• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.603-610
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• 2000

Climate factors such as rainfall, temperature, wind, humidity, and solar radiant heat affect soil erosion. Among those factors, rainfall influences soil erosion to the most extent. The kinetic energy of rainfall breaks away soil particles and the water flow caused by the rainfall entrains and transport them downstream. In order to estimate soil erosion, therefore, it is important to determine the rainfall erosivity. In this study, the annual average Rainfall Erosivity(R) in Korea, an important factor of the Universal Soil Loss Equation(USLE) and Revised Equation(RUSLE), has been estimated using the nationwide rainfall data from 1973 to 1996. For this estimation, hourly rainfall data at 53 meterological stations managed by the Meterological Agency was used. It has been found from this study that the newly computed values for R are slightly larger than the existing ones. It would be because this study is based on the range of rainfall data that is longer in period and denser in the number of gauging stations than what the existing result used. The final result of this study is shown in the form the isoerodent map of Korea.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.43-57
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• 2012

According to the result of the recent survey on the current condition of loss of the fishing gears in the East, West and South seas, it is estimated that 50% of the fishing gears used for coastal trap and gill net fisheries are lost every year and 20~30% of those used for inshore trap and gill net fisheries are lost. It is reported that such loss of fishing gears leads to the loss of about 10% of 1.7M tons of the total annual catch from the gill nets and traps along the country's coasts and shores, which amounts to 15~170K tons. Submerged marine litters that have recently been accumulated because of the washed out or lost fishing gears significantly affect the development of fisheries resources as well as the natural environment. The purpose of this study is to identify the damages that the ever-increasing submerged marine litters of washed out fishing gears would have on the fishery and to analyze the effects of the coastal and inshore submerged marine litter collection business on the fishery management. For this, the economic analysis was carried out for the coastal and inshore submerged marine litter collection business based on the fishermen's expenses and earnings and their catch. The result of the analysis shows that the submerged marine litter collection business is quite effective in certain areas but rarely effective in other areas. However, taking into consideration that the litter collection would contribute to protecting the marine environment as well as the fisheries resources, it is expected to have a significant impact on the protection of the marine environment even in those areas where it is not effective for the protection of the fisheries resources.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.46 no.7
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• pp.3-12
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• 2004

The need to predict the rate of soil erosion, both under existing conditions and those expected to occur following soil conservation practice, has been led to the development of various models. In this study Morgan model especially developed for field-sized areas on hill slopes was applied to assess the rate of soil erosion using RS/GIS environment in the Dukchun river basin, one of two tributaries flowing into Jinyang lake. In order to run the model, land cover mapping was made by the supervised classification method with Landsat TM satellite image data, the digital soil map was generated from scanning and screen digitizing from the hard copy of soil maps, digital elevation map (DEM) in order to generate the slope map was made by the digital map (DM) produced by National Geographic Information Institute (NGII). Almost all model parameters were generated to the multiple raster data layers, and the map calculation was made by the raster based GIS software, IL WIS which was developed by ITC, the Netherlands. Model results show that the annual soil loss rates are 5.2, 18.4, 30.3, 58.2 and 60.2 ton/ha/year in forest, paddy fields, built-up area, bare soil, and upland fields respectively. The estimated rates seemed to be high under the normal climatic conditions because of exaggerated land slopes due to DEM generation using 100 m contour interval. However, the results were worthwhile to estimate soil loss in hilly areas and the more precise result could be expected when the more accurate slope data is available.

• Journal of Korean Society for Geospatial Information Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.19-27
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• 2012

RUSLE(Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) has been widely used to estimate the soil loss amount of watersheds from rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, topographic features and cropping management condition. Rainfall erosivity is the most dominant and sensitive factor among these so that the determination of reliable rainfall erosivity is essential to estimate the soil loss of watershed. Since there has been no criterion to determine the rainfall erosivity in Korea, the empirical values, determined from the relation between the annual average rainfall and erosivity or suggested by TBR(Transport Research Board), have been used for designing the erosion control structure and controlling the soil erosion for watersheds. In this study, the procedure for estimating the rainfall erosivity using frequency analysis is proposed. The most fitted distribution function, with calculated rainfall erosivities with various frequencies and durations, has been also selected. The suggested procedure can be used to estimate the optimal value of rainfall erosivity for RUSLE in order to design soil erosion structures and control the soil erosion in watersheds effectively.

• Journal of Korean Society for Geospatial Information Science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.77-85
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• 2007

Assessment of soil erosion is a cost and time-consuming task. There are many models developed to predict soil erosion from an area, but Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is most widely used empirical equation for estimating annual soil erosion. Soil erosion depends upon-rainfall intensity, type of soil, land cover and land use, slope degree, slope length and soil conservation practice. All these parameters are have spatial distribution and hence satellite remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) are applicable in the assessment of the influence on soil erosion. GIS has been integrated with the USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) model in identification of rainfall-based erosion to the Bocheong River which is the representative basin of IHP due to Typhoon Rusa. Similar studies are available in literature, ranging from those that use a simple model such as USLE to others of a more sophisticated nature.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.336-347
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• 2011

Objectives: In Korea, an average of 258 workers claim compensation for their noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) on an annual basis. Indeed, hearing disorder ranks first in the number of diagnoses made by occupational medical check-ups. Against this backdrop, this study analyzed the impact of 19 types of noise-generating machines and equipment on the sound pressure levels in workplaces and NIHL occurrence based on a 2009 national survey on work environments. Methods: Through this analysis, a series of statistical models were built to determine posterior probabilities for each worksite with an aim to present risk ratings for noise levels at work. Results: It was found that air compressors and grinding machines came in first and second, respectively in the number of installed noise-generating machines and equipment. However, there was no direct relationship between workplace noise and NIHL among workers since noise-control equipment and protective gear had been in place. By building a logistic regression model and neural network, statistical models were set to identify the influence of the noise-generating machines and equipment on workplace noise levels and NIHL occurrence. Conclusion: This study offered NIHL prevention measures which are fit for the worksites in each risk grade.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.181-186
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• 2024

