• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2016.05a
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• pp.1-1
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• 2016

Many of the world's large ecosystems are severely stressed due to population growth, water quality and quantity problems, vulnerability to flood and drought, and the loss of native species and cultural resources. Consequences of climate change further increase uncertainties about the future. These major societal challenges must be addressed through innovations in governance, policy, and ways of implementing management strategies. Science and engineering play a critical role in helping define possible alternative futures that could be achieved and the possible consequences to economic development, quality of life, and sustainability of ecosystem services. Science has advanced rapidly during the past decade with the emergence of science communities coalescing around 'Grand Challenges' and the maturation of how these communities function has resulted in large interdisciplinary research networks. An example is the River Experiment Center of KICT that engages researchers from throughout Korea and the world. This trend has been complemented by major advances in sensor technologies and data synthesis to accelerate knowledge discovery. These factors combine to allow scientific debate to occur in a more open and transparent manner. The availability of information and improved communication of scientific and engineering issues is raising the level of dialogue at the science-policy interface. However, severe challenges persist since scientific discovery does not occur on the same timeframe as management actions, policy decisions or at the pace sometimes expected by elected officials. Common challenges include the need to make decisions in the face of considerable uncertainty, ensuring research results are actionable and preventing science being used by special interests to delay or obsfucate decisions. These challenges are explored in the context of examples from the United States, including the California Bay-Delta system. California transfers water from the wetter northern part of the state to the drier southern part of the state through the Central Valley Project since 1940 and this was supplemented by the State Water Project in 1973. The scale of these activities is remarkable: approximately two thirds of the population of Californians rely on water from the Delta, these waters also irrigate up to 45% of the fruits & vegetables produced in the US, and about 80% of California's commercial fishery species live in or migrate through the Bay-Delta. This Delta region is a global hotspot for biodiversity that provides habitat for over 700 species, but is also a hotspot for the loss of biodiversity with more than 25 species currently listed by the Endangered Species Act. Understanding the decline of the fragile ecosystem of the Bay-Delta system and the potential consequences to economic growth if water transfers are reduced for the environment, the California State Legislature passed landmark legislation in 2009 (CA Water Code SS 85054) that established "Coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem". The legislation also stated that "The coequal goals shall be achieved in a manner that protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational, natural resource, and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving place." The challenges of integrating policy, management and scientific research will be described through this and other international examples.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.107-116
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• 2021

Two stone loaches (Nemacheilidae, Cypriniformes), Barbatula toni (Dybowski, 1869) and B. nuda (Bleeker, 1864), have been recognized in the Korean waters to date. Recently, due to indiscriminate artificial introduction as well as the change of their habitats induced by natural disasters, it seems to be concerned about the damage of species-specific geographic boundaries. We examined the genetic difference of two Korean Barbatula species by the haplotype network based on the Cytochrome b sequences of mitochondrial DNA and the phylogenetic relationships among them including Barbatula fishes occurring around the Korean peninsula. As a result, three and 29 haplotypes were obtained from B. toni and B. nuda, respectively, and totally three clades comprising "toni group", "nuda hangang group", and "nuda donghae group" were identified. The sequence variable sites among them was 10~24%, showing a difference of interspecific level. Phylogenetic relationships of the latter group, especially, forms an independent cluster discriminating with other two groups as well as the Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and European Barbatula species, suggesting the possibility of the specific level divergence.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.509-520
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• 2018

Alkalinity is one of the basic variables, which determine geochemical characteristics of natural waters and participate in processes changing concentrations of various contaminants either directly or indirectly. However, not a few laboratories and researchers of Korea still use alkalinity-measurement methods not appropriate for groundwaters, and which becomes one of the major reasons for the poor ion balance errors of the geochemical analysis. This study was performed to review alkalinity-measurement methods, to discuss their advantages and disadvantages, and, thus, to help researchers and analytical specialists in analyzing alkalinity of groundwaters. The pH-titration-curve-inflection-point (PTC-IP) methods, which finds the alkalinity end point from the inflection point of the pH titration curve are revealed to be most accurate. Gran titration technique among them are likely to be most appropriate for accurate estimation of titrant volume to the end point. In contrast, other titration methods such as pH indicator method and pre-selected pH method, which are still commonly being used, are likely to cause erroneous results especially for groundwaters of low ionic strength and alkalinity.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.589-601
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• 2022

