• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.341-352
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• 2017

Along with Cs-137 (half-life: 30.17 years), Sr-90 (half-life: 28.8 years) is one of the most important environmental monitoring radioactive elements. Rapid and easy monitoring method for Sr-90 using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has been studied. Strontium belongs to a bivalent alkaline earth metal such as calcium and has similar electron arrangement and size. Due to these similar chemical properties, it can easily enter into the human body through the food chain via water, soil, and crops when leaked into the environment. In addition, it is immersed into the bone at the case of human influx and causes the toxicity for a long time (biological half-life: about 50 years). It is a very reductive and related with the specific reaction that makes wet analysis difficult. In particular, radioactive strontium should be monitored by nuclear power plants but it is very difficult to be analysed from high-cost problems as well as low accuracy of analysis due to complicated analysis procedures, expensive analysis equipment, and a pretreatment process of using massive chemicals. Therefore, we introduce the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis method that analyzes the elements in the sample using the inherent spectrum by generating plasma on the sample using pulse energy, and it can be analyzed in a few seconds without preprocessing. A variety of analytical plates for samples were developed to improve the analytical sensitivity by optimizing the laser, wavelength, and time resolution. This can be effectively applied to real-time monitoring of radioactive wastewater discharged from a nuclear power plant, and furthermore, it can be applied as an emergency monitoring means such as possible future accidents at a nuclear power plants.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.463-470
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• 2012

As the advanced seeding technology through use of plug tray for good cultivation of seeds was propagated along with the expansion and development of horticultural industry, the use of bed soils as growing medium has recently been increased. In this study, the effects of the four clay minerals such as illite, phyllite, zeolite, and bentonite on the early growth of red pepper in the bed soil were investigated. Furthermore, proteome analysis for the leaf and stem samples of red pepper treated with only illite was performed. Of the seedling cultured, the healthy and regular size seeds were selected and cultivated in the pots, after they were treated with four clay minerals. The experiment was performed during the whole six weeks in the glasshouse of the Chungbuk National University. The growth lengths, fresh and dry weights of red pepper were significantly higher in the treatments of illite, phyllite, zeolite, and bentonite than in the control. In addition, the uptake of $K^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, and $Mg^{2+}$ were higher in the treatment of illite, phyllite, zeolite, and bentonite than in the control. The 2-DE patterns for the red pepper by the applications of illite, phyllite, zeolite, and bentonite were similar to each other. Therefore, compared to the samples of control, the proteome analysis for the samples of red pepper treated by only illite were performed. Proteome analysis for red pepper showed that plastid fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate aldolase class 1, aldolase, and glyceraldehydes 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, all of which were involved in the energy metabolism, were highly expressed in leaf tissue by illite treatment. In stem tissue, NAD-dependent formate dehydrogenase involved in energy metabolism, potassium transport protein, and GIA/RGA-like gibberellins response modulator were highly expressed. Based on the results obtained from the proteome analysis, it appears that the proteins specifically and differentially expressed on the illite treatment may be involved in the enhanced growth of red pepper. The identification of some proteins involved in the response of vegetable crops to the treatment of clay mineral can provide new insights that can lead to a better elucidation and understanding of mechanism on their molecular basis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 2016

Perchlorate (ClO₄⁻) is an emerging pollutant detected in surface water, soil, and groundwater. Previous studies provided experimental evidence of autotrophic ClO₄⁻ removal with elemental sulfur (S⁰) particles and activated sludge, which are inexpensive and easily available, respectively. In addition, ClO₄⁻ removal efficiency was shown to increase when an enrichment culture was used as an inoculum instead of activated sludge. PCR-DGGE was employed in the present study to investigate the microbial community in the enrichment culture that removed ClO₄⁻ autotrophically. Microorganisms in the enrichment culture showed 99.71% or more ClO₄⁻ removal efficiency after a 7-day incubation when the initial concentration was approximately 120 mg ClO₄⁻/l. Genomic DNA was isolated from the enriched culture and its inoculum (activated sludge), and used for PCR-DGGE analysis of 16S rRNA genes. Microbial compositions of the enrichment culture and the activated sludge were different, as determined by their different DGGE profiles. The difference in DGGE banding patterns suggests that environmental conditions of the enrichment culture caused a change in the microbial community composition of the inoculated activated sludge. Dominant DGGE bands in the enrichment culture sample were affiliated with the classes β-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Spirochaetes. Further investigation is warranted to reveal the metabolic roles of the dominant populations in the ClO₄⁻ degradation process, along with their isolation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2020

This study analyzed the components contained in the pine needles of first and second-year-olds to analyze the factors that the in vivo content of inorganic elements affects the sex determination of pine trees. In response, the plan for pine tree plant and maintenance was intended to be presented in consideration of the reproductive environment and physiological characteristics. The results are as follows. First, last year, when there were many encyclopedias, the analyzed N(%) content was found to be high. The nitrogen content of the previous year's soil was found to affect the production of the spheres the following year. This is believed to be possible to reduce the rate of Pine pollen produced in the new plant in the following year through a dispute over quality consumption in the spring of the previous year. Second, the weapons elements involved in the Pine cones and the generation of the Pine pollen in the new plant appeared to be P(%), K(%), Ca(%), and Fe(%). However, the nutrients from the previous year's leaves of Ca(%) and Fe(%) were found to have a low influence on the sex determination of first-year pine trees. Because Ca(%) and Fe(%) are not able to move nutrients accumulated in aging organs due to the nature of the components, feeding nutrients in the fall when the growth of the previous year's branches is reduced is expected to affect oral generation. Third, pine trees are extremely positive and Pine pollen is related to the time of the northeast wind. Therefore, it is believed that it would be good to be located in the northern direction, where the sunlight is good, in an outdoor space. In addition, it is important to use vaginal consumer products in spring and carry out a quarrel involving Mg and Fe during fall to reduce the effect of the Pine pollen, which is an outdoor plant. This is an important part of maintaining and managing pine trees in outdoor spaces as well as the sex determination of pine trees. This study suggested that plant planning, which derives the correlation between pine inorganic element content on sexual determination and takes into account the physiological characteristics of pine trees, is an important issue in the creation of outdoor space. Follow-up research on other factors affecting pine tree sex determination is expected.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.57-68
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• 1982

