• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.204-212
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• 2023

Whitening is inhibitory activity of the melanin synthesis of melanocytes. Recently, whitening materials have been developed on natural materials because of its side effects on skin. Figs (Ficus Carica L.) is a fruit belonging to the Moraceae family and whitening activity was reported in focusing on the fig's stem and leaf components, but whitening activity of the figs fruit was not known. Thus, in this study, we tried to observe its anti-melanogenesis as well as antioxidant and anti-inflammation. The radical scavenging activity of figs fruits extract (FFE) was observed as the level of 34.52±1.98%/60.71±1.26% compared to the control in the its maximum concentration in the DPPH/ABTS assay. Cytotoxicity of FFE was observed at 10% concentration by CCK8 assay, so the maximum concentration was set at 5% and applied to all experiments. FFE concentration dependently decreased NO production associated with inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α gene expression, these strongly suggesting anti-inflammatory activity. In melanin contents assay, FFE significantly down-regulated melanin production in α-MSH-stimulated B16F10 cell as well as tyrosinase inhibition in vitro. In addition, FFE decreased the Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) mRNA expression about 94.34% compared to the α-MSH treatment group in RT-PCR. Finally, FFE significantly reduced the MITF, cAMP response element-binding protein and tyrosinase protein expression in the α-MSH stimulated B16F10 cell. Through these results, we found that FFE can not only directly inhibit tyrosinase enzyme activity but also suppress melanogenesis through regulation of MITF gene expression in α-MSH signal transduction.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.478-485
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• 2009

This study was conducted to reclassify Yongheung series based on the second edition of Soil Taxonomy and to discuss the formation of Yongheung series in Jeju Island. Morphological properties of typifying pedon of Yongheung series were investigated and physico-chemical properties were analyzed according to Soil Survey Laboratory Methods Manual. The typifying pedon contains 3.2~3.4% oxalate extractable (Al + 1/2 Fe), less than 85% phosphate retention, and higher bulk density than $0.90Mg\;m^{-3}$. That can not be classified as Andisol. But it has an argillic horizon from a depth of 15 to 150 cm and a base saturation (sum of cations) of less than 35% at 125 cm below the upper boundary of the argillic horizon. That can be classified as Ultisol, not as Andisol or Alfisol. The typifying pedon has 0.9 % or more organic carbon in the upper 15 cm of the argillic horizon and accordingly, can be classified as Humult. It has a clay distribution in which the percentage of clay does not decrese from its maximum amount by 20% or more within a depth of 150 cm from the mineral soil surface, and keys out as Palehumult. Also that meets the requirements of Typic Palehumult. That has 35 % or more clay at the particle-size control section and has mesic soil temperature regime. Yongheung series can be classified as fine, mixed, thermic family of Typic Palehumults, not as fine, mixed, thermic family of Typic Hapludalfs. Most soils distributed in the southern coastal areas in Jeju island which have a humid climate are developed as Andisols. But Yongheung series distributed in this areas and derived from mainly trachyte, trachytic andesite, and volcanic ash are developed as Ultisols.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.353-363
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• 1999

The Cretaceous and the Upper Jurassic strata of the Korean Peninsula, entirely of continental facies, form a sedimentary mega-unit subdivided into three unconformity-bounded units. The lower, Upper Jurassic-early Lower Cretaceous unit (Jasong Synthem) occurs profusely in North Korea and is characterized by volcanic rocks of intermediate to acidic, calc-alkaline to alkaline compositions; but strata of this unit is very rare in South Korea. The middle, Hauterivian-Lower Albian unit occurs commonly in the Korean Peninsula, but some alkalinesubalkaline basalt and andesite occur only in South Korea. A recently obtained U-Pb isochron age about 113.6 Ma (Chang et at, 1998) from the zircon grains of the Kusandong Tuff in the uppermost part of the Haman Formation has thrown much light on the age of this unit. The stratotype of this Hauterivian-L. Albian unit is the Sindong and Hayang Groups of the Kyongsang Basin, where the unit is about twice thick and has more conglomerates than in sedimentary basins in North Korea. The unit shows various sedimentary cycles in different basins showing that the cyclicity is controlled by local crustal motion. The upper, Upper Albian-Upper Cretaceous unit is abundant in South Korea with prolific volcanic rocks which are intermediate to acidic and notably calc-alkaline. In North Korea, however, this unit occurs in only one locality without volcanic rocks and is not voluminous. The distribution of these three unconformity-bounded units shows a stepwise younging toward the Pacific Ocean: the lower unit occurs mainly in N Korea, the middle unit occurs in both N and S Korea, and the upper unit occurs mainly in the southern part of S Korea. The Cretaceous sedimentary basins of S Korea were genetically controlled by paralleling sinistral strike-slip faults parallel to the Pacific margin.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.190-198
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• 2008