Background: This study aimed to analyze the trend of occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) in Brazilian workers at a metallurgical plant with a hearing conservation program (HCP), which has been addressed in a previous study. Methods: All 152 workers in this time series (20032018) participated in the HCP and used personal protective equipment. All annual audiometry records in the company's software were collected from the electronic database. The trend of ONIHL was analyzed with the joinpoint regression model. The hearing thresholds of ONIHL cases at the end of the series were compared with those found in a national reference study. Results: The binaural mean hearing thresholds at 3, 4, and 6 kHz at the end of the series were higher for ages ≥50 years, exposures ≥85 dB (A), time since admission >20 years, and maintenance workers. Significance was found only in the group divided by age. There was an increasing time trend of ONIHL, though with a low percentage variation for the period (AAPC = 3.5%; p = 0.01). Hearing thresholds in this study differed from the reference one. Conclusion: Despite the unmet expectation of a stationary trend in the study period, the time pace of ONIHL evolution did not follow what was expected for a population exposed to noise. These findings signal to the scientific community and public authorities that good ONIHL control is possible when HCP is well implemented.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.755-765
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• 2013

The accumulation of inbreeding and the loss of genetic diversity is a potential problem in the modern swine breeds in China. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the pedigrees of Chinese Duroc (CD), Landrace (CL) and Yorkshire (CY) swine to estimate the past and current rates of inbreeding, and to identify the main causes of genetic diversity loss. Pedigree files from CD, CL and CY containing, 4529, 16,776 and 22,600 records, respectively, were analyzed. Pedigree completeness indexes of the three breeds, accounting for one generation back, were 83.72, 93.93 and 93.59%, respectively. The estimated average annual inbreeding rates for CD, CL and CY in recent three years were 0.21, 0.19 and 0.13%, respectively. The estimated average percentage of genetic diversity loss within each breed in recent three years was about 8.92, 2.19, and 3.36%, respectively. The average relative proportion of genetic diversity loss due to unequal contributions of founders in CD, CL and CY was 69.09, 57.95 and 60.57%, and due to random genetic drift was 30.91, 42.05 and 39.43%, respectively. The estimated current effective population size for CD, CL and CY was 76, 117 and 202, respectively. Therefore, CD has been found to have lost considerable genetic diversity, demanding priority for optimizing the selection and mating to control future coancestry and inbreeding. Unequal contribution of founders was a major cause of genetic diversity loss in Chinese swine breeds and random genetic drift also showed substantial impact on the loss of diversity.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.218-224
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• 2021

This study was conducted to determine the mass-loss rates and the changes in carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio of dead woods, which were of following species: Dryobalanops aromatic, D. rappa, and Cratoxylum arborescens. These were dominant tree species in mixed Dipterocarp forests (MDF) and peat swamp forests (PSF) in Brunei Darussalam. In May, 2019, 48 dead wood samples (15 cm×4.8 cm×5 cm) were placed in MDF and PSF sites, and all the samples were collected after 16 months. The effects of species on mass loss were statistically significant (p<0.05); however, no difference was observed in the mass loss obtained from the two forest types (p>0.05). The initial density (g·cm^-3) of the dead woods D. aromatic, D. rappa, and C. arborescens, was 0.64±0.02, 0.60±0.00, and 0.44±0.01, respectively. Also the annual mass loss rate (%) was estimated to be 6.37, 8.17, and 18.53 for D. aromatic, D. rappa, and C. arborescens, respectively. The proportion of dead woods in decay class III was only 25% of C. arborescens samples, which were attacked by wood-feeding invertebrates, such as termites. The C/N ratio decreased significantly in D. aromatic and D. rappa, but the decreasing trend of C/N ratio was not statistically significant in C. arborescens. The results indicate that physical traits of dead woods, such as density, could be one of the main factors causing the decomposition of dead woods initially, as invertebrates such as termites are one of the key decomposers of dead wood in tropical rainforests. In the samples of C. arborescens, which was attacked by invertebrates, nitrogen immobilization occurred to lesser extent as compared to that observed in D. aromatic and D. rappa.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.782-793
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• 2022

The rise in chronic disease not only has a negative effect on people's lives, but it also increases the cost of medical care owing to the increased usage of medical care as health and medical technology improves, life expectancy rises, and rapid population ageing. In such context, this study examined the difference in the disease cost of hypertension according to demographic information and the effect of the initial diagnosis age and treatment period on the cost. This study used the Korean Health Panel Survey from 2010 to 2017, and selected subjects based on health insurance beneficiaries between the ages of 30 and under 80. With the selected data, the direct and indirect costs of disease loss were calculated according to the cost of illness approach, and we constructed a disease-loss ratio cohort considering the age of diagnosis and time of treatment for hypertension. From the results of the study, the annual cost of disease loss for hypertensive patients differed by gender by 110,107 won, and it was found that the cost increased by 1.8 times as the treatment time increased. In addition, when comparing disease loss ratios between the same age groups, it was found that the disease loss ratios between those in their 60s and 70s were affected by treatment time. This study confirmed that hypertension significantly affects the cost of the disease, and not only requires early diagnosis and management, but also preventive efforts to lower the incidence of hypertensive disease must be strengthened.