• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.518-528
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• 2006

The air quality index (AQI) is an index for reporting daily or hourly air quality to the general public. The AQI focuses on health effects that can happen within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. Many countries have their own AQI reporting systems, and the HAEI (hourly air environment index) method is now being used in Korea. In this study, in order to compare the AQI results from different methods, we applied three methods. i.e. US AQI, Canadian AQI, and Korean HAEI, to the same air quality data-base. The data-base was constructed from 10 monitoring sites in Gyeong-buk province for the last four years since 2000. Based on the results, a critical evaluation of the Korean HAEI method was made, and a number of suggestions and recommendations were presented to improve the AQI reporting system in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.18 no.E3
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• pp.129-142
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• 2002

This paper provides a long-term perspective for ozone concentrations at 20 national air quality monitoring sites in Seoul from 1989 to 1998, which were managed by the Korean Ministry of Environment. Ozone episodes occurred more frequently in the east areas (Bangi, Guui, Seongsu, and Ssangmun) than in the west area (Guro and Oryu). When an ozone episode happened, hourly ozone concentrations over 80 ppb continued for an average of 4.0 hours at all sites. Annual variations in daily mean and maximum oBone concentrations showed broadly consistent upward trends at Ssangmun and Gwanaksan. Monthly mean ozone concentrations were the highest from May to June and the 99$^{th}$ and 95$^{th}$ percentile levels appeared higher during June, July, and August. The diurnal patterns of hourly mean ozone levels in urban areas showed typical photochemical formation and destruction, while the flat diurnal shape before 1996 at Gwanaksan indicated few significant photochemical reactions due to a lack of precursors of ozone. The occurrence of ozone over 80 ppb was ascribed to meteorological conditions such as high temperature, strong solar radiation, low relative humidity, and low wind speed with winds most frequently in a westerly direction.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2004

Present study analyzed the temporal and spatial characteristics of PM10 pollution in Metropolitan Daegu area based on air pollution monitoring station data and measurements of PM10 concentrations in background area in order to provide essential data for efficient PM10 pollution management. The significant variation of spatial and temporal PM10 concentrations in Daegu area was observed during the study years. The highest maximum PM10 concentration(332 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥), average concentration(88 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥) and frequency exceeding PM10 daily standard(150 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥) were all observed in Namsandong located near a major roadway. The hourly and weekly variations of PM10 concentrations had different pattern for the measurement sites. The monthly and seasonal concentrations exhibited a notable characteristic： the maximum concentration was obtained in spring season, most likely due to Yellow sand effects. Furthermore, this temporal variation of PM10 pollution varied with study site. Meanwhile, the PM10 values measured at the monitoring site, Manchondong, were comparable with those of a control site. The average PM10 concentration ranged from 23 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ to 115 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ with a mean value of 53 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ in the former site and from 22 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ to 91 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ with a mean value of 45 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ in the latter site.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.81-85
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• 2008

This paper addressed real-time urine monitoring device for intensive care patients. The device was developed to detect and count each urine drop using optical sensor and calculate the current urine output volume and its hourly rate. In experiment, the water volume scale of drainage bottle was observed and compared with the count of the device so that the volume of each drop was found to vary with the dropping rate per minute. From this measurement, the relationship equation was derived to estimate the total water volume from the drop rate (correlation coefficient : r= 0.99). The developed device could be applied to count patient's urine drop successfully. Therefore, this device can be used to monitor intensive care patient's urine status in real-time.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.655-670
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• 2004

This paper aims to evaluate the effect of typhoons on fatigue damage accumulation in steel decks of long-span suspension bridges. The strain-time histories at critical locations of deck sections of long-span bridges during different typhoons passing the bridge area are investigated by using on-line strain data acquired from the structural health monitoring system installed on the bridge. The fatigue damage models based on Miner's Law and Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) are applied to calculate the increment of fatigue damage due to the action of a typhoon. Accumulated fatigue damage during the typhoon is also calculated and compared between Miner's Law and the CDM method. It is found that for the Tsing Ma Bridge case, the stress spectrum generated by a typhoon is significantly different than that generated by normal traffic and its histogram shapes can be described approximately as a Rayleigh distribution. The influence of typhoon loading on accumulative fatigue damage is more significant than that due to normal traffic loading. The increment of fatigue damage generated by hourly stress spectrum for the maximum typhoon loading may be much greater than those for normal traffic loading. It is, therefore, concluded that it is necessary to evaluate typhoon induced fatigue damage for the purpose of accurately evaluating accumulative fatigue damage for long-span bridges located within typhoon prone regions.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.491-502
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• 2003