There is an increasing concern over heavy metal contamination of paddy soils and the subsequent translocation of heavy metals to rice. Objective is to monitor the status and long-term trend of heavy metal contamination in paddy soils, periodically. In 2007 survey, the average concentrations of As(arsenic), Cd(cadmium), Cu(copper), Ni(nickel), Pb(lead), and Zn(zinc) in 2,010 paddy soils nationwide were 0.87, 0.08, 3.33, 1.19, 4.95 and $4.67mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively. Few sites, which were contaminated by As in 2003 and 2007 survey and by Ni in 1999 and 2007 survey, were over the threshold level for soil contamination designated by the Soil Environmental Conservation Act in Korea. Long-term change was shown that As, Ni, and Zn were gradually increased whereas Cd and Cu were decreased. In the distribution of extractable heavy metal contents, the modes of each heavy metal content were similar with the average contents of each heavy metals. Mean value of heavy metals except copper in paddy soils was higher than median value. It means that the downward distribution of heavy metal content in paddy rice was shown against normal distribution.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.35-46
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• 2011

This paper aims at examining the indices and their weights for the evaluation of local government to allocate reconstruction charge and reviewing the availability of them simulating local governments' evaluation. There has been no specific evaluation criteria existed, while central government has to allocate the reconstruction charge to local governments by the provision 3 of Restitution of Housing Reconstruction Gains Act. The results as follows : According to a survey on evaluation indices weight and AHP analysis, the weight of 'the housing welfare improve effort' is the highest with 25.1% among 5 upper-classification indices. Following this, each weight of 'housing welfare conditions(22.7%)', 'housing SOC establishment(22.5%)', 'the achievement and planning on reconstruction charge use(15.8%)', and 'housing sector achievement such as Bogeumjari(13.9%)' are ranked. Meanwhile, Among 16 lower-classification indices, 'the rate of minimum housing standard households(11.5%)', 'public rental housing supply(8.9%)', 'reconstruction charge use achievement(8.3%)', 'reconstruction charge use planning submit(7.5%)', and 'rate of water and sewage(6.3%)' hold high rank. The analysis results show the weight of 'housing sector achievement such as Bogeumjari' on the existing provisions should be decreased(30%${\rightarrow}$13.9%) as others' weight has to be slightly increased. According to the result of the simulation, Jeonbuk, Gyeongbuk, Jeonnam, Jeju, Gyeonggi received higher scores in the comprehensive evaluation, while Daejeon, Seoul, Incheon, Daegu and Gwangju, where the housing conditions are relatively good, received lower scores. These results of the analysis correspond with the direction of reconstruction charges allocation and indicate that the evaluation criteria used in this simulation is acceptable.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1258-1263
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• 2011

This study was conducted to reclassify Asan series based on the second edition of Soil Taxonomy and to discuss the formation of Asan series distributed on the rolling to hilly areas. Morphological properties of typifying pedon of Asan series were investigated and physico-chemical properties were analyzed according to Soil survey laboratory methods manual. The typifying pedon of Asan series has dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly loam Ap horizon (0-18 cm), strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly clay loam BA horizon (18-30 cm), red (2.5YR 4/6) gravelly clay loam Bt1 horizon (30-52 cm), red (2.5YR 4/8) gravelly clay loam Bt2 horizon (52-98 cm), and red (2.5YR 4/8) gravelly clay loam C horizon (98-160 cm). The typifying pedon has an argillic horizon from a depth of 30 to 98 cm and a base saturation (sum of cations) of less than 35% at 125 cm below the upper boundary of the argillic horizon. It can be classified as Ultisol, not as Inceptisol. It has udic soil moisture regime, and can be classified as Udult. Also that meets the requirements of Typic Hapludults. It has 18-35% clay at the particle-size control section, and has mesic soil temperature regime. Therefore Asan series can be classified as fine loamy, mesic family of Typic Hapludults, not as fine loamy, mesic family of Typic Dystrudepts. Asan series occur on rolling to hilly areas in residual materials derived from granite gneiss, schist, and gneiss rocks. They are developed as Ultisols with clay mineral weathering, translocation of clays to accumulate in an argillic horizon, and leaching of base-forming cations from the profile for relatively long periods under humid and temperate climates in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1272-1278
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• 2011

This study was conducted to reclassify Cheongweon series based on the second edition of Soil Taxonomy and to discuss the formation of Cheongweon series distributed on broad continental alluvial plains. Morphological properties of typifying pedon of Cheongweon series were investigated and physico-chemical properties were analyzed according to Soil survey laboratory methods manual. The typifying pedon of Cheongweon series has dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silt loam Ap horizon (0~18 cm), dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silt loam BA horizon (18~30 cm), dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) silty clay loam Bt1 horizon (30~60 cm), strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) silty clay loam Bt2 horizon (60~91 cm), brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam BC horizon (91~104 cm), and mottled (7.5YR 4/6, and 7.5YR 5/2) silt loam C horizon (104~160 cm). The typifying pedon has an argillic horizon from a depth of 30 to 91 cm and a base saturation (sum of cations) of 35% or more at 125 cm below the upper boundary of the argillic horizon. It can be classified as Alfisol, not as Incceptisol. It has udic soil moisture regime, and can be classified as Udalf. Also that meets the requirements of Hapluadalf. It has anthraquic condition, and keys out as Anthraquic Hapludalf. That has fine silty textural family, and has mesic soil temperature regime. Therefore Cheongweon series can be classified as fine silty, mixed, mesic family of Anthraquic Hapludalfs, not as fine silty, mixed, mesic family of Fluvaquentic Epiaquepts.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.91-103
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• 2009

