• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2006

Recent global warming seems to be dramatic and has influenced forest ecosystems. Changes in phonology of biota, species distribution range shift and catastrophic climatic disasters due to recent global warming have been observed during the last century. Korean forests located mainly in the temperate zone also have been experienced climatic change impacts including shifting of leafing and flowering phonology, changes in natural disasters and forest productivity, However, little research has been conducted on the impact of climate change on forest ecosystems in Korea which is essential to assess the impact and extent of adaptation. Also there is a shortage in basic long-term data of forest ecosystem processes. Careful data collection and ecological process modeling should be focused on characteristic Korean forest ecosystems which are largely complex terrain that might have hindered research activities. An integrative ecosystem study which covers forest dynamics, biological diversity, water and carbon flux and cycles in a forest ecosystem and spatial and temporal dynamics modeling is introduced. Global warming effects on Korean forest ecosystems are reviewed. Forestry activity and the importance of forest ecosystems as a dynamic carbon reservoir are discussed. Forest management options and challenges for future research, impact assessment, and preparation of mitigating measures in Korea are proposed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.251-260
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• 1998

The Holter monitoring system is a widely used noninvasive diagnostic tool for ambulatory patient who may be at risk from latent life-threatening cardiac abnormalities. In this paper, we design a high performance intelligent holter monitoring system which is characterized by the small-sized and the low-power consumption. The system hardware consists of one-chip microcontroller(68HC11E9), ECG preprocessing circuit, and flash memory card. ECG preprocessing circuit is made of ECG preamplifier with gain of 250, 500 and 1000, the bandpass filter with bandwidth of 0.05-100Hz, the auto-balancing circuit and the saturation-calibrating circuit to eliminate baseline wandering, ECG signal sampled at 240 samples/sec is converted to the digital signal. We use a linear recursive filter and preprocessing algorithm to detect the ECG parameters which are QRS complex, and Q-R-T points, ST-level, HR, QT interval. The long-term acquired ECG signals and diagnostic parameters are compressed by the MFan(Modified Fan) and the delta modulation method. To easily interface with the PC based analyzer program which is operated in DOS and Windows, the compressed data, that are compatible to FFS(flash file system) format, are stored at the flash memory card with SBF(symmetric block format).

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.474-486
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• 2010

In this paper, we propose a new method for detection moving object contour using spatial and temporal edge. In general, contour pixels of the moving object are likely present around pixels with high gradient value along the time axis and the spatial axis. Therefore, we can detect the contour of the moving objects by finding pixels which have high gradient value in the time axis and spatial axis. In this paper, we introduce a new computation method, termed as temporal edge, to compute an gradient value along the time axis for any pixel on an image. The temporal edge can be computed using two input gray images at time t and t-2 using the Sobel operator. Temporal edge is utilized to detect a candidate region of the moving object contour and then the detected candidate region is used to extract spatial edge information. The final contour of the moving object is detected using the combination of these two edge information, which are temporal edge and spatial edge, and then the post processing such as a morphological operation and a background edge removing procedure are applied to remove noise regions. The complexity of the proposed method is very low because it dose not use any background scene and high complex operation, therefore it can be applied to real-time applications. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the conventional contour extraction methods in term of processing effort and a ghost effect which is occurred in the case of entropy method.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.445-453
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• 2007

The purposes of this study lie on understanding characteristic water-rock interaction mechanisms of groundwater in the Geochang, Hapcheon, and Changryeong areas and establishing correlation between geological factors and groundwater chemistry by statistical tools. Based on the statistical results from the relationship between rock types and groundwater chemistry, fluorine is correlated with Fe and Al in the diorite area, whereas it is correlated with Cl and $NO_3-N$ in the andesite area. Hardness, total solids, and $SO_4$ show that they are closely related to each other in all rock types, especially with highest relationship in sedimentary rocks. Although it is generally acknowledged that TDS increases with depths of aquifer due to the long term water-rock interaction, no remarkable relationship between well depth and water chemistry is found in this study. It appears that hydrogeological system in the study area may be complex or the path of water-rock interaction is inconsistent with well depth.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2007