In the present work, the distribution characteristics of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were investigated at high temporal resolution from a monitoring station located in a mid-eastern area of Seoul. A total number of 587 samples were collected during December 2002 to January 2003. The measurements of VOC were conducted by a combination of on-line air sampling and thermal desorption unit (TDU) coupled with capillary GC/FID analysis. A total of five aromatic compounds (BTEX: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m, p-xylene, and o-xylene) were measured routinely at hourly intervals during the whole study period. The mean concentrations of BTEX measured in our study period were found in the order: toluene (8.99 $\pm$5.38 ppb) > benzene (0.92$\pm$0.52 ppb) > m, p-xylene (0.51$\pm$0.34 ppb) > 0- xylene (0.48$\pm$0.35 ppb) > ethyl benzene (0.43$\pm$ 0.32 ppb). The BTEX concentrations were generally higher during the daytime than the nighttime, exhibiting certain patterns on a weekly basis. Results of our analysis indicate that the unusually high concentrations of toluene, while showing good correlations with other VOCs, can be a good indicator of air pollution in the study area.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 2012

The ionic composition of $PM_{2.5}$ samples was investigated by their datasets of cationic ($Na^+$, $NH_4^+$, $K^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, and $Ca^{2+}$) and anionic components ($Cl^-$, $NO_3^-$, and $SO_4^{2-}$) along with relevant environmental parameters collected from an urban monitoring site in Korea at hourly intervals in 2010. The mean (and SD) annual concentration of $PM_{2.5}$ was computed as 25.3 ${\mu}g\;m^{-3}$ with the wintertime maximum. In addition, sum concentrations (neq $m^{-3}$) of five cationic species (291) were slightly lower than 3 anionic species (308). Most cations exhibited the highest seasonal values in spring, while anions showed more diversified seasonal patterns. According to PCA, five major source categories were apparent with the relative dominance of secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA). The results of our study suggest consistently that the distribution of ionic constituents in an urban area is affected by the combined effects of both natural and anthropogenic processes.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 2011

The hourly volatile organic compounds(VOCs) concentrations between 2005 and 2008 at Bulgwang photochemical assessment monitoring station were investigated to establish a method for quality assurance and quality control(QA/QC) procedure. Systematic error, erratic error, and random error, which was manifested by outlier and highly fluctuated data, were checked and removed. About 17.3% of the raw data were excluded according to the proposed QA/QC procedure. After QA/QC, relative standard deviation for representing 15 species concentrations decreased from 94.7-548.0% to 63.4-125.8%, implying the QA/QC procedure is proper. For further evaluation about the adequacy of QA/QC procedure, principal components analysis(PCA) was carried out. When the data after QA/QC procedure was used for PCA, the extracted principal components were different from the result from the raw data and could logically explain the major emission sources(gasoline vapor, vehicle exhaust, and solvent usage). The QA/QC procedure based on the concept of errors is inferred to proper to be applied on VOCs. However, an additional QA/QC step considering the relationship between species in the atmosphere needs to be further considered.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.107-117
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• 2004

Hourly monitoring data from Saemangeum estuary, which is expected to become freshwater, was analyzed to evaluate the water quality characteristics. Higher algal growth at spring season than winter influenced the high ratio of organic nitrogen to total nitrogen and concentration of chemical oxygen demand (COD). About 87.9％ and 59.7％ of organic nitrogen was observed at winter season and spring season, respectively. Daily salinity analysis at the mouth of two main rivers demonstrated that the Dongjin in river was more influenced by tidal effect and showed higher variation than the Mankyung river. The ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus (N/P ratio) was different with site (estuary versus sea area) and season (winter versus spring) remarkably. The N/P ratio was highest (32.74 ∼ 43.93) at estuary in winter and was lowest (1.78 ∼ 3.06) at sea in spring. The high N/P ratio at estuary area implies that phosphorus can be the limiting nutrient factor for algal growth as in general freshwater river, therefore, water quality management practice considering river characteristics rather might be needed in the Saemangeum estuary. The Saemangeum project is nationally recognized for its environmental issues, and especially water quality concern is a critical factor to make policy decision and further assessment with continued monitoring is strongly recommended.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.151-160
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• 2022

Continuous monitoring of intracranial pressure is a well established medical procedure. Still, little is known about long-term behavior of intracranial pressure in normal pressure hydrocephalus. The present study is designed to evaluate periodicity of intracranial pressure over long-time scales using intraventricular pressure monitoring in patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus. In addition, the circadian and diurnal patterns of blood pressure and body temperature in those patients are studied. Four patients, selected with "probable" normal pressure hydrocephalus, were monitored for several dozen hours. Intracranial pressure, blood pressure, and body temperature were recorded hourly. Autocorrelation functions were calculated and cross-correlation analysis were carried out to study all the time-series data. Autocorrelation results show that intracranial pressure, blood pressure, and body temperature values follow bimodal (positive and negative) curves over a day. The cross-correlation functions demonstrate causal relationships between intracranial pressure, blood pressure, and body temperature. The results show that long-term fluctuations in intracranial pressure exhibit cyclical patterns with periods of about 24 hours. Continuous intracranial pressure recording in "probable" normal pressure hydrocephalus patients reveals circadian fluctuations not related to the day and night cycle. These fluctuations are causally related to changes in blood pressure and body temperature. The present study reveals the complete loss of the diurnal blood pressure and body temperature rhythmicities in patients with "probable" normal pressure hydrocephalus.