• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.455-460
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• 2010

This study was carried out to find out any inherent problems occurring in the sampling and analytical procedures, and to suggest the relevant solutions to the problems. In addition, an optimal condition of clean-up process was developed, which was based on a method using silica glass column. As a result of experiments to test any artificial contamination of blank samples such as glassware and collection media, artifacts of DBP and DEHP appeared to be detected in various kinds of laboratory tools and apparatuses used in the sampling and analytical works. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate a degree of contamination before laboratory works by conducting a prior check any possible contaminations in all experimental tools and apparatus. It is also necessary to devise a method to avoid a tool, if possible, or to use a substitute of phthalate free. If the use of any plastic tool to cause contamination is inevitable, it should be properly corrected with a blank level, as is equally treated as the sample. The clean-up process demonstrated in this study can give us a significant benefit in terms of the quantity and quality of a target compound by GC/MS analysis.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.29
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• pp.18.1-18.9
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• 2014

Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine a separation method for each arsenic metabolite in urine by using a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). Methods Separation of the arsenic metabolites was conducted in urine by using a polymeric anion-exchange (Hamilton PRP X-100, $4.6mm{\times}150mm$, $5{\mu}m$) column on Agilent Technologies 1260 Infinity LC system coupled to Agilent Technologies 7700 series ICP/MS equipment using argon as the plasma gas. Results All five important arsenic metabolites in urine were separated within 16 minutes in the order of arsenobetaine, arsenite, dimethylarsinate, monomethylarsonate and arsenate with detection limits ranging from 0.15 to $0.27{\mu}g/L$ ($40{\mu}L$ injection). We used G-EQUAS No. 52, the German external quality assessment scheme and standard reference material 2669, National Institute of Standard and Technology, to validate our analyses. Conclusions The method for separation of arsenic metabolites in urine was established by using HPLC-ICP-MS. This method contributes to the evaluation of arsenic exposure, health effect assessment and other bio-monitoring studies for arsenic exposure in South Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.197-207
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• 2014

In this study, the functional priority of wetlands was determined through analysis of previous research. To determine relative importance, three processes were performed. First, quantitative values from the case studies were normalized. Second, non-quantitative values were prioritized based on standard criteria. Third, equal weight was applied as long as there was no special consideration regarding a particular value's disproportionate priority in the research. Finally, results were grouped into large, medium, and small classes.In this study, the functions of the medium class were found to be the most significant, in the following order of priority: water supply and ground water recharge; culture and recreation; biodiversity; product; water quality control; flood control; erosion control; moderation of climate change; and provision of biochemical matter. To verify these results, we compared our findings with those of an assessment that used the Rapid Assessment Method (RAM) on the same type of study area. Whereas this comparison indicated some correlations by the culture, water storage, and genetic sustainability functions, it suggested a lack of such relationship by the water purification and flood prevention functions.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.457-468
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• 2023

Buildings, bridges, and dams are examples of civil infrastructure that play an important role in public life. These structures are prone to structural variations over time as a result of external forces that might disrupt the operation of the structures, cause structural integrity issues, and raise safety concerns for the occupants. Therefore, monitoring the state of a structure, also known as structural health monitoring (SHM), is essential. Owing to the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution, next-generation sensors, such as wireless sensors, UAVs, and video cameras, have recently been utilized to improve the quality and efficiency of building forensics. This study presents a method that uses a target-based system to estimate the dynamic displacement and its corresponding dynamic properties of structures using UAV-based video. A laboratory experiment was performed to verify the tracking technique using a shaking table to excite an SDOF specimen and comparing the results between a laser distance sensor, accelerometer, and fixed camera. Then a field test was conducted to validate the proposed framework. One target marker is placed on the specimen, and another marker is attached to the ground, which serves as a stationary reference to account for the undesired UAV movement. The results from the UAV and stationary camera displayed a root mean square (RMS) error of 2.02% for the displacement, and after post-processing the displacement data using an OMA method, the identified natural frequency and damping ratio showed significant accuracy and similarities. The findings illustrate the capabilities and reliabilities of the methodology using UAV to evaluate the dynamic properties of structures.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.57-67
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• 2009

In soil and sediment environment, microorganisms play major roles in biochemical cycles of ecological significant elements. Because of its ecological significance, microbial diversity and community structure information are useful as indexes for assessing the quality of subsurface ecological environment and bioremediation. To achieve more accurate assessment, it is requested to gain sufficient yield and purity of DNA extracted from various soil and sediment samples. Although there have been a large number of basic researches regarding soil and sediment DNA extraction methods, little guideline information is given in literature when choosing optimal DNA extraction methods for various purposes such as environmental ecology impact assessment and bioremediation capability evaluation. In this study, we performed a thorough literature review to compare the characteristics of the current DNA extraction methods from soil and sediment samples, and discussed about considerations when selecting and applying DNA extraction methods for environmental impact assessment and bioremediation capability evaluation. This review suggested that one approach is not enough to gain the suitable quantity and yield of DNA for assessing microbial diversity, community structure and population dynamics, and that a careful attention has to be paid for selecting an optimal method for individual environmental purpose.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.316-324
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• 2022