Slope failure depends upon the climatic features related to related rainfall, structural geology and geomorphological features as well as the variation of the mechanical behaviors of soil constituting a slope. In this paper, among many variables, effects of soil layer thickness on the slope failure process, and variations of matric suction and volumetric water content were observed. When the soil layer is relatively thick, the descending wetting front decreases matric suction and the observed matric suction reaches to "0" value. When the wetting front reaches to the impermeable boundary, the bottom surface of steel soil box, ascending wetting front was observed. This observation can be postulated to be the effects of various sizes of pores. When macro size pores exist, the capillary effects can be reduced and infilling of pore will be limited. The partially filled pores would be filled with water during the ascending of the wetting front, which bounces from the impermeable boundary. This assumption has been assured from the observation of variation of the volumetric water contents at different depth. When the soil layer is thick (thickness = 20 cm), for granular material, erosion is a cause triggering the slope failure. It has been found that the initiation of erosion occurs when the top soil is fully saturated. Meanwhile, when the soil layer is shallow (thickness = 10 cm), slope slides as en mass. The slope failure for this condition occurs when the wetting front reaches to the interface between the soil layer and steel soil box. As the wetting front approaches to the bottom of soil layer, reduction of shear resistance along the boundary and increase of the unit weight due to the infiltration occur and these produce complex effects on the slope failure processes.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.167-176
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• 2022

We designed a borehole deviation survey tool applicable for steel-cased holes, K-DEV, and developed a prototype for a depth of 500 m aiming to development of own equipment required to secure deep subsurface characterization technologies. K-DEV is equipped with sensors that provide digital output with verified high performance; moreover, it is also compatible with logging winch systems used in Korea. The K-DEV prototype has a nonmagnetic stainless steel housing with an outer diameter of 48.3 mm, which has been tested in the laboratory for water resistance up to 20 MPa and for durability by running into a 1-km deep borehole. We confirmed the operational stability and data repeatability of the prototype by constantly logging up and down to the depth of 600 m. A high-precision micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope was used for the K-DEV prototype as the gyro sensor, which is crucial for azimuth determination in cased holes. Additionally, we devised an accurate trajectory survey algorithm by employing Unscented Kalman filtering and data fusion for optimization. The borehole test with K-DEV and a commercial logging tool produced sufficiently similar results. Furthermore, the issue of error accumulation due to drift over time of the MEMS gyro was successfully overcome by compensating with stationary measurements for the same attitude at the wellhead before and after logging, as demonstrated by the nearly identical result to the open hole. We believe that the methodology of K-DEV development and operational stability, as well as the data reliability of the prototype, were confirmed through these test applications.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.19-31
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• 2024

Ports are vital social infrastructures that significantly influence both people's lives and a country's economy. In South Korea, the aging of port infrastructure combined with the increased frequency of various natural disasters underscores the necessity of displacement monitoring for safety management of the port. In this study, the time-series displacements of Yeongilman Port and surrounding areas in Pohang, South Korea, were measured by applying Permanent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PSInSAR) to Sentinel-1 SAR images collected from the satellite's ascending (February 2017-July 2023) and descending (February 2017-December 2021) nodes, and the displacement associated with the 2017 Pohang earthquake in the port was analyzed. The southern (except the southernmost) and central parts of Yeongilman Port showed large displacements attributed to construction activities for about 10 months at the beginning of the observation period, and the coseismic displacement caused by the Pohang earthquake was up to 1.6 cm of the westward horizontal motion and 0.5 cm of subsidence. However, little coseismic displacement was observed in the southernmost part of the port, where reclamation was completed last, and in the northern part of the oldest port. This represents that the weaker the consolidation of the reclaimed soil in the port, the more vulnerable it is to earthquakes, and that if the soil is very weakly consolidated due to ongoing reclamation, it would not be significantly affected by earthquakes. Summer subsidence and winter uplift of about 1 cm have been repeatedly observed every year in the entire area of Yeongilman Port, which is attributed to volume changes in the reclaimed soil due to temperature changes. The ground of the 1st and 2nd General Industrial Complexes adjacent to Yeongilman Port subsided during the observation period, and the rate of subsidence was faster in the 1st Industrial Complex. The 1st Industrial Complex was observed to have a westward horizontal displacement of 3 mm and a subsidence of 6 mm as the coseismic displacement of the Pohang earthquake, while the 2nd Industrial Complex was analyzed to have been little affected by the earthquake. The results of this study allowed us to identify the time-series displacement characteristics of Yeongilman Port and understand the impact of earthquakes on the stability of a port built by coastal reclamation.