• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.1
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• pp.22-34
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• 2021

The implementation of the sunset provision of unexecuted urban parks in Seoul has been postponed; however, the mentioned parks still remain vulnerable since they can be subject to development under certain circumstances. Local governments may purchase the parks to prevent their loss but are constrained due to limited resources. The purpose of this study is to prioritize the purchase of unexecuted urban parks in Seoul based on landscape connectivity, which represents the important role of allowing the movement of wildlife and providing biodiversity in urban environments. In this study, we used four potential scenarios (PB100, PB1, PA100, PA1), which reflects the degree of land cover change resulting from the implementation of the sunset provision, and the role of Han River as a conduit or barrier for wildlife movement. Landscape connectivity was evaluated by calculating current flow betweenness centrality (CFBC). This was used to rank the importance of the unexecuted urban parks in Seoul. The results demonstrated that the implementation of the sunset provision will greatly decrease the connectivity of all parks in Seoul and particularly more so for parks in the southern part of the city. In addition, the results suggested that the low connectivity of Han river will diminish the connectivity around Bukhansan Mountain in the northern part of Seoul. Our study can be used for the prioritization of purchase, since it has the ability to evaluate the anticipated vulnerability of each park's connectivity after the sunset provision.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.31-46
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• 2021

In South Korea, there is a growing domestic need for a biotope map which contains ecological and environmental geographic information of a city. After the production of a Urban Ecological Maps(biotope map) by the Seoul metropolitan government in 2000, Natural Environment Conservation Act was revised in 2017 to make it mandatory for a local government to draw up its own urban ecological map. The aim of the present study was to find out ways to utilize an urban ecological map as a mean of communication between natural environment planning and urban planning sectors in a preliminary stage before introducing a big framework of 'environmental and ecological planning.' The northern area of Incheon metropolitan city was selected as the target area for this study. The major research content includes a comparative analysis of special-purpose zones, urban planning zones, restricted development zones, and conservation forests with focus on biotope types and Grades 1 of 'Biotope Type Assessment.' Farmland biotopes and forest biotopes within an area designated as an urban zone (residential, commercial and industrial zones) need to be redesignated as a zone which can conserve them. Especially considering a high possibility of damage to a large scale of natural green areas, these areas need to be readjusted immediately. If the entire area designated as an urban planning zone is to be developed, it is likely to cause serious damage to natural biotopes in the area (56.2%), including farmland biotope (30.4%), forest biotope (15.0%) and grassland biotope (10.8%), and thus, readjustment is needed. In case of a conservation forest, as it can possibly be damaged by the designation of special-purpose zones, it is necessary to match the designation of conservation forests or a special-purpose zones with their biotope types. In conclusion, we present a variety of thematic maps for utilization of an urban ecological map and propose a phase-specific environmental and ecological plan. Phase 1 is the establishment of a urban plan in consideration of ecological status; Phase 2 is the independent establishment of an environmental and ecological plan by an environment department; Phase 3 is an integrated management of ecological planning system and urban planning system.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.699-717
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• 2021

South Korea is pushing for the advancement of crop production technology to achieve food self-sufficiency and meet the demand for safe food. A medium-sized satellite for agriculture is being launched in 2023 with the aim of collecting and providing information on agriculture, not only in Korea but also in neighboring countries. The satellite is to be equipped with various sensors, though reference data for ground information are lacking. Hyperspectral remote sensing combined with 1st derivative is an efficient tool for the identification of agricultural crops. In our study, we develop a system for hyperspectral analysis of the ground-based reflectance spectrum, which is monitored seven times during the cultivation period of three soybean crops using a PSR-2500 hyperspectral sensor. In the reflection spectrum of soybean canopy, wavelength variations correspond with stages of soybean growths. The spectral reflection characteristics of soybeans can be divided according to growth into the vegetative (V)stage and the reproductive (R)stage. As a result of the first derivative analysis of the spectral reflection characteristics, it is possible to identify the characteristics of each wavelength band. Using our developed monitoring system, we observed that the near-infrared (NIR) variation was largest during the vegetative (V1-V3) stage, followed by a similar variation pattern in the order of red-edge and visible. In the reproductive stage (R1-R8), the effect of the shape and color of the soybean leaf was reflected, and the pattern is different from that in the vegetative (V) stage. At the R1 to R6 stages, the variation in NIR was the largest, and red-edge and green showed similar variation patterns, but red showed little change. In particular, the reflectance characteristics of the R1 stage provides information that could help us distinguish between the three varieties of soybean that were studied. In the R7-R8 stage, close to the harvest period, the red-edge and NIR variation patterns and the visible variation patterns changed. These results are interpreted as a result of the large effects of pigments such as chlorophyll for each of the three soybean varieties, as well as from the formation and color of the leaf and stem. The results obtained in this study provide useful information that helps us to determine the wavelength width and range of the optimal band for monitoring and acquiring vegetation information on crops using satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.49-65
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• 2021

