• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.124-132
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• 2019

BACKGROUND: Silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) No. 1 was developed for production of bio-ethanol, and for the purpose the silver grass growing sector was established in Geumgang basin, Iksan, Jeonbuk, in 2011. However, the other application potentials except for using as the bio-energy resources should be considered because of the drop in international oil prices. Therefore, there is the necessity of a scientific basis to use the silver grass instead of rice straw as the organic matter source that is used for improvement of soil quality in the plastic film house. METHODS AND RESULTS: The silver grass was applied at 5, 10, 15 and 20 Mg/ha and tilled before the watermelon was planted in the plastic film-house. The control plot was treated with 10 Mg/ha with rice straw, and watermelons have been cultivated for 3 years(2017~2019). Soil aggregation, soil chemistry, and the growth characteristics were investigated, when the watermelon was harvested every year. Soil aggregation levels at the 2nd and 3rd year of watermelon harvest were similar from the plot applied with the silver grass at 5 Mg/ha and the control plot, and increased in the silver grass treated plots with more than 10 Mg/ha. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the plots. The nitrogen mineralization of silver grass in the control plot tended to be similar to the 5 Mg/ha plot, but the silver grass treated plots with over 10 Mg/ha showed low nitrogen mineralization. Soil EC on harvest stage was proportional to the applied mass of the silver grass, but pH was in inverse with the applied mass. Soil organic matter content, available phosphate, and exchangeable cations increased with the continued use of silver grass. Watermelon weight found to be the best on more than 15 Mg/ha of silver grass, and the sugar content was highest when 10 Mg/ha was treated. CONCLUSION: The use of the silver grass at 10 Mg/ha annually as the organic source was effective in replacing rice straw while growing fruits and vegetables on the plastic film house.

• Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.27-32
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• 2020

Along with the aging of the population, the number of dementia patients is increasing, and the social and economic burden is also increasing. Currently, the effective way to manage dementia patients is to identify patients with dementia early. However, in rural and island areas where medical staff are scarce, there is a problem that it is difficult to visit a hospital and get an early examination. Therefore, we propose a remote early detection system for dementia to solve the problems. The remote dementia early diagnosis system is a system that allows a patient to receive examination and treatment from a remote dementia expert using remote medical technology based on real-time image communication. The remote early diagnosis system for dementia consists of a local client system used by medical staff at health centers in the island, an image server that transmits, stores and manages images, and an expert client used by remote dementia experts. The local client subsystem satisfies the current medical law's remote collaboration by allowing the patient to use it with the health center's medical staff. In addition, expert clients are used by dementia experts, and can store/manage patient information, analyze patient history information, and predict the degree of dementia progression in the future.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2021

Vitamin E and K are essential micronutrients required by our body in small amounts for proper metabolic functions; however, the content of vitamin E and K commonly consumed in foods has not been comprehensively defined. In this study, the contents of vitamins E and K in sea algae and vegetables were analyzed and the analytical methods were validated. The α-tocopherol equivalent (α-TE) and vitamin K1 content in sea algae ranged from 0.15 to 1.14 mg/100 g and from 11.91 to 1,629.5 ㎍/100 g, respectively. In addition, α-TE and vitamin K1 of vegetables were detected in the range of 0.02-2.48 mg/100 g and 16.15-979.60 ㎍/100 g, respectively. In particular, β- and γ-tocopherol and α- and β-tocotrienol were detected in several vegetables. The analytical methods were accurate and reproducible. These results provide reliable data on the vitamin E and K contents of foods consumed in Korea for the development of National Standard Food Composition Database.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.100-107
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• 2021

An agrivoltaic system (AVS) is a system of innovation that comprises productions of photovoltaic power and agricultural crops on the same area. However, the decline in crop yield will be fatally occurred because the pigments of crop absorbs less light energy under AVS. In addtion, the photosynthetic capacity of crop grown under the partial shading of AVS is not well reported. In this study, the electron transport rate (ETR) and non-photochemical fluorescence quenching (NPQ) of soybean and rice under the AVS in Boseong and Naju was investigated using chlorophyll fluorescence measurement. The ETR value of soybean and rice under AVS were not significantly differed by location. It represents that the photophosphorylation rate of the crops is not critically different. It means that the decreases in total photosynthesis under AVS were mostly affected by the amount of light absorbed by leaves. Under AVS the photosynthesis of crops will be lower than field crops grown in open fields. This is because the crops under AVS observed higher NPQ, which means that the available energy cannot distribute to photophosphorylation reaction.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.1105-1115
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• 2021

Objective: To conserve and utilize the genetic resources of a traditional Chinese indigenous pig breed, Liangshan pig, we assessed the genetic diversity, genetic structure, and genetic distance in this study. Methods: We used 50K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip for SNP detection of 139 individuals in the Liangshan Pig Conservation Farm. Results: The genetically closed conserved population consisted of five overlapping generations, and the total effective content of the population (Ne) was 15. The whole population was divided into five boar families and one non-boar family. Among them, the effective size of each generation subpopulation continuously decreased. However, the proportion of polymorphic markers (P_N) first decreased and then increased. The average genetic distance of these 139 Liangshan pigs was 0.2823±0.0259, and the average genetic distance of the 14 boars was 0.2723±0.0384. Thus, it can be deduced that the genetic distance changed from generation to generation. In the conserved population, 983 runs of homozygosity (ROH) were detected, and the majority of ROH (80%) were within 100 Mb. The inbreeding coefficient calculated based on ROH showed an average value of 0.026 for the whole population. In addition, the inbreeding coefficient of each generation subpopulation initially increased and then decreased. In the pedigree of the whole conserved population, the error rate of paternal information was more than 11.35% while the maternal information was more than 2.13%. Conclusion: This molecular study of the population genetic structure of Liangshan pig showed loss of genetic diversity during the closed cross-generation reproduction process. It is necessary to improve the mating plan or introduce new outside blood to ensure long-term preservation of Liangshan pig.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.99-111
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• 2021

