• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2013

Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) pollinosis is the most popular pollinosis in Japan. It has been reported that Cryptomeria japonica pollen allergenic species are suspended as fine particles in the urban atmosphere. These allergenic fine particles are responsible for inducing asthma by breaking into the lower respiratory tract. It has also been found that pollinosis symptoms on the sufferers appear mainly at night-time by the results from epidemiological studies. However, the exact reason for these phenomena is not yet clarified. In this study, the diurnal and nocturnal behaviours of Cryptomeria japonica pollen grains and their allergenic species in the urban area of Saitama city of Kanto Plain were investigated. Airborne pollen grains and allergenic Cry j 1 concentrations in total suspended particulate matter (TSP) were investigated at two sampling sites, a heavy traffic road (roadside site) and at the balcony of the $10^{th}$ floor of the Building of Research and Project of Saitama University (general urban site). The latter sampling site where located about 300 m away from the roadside site was used as a general urban site unaffected by automobile traffic. The airborne pollen counts were measured with a real-time pollen monitor. Cry j 1 particles were collected with two high volume air samplers, and these concentrations were measured by surface plasmon resonance method with a Biacore J system. The diurnal variation of the airborne pollen counts was similar to the trends of temperature and wind speed during the day-time; whereas its tendency with wind speed trend was not observed during the night-time. Airborne pollen counts were lower with northern wind than with southern wind because the pollen comes from the mountainous areas, and the mountains in the south are closer, about half the distance to the northern mountains. It is suggested that the peaks of airborne pollen counts during night-time in the sampling site occurred by transport of pollen grains released during day-time in the mountainous forest areas, located c.a. 100 km away from the sampling site. On the roadside site the allergenic Cry j 1 concentrations were higher than at the general urban site, nevertheless pollen grains counts were lower. These results suggested that worsening of pollinosis symptoms during night-time in urban area was caused by transport of pollen grains during day-time in the mountainous forest areas. Moreover, pollen allergenic species become different morphology from pollen grain at roadside site, and the subsequent pollen grains re-suspension by automobile traffic.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.131-141
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• 2012

A large fraction of urban $PM_{10}$ concentrations is due to non-exhaust traffic emissions including road dust, tire wear particles, and brake lining particles. Although potential health and environmental impacts associated with tire wear debris have increased, few environmentally and biologically relevant studies of actual tire wear debris have been conducted. Tire wear particles (TWP) are released from the tire tread as a result of the interaction between the tire and the pavement. Roadway particles (RP), meanwhile, are particles on roads composed of a mixture of elements from tires, pavements, fuels, brakes, and environmental dust. The main objective of present study is to identify the contribution of tires to the generation of RP and to assess the potential environmental and health impacts of this contribution. First, a mobile measurement system was constructed and used to measure the RP on asphalt roads according to vehicle speed. The equipment of the mobile system provides $PM_{10}$ concentrations by Dusttrak DRX and number density & size distribution measurements of fine and ultra-fine particles by a fast mobility particle sizer (FMPS) and an aerosol particle sizer (APS). When traveling on an asphalt road at constant speed, there is a clear tendency for $PM_{10}$ concentration to increase slightly in accordance with an increase in the vehicle speed. It was also found that considerable brake wear particles and particles from tire/road interface were generated by rapid deceleration of the vehicle. As a result, the $PM_{10}$ concentration and particle number of ultra-fine particles were measured to be very high.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.561-569
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• 2012

Study attempts to evaluate the environmental cost and benefit for management of particulate matters of Donghae harbor in Gangwondo. The level of fine dust suspended in the vicinity of the harbor was quite high, exceeding the national standard ($100{\mu}g/m^3$) depending on the places. The test field harbor deals with lots of limestone and coal, so that fine particulates could be generated while loading it and unloading. It was estimated that the direct handling of cargos might produce 12 tons of PM10(Particulate Matters of $10{\mu}m$) a year. In addition, heavy vehicles for transportation of various cargos including raw materials emit huge amount of diesel soots and cause to redispersion of road dust. The local government spends more than 2 billion won every year, and it contributes to reduce the atmospheric dust. According to the prediction of cost to benefit, it will present the effectiveness in 720 % maximum and at least 240 %.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.3 s.172
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• pp.247-260
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• 2005