Although drought is a natural phenomenon, its damage occurs in combination with regional physical and social factors. Especially, related to the supply and demand of various waters, drought causes great socio-economic damage. Even meteorological droughts occur with similar severity, its impact varies depending on the regional characteristics and water supply system. Therefore, this study assessed regional drought risk considering regional socio-economic factors and water supply system. Drought hazard was assessed by grading the joint drought management index (JDMI) which represents water shortage. Drought vulnerability was assessed by weighted averaging 10 socio-economic factors using Entropy, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Drought response capacity that represents regional water supply factors was assessed by employing Bayesian networks. Drought risk was determined by multiplying a cubic root of the hazard, vulnerability, and response capacity. For the drought hazard meaning the possibility of failure to supply water, Goesan-gun was the highest at 0.81. For the drought vulnerability, Daejeon was most vulnerable at 0.61. Considering the regional water supply system, Sejong had the lowest drought response capacity. Finally, the drought risk was the highest in Cheongju-si. This study identified the regional drought risk and vulnerable causes of drought, which is useful in preparing drought mitigation policy considering the regional characteristics in the future.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.140-146
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• 2008

Marine ecotoxicological standard method using fish larvae was established with the standard test species of Oryzias latipes(Japanese Medaka) and Paralichthys olivaceus(flounder) and with the 7 day $LC_{50}$ as endpoint. Test method referred to the USEPA(1994) with the replacement of test species found in the Korean water. Standard test species were selected in terms of the species supply and ecological importance in Korean waters. Japanese medaka can be reared with small tanks in the lab and has wide tolerance on salinity, and flounder eggs can be easily obtained from commercial fish hatcheries. General conditions for larval fish toxicity test are as follows. The possible salinity ranges for toxicity test were $0{\sim}35\;psu$ for medaka and >20 psu for flounder. Test type was designated as static non-renewal test if the dissolved oxygen in the test chamber does not fall below 4.0 mg/L. Ages of test species were selected as 7 days after hatched for medaka(about 5 mm TL) and 25 days for flounder(about 10 mm TL) because of the low natural mortality after these periods. Test can be accepted when the survival rates are over 80% in control. Also, species sensitivity on standard reference materials(copper, cadmium or zinc) must be provided with the toxicity test results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.43-57
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• 2024

As coastal areas have a distinct nature with the interaction of the lands and waters, they attract people to enjoy and experience the natural environments physically and intellectually; this generates cultural ecosystem services. Coastal beaches are one of the most common coastal areas for cultural ecosystem services. The purpose of this study was to 1) estimate the economic values of cultural ecosystem services derived from coastal beaches, and 2) expand the estimated values into other beaches across the country using a benefit transfer method. We divided the values of cultural ecosystem services into five different categories based on an extensive literature review: recreation and tourism, landscape and aesthetic, educational, heritage, and inspirational values. The values of tourism and recreation, landscape and aesthetic, and educational services were estimated using the choice experiments. The attributes of the choice experiments consisted of conservation funds, litter, water quality, seascape, landscape, and biodiversity, and the data were collected through online surveys with visitors of 11 representative beaches in Korea. Heritage and inspiration services were estimated using a market goods method based on their expenditures. These values were transferred to 257 beaches across the country. Study results can be used for policy decisions on various restoration and conservation projects caused by coastal erosion and development and on the need and extent of public investments.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2024

Background: As pollutants caused by non-point sources flow into rivers, river water quality monitoring for fecal pollution is becoming increasingly important. Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the distribution of microbial communities in the Yeongsangang River water system and sewage treatment plants in Gwangju and to evaluate their antibiotic resistance. Methods: In the experiment, samples were distributed to five selective media at each point and then cultured for 18 to 24 hours. When bacteria were observed, they were sub-cultured by size and shape and identified using MALDI-TOF MS equipment. When identification was completed, 17 types of antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed using VITEK II equipment, focusing on gram-negative dominant species among the identified strains. Results: During the study period, a total of 266 strains were isolated from 39 samples. Gram-positive bacteria were 37 strains in four genera, or 13.9% of the total, and Gram-negative bacteria were 229 strains in 23 genera, or 86.1% of the total. Antibiotic susceptibility testing of 23 strains, the major dominant species, showed that one strain (4.3%) was resistant to only one antibiotic, and two strains (8.7%) were 100% susceptible to the 17 antibiotics tested. The other 20 strains (87.0%) were multidrug resistant bacteria resistant to two or more antibiotics. There were various types of multidrug resistance. Among them, penicillin and cephalosporin series showed the highest resistance. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, it was found that the bacterial community structure changed according to regional and environmental factors, and it was judged that continuous research such as genetic analysis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria present in natural rivers is necessary.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 1990