The term, "food safety", has traditionally been viewed as a practical science aimed at assuring the prevention acute illnesses caused by biological microorganisms, and only to a minor extent, chronic diseases cause by chronic low level exposures to natural and synthetic chemicals or pollutants. "food safety" meant to prevent microbiological agents/toxins in/on foods, due to contamination any where from "farm to Fork", from causing acute health effects, especially to the young, immune-compromised, genetically-predisposed and elderly. However, today a broader view must also include the fact that diet, perse (nutrients, vitamins/minerals, calories), as well as low level toxins and pollutant or supplemented synthetic chemicals, can alter gene expressions of stem/progenitor/terminally-differentiated cells, leading to chronic inflammation and other mal-functions that could lead to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, atherogenesis and possibly reproductive and neurological disorders. Understanding of the mechanisms by which natural or synthetic chemical toxins/toxicants, in/on food, interact with the pathogenesis of acute and chronic diseases, should lead to a "systems" approach to "food safety". Clearly, the interactions of diet/food with the genetic background, gender, and developmental state of the individual, together with (a) interactions of other endogenous/exogenous chemicals/drugs; (b) the specific biology of the cells being affected; (c) the mechanisms by which the presence or absence of toxins/toxicants and nutrients work to cause toxicities; and (d) how those mechanisms affect the pathogenesis of acute and/or chronic diseases, must be integrated into a "system" approach. Mechanisms of how toxins/toxicants cause cellular toxicities, such as mutagenesis; cytotoxicity and altered gene expression, must take into account (a) irreversible or reversal changes caused by these toxins or toxicants; (b)concepts of thresholds or no-thresholds of action; and (c) concepts of differential effects on stem cells, progenitor cells and terminally differentiated cells in different organs. This brief Commentary tries to illustrate this complex interaction between what is on/in foods with one disease, namely cancer. Since the understanding of cancer, while still incomplete, can shed light on the multiple ways that toxins/toxicants, as well as dietary modulation of nutrients/vitamins/metals/ calories, can either enhance or reduce the risk to cancer. In particular, diets that alter the embryo-fetal micro-environment might dramatically alter disease formation later in life. In effect "food safety" can not be assessed without understanding how food could be 'toxic', or how that mechanism of toxicity interacts with the pathogenesis of any disease.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.83 no.2
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• pp.141-146
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• 2020

Background: The burden of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary disease (PD) is increasing globally. To understand the treatment outcomes and prognosis of NTM-PD, a unified registry is needed. In this project, we aim to construct a multicenter prospective observational cohort with NTM-PD in South Korea (NTM-KOREA). Methods: The primary objective of this study is to analyze treatment outcomes according to the species. In addition, recurrence rate, adverse events, the impact of each drug on treatment outcomes as well as the impact of characteristics of mycobacteriology will be analyzed. The inclusion criteria for the study are as follows: fulfilling the criteria for NTM-PD having one of the following etiologic organisms: Mycobacterium avium complex, M. abscessus subspecies abscessus, M. abscessus subspecies massiliense, or M. kansasii; receiving the first treatment for NTM-PD after enrollment; age >20 years; and consenting to participate in the study. Seven institutions will participate in patient enrollment and about 500 patients are expected to be enrolled. Participants will be recruited from 1 March 2020 until 19 March 2024 and will be observed through 19 March 2029. During the follow-up period, participants' clinical course will be tracked and their clinical data as well as NTM isolates will be collected. Conclusion: NTM-KOREA will be the first nationwide observational cohort for NTM-PD in South Korea. It will provide the information to optimize treatment modalities and will contribute to deeper understanding of the treatment outcomes and long-term prognosis of patients with NTM-PD in South Korea.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.745-753
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• 2017