Extractable concentrations (0.1 N & 1.0 N HCI) of heavy metals in roadside sediments are lower than guidelines for soil recommended by Ministry of Environment. Heavy traffic areas (such as No. 7 national road) show high contents of heavy metals, especially, at curved areas, gully pot, crackdown areas on overspeed, pedestrian crossing etc. Fine fractions $(<63\;{\mu}m)$ of roadside sediments have the highest concentrations of heavy metals, but mass loadings of heavy metal are determined by coarse fractions $(>100{\mu}m)$, due to washing out of fine fraction sediment by runoff water. Proper treatment facilities are needed to control the inflow of fine roadside sediments from No. 7 national road and bridge such as Hanmul bridge.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1069-1078
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• 2022

This study investigated the weather conditions, fine particle concentration, and ion components in PM_2.5 when two cold fronts passed through Busan in succession on February 1 and 2, 2021. A analysis of the surface weather chart, AWS, and backward trajectory revealed that the first cold front passed through the Busan at 0900 LST on February 1, 2021, with the second cold front arriving at 0100 LST on February 2, 2021. According to the PM₁₀ concentration of the KMA, the timing of the cold front passage had a close relationship with the occurrence of the highest concentration of fine particles. The transport time of the cold front from Baengnyeongdo to Mt. Gudeok was approximately 11 hours . The PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations in Busan started to increase after the first cold front had passed, and the maximum concentration occurred two hours after the second cold front passed. The SO₄^2-, NO₃^-, and NH₄⁺ concentration in PM_2.5 started to increase from 1100 to 1200 LST on February 1, after the first cold front passed, and peaked at 0100 LST to 0300 LST on February 2. However, the highest Ca²⁺ concentration was recorded 2-3 hours after the second cold front had passed.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1079-1087
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• 2022

This study investigated the effect of volcanic materials that erupted from the Nishinoshima volcano, Japan, 1,300 km southeast of the Busan area at the end of July 2020, on the fine particle concentration in the Busan area. Backward trajectory analysis from the HYSPLIT model showed that the air parcel from the Nishinoshima volcano turned clockwise along the edge of the North Pacific high pressure and reached the Busan area. From August 4 to August 5, 2020, the concentration of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 in Busan started to increase rapidly from 1000 LST on August 4, and showed a high concentration for approximately 13 hours until 2400 LST. The PM_2.5/PM₁₀ ratio showed a relatively high value of 0.7 or more, and the SO₂ concentration also showed a high value at the time when the PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations were relatively high. The SO₄^2- concentration in PM_2.5 in Busan showed a similar trend to the change in PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations. It rose sharply from 1300 LST on August 4, at the time where it was expected to have been affected by the Nishinoshima Volcano. This study has shown that the occurrence of high concentration fine particle in Busan in summer has the potential to affect Korea not only due to anthropogenic factors but also from natural causes such as volcanic eruptions in Japan.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.20 no.4 s.51
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• pp.365-374
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• 2005

Ambient air particulate matters are classified into two distinct modes in sire distribution, namely the coarse and fine particles. Correlation between high particulate concentration and adverse effect on human populations has long been recognized. However, the toxicology of these adverse efforts has not been clarified. We investigated the genotoxic effect of PM 2.5 collected from urban area in Seoul by comet assay (A549 cells), CBMN assay (CHO-K1 cells) and EROD-microbioassay (H4IIE cells). Results from in vitro micronucleus assay and comet assay showed that PM 2.5 samples collected from traffic area, residential area and indoor air induced chromosomal damage and DNA breakage in a non-cytotoxic dose. The complex mixture effect of these PM 2.5 extracts was quantified by EROD-microbioassay in terms of its bio-TEQ (biologiral -TCDD equivalent concentration) which was 70.87$\pm$28.07, 93.55$\pm$21.80 and 14.31 $\pm$ 1.10 ng/g-PM 2.5 in traffic area, residental area and indoor air samples, respectively. Conclusively, we suggested that PM 2.5 collected from traffic area and residential area contains CYPIA inducer and genotoxic materials.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.85-97
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• 2017

