• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.29
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• pp.12.1-12.8
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• 2014

Objectives Cohort studies of associations between air pollution and health have used exposure prediction approaches to estimate individual-level concentrations. A common prediction method used in Korean cohort studies is ordinary kriging. In this study, performance of ordinary kriging models for long-term particulate matter less than or equal to $10{\mu}m$ in diameter ($PM_{10}$) concentrations in seven major Korean cities was investigated with a focus on spatial prediction ability. Methods We obtained hourly $PM_{10}$ data for 2010 at 226 urban-ambient monitoring sites in South Korea and computed annual average $PM_{10}$ concentrations at each site. Given the annual averages, we developed ordinary kriging prediction models for each of the seven major cities and for the entire country by using an exponential covariance reference model and a maximum likelihood estimation method. For model evaluation, cross-validation was performed and mean square error and R-squared ($R^2$) statistics were computed. Results Mean annual average $PM_{10}$ concentrations in the seven major cities ranged between 45.5 and $66.0{\mu}g/m^3$ (standard deviation=2.40 and $9.51{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively). Cross-validated $R^2$ values in Seoul and Busan were 0.31 and 0.23, respectively, whereas the other five cities had $R^2$ values of zero. The national model produced a higher cross-validated $R^2$ (0.36) than those for the city-specific models. Conclusions In general, the ordinary kriging models performed poorly for the seven major cities and the entire country of South Korea, but the model performance was better in the national model. To improve model performance, future studies should examine different prediction approaches that incorporate $PM_{10}$ source characteristics.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.284-290
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• 2015

In this study, two hypotheses were examined to preliminarily verify for the vegetation recruitment and establishment on riparian bars in unregulated rivers; hydrologic regime change and nutrients influx into streams. In order to preliminarily verify the first hypothesis, precipitation patterns were analyzed during a period from March through to May when reeds, the most common riparian vegetation in Korea, germinate and start to grow in riparian areas. The results show that during the last 35 years, the total precipitation during the three-month period decreased by about 15 %, while the total annual one increased by about 15% in Korea. In order to verify the second hypothesis, a preliminary experiment was conducted with a set of two-vegetative flumes for one year. In this experiment, a stream flow with reeds on the riparian sand bars was simulated with a flume with reeds planted on the sand bed and water with a concentration of 3.5 mg of N flowing in the flume for four hours. For comparison, clean water was circulated in the same way in another flume for simulating a stream flow without N. The experimental results show that the growth rate of reeds in N-mixed flow exceeds that in clean water flow by about 30%. The above two results could explain the phenomenon of change in unregulated rivers from white river to green river in Korea, although they were obtained through limited extents of analysis and experiment.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.475-488
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• 2018

Surveying urban tributary vegetation is based mainly on field sampling at present. The tributary vegetation survey integrating UAV NIR(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Near Infrared Radiance) imagery and in-situ point photo has received only limited attentions from the field ecologist. The reason for this could be the largely undemonstrated applicability of UAV NIR imagery by the field ecologist as a monitoring tool for urban tributary vegetation. The principal advantage of UAV NIR imagery as a remote sensor is to provide, in a cost-effective manner, information required for a very narrow swath target such as urban tributary (10m width or so), utilizing very low altitude flight, real-time geo-referencing and stereo imaging. An exhaustive and realistic comparison of the two techniques was conducted, based on operational customer requirement of urban tributary vegetation survey: synoptic information, ground detail and quantitative data collection. UAV NIR imagery made it possible to identify area-wide patterns of the major plant communities subject to many different influences (e.g. artificial land use pattern), which cannot be acquired by traditional field sampling. Although field survey has already gained worldwide recognition by plant ecologists as a typical method of urban tributary vegetation monitoring, this approach did not provide a level of information that is either scientifically reliable or economically feasible in terms of urban tributary vegetation (e.g. remedial field works). It is anticipated that this research output could be used as a valuable reference for area-wide information obtained by UAV NIR imagery in urban tributary vegetation survey.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.30.1-30.11
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• 2019

