• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.620-628
• /
• 2012

This study addressed the influence of forest harvesting on seasonal water table dynamics in small headwater riparian areas. Four treatments including potential Best Management Practices(BMPs) for ephemeral and intermittent streams were implemented(BMP1, BMP2, clearcut and reference). Water table measurements were obtained at bi-monthly intervals for 3 years including one year of pre- and two years of post-harvest observations. Overall, water table responses affected largely by rainfall amount. In addition, significant increases in water table levels following harvesting occurred throughout the two post-harvest years. Water table levels increased up to 28.2cm in the clearcut treatment during 2008 and up to 54.2cm in BMP2 during 2009. However, increase in water table elevation was not directly related to basal area removal despite considerable differences in basal area removed between BMP2 and clearcut treatments. Water table rises were apparent in that water table were more elevated during dry season(June through November) than during wet season(December through May). These seasonal fluctuations were presumably driven by changes in evapotranspiration caused by differences in leaf area of overstory canopy and understory following harvest.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.92-97
• /
• 2006

The liquid culture extract of Coriolus versicolor was prepared by directly boiling the whole culture broth 7 days after incubation in 12% citrus extract medium. After removal of mycelial debris through filtration, this extract was further extracted with equal volume of ethyl acetate (1 : 1, v/v). The ethyl acetate extracts showed significant antibacterial activities against Stapylococcus aureus CCARM3230 and Psudomonas aeruginosa CCARM2171, which are resistant to several antibiotics. The most active fraction was eluted from a silica gel column with a mixture of dichloromethane and methanol (9 : 1, v/v) and the purity of this active substance was confirmed by HPLC analysis. The results suggest that the purified active substance could be a good source for the development of a new antimicrobial agent, especially for the treatment of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.640-645
• /
• 2016

Microglial cells are immediately activated in the central nervous system in response to a variety of neuronal environmental changes, such as injuries or inflammation. In addition to the modulation of the intrinsic immune response, a key role of microglial cells is the phagocytosis of dying cells and cellular debris. In this study, the inhibitory effects of epigallocatechine-3-gallate (EGCG), a most abundant and active polyphenol component of green tea, on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced microglial activation are determined. EGCG dose dependently suppressed LPS-induced nitric oxide production and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in BV-2 microglial cells. EGCG are potent LPS-induced inhibitors of several pro-inflammatory cytokine expressions, such as TNF-α and IL-1β, in microglial cells. Furthermore, EGCG generally inhibits the induction of LPS-mediated microglial activation and potently inhibits the phagocytosis of LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia. Although the conditioned media from LPS-stimulated BV-2 cells caused the SN4741 cell death, that from the conditioned media of EGCG pretreated BV-2 cells did not diminish the viability of SN4741 cells. These results suggest EGCG, a green tea polyphenol, could be a promising available molecule for the modulation of harmful microglial activation.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.431-443
• /
• 2010

The morphometric characteristics of 13 alluvial fans in the southern parts of the Korean Peninsula are studied and relationships between their distributions and causes are discussed by comparing them with 690 alluvial fans in Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. The relationships between the surface gradient of alluvial fans and source basin area, the surface gradient and the relief ratio of the source basin, and the source basin area and the relief ratio were investigated. The alluvial fans in South Korea have typical characteristics of the Asian fans, although their frequency and density are relatively low, and the size and the relief ratio of their source basins are relatively small and steep, respectively. Moreover 36 major Korean river basins without alluvial fans tend to have lower altitude and relief ratios. Contrary to the argument by Blair and McPherson, the natural depositional gaps on the gradient of alluvial fans were not found. The Gyeongju alluvial fan is probably a fluvial fan with gentle gradient, whereas the other Korean fans seem to be debris-flow related on the base of their gradients.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
• /
• v.5 no.2 s.18
• /
• pp.162-171
• /
• 2004

Crack sealing is a maintenance procedure that is commonly used to reduce pavement degradation. If cracks in pavements are not sealed, surface water penetration can reduce the strength of the sub-base layers, which can result in increased deflections of the pavement. Reduced strength of the sub-base also accelerates the deterioration of the surface, due to development of greater cracking and potholes. Crack sealing is performed to reduce water and debris penetration, thereby helping to maintain pavement structural capacity and limiting future degradation. The process of sealing cracks in pavements is however dangerous, costly, and labor-intensive operation. Labor turnover and training are increasing problems related to crack sealing crews, and as traffic volumes increase. Automating crack sealing can reduce labor and road user costs, improve work quality, and decrease worker exposure to roadway hazards. The main objective of this research is to develop an automated system for sealing cracks in pavement. Extension of the algorithms and tools presented in this research is also recommended for future study.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.103 no.1
• /
• pp.23-29
• /
• 2014