In this study, a design strategy is proposed to restore the distorted urban water cycle to the natural water cycle through the LID facility. This is accomplished by determining the optimal LID facility design capacity through which flow duration curves remain the same before and after urban development. A part of the Noksan National Industrial Complex in Busan was selected as the study area and EPA SWMM was constructed to simulate long-term stormwater for various land use scenarios and LID facility design capacity. In the case that the study area was assumed to be a forest area or an agricultural area before urban development, it was found that it was necessary to allocate 7.3% or 5.5% of the impervious area to the area of the bio-retention in order for the flow duration curve to remain the same as before urban development. As a result of the sensitivity analysis of the bio-retention design capacity according to regional rainfall characteristics, the design capacity of 3.8~5.5% of impervious area is needed for the development of agriculture area. Therefore, it can be seen that the optimum capacity can be significantly different according to regional rainfall characteristics. On the other hand, as a result of analyzing the sensitivity of the design capacity according to the variation of the depth of each layer constituting the bio-retention and the size of contributing catchment area, the sensitivity of the optimal design capacity with respect to the design specifications of the bio-retention and the size of contributing catchment area was not significant.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.170-176
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• 2004

This study was carried out to establish a spatial decision support system for evaluating climatic aspects of a given geographic location in complex terrains with respect to the quality apple production. Monthly climate data from S6 synoptic stations across South Korea were collected for 1971-2000. A digital elevation model (DEM) with a 10-m cell spacing was used to spatially interpolate daily maximum and minimum temperatures based on relevant topoclimatological models applied to Jangsoo county in Korea. For daily minimum temperature, a spatial interpolation scheme accommodating the potential influences of cold air accumulation and the temperature inversion was used. For daily maximum temperature estimation, a spatial interpolation model loaded with the overheating index was used. Freezing risk in January was estimated under the recurrence intervals of 30 years. Frost risk at bud-burst and blossom was also estimated. Fruit quality was evaluated for soluble solids, anthocyanin content, Hunter L and A values, and LID ratio, which were expressed as empirical functions of temperature based on long-term field observations. AU themes were prepared as ArcGlS Grids with a 10-m cell spacing. Analysis showed that 11 percent of the whole land area of Jangsoo county might be suitable for quality 'Fuji' apple production. A computer program (MAPLE) was written to help utilize the results in decision-making for site-selection of new orchards in this region.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2013

The one-way wave equation migration is much more computationally efficient comparing with reverse time migration and it can provide better image than the migration algorithm based on the ray theory. We have developed the prestack depth migration module adopting (GS) propagator designed for vertical transverse isotropic media. Since GS propagator considers the higher-order term by expanding the Taylor series of the vertical slowness in the thin slab of the phase-screen propagator, the GS migration can offer more correct image for the complex subsurface with large lateral velocity variation or steep dip. To verify the validity of the developed GS migration module, we analyzed the accuracy with the order of the GS propagator for VTI media (GSVTI propagator) and confirmed that the accuracy of the wavefield propagation with the wide angles increases as the order of the GS propagator increases. Using the synthetic seismic data, we compared the migration results obtained from the isotropic GS migration module with the anisotropic GS migration module. The results show that the anisotropic GS migration provides better images and the improvement is more evident on steeply dipping structures and in a strongly anisotropic medium.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.46
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• pp.280-322
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is put on the evaluation of public support for media with the case of Special Act on Supporting Local Press whose main purpose can be said to help local press in crisis intending the improvement of news quality. However, it was controversial whether public support on specific media under the governmental leadership, which is related to the disputes on its abrogation with the change of the regime. Therefore, this study tries to evaluate its achievement focused on its effect on the diversity of public opinion especially with the eyes of audience. In-depth interviews were executed to find out whether it had helped local press to improve public interest for the last three years of public support. The interviewees, the readers as well as monitors of local press, answered that there had been some improvement in news quality and diversity of local press in general. However, they thought that fund support for news gathering cost was problematic and would be negative in the long-term perspective. In conclusion, the interviewees regarded Special Act on Supporting Local Press as necessary one to help local press in crisis but pointed out also that the act might not enough to change local press because the situation they were facing is so complex. Hence, this study argues that the evaluation of Special Act on supporting Local Press should be approached Abstracts 683 not on the basis of political logics but of the public interest and democracy.