) above all others. Survival of termites was high(87%) at a pine tree, but low(13.5%) at a paulownia tree(Paulownia coreana). In this study, I presented the biological characteristic of termite(R. speratus kyushuensis Morimoto) and confirmed the deterioration degree of termite on wooden cultural heritage in Korea. Depending on climate and soil temperature, each area in the southern part of the Korea Peninsula, has some different active period and different distribution of R. speratus kyushensis. With these results, I expect that this report helps to prepare the integrated pest management(IPM) of the termite on wooden cultural heritage in Korea, and it may help to reduce the economical loss from termite damage in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.50-64
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• 2019

Recently, quantitative analyses of food web structure based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes are widely applied to environmental assessments as well as ecological researches of various ecosystems, particularly rivers and streams. In the present study, we analyzed carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of POM (both planktonic and attached forms), zooplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish collected from 6 sites located at Nakdong River. Samples were collected from upstream areas of 5 weirs (Sangju, Gangjeong-Goryeong, Dalseong, Hapcheon-Changnyeong, and Changnyeong-Haman Weirs) and one downstream area of Hapcheon-Changnyeong Weir in dry season (June) and after rainy season (September). We suggested ranges of their carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios and calculated their trophic levels in the food web to compare their temporal and spatial variations. Trophic levels of organisms were relatively higher in Sangju Weir located at upper part of Nakdong River, and decreased thereafter. However, the trophic levels were recovered at the Changnyeong-Haman Weir, the lowest weir in the river. The trophic level calculated by nitrogen stable isotope ratios showed more reliable ranges when they were calculated based on zooplankton than POM used as baseline. The suggested quantitative ecological information of the majority of biological communities in Nakdong River would be helpful to understand the response of river food web to environmental disturbances and can be applied to various further researches regarding the quantitative approaches for the understanding food web structure and function of river ecosystems as well as restoration.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.1018-1027
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• 2019

Natural-derived protein-derived low molecular weight peptides have been known to have physiological activities such as antioxidant, hypertension relief, immunomodulation, pain relief and antimicrobial activity. In this study, the low-molecular peptides were produced using commercial proteases (alcalase, bromelain, flavourzyme, neutrase, papain, protamex), and the antioxidant activity (DPPH scavenging activity, superoxide radical scavenging activity, hydroxy radical scavenging activity, and metals chelation capacity), constituent amino acid and molecular weight of the peptide were analyzed. Enzyme reaction was performed by adding 50 g of chopped Ogae meat slurry and 2%(w/v) protein enzyme into the enzyme reactor for 2 h at a pH of 6 and a temperature of $60^{\circ}C$. The degree of hydrolysis(%) after the reaction ranged from $36.65{\pm}4.10%$ to $70.75{\pm}5.29%$. The highest degree of hydrolysis of protamex was 46.3%, and the highest value of papain hydrolysate was $70.75{\pm}5.29%$. On the other hand, alcalase hydrolysate showed the lowest value of $36.65{\pm}4.10%$. Bromelain-treated low molecular weight peptides showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity and the lowest scavenging activity of alcalase-treated peptides. Superoxide radical scavenging activity showed that bromelain treated low molecular peptide showed the highest radical scavenging activity of 50% or more. Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity ranged from about 16.73 to 69.16%, the highest among bromelain-treated low molecular peptides. $Fe^{2+}$ chelation abilities showed a distribution between about 17.85 to 47.84%. The chelation capacity of the hydrolysates was not significantly different without any difference to the enzymes used. The results of amino acid analysis showed differences between hydrolysates of alcalase, bromelain, flavourzyme, neutrase, papain, and protamex enzymes. The most amino acid was glutamic acid. The molecular weight distribution of the enzyme hydrolyzates was in the range of 300-2,000 Da, although the molecular weight distribution differed according to the treated enzymes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.861-870
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• 2019