Although the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is continuously being advanced, the number of environmental disputes regarding it is still on the rise. In order to supplement this, it is necessary to analyze the accumulated complaint cases. In this study, through the analysis of complaint cases, it is possible to identify matters that need to be improved in the existing EIA stages as well as various damages and conflicts that were not previously considered or predicted. In the process, we dervied 'complaint-based data demands' that should be additionally examined to improve the EIA. To this end, a total of 348 news articles were collected by searching with combinations of 'environmental impact assessment' and a keyword for each of the six assessment groups. As a result of analysis of collected data, a total of 54 complaint-based data demands were suggested. Among those were 15 items including 'impact of changes in seawater flow on water quality' in the category of water environment; 13 items including 'area of green buffer zone' in atmospheric environment; 10 items including 'impact of soundproof wall on wind corridor' in living environment; 8 items including 'expected number of users' in socioeconomic environment, 4 items including 'feasibility assessment of development site in terms of environmental and ecological aspects' in natural ecological environment; and 4 items including 'prediction of sediment runoff and damaged areas according to the increase in intensity and frequency of torrential rain' in land environment. In future research, more systematic complaint collection and analysis as well as specific provision methods regarding stages, subjects, and forms of use should be sought to apply the derived data demands in the actual EIA process. It is expected that this study can serve to advance the prediction and assessment of EIA in the future and to minimize environmental impact as well as social conflict in advance.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2022

Metabolism is essential for survival and reproduction, and there is a metabolic pathways entry in the clusters of orthologous groups of proteins (COGs) database, updated in 2020. In this study, the metabolic pathways of 1309 prokaryotes were analyzed using COGs. There were 822 COGs associated with 63 metabolic pathways, and the mean for each taxon was between 200.50 (mollicutes) and 527.07 (cyanobacteria) COGs. The metabolic pathway composition ratio (MPCR) was defined as the number of COGs present in one genome in relation to the total number of COGs constituting each metabolic pathway, and the number of pathways with 100% MPCR ranged from 0 to 26 in each prokaryote. Among 1309 species, the 100% MPCR pathways included murein biosynthesis associated with cell wall synthesis (922 species); glycine cleavage (918); and ribosomal 30S subunit synthesis (903). The metabolic pathways with 0% MPCR were those involving photosystem I (1263 species); archaea/vacuolar-type ATP synthase (1028); and Na⁺-translocation NADH dehydrogenase (976). Depending on the prokaryote, three to 49 metabolic pathways could not be performed at all. The sequence of most highly conserved metabolic pathways was ribosome 30S subunit synthesis (96.1% of 1309 species); murein biosynthesis (86.8%); arginine biosynthesis (80.4%); serine biosynthesis (80.3%); and aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis (82.2%). Protein and cell wall synthesis have been shown to be important metabolic pathways in prokaryotes, and the results of this study of COGs related to such pathways can be utilized in, for example, the development of antibiotics and artificial cells.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.233-244
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• 2022

One of the most noteworthy topics in recent corporate management is ESG(Environmental, Social, Governance). Although there are many companies that have declared ESG management, KT has declared full-fledged ESG management in 2021 and is sharing its sustainable management strategy with stakeholders. In addition, KT is strengthening ESG management by issuing ESG bonds for the first time in the domestic ICT industry. At a time when the information technology industry became more important due to COVID-19, this study attempted to examine KT's ESG management goals and strategies by dividing them into environmental, social, and governance areas. KT was aiming to achieve environmental integrity through 'environmental management', 'green competence', 'energy resources', and 'eco-friendly projects' in the environmental field. In addition, in the social field, genuine creating social value was pursued through 'social contribution', 'co-growth', and 'human rights management'. Finally, in the governance area, it was aiming for a transparent corporate management system to pursue economic reliability through 'ethics and compliance' and 'risk management'. In particular, KT was promoting its own ESG management by promoting strategies to solve environmental and social problems using AI and BigData technologies based on the characteristics of a digital platform company. This study aims to derive implications for ESG strategy establishment and ESG management development direction through KT's ESG management case in relation to ESG management, which has emerged as a hot topic.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.310-315
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• 2021

