• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.341-357
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• 2019

Acanthamoeba, one of free-living amoebae (FLA), remains a high risk of direct contact with this protozoan parasite which is ubiquitous in nature and man-made environment. This pathogenic FLA can cause sight-threatening amoebic keratitis (AK) and fatal granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) though these cases may not commonly be reported in our clinical settings. Acanthamoeba has been detected from different environmental sources namely; soil, water, hotspring, swimming pool, air-conditioner, or contact lens storage cases. The identification of Acanthamoeba is based on morphological appearance and molecular techniques using PCR and DNA sequencing for clinico-epidemiological purposes. Recent treatments have long been ineffective against Acanthamoeba cyst, novel anti-Acanthamoeba agents have therefore been extensively investigated. There are efforts to utilize synthetic chemicals, lead compounds from medicinal plant extracts, and animal products to combat Acanthamoeba infection. Applied nanotechnology, an advanced technology, has shown to enhance the anti-Acanthamoeba activity in the encapsulated nanoparticles leading to new therapeutic options. This review attempts to provide an overview of the available data and studies on the occurrence of pathogenic Acanthamoeba among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members with the aim of identifying some potential contributing factors such as distribution, demographic profile of the patients, possible source of the parasite, mode of transmission and treatment. Further, this review attempts to provide future direction for prevention and control of the Acanthamoeba infection.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.301-321
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• 2019

The development of a rapidly hardening seal material applicable to steel pipe multistage grouting is described in this paper. In the multistage technique, seal materials are inserted to prevent the backflow of main grouting material. The grouting material must be inserted only after sufficient time has passed for the seal material to reach a gel state. Otherwise, the fluid seal material mixes with the main grouting material and a backflow of the grouting material occurs, thereby making its in situ insertion difficult. Furthermore, if the seal material remains in the gel state for too long a time, it solidifies; and the main grouting material will not be able to seep into the soil. The gel time, i.e., the time needed for the fluid seal material to turn into a gel state, determines the construction period of steel pipe multistage grouting. The gel time is one of the important factors in this technique, because it impacts the total tunnel construction period significantly. This study develops a rapidly hardening calcium aluminate material, which can reduce the gel time and shorten the construction period while retaining proper sealing function. It also presents a method to determine whether the seal material has reached the gel state as well as the quality standard and bleeding rate testing method for the seal material in the gel state.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.372-381
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• 2019

In this study, the National Disaster Management System (NDMS) was analyzed to evaluate the disaster impact assessment standards for steep slopes. Problems in the assessment methods and systems were discovered, which could be reasons for poor reliability. The disaster-risk evaluation index needs improvement to evaluate various types of retaining walls, such as concrete/reinforced soil walls and reinforcing stone masonry. Additionally, using the same score for overturning, bulging, and efflorescence could be reasons for poor reliability, and different weighting factors are needed. Assessment methods are needed to subdivide the social influence evaluation index while considering environmental conditions of steep slopes, such as railroads and reservoirs. For the evaluation of steep slopes, standards for start and end points of steep slopes should be created for effective management, and disaster impact assessment needs to be performed after redevelopment from an advanced index for protection and reinforcement. These problems were derived from a current evaluation system, so a disaster impact assessment is necessary to supplement the results of this study.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.59-64
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• 2019

This study suggests a conceptual strategy and methodology for the risk assessment of the domestic abandoned mine fillers with fly ash. The fillers are composed of coal fly ash and solidification materials, and contain little toxic substances such as carbonates but also some heavy metals; therefore, those requires a risk assessment. The risk assessment should primarily focus on estimation of the effects to human health both on carcinogen and non-carcinogen aspects. The significant data such as toxicity and partition coefficients can be obtained from the national soil or mine environmental risk assessment guidelines. Accurate risk assessment of heavy metal contamination in the fillers may consume lots of time and efforts through site survey and instrumental analyses, etc. Moreover, it is inefficient to explore all of the factors as concentrations and categories in every heavy metal in the fillers, due to a high variety and complexity. Therefore, implementation of a preliminary risk assessment is suggested by using the literature data and the basic characteristics of the filler samples prior to the detailed risk assessment. Certainly, this presumes a thorough understanding of reliable sample analysis methods, exposure pathways, and relevant physicochemical and biological mechanisms.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.329-338
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• 2019

Suction of unsaturated bentonite buffers is a very important input parameter for hydro-mechanical performance assessment and design of an engineered barrier system. This study analyzed suction measurement techniques and constitutive models of unsaturated porous media reported in the literature, and suggested suction measurement techniques and constitutive models suitable for bentonite buffer in an HLW repository. The literature review showed the suction of bentonite buffer to be much higher than that of soil, as measured by total suction including matric suction and osmotic suction. The measurement methods (RH-Cell, RH-Cell/Sensor) using a relative humidity sensor were suitable for suction measurement of the bentonite buffer; the RH-Cell /Sensor method was more preferred in consideration of the temperature change due to radioactive decay heat and measurement time. Various water retention models of bentonite buffers have been proposed through experiments, but the van Genuchten model is mainly used as a constitutive model of hydro-mechanical performance assessment of unsaturated buffers. The water characteristic curve of bentonite buffers showed different tendencies according to bentonite type, dry density, temperature, salinity, sample state and hysteresis. Selection of water retention models and determination of model input parameters should consider the effects of these controlling factors so as to improve overall reliability.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2019