Marine natural products isolated from the sponge Fascaplysinopsis cf reticulata, in French Polynesia, were investigated as an alternative to antibiotics to control pathogens in aquaculture. The overuse of antibiotics in aquaculture is largely considered to be an environmental pollution, because it supports the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes within the aquatic environment. One environmentally friendly alternative to antibiotics is the use of quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs). Quorum sensing (QS) is a regulatory mechanism in bacteria which control virulence factors through the secretion of autoinducers (AIs), such as acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) in gram-negative bacteria. Vibrio harveyi QS is controlled through three parallel pathways: HAI-1, AI-2, and CAI-1. Bioassay-guided purification of F. cf reticulata extract was conducted on two bacterial species, i.e., Tenacibaculum maritimum and V. harveyi for antibiotic and QS inhibition bioactivities. Toxicity bioassay of fractions was also evaluated on the freshwater fish Poecilia reticulata and the marine fish Acanthurus triostegus. Cyclohexanic and dichloromethane fractions of F. cf reticulata exhibited QS inhibition on V. harveyi and antibiotic bioactivities on V. harveyi and T. maritimum, respectively. Palauolide (1) and fascaplysin (2) were purified as major molecules from the cyclohexanic and dichloromethane fractions, respectively. Palauolide inhibited QS of V. harveyi through HAI-1 QS pathway at 50 ㎍ ml^-1 (26 μM), while fascaplysin affected the bacterial growth of V. harveyi (50 ㎍ ml^-1) and T. maritimum (0.25 ㎍). The toxicity of fascaplysin-enriched fraction (FEF) was evaluated and exhibited a toxic effect against fish at 50 ㎍ ml^-1. This study demonstrated for the first time the QSI potential of palauolide (1). Future research may assess the toxicity of both the cyclohexanic fraction of the sponge and palauolide (1) on fish, to confirm their potential as alternative to antibiotics in fish farming.

• Korean Business Review
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.35-59
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• 2009

The drive for sustainable economic growth for the sub Saharan African region continues to occupy a central place in the debate of how to move the region forward. For decades, governments, policy makers, Non Governmental Organizations and world bodies including the World Bank, IMF, ADB, USIAD and the European Union have engaged policies aimed at bringing solutions to the horrendous poverty crisis to nations of this region. Despite these noble actions and intents, poverty and underdevelopment has prevailed in countries of the region such as Cameroon. Cameroon is mainly an agricultural economy with its products facing declining prices and competition from synthetic substitutes resulting to deficits of balance of trades. This has resulted to borrowing and debt. At the same time, it is a country blessed with an abundance of tourist resources. From the literature review, tourism potency to economic growth is overwhelming. This research was motivated by the quest to find answers to questions such as; why development policies during the last two decades not succeeded in achieving Economic growth in countries of this region particularly Cameroon and why the country/ region still beleaguered by poverty and debt despite haven implemented various economic development plans. In recent years, the role of tourism has become increasingly recognized in its role of economic growth and poverty alleviation. This study attempts to unveil tourism's contribution to economic growth and to push for Tourism development as an al ternative economic growth alternative to Cameroon. Previous economic policies have ignored to tie economic growth within the country's socio-economic, geo-political and environmental circumstances. Findings from this work suggest that any sound economic policy can not afford to ignore the country's stock of both human and fiscal capital. Findings presented herewith validate Tourism as a feasible indigenous economic growth alternative that helps bringing employment, capital investment and protect the environmental ruin.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.708-721
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• 2019

This study was conducted to understand the plant community structure characteristics of warm-temperate forest in Geoje Island. Survey sites were set up on ridges, valleys, and slopes where evergreen broad-leaved trees predominated or distributed in canopy, sub-canopy, or shrub layers at Chunjangsan(Mt.). Thirty-one sites were located in the areas, such as vegetation community, ridges, valleys, and slopes, to observe vegetation structure and location changes. The community classification with TWINSPAN identified six groups: Neolitsea sericea-Platycarya strobilacea, N. sericea-Styrax japonicus, N. sericea-Euonymus oxyphyllus, Pinus thunbergii-N. sericea, N. sericea-Quercus serrata, and Q. variabilis-P. strobilacea. Considering the results of previous studies that reported that the successional pattern of the warm temperate forests progressed from deciduous to evergreen forests, the regions predominated by deciduous communities such as P. thunbergii, Q. serrata, P. strobilacea, Zelkova serrata, and Q. variabilis, is likely to transform into the evergreen forest predominated by N. sericea. The relationship between the impact of the environmental factors and the vegetation distribution showed that slope, Na +, K +, electrical conductivity, and clay among physical properties had direct or indirect effects on vegetation distribution.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.49-62
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• 2017