Ethyl formate (EF) is a potent fumigant replacing methyl bromide. The use of EF is limited to a quarantine process. Appling EF to agricultural field as a safe insecticide in greenhouse give us valuable benefits including less residual concern. In this regard, residual pattern after EF fumigation in greenhouse should be undertaken. In the previous study, we have established agricultural control concentration of EF to control pests in a greenhouse. EF was fumigated at 5 g m^-3 level for 2 h. The concentration of EF inside a greenhouse was analyzed to be 4.1-4.3 g m^-3 at 30 min after fumigation. To prepare an analytical method for residues in cucumber crops and soil in the greenhouse, the limit of detection(LOD) of the method was 100ng g^-1 and the limit of quantitation(LOQ) of this method was 300 ng g^-1. R² values of calibration curves for crops and soil were 0.991-0.997. In samples collected immediately after ventilation, EF concentration was determined to be below LOQ level. In addition, EF level was below LOQ in samples collected at 3 h after ventilation except that leaf samples of melon during the flowering period showed a level of 1,068.9 ng g^-1. Taken together, these results indicate that EF used in quarantine can be applied to agricultural fields without residual issue as an effective fumigant for insect pest control.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.460-473
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• 2017

In order to certificate the contamination assessment of heavy metals in surface sediments from the Nakdong river. Surface sediments were collected of 24 sampling sites (main 14st., tributary 10st.) and analyzed for grain size heavy metals contents. Study area mainly composed of sand (avg. 94.1%) and mean grain size was $1.46{\Phi}$ on average. Heavy metals contents (avg. Al: 12.5%, Zn; 74.4, Cr: 45.3, Li: 26.0, Pb: 17.1, Ni: 10.5, Cu: 7.8, Cd: 0.22 mg/kg) were relatively high contents in the composed of fine sediments. In addition, the results of pearson's correlation coefficient showed that most heavy metals and grain size (silt and clay) were highly correlated. The contents of Zn (6st.) and Ni (1st.) evaluated as moderately polluted, Zn (6st.) evaluated as LEL when compared with sediment quality standard of USEPA and Ontario sediment quality guidelines. Most heavy metals contents were I levels that dose not affected the benthos when compared with sediment pollution evaluation standard of NIER. The results of EX, EF, Igeo and CF showed the contents of Zn, Pb and Cd exceed the background contents and distributing of anthropogenic pollution and evaluated as moderately polluted level. And Nm-08 were relatively high level of contamination in the study area. However as results of PLI (less than 1), all sampling sites were evaluated unpolluted level.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.217-234
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• 2009

This study characterized groundwater quality and the influence of agrochemicals in a part of Ilgwang-Myeon agricultural area in Gijang-Gun, Busan Metropolitan City, using factor analyses. From the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd analyses of groundwater samples, the mean concentrations of $Ca^{2+}$, $Na^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $K^+$, $Zn^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$, $Al^{3+}$, $NO_3\;^-$, $Cl^-$, $SO_4\;^{2-}$, $F^-$, and $SiO_2$ were higher in the 2nd analysis than the other analyses. Pesticide carbofuran and herbicide alachlor were detected at the wells more than a half of all the wells in the 2nd analysis but not in the 4th analysis. This fact may be explained by that a higher precipitation induced higher infiltration rate of contaminants into groundwater during the 2nd survey. According to R- and Q-mode factor analyses, and chemical composition, inorganic constituents excepting $SiO_2$, $HC0_3\;^-$-, and $F^-$ may be influenced by anthropogenic sources (manures, synthetic fertilizers, and domestic wastes), seawater as well as water-mineral interaction. A typical indicator of groundwater contamination, nitrate, exceeds around 4-5 times over the Korean standard for drinking water. Additionally, the influence of seawater diminishes from the seaside to inland.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.131-140
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• 2020

In training a classification model using machine learning, the acquisition of training data is a very important stage, because the amount and quality of the training data greatly influence the model performance. However, when the cost of obtaining data is so high that it is difficult to build ideal training data, the number of samples for each class may be acquired very differently, and a serious data-imbalance problem can occur. If such a problem occurs in the training data, all classes are not trained equally, and classes containing relatively few data will have significantly lower recall values. Additionally, the reliability of evaluation indices such as accuracy and precision will be reduced. Therefore, this study sought to overcome the problem of data imbalance in two stages. First, we introduced weighted accuracy and weighted precision as new evaluation indices that can take into account a data-imbalance ratio by modifying conventional measures of accuracy and precision. Next, oversampling was performed to balance weighted precision and recall among classes. We verified the algorithm by applying it to the problem of facies classification. As a result, the imbalance between majority and minority classes was greatly mitigated, and the boundaries between classes could be more clearly identified.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.187-192
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• 2017

This study evaluated the reduction performance of ambient temperature and the amount of evaporation that takes place depends on the temperature difference of paving blocks which are used in the sidewalk, roadway, parking lot, park, plaza, and etc. The water-retentive block of the LID (Low Impact Development) practice was compared with the conventional concrete block. For the quantitative performance evaluation, experiments were performed in a climatic environment chamber capable of controlling the climatic environment (solar radiation, temperature, humidity, rainfall, and snowfall). The method for performance evaluation was proposed using temperature, humidity, and ambient air of paving blocks which changes according to the solar radiation and the wind speed after the rainfall. As a result, the evaporation amount of the water-retentive block was 2.6 times higher than that of the concrete block, the surface temperature of water-retentive block was $10^{\circ}C$ lower than the concrete block, and the air temperature of water-retentive block was $4.6^{\circ}C$ lower than the concrete block. Therefore, it is analyzed that the water-retentive block with a large amount of evaporation is more effective in reducing the urban heat island phenomenon as compared with the concrete block.