We investigated the effect of sodium chloride-associated abiotic stress on the development of Pleurotus ostreatus. We examined the growth characteristics of fruiting bodies, constituent amino acids, and fragrance pattern to determine the effect of culturing Pleurotus ostreatus on a sawdust substrate supplemented with sodium chloride in a dose-dependent manner. Pleurotus ostreatus fruiting bodies exhibited an increasing tendency towards augmented yields when grown in the presence of 0.5% sodium chloride as compared with that grown in the control group. However, increasing the supplementation of sodium chloride from 1.0 % to 2.0% resulted in significantly decreased yields of Pleurotus ostreatus fruiting bodies in these groups as compared with that in control groups. Further assessment revealed the presence of 14 types of amino acids in the fruiting bodies, including aspartate, threonine, serine, glycine, alanine, methionine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, lysine, histidine, and arginine, at lower levels in all the sodium chloride-treated groups than in the control group; except for glutamic acid and proline. Similarly, fragrance pattern analysis of the Pleurotus ostreatus fruiting body by chromatography confirmed that the intensity of the substances presumed to be octane compounds, to which the unique flavor of mushrooms is attributed, was lower in all the sodium chloride-treated groups than in the control group.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.318-329
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• 2022

Plant phenology including flowering, leaf unfolding, and leaf coloring in a forest is important to understand the forest ecosystem. Temperature rise due to recent climate change, however, can lead to plant phenology change as well as snowfall in winter season. Therefore, accurate monitoring of forest environment changes such as plant phenology and snow cover is essential to understand the climate change effect on forest management. These changes can monitor using a digital camera system. This paper introduces the detection methods for plant phenology and snow cover at the mountain region using an unmanned camera system that is a way to monitor the change of forest environment. In this study, the Automatic Mountain Meteorology Stations (AMOS) operated by Korea Forest Service (KFS) were selected as the testbed sites in order to systematize the plant phenology and snow cover detection in complex mountain areas. Multi-directional Internet Protocol (IP) camera system that is a kind of unmanned camera was installed at AMOS located in Seoul, Pyeongchang, Geochang, and Uljin. To detect the forest plant phenology and snow cover, the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) analysis based on the IP camera imagery was developed. The results produced by using image analysis captured from IP camera showed good performance in comparison with in-situ data. This result indicates that the utilization technique of IP camera system can capture the forest environment effectively and can be applied to various forest fields such as secure safety, forest ecosystem and disaster management, forestry, etc.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.302-324
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• 2022

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate exposure to occupational carcinogens in the nationwide electronics industries and to establish a strategy for control of occupational carcinogens in South Korea. Methods: We evaluated occupational carcinogens as defined by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) using a nationwide work environment measurement database on the electronics industry in South Korea measured between 2013 and 2017 in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Results: The number of occupational carcinogens found in the electronics industry in South Korea were: 20 for IARC Group 1, 14 for Group 2A, and 30 for Group 2B. The occupational carcinogens (Group 1) most frequently exposed were strong-inorganic-acid mists containing sulfuric acid (sulfuric acid), welding fumes, mineral oils (untreated or mildly treated), nickel compounds, silica dust, crystalline substances in the form of quartz or cristobalite, formaldehyde, arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds, chromium (VI) compounds, trichloroethylene, cadmium and cadmium compounds, vinyl chloride, ethylene oxide, wood dust, beryllium and beryllium compounds, 1,3 butadiene, benzene, and others. Among them, the carcinogens (Group 1) exceeding the acceptable standard were trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, and ethylene oxide. The working environment measurement system as regulated by Occupational Safety and Health Act is not properly assessed and managed for occupational carcinogens in South Korea. A component analysis for all materials used should be set up to practically reduce occupational carcinogens. A ban on the use of occupational carcinogens and the development of alternative materials are needed. The occupational carcinogens below the acceptable standards should be carefully examined and a new standard for exposure needs to be established. Conclusions: The Occupational Safety and Health Act should be improved to identify and monitor occupational carcinogens at work sites. A strategy for occupational safety and health systems should be provided to give direction to workers' needs and right to know.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.111 no.4
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• pp.630-643
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• 2022

This study was conducted to derive the fresh weight and dry weight estimation formulas of Pinus densiflora and prepare a weight table using them. Aone-variable formula using only the diameter at breast height (DBH) and a two-variable formula using DBH and height were used to calculate the fresh and dry weight. Each equation was verified using statistics, such as fit index, standard error, and residuals. Theoptimal equation was evaluated for applicability by calculating the weight as a coefficient derived from a statistical verification. W = bD+cD² was selected for the one-variable equation, while W = aD^bH^c was selected for the two-variable equation. The fit index of the former was 0.87-0.92, while that of the latter was 0.94-0.98, both of which showed a good fit. A new weight table was prepared using the optimal estimation formula, and it was compared and analyzed with a previous weight table. Analysis results showed that Gangwon pine had higher values in the previous weight table, while pines in the central region had higher values in the newly created weight table.