The connected farm that agricultural land, agricultural machinery and farmer are connected with an IoT gateway is in the commercialization stage. That has increased productivity, efficiency and profitability by intimate information exchange among those. In order to develop the educational program of intelligent agricultural machinery and the agricultural machinery safety education performance indicator, this study analyzed patent trends of agricultural machine with unmanned technology used in agriculture and efficiency technology applied advanced technologies such as ICT, robots and artificial intelligence. We investigated and analyzed patent trends in agricultural machinery of Korea, the USA and Japan as well as the countries in Europe. The United States is an advanced country in the field of unmanned technology and efficiency technology used in agriculture. Agricultural automation technology in Korea is insufficient compared to developed countries, which means rapid technological development is needed. In the sub-fields of field automation technology, path generation and following technology and working machine control technology through environmental awareness have activated.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.437-448
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• 2022

This work aims to assess the threat to human health of hazardous materials in groundwater that is used domestically and for drinking. Two distinct sub-assessments are considered: cancer and non-cancer risk. The studied groundwater is in an agricultural area of Gyeongnam Province, Korea, and is contaminated by arsenic at a mean level of 16.27 ㎍/L, far greater than the WHO guideline (10 ㎍/L for drinking water). We collected groundwater data from the National Groundwater Information Center (gims.go.kr) and assessed the risk to human health following the methodology of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. We considered three exposure scenarios: domestic use (scenario 1) and drinking use with different doses (scenarios 2 and 3). Scenario 1 had a median hazard quotient (HQ) of 0.77 and a cancer risk (CR) of 0.013. Scenario 2 had a median HQ of 0.08 and a CR of 3.69 × 10^-5, and the values for scenario 3 were 0.11 and 4.82 × 10^-5, respectively. Scenario 1 is likely the most hazardous to human health. Further study of the origin of arsenic in groundwater in the study area is required, as are remedial measures to mitigate its health effects.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2022

Background: It is estimated that about 13 million artisanal and small-scale miners carry out their activities under harsh, precarious, unfriendly, and risky conditions. Yet, our understanding of the extent to which these workers use personal protective equipment (PPE) and navigate through the various risks and hazards they face is still limited. This article has two main objectives. First, it explores the extent of usage of PPE among artisanal and small-scale miners for the prevention of hazards and risks. Second, it examines the coping strategies used by these miners as a response to experiences of occupational injuries and risks Methods: A cross-sectional survey of small-scale miners was conducted in six communities across three districts in Ghana, West Africa. The mixed methods approach was adopted. A total of 148 small-scale miners participated in the study. Six focus group discussions (FGDs) were held across the six communities. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Chi-square tests were used to analyse the relationship between some socio-demographic characteristics (sex, age, and educational background) and the usage of PPE. Open-ended questions and responses from FGDs were analysed based on the content and verbatim quotations from miners. Results: Findings suggest that 78% of the miners interviewed do not use the appropriate PPE citing reasons such as cost, and their personal discomfort associated with use of PPE. There was no significant relationship between socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., sex, age, education and major mining activity) and the usage of PPE. The study further revealed four main coping strategies used by miners to handle the risks. These are rest, taking unprescribed medication and hard drugs, registration with health insurance scheme and savings and investments. Conclusion: This study shows that very few artisanal miners use PPE despite the significant hazards and risks to which they are exposed. The study recommends to the government to put in place measures to ensure that miners adhere to health and safety regulations before undertaking mining activities. This means that health and safety plans and use of PPE should be linked to the license acquisition process for miners.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.67 no.4
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• pp.274-284
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• 2022

To use kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) as a fiber and livestock feed, a high-yielding variety needs to be identified. For this, accurate phenotyping of plant height is required for this breeding purpose due to the strong relationship between plant height and yield. Plant height can be estimated using RGB images from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV-RGB) and photogrammetry based on Structure from Motion (SfM) algorithms. In kenaf, accurate measurement of height is limited because kenaf stems have high flexibility and its height is easily affected by wind, growing up to 3 ~ 4 m. Therefore, we aimed to identify a method suitable for the accurate estimation of plant height of kenaf and investigate the feasibility of using the UAV-RGB-derived plant height map. Height estimation derived from UAV-RGB was improved using multi-point calibration against the five different wooden structures with known heights (30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 cm). Using the proposed method, we analyzed the variation in temporal height of 23 kenaf cultivars. Our results demontrated that the actual and estimated heights were reliably comparable with the coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.80 and a slope of 0.94. This method enabled the effective identification of cultivars with significantly different heights at each growth stages.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.109-113
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• 2022

Vitamin K is a group of fat-soluble vitamins that naturally exist in phylloquinone (vitamin K₁) and menaquinone (vitamin K₂). In this study, the vitamin K content in different meats commonly consumed in Korea was analyzed using HPLC, and the analytical method was validated. Vitamin K₁ was not detected in any of the meat samples. Vitamin K₂ contents in different cuts of beef ranged from 0.00 to 5.87 ㎍/100 g, whereas the corresponding value in different parts of chicken ranged from 16.59 to 46.64 ㎍/100 g. In the case of pork, vitamin K₂ contents varied from 4.33 to 22.90 ㎍/100 g. Among the different types of meat, the highest vitamin K₂ content was found in boiled chicken meat and skin (46.64 ㎍/100 g). The analytical method was found to be reliable and had high accuracy. These results provide accurate nutritional information and contribute a food composition database for meat consumption.