The water environmental characters of the Nakdong River, Geumho River and Sin Stream, both before-flood (Aug. 24) and after-flood (Sept. 8), have been compared, and their effects on the growth of Spirodela polyrhiza Shleiden have been examined. Before the flood, the concentrations of most of the chemical components of the Geumho River were similar to those of the Sin Stream; (COD, 19.6~21.4; alkalinity, 177~183; $NH_4\;^+$, 20.7~24.4; $NO_3\;^-$, 3.9~4.3; $PO_\;4^{3-}$, 3.4~3.7; $Mg^{2+}$, 42; $Ca^{2+}$, 68.5~69.7; $Cl^-$, 90~92; $SiO_2$, 10.4~11.2; , 11~32; LAS, 3.0~3.8; , 0.007~0.010ppm) but much higher than those of the Nakdong River (30~40 fold for $NH_4\;^+$, , $PO_\;4^{3-}$ and LAS, and 2~5 fold for COD, alkalinity, $NO_3\;^-$, $Mg^{2+}$, Cl- and ). Especially in the Geumho River, Secchi disk transparency was very low (17cm) and DO was not detected. The flood caused significant increases in some chemical components: $NH_4\;^+$, 1.0;$NO_3\;^-$, 9.6; , 12.8 and , 5.4 ppm in the Nakdong River; DO, 1.0; $NO_2\;^-$, 0.92; $NO_3\;^-$, 22.2 and $SiO_2$, 17.6ppm in the Geumho River; DO, 3.0; $NO_2\;^-$, 1.4; $NO_3\;^-$, 22.2; SiO2$SiO_2$, 19.2 and , 25.0ppm in the Sin Stream. General species diversity index (H) of phytoplankton community in the Nakdong River, Geumho River and Sin Stream before flood was 3.1, 2.7 and 1.6, respectively. After the flood, the phytoplankton growth was highly sparse in each river water, hence indices have no significance. The growth of S. polyrhiza was enhanced in Geumho River water (max. RGR=26%/day), while it ceased within 7days in Nakdong River water.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.333-345
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• 2001

The mature sperms of three species of cephalopods (Octopus minar, Octopus ocellatus, Todarodes pacificus) were observed by electron microscopy. The results obtained are as follows: The sperm lengths of Octopus minor and Octopus ocellatus of octopods are long and they are about $390{\mu}m$ and $125\sim130{\mu}m$, respectively, but the sperm length of Todarodes pacificus is short and about $35{\mu}m$. The sperm of Octopus minor has a helical acrosome and a head bent a little like a banana while Octopus ocellatus of octopod has a twisted acrosome and a long rod-shaped head. A number of horizontal stripes are observed as a periodic structure in their subacrosome cavities and dense plugs are formed in the cavities of their heads. On the other hand, the acrosome of Todarodes pacificus is circular cap-shaped, and its head is long and oval. It is notable that two small cavities were observed in its basal acrosome. Juxtanuclear acrosomal materials of high electron density filled the subacrosomal cavity. In the middle piece of mature sperms of Octopus minor and Octopus ocellatus, the mitochondria form the mitochondrial sleeve, but the numbers of mitochondria differ between the species so that they are $11\sim12$ and $8\sim9$, respectively. Meanwhile, in the middle piece of mature sperms of Todarodes pacificus, the mitochondria are separated from the axoneme, forming a mitochondrial spur in which $10\sim13$ mitochondria and some electron dense materials concentrate. The axoneme of Octopus minor, Octopus ocellatus and Todarodes pacificus are of 9+2 type in common, surrounded by 9 coarse fibres. A number of glycogen were observed only in the axoneme of Todarodes pacificus. The coarse fibres were found as far as the main piece of sperm tail in Octopks minor and Todarodes pacificus, while to the end piece of sperm tail in Octopus ocellatus.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.131-147
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• 2002

Optic lobes of Todarodes pacificus and Octopus minor are largely divided into cortex and medulla, the cortex being composed of three layers (an outer granule cell layer, a plexiform layer, and an inner granule cell layer). The cortex of Todarodes pacificus is about $420{\sim}450{\mu}m$ thick, being $170{\sim}200{\mu}m$ thicker than that of Octopus minor of which thickness is about $250{\sim}290{\mu}m$. In the outer granule cell layer of Todarodes pacificus, three types of nerve cells (type-A, type-B and type-C) and neuroglial cells that surround or contact with the neurons are observed, while in the outer granule cell layer of Octopus minor, two types of nerve cells (type-A and type-B) and a single type of neuroglial cells are observed. In a plexiform layer, a presynaptic bag and nerve endings are connected to each other, consequently forming various types of synaptosomes. The synaptosomes of Todarodes pacificus contain electron dense vesicles, electron dense-core vesicles and electron lucent vesicles, either individually or in a mixture. On the other hand, three types of synaptosomes a mixture of electron dense-core vesicles and electron lucent vesicles, electron lucent vesicles only, and electron dense-core vesicles only are observed in Octopus minor. The structures of the inner granule cell layer are almost similar in the two species. It is composed of two types of nerve cells (type-A, type-B) and a single type of neuroglial cells. In the medulla of Todarodes pacificus, the cells of $7{\times}5{\mu}m$ are arranged to a line and form the palisade cell layer, but these are not observed in Octopus minor.