This study was undertaken to establish optimum medium compositions for cost-effective mannitol production by Leuconostoc mesenteroides SRCM201425 isolated from kimchi. L. mesenteroides SRCM21425 from kimchi was selected for efficient mannitol production based on fructose analysis and identified by its 16S rRNA gene sequence, as well as by carbohydrate fermentation pattern analysis. To enhance mannitol production by L. mesenteroides SRCM201425, the effects of carbon, nitrogen, and mineral sources on mannitol production were first determined using Plackett-Burman design (PBD). The effects of 11 variables on mannitol production were investigated of which three variables, fructose, sucrose, and peptone, were selected. In the second step, each concentration of fructose, sucrose, and peptone was optimized using a central composite design (CCD) and response surface analysis. The predicted concentrations of fructose, sucrose, and peptone were 38.68 g/l, 30 g/l, and 39.67 g/l, respectively. The mathematical response model was reliable, with a coefficient of determination of $R^2=0.9185$. Mannitol production increased 20-fold as compared with the MRS medium, corresponding to a mannitol yield 97.46% when compared to MRS supplemented with 100 g/l of fructose in flask system. Furthermore, the production in the optimized medium was cost-effective. The findings of this study can be expected to be useful in biological production for catalytic hydrogenation causing byproduct and additional production costs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.29-41
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• 2019

Terrestrial Gross Primary Production (GPP) is the largest global carbon flux, and forest ecosystems are important because of the ability to store much more significant amounts of carbon than other terrestrial ecosystems. There have been several attempts to estimate GPP using mechanism-based models. However, mechanism-based models including biological, chemical, and physical processes are limited due to a lack of flexibility in predicting non-stationary ecological processes, which are caused by a local and global change. Instead mechanism-free methods are strongly recommended to estimate nonlinear dynamics that occur in nature like GPP. Therefore, we used the mechanism-free machine learning techniques to estimate the daily GPP. In this study, support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF) and artificial neural network (ANN) were used and compared with the traditional multiple linear regression model (LM). MODIS products and meteorological parameters from eddy covariance data were employed to train the machine learning and LM models from 2006 to 2013. GPP prediction models were compared with daily GPP from eddy covariance measurement in a deciduous forest in South Korea in 2014 and 2015. Statistical analysis including correlation coefficient (R), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean squared error (MSE) were used to evaluate the performance of models. In general, the models from machine-learning algorithms (R = 0.85 - 0.93, MSE = 1.00 - 2.05, p < 0.001) showed better performance than linear regression model (R = 0.82 - 0.92, MSE = 1.24 - 2.45, p < 0.001). These results provide insight into high predictability and the possibility of expansion through the use of the mechanism-free machine-learning models and remote sensing for predicting non-stationary ecological processes such as seasonal GPP.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.239-247
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• 2019

The aim of this study was to improve the efficacy and functionality of Viola mandshurica (VM). A water suspension of VM power was fermented for 72 hr with Bacillus methylotrophicus CBMB205 (BM) and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides NRIC1777 (LP) isolated from kimchi. The antioxidant activity and reducing power of fermented VM, its total phenolic and flavonoid compounds, as well its inhibitory activity on ${\alpha}$-amylase, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase, and pancreatic lipase were determined and compared to those of non-fermented VM (NVM), a negative control. The total phenolic and flavonoid compounds of VM fermented with BM and LP were higher than those of NVM by 1.4, 1.17, and about 3 times. There was no difference in 2, 2'-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity between fermented VM and NVM. However, there was a 2.1- and 1.6-fold increase in 2, 2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothzoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity in VM fermented with BM and LP, respectively. The reducing power of BM was 1.6 times as high as NVM, but no significant difference was found between LP and NVM. Fermented VM's inhibitory activity on ${\alpha}$-amylase, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase, and pancreatic lipase was much higher than that of NVM. Fermenting VM with BM was superior to fermenting it with LP, except flavonoid content. Taken together, VM fermented with BM could be used as a functional food and as an additive to cosmetics.