Frost heave is one of the representative engineering characteristics in cold regions. In South Korea, which is located in seasonal frost area, structural damage caused by frost heave and thaw happens and the need for research on the frost heave is increasing. In this paper, newly developed transparent temperature-controllable cell is used to focus on the frost heave. Frost susceptible artificial soil is used to analyze water intake rate which is one of the important factors in frost susceptibility criteria. Frost heave rate and water intake rate have similar behavior after heave by freezing of pore water converges. O-ring installed in the upper pedestal to measure water intake rate generates side friction between the inner wall of the freezing cell and O-ring, thereby hindering frost heave. Therefore, the frost susceptibility criteria using the water intake rate is not reliable. It is appropriate to use frost heave rate which has similar behavior with water intake rate. Frost heave tests were performed under two different specimen heights. Overburden pressure, temperature gradient and dry unit weight were set under similar state. Based on laboratory testing results, frost heave is independent on the specimen height.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1666-1689
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• 2021

The red line of Permanent Basic Farmland is the most important part in the "three-line" demarcation of China's national territorial development plan. The scientific and reasonable delineation of the red line is a major strategic measure being taken by China to improve its ability to safeguard the practical interests of farmers and guarantee national food security. The delineation of Permanent Basic Farmland zoning (DPBFZ) is essentially a multi-objective optimization problem. However, the traditional method of demarcation does not take into account the synergistic development goals of conservation of cultivated land utilization, ecological conservation, or urban expansion. Therefore, this research introduces the idea of artificial immune optimization and proposes a multi-objective model of DPBFZ red line delineation based on a clone selection algorithm. This research proposes an objective functional system consisting of these three sub-objectives: optimal quality of cropland, spatially concentrated distribution, and stability of cropland. It also takes into consideration constraints such as the red line of ecological protection, topography, and space for major development projects. The mathematical formal expressions for the objectives and constraints are given in the paper, and a multi-objective optimal decision model with multiple constraints for the DPBFZ problem is constructed based on the clone selection algorithm. An antibody coding scheme was designed according to the spatial pattern of DPBFZ zoning. In addition, the antibody-antigen affinity function, the clone mechanism, and mutation strategy were constructed and improved to solve the DPBFZ problem with a spatial optimization feature. Finally, Tongxu County in Henan province was selected as the study area, and a controlled experiment was set up according to different target preferences. The results show that the model proposed in this paper is operational in the work of delineating DPBFZ. It not only avoids the adverse effects of subjective factors in the delineation process but also provides multiple scenarios DPBFZ layouts for decision makers by adjusting the weighting of the objective function.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.77-86
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• 2020

In this study, the importance of implied strength correction for shallow depths at a region of moderate to low seismicity with primary focus on its effect upon site natural period and mean period of the ground motion is investigated. In addition to the most commonly used Modified Kondner-Zelasko (MKZ) model, this paper uses a quadratic/hyperbolic (GQ/H) model that can capture the stress - strain response at large strains as well as small strain stiffness dependence. A total of six site profiles by downhole tests are used and 1D site response analyses are performed using three input motions with contrasting mean periods. The difference between non-corrected and corrected analyses is conditional on the site period as well as mean ground motion period. The effect of periods is analyzed by correlating them with the effective peak ground acceleration, maximum shear strains and amplification factors. The comparative study reveals that the difference is more prominent in soft sites with long site periods. Insignificant differences are observed when soil profiles are subjected to ground motion with very short mean period.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.549-560
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• 2021

Forces exerted on a shield TBM (tunnel boring machine) such as cutter head torque, thrust force, chamber pressure, and upward force are key factors determining TBM performance. However, the forces acting on the TBM when tunnelling the mixed ground have different tendencies compared to that of the uniform ground, which could impair TBM performance. In this study, the effect of mixed ground tunnelling was numerically investigated with torque, thrust force, chamber pressure, and upward force. A coupled discrete element method (DEM) and finite difference method (FDM) model for TBM driving model was used. This numerical study simulates TBM tunnelling in mixed ground composed of upper weathered granite soil and lower weathered rock. The effect on the force acting on the TBM according to the location and slope of the boundary of the mixed ground was numerically examined.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.402-412
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• 2022

This study investigated each forest's stand characteristics and the NVOCs emission characteristics for Quercus acuta, Castanopsis sieboldii, Dendropanax trifidus, Camellia Japonica which are major warm temperate evergreen broad-leaved species, and Pinus thunbergii. Data were collected from May 2019 to January 2020. The seasonal temperature and humidity of each research site indicated the typical climatic characteristics of Korea, which are hot and humid in summer and cold and dry in winter. Also, the atmospheric pressure was generally high in winter and higher in autumn and winter than in spring and summer. Overall, the total volume of NVOCs (Natural Volatile Organic Compounds) from the five research sites was the highest in the summer. The concentration of TNVOCs was relatively high in the Dendropanax trifidus forest in spring and winter, the Castanopsis sieboldii forest in the autumn, and the Quercus acuta forest in the summer. According to the results of this study, it was confirmed that the concentrations of NVOCs emission of warm temperate evergreen broad-leaved species such as Quercus acuta, Castanopsis sieboldii, Dendropanax trifidus and Camellia Japonica were not lower but rather higher than Pinus thunbergii. The correlation was positive (+) between NVOCs emission and temperature (r=0.590, P=0.000) or humidity (r=0.655, P=0.000), whereas it was negative (-) between NVOCs emission and atmospheric pressure (r=-0.384, P=0.000) or wind speed (r=-0.263, P=0.018). Among the micrometeological factors, humidity (β=0.507, P=0.000) was found to have the greatest effect on NVOC emission, followed by temperature, atmospheric pressure, and wind speed.