Research has suggested that conventional lightweight concrete can offer durability advantages due to reduced cracking tendency. Although a number of publications exist providing the results of laboratory-based studies on the durability performance of lightweight concrete (with lightweight coarse aggregate) and internally cured concrete (using prewetted lightweight fine aggregate), far fewer field studies of durability performance of conventional lightweight concrete bridge decks in service have been performed. This study was commissioned to provide insight to a highway agency on whether enhanced durability performance, and therefore reduced maintenance and longer lifecycles, could be anticipated from existing lightweight concrete bridge decks that were not intentionally internally cured. To facilitate performance comparison, each lightweight bridge deck selected for inclusion in this study was paired with a companion normalweight bridge deck on a bridge of similar structural type, deck thickness, and geometric configuration, with similar age, traffic, and environmental exposure. The field-observed cracking of the decks was recorded and evaluated, and crack densities for transverse, longitudinal, and pattern cracking of the normalweight and lightweight deck in each pair were compared. Although some trends linking crack prevalence to geographic location, traffic, and age were observed, a distinct difference between the cracking present in the paired lightweight and normalweight bridge decks included in this study was not readily evident. Statistical analysis using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to adjust for age and traffic influence did not indicate that the type of concrete deck (lightweight or normalweight) is a statistically significant factor in the observed cracking. Therefore, for these service environments, lightweight decks did not consistently demonstrate reduced cracking.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.447-453
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• 2009

Cycling has been lately recommended as an alternative commuting mode because it is believed to be good for health and the environment. However, the exposure to environmental pollutants, such as fine particulates, could be a potential problem for cycling in urban environments. In this study, we compared commuters' $PM_{10}$ exposure using the different transportation modes of bicycle and bus. When a bicycle was used as a commuting mode, the additional $PM_{10}$ exposure due to transportation was about 3.5 times higher than that when using a bus. The difference of additional $PM_{10}$ exposures by cycling and bus was statistically significant (p<0.01). The $PM_{10}$ exposure during cycling was significantly correlated with atmospheric $PM_{10}$ concentration (r=0.98, p<0.01) and its correlation coefficient was higher than that of bus (r=0.55, p<0.05). The results of this study demonstrated that the main reasons of higher $PM_{10}$ exposure when using the bicycle as the mode of transport were its vicinity to road traffic and routes that were unavoidably close to road traffic. Bicycle commuting along the road side may not be good for health. Exclusive bicycle lanes away from road traffic are recommended.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.938-958
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• 2024

Unsupervised Video Object Segmentation (UVOS) is a highly challenging problem in computer vision as the annotation of the target object in the testing video is unknown at all. The main difficulty is to effectively handle the complicated and changeable motion state of the target object and the confusion of similar background objects in video sequence. In this paper, we propose a novel deep Dual-stream Co-enhanced Network (DC-Net) for UVOS via bidirectional motion cues refinement and multi-level feature aggregation, which can fully take advantage of motion cues and effectively integrate different level features to produce high-quality segmentation mask. DC-Net is a dual-stream architecture where the two streams are co-enhanced by each other. One is a motion stream with a Motion-cues Refine Module (MRM), which learns from bidirectional optical flow images and produces fine-grained and complete distinctive motion saliency map, and the other is an appearance stream with a Multi-level Feature Aggregation Module (MFAM) and a Context Attention Module (CAM) which are designed to integrate the different level features effectively. Specifically, the motion saliency map obtained by the motion stream is fused with each stage of the decoder in the appearance stream to improve the segmentation, and in turn the segmentation loss in the appearance stream feeds back into the motion stream to enhance the motion refinement. Experimental results on three datasets (Davis2016, VideoSD, SegTrack-v2) demonstrate that DC-Net has achieved comparable results with some state-of-the-art methods.