Open- to closed canopy stage and it's ecological characteristics in vegetation succession are commonly described, but poorly understood in Korea. Vegetation development on structure, environment and understory abundance were studied for 16 yr in post-clearcut Pinus densiflora forests in the southern Gangwon-do province by applying space-for-time approach. We sampled 210 plots (10 for structure and 200 for understory) for four seral stages (1yr, 3yr, 10yr and 16yr). After clear-cut, mean stem density increased gradually to $5,714{\pm}645$ stems/ha after 16 years and mean basal area was also from $5.5{\pm}0.7m^2/ha$ after 10 years and doubled at $10.0{\pm}1.6m^2/ha$ in 16 years. Woody debris and bared soil on the forest floor peaked at 11--- after 10 years and at 10.3--- after 3 years, respectively. In understory mean cover declined with all growth form groups following succession, but in richness, forb specie increased with structural development during 16 years. Our study suggested that overstory development did not suppressed whole understory properties especially in richness, thus appeared to act as a filter selectively constraining the understory characteristics. However only long-term studies are essential for elucidating patterns and processes that cannot be inferred form short-term or space-for-time researches. Strong negative relationship between overstory and understory characteristics in conventional models surely reexamined.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.37-44
• /
• 1999

Because of bone resorption, wear of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE) in total knee arthroplasty has been recognized as a major factor in long-term failure of knee implant. The surface damage and the following harmful wear debris of UHMWPE is largely related to contact stress. Most of the previous studies focused on the contact condition only at the articulating surface of UHMWPE. Recently, contact stress at the metal-backing interface has been implicated as one of major factors in UHMWPE wear. Therefore, the purpose of the is study is to investigate the effect of the contact stress for different thickness, conformity friction coefficient, and flexion degree of the UHMWPE component in total knee system, considering the contact conditions at both interfaces. In this study, a two-dimensional non-linear plane strain finite element model was developed. The results showed that the maximum value of von-Mises stress occurred below the articulating surface and the contact stress was lower for the more conforming models. All-polyethylene component showed lower stress distribution than the metal-backed component. With increased friction coefficient on the tibiofemoral contact surface, the maximum shear stress increased about twofold.

• Journal of Conservation Science
• /
• v.6 no.1 s.7
• /
• pp.61-70
• /
• 1997

An integrated geophysical survey was conducted to study a construction method of the Sonsanri tombs including the Muryong royal tomb. With the distribution of soil resistivity and self potential values, the boundary between original ground and the construction site was delineated clearly. The original ground has relatively high resistivity of $1,000\~1,500$ ohm-m and low self-potential values of $0{\pm}3mV/m$, while the construction site has low resistivity less than 200 ohm-m and quite high self-potential values of $-20\~30mV/m$. It is interpreted that the open site for construction of subsurface tomb has the size of about 35 m in the north-south direction. Big difference in characteristics of ground between the tomb site and the original site gives a clue for the construction method of tombs in Baekje dynasty. The site was opened about 35 meters in the north-south direction and then a mold structure was constructed with a brick frame outside. The brick frame consists of bricks cemented each other and structually combined. The mold structure was removed from inside after refill of the opened construction site with some cemented rock debris and soil.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.19-37
• /
• 1991

The geology of the northwestern Cheju Island consist of Pleistocene to Holocene volcanic rocks which could be devided into basalt layers, the Sungsan Formation composed mainly of volcaniclastic debris exposed along the shoreline, and more than 30 cinder cones. Columnar joints and vesicles are dominant in the basalts of the Pyeosunri and the Sihungri basalt Formations. Volcaniclast and clay layers are intercalated in basaltic layers. When volcaniclast of the interlayers would be swept away by ground water and some caves of channel shape would be formaed. Overlying lavas cracked by columnar joints could be easily destroyed, collapsed and/or sunk. Geomechananical nature of the rocks such as strength may be controlled by the vesicularity(size, shape, and orientation of the vesicles) of the rocks. On the basis of vesicularity as a factor of strength, the effective strength ratio(Ke) could be calculated as Ke=0.3-0.72, in which the smaller Ke value reflects the lower in internal stress. In the studied area, the strength of the rocks tends to decrease as increasing in altitude of provenance of the rocks. The rocks in the area show relatively low values in angle of failure strength($\phi$) ranging from 10$^{\circ}$ to 30$^{\circ}$. In conclnsion, the rocks in question, majority of which the critical value exceeds 0.33, belong to the unstable rocks in the aspect of engineering geology.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.191-196
• /
• 2008

This study is a case study for application of the RTI warning model to Korea which was previously developed to predict landslide potential and occurrence time during a rainfall event. The rainfall triggering index (RTI) is defined as the product of the rainfall intensity I (mm/hr) and the effective accumulated rainfall $R_t$ (mm). This index is used to evaluate the landslide and debris-flow occurrence potential at time t during a rainfall event. The upper critical value ($RTI_{UC}$) of RTI and the lower critical value ($RTI_{LC}$) of RTI can be determined by historical rainfall data of a certain area. When the rainfall intensity exceeds the upper critical value, there are high potential to occur land-slides. The analysis result can predict landslide occurrence time of an area during a rainfall event as well as land-slide potential. The result can also be used as an important data to issue early-warning of landslides. In order to apply the RTI warning model to Korea this study analyzed rainfall data and landslides data in Inje county, Gangwon province, Korea from July 13 to July 19, 2006. According to the analysis result, the rainfall intensity exceeded the upper critical value 23 hours ago, 11 hours ago, and 9 hours ago from 11:00 in the morning, July 16. Therefore, landslide warnings would be issued three times for people evacuation for avoiding or reducing hurts and dam-ages from landslides in mountainous areas of Inje.