In order to understand response of geo-structures to the freezing-thawing process in the ground, it is necessary to consider phase change of the pore water of the ground and also to understand soil interaction with structures. In this study, numerical analysis was carried out for freezing and thawing effect on the modular road system. Neumann's theoretical equation for freezing-thawing processes in porous media can be used to estimate frozen depth and heaving from basic soil properties and ground and surface temperature, but its application is limited to the case for the sediment with fully saturated condition and zero unfrozen water content. Numerical analysis of the modular road system was performed on various soil types and different ground water table as the varying freezing index. The amount of heaving in the silty soil was much larger than those in granite weathered soil or sandy soil, and lowering groundwater level reduced ground heaving induced by freezing. Numerical analysis for temperature history of the ground surface predicted residual heaving near the surface by the freeze-thaw process in silty soil. It ought to reduce stiffness and bearing capacity of the ground so that it will impair stability and serviceability of new road system. However, the amount of residual heaving was insignificant for the road system installed in weathered soil granite and sandy soil. Since modular road system is a pavement structure mounted on the supporting substructure unlike the prevalent road pavement system, strict criteria should be applied for uniform and differential settlement of the pavement system.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.304-314
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• 2015

We have reviewed the current status of coastal vulnerability index(CVI) to be guided into an appropriate CVI development for Korean coast and applied a methodology into the east coast of Korea to quantify coastal vulnerability by future sea_level rise. The CVIs reviewed includes USGS CVI, sea_level rise CVI, compound CVI, and multi scale CVI. The USGS CVI, expressed into the external forcing of sea_level rise, wave and tide, and adaptive capacity of morphology, erosion and slope, is adopted here for CVI quantification. The range of CVI is 1.826~22.361 with a mean of 7.085 for present condition and increases into 2.887~30.619 with a mean of 12.361 for the year of 2100(1 m sea_level rise). The index "VERY HIGH" is currently 8.57% of the coast and occupies 35.56% in 2100. The pattern of CVI change by sea_level rise is different to different local areas, and Gangneung, Yangyang and Goseong show the highest increase. The land use pattern in the "VERY HIGH" index is dominated by both human system of housing complex, road, cropland, etc, and natural system of sand, wetland, forestry, etc., which suggests existing land utilization should be reframed in the era of climate change. Though CVI approach is highly efficient to deal with a large set of climate scenarios entailed in climate impact assessment due to uncertainties, we also propose three_level assessment for the application of CVI methodology in the site specific adaptation such as first screening assessment by CVI, second scoping assessment by impact model, and final risk quantification with the result of impact model.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.273-282
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• 2009

To render more valuable information, a spatial database is being constructed from digitalized maps in the geographic areas. Transferring file-based maps into a spatial database, facilitates the integration of larger databases and information retrieval using database functions. Geological mapping is the graphical interpretation results of the geological phenomenon by geological surveyors, which is different from other thematic maps produced quantitatively. These features make it difficult to construct geologic databases needing geologic interpretation about various meanings. For those reasons, several organizations in the USA and Australia are suggesting the data model for the database construction. But, it is hard to adapt to a domestic environment because of the representation differences of geological phenomenon. This paper suggests the data model adaptive in domestic environment analyzing 1:50,000 scales of geologic maps and more detailed mine geologic maps. The suggested model is a logical data model for the ArcGIS GeoDatabase. Using the model it can be efficiently applicable in the 1:50,000 scales of geological maps. It is expected that the geologic data model suggested in this paper can be used for integrated use and efficient management of geologic maps.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.747-761
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• 2008

In order to experiment the acoustic remote classification of seabed sediment, we achieved ground-truth data(i.e. video and grab samples, etc.) and developed post-processing for automatic classification procedure on the basis of 300 kHz MultiBeam Echo Sounder(MBES) backscattering data, which was acquired using KONGBERG Simrad EM3000 at Sock-Cho Port, East Sea of South Korea. Sonar signal and its classification performance were identified with geo-referenced video imagery with the aid of GIS (Geographic Information System). The depth range of research site was from 5 m to 22.7 m, and the backscattering amplitude showed from -36dB to -15dB. The mean grain sizes of sediment from equi-distanced sampling site(50 m interval) varied from 2.86$(\phi)$ to 0.88(\phi). To acquire the main feature for the seabed classification from backscattering amplitude of MBES, we evaluated the correlation factors between the backscattering amplitude and properties of sediment samples. The performance of seabed remote classification proposed was evaluated with comparing the correlation of human expert segmentation to automatic algorithm results. The cross-model perception error ratio on automatic classification algorithm shows 8.95% at rocky bottoms, and 2.06% at the area representing low mean grain size.