The paddy fiels slope located in Kangweon province Hwyongsung gun Gonggeun myon Shinchonri was considerably steep and so it was impossible to economically consolidate the field up to date. But for the porpose of farm mechanization, the field (32. 27ha) was consolidated by the auther under the assitance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery and,;the Administration of Kangweon province. This paddy field consolidation was caused by the treatise on "Land-consolidation methods for farm mechanization in the steep-sloped paddy field", of which the auther is the same. The constrution was carried out from September, 1981 to April, 1982. During the 4esign and construction, some Peculiarities were found and discussed. That is, in design, besides the common condititions for a design, some special conditions were considered and written below; (1) The ranges of field slope in this design were 1/100-1/30. (2) Long sides of the land readjustment blocks must be arranged abreast contour line, and so they make the amount of cutting and banking decreased so as to take the maximum advantage of the configuration of the field. (3) In design, the main principles of dividing blocks were written below; i) First of all, long side of a block should be drawn straight abreast a contour line. ii) Long side of a block should arrange abreast contour line and make its length 100-150m, if not, l)reak the side in order to make a bended rectangle. iii) Length of a short side should be determinded within differences of elevation (0.6 -1. 2m) between the two adjacent blocks toward the normal to a contour line. iv) Length of a short side should be above 15m and the ratio of long and short side should be slso kept 1: (4-6). v) A new field surface leveling was determinded from the elevation which produce the least amount of cuttingand banking within the range of 0.6-1. 2m diffe rences of elevation between the two adjacent blocks. vi) In the course of dividing blocks with the same width along the line which was normal to a contour line, all blocks connot keep their shape in a retangle because of steep slope of the field and so on, and so it was also necessory to make some non-retanglar and small blocks such as a trianglar or trapezoidal shape, which was impossible to use some of farm machinery. But because this non-rectanglar and small blocks were divided, larger and many rectanglar blocks can be divided and construction cost can also be lowered. According to the conditions discussed above, the paddy field consolidation project designed and constructed. And the results of this study were obtained as below; (1) Three-forth of total cost of this paddy field consolidation was not construction cost, and these cost consist of land grading (1/4), road and canal construction cost (1/4) and the other cost (1/4) such as surveying or materials and 56 on. (2) The steeper the land slope, the greater cost was assigned for road and canal construction, and than land grading. (3) Curtailment of the road and canal construction cost depended on simplificating their strutures. (4) In the case of the land slopes were low, the land grading cost was high by 1: 1.4 in comparison with the road and canal construction cost, and conversely when the slops were steep, the road and canal construction cost was high by 1 : 5 in compa- rison with the land grading cost. (5) The densities of irrigation canal, drainage canal and trunk and branch road were 150. Sm/ha, 60. im/ha and 17. 4m/ha respectively. The density of irrigation canal of the area was high by 2 times in comparison with the average one of Kangweon Province, and the others were nearly the same. (6) Most farmers (above 85%) knew the effects of paddy field consolidation. The effects are; 1) Improvement of irrigation 2) Improvement of farm management 3) Improvement of transportarion 4) farm mechanization and 5) grouping of the scattered land. And the more farm modernization was accomplished by these projects, the more farmers wanted to live in their land. (7) In spite of the very steep sloped paddy field, the diminution rate of the net farm land caused by consolidation was 7.7% which was nearly the same as the one of Chulweon plain of Kangweon province. Land grading cost was 971, OOOwon/ha which was rather cheap by 13.2% than the one of Ghulweon plain, and unit construction cost was 5, 341, OOOwon/ha (included soil addition) which was also nearly the same as the one of Chulweon plain and FNFIA (The federation of national farmland improvement association).

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.61-72
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• 2014

To present a guideline on the construction and management of artificial wetlands for high biomass production, three emergent macrophytes (Phragmites australis, PA; Typha angustifolia, TA; and Zizania latifolia, ZL) were planted under two substrates conditions (general soil with and without moss peat) and two water levels (5 cm and 20 cm) and monitored for three years. ZL showed greater growth performance rather than the others not only at early growth phase in the first year [shoot height, 200 cm; above-ground dry weight (AGDW), 500 $g/m^2$] but also in the last year (ZL, 1,100 $g/m^2$; TA, 770 $g/m^2$; and PA, 450 $g/m^2$ of AGDW). ZL with rapid growth at the early growth phase was not affected by naturally introduced weeds, whereas slower and poorer growth of PA and TA at the early growth phase resulted in relatively higher introduction and establishment of natural weeds. In turn, such introduced weeds negatively contributed to the growth of PA and TA particularly under shallow water (5 cm) with the substrate condition including moss peat. We suggest a plant material with rapid and great growth at the early phase such as ZL for reducing possible negative influences by the natural weeds and wild animals for high biomass production in constructed wetlands. A pre-growing process in greenhouse prior to planting might be an useful option to raise the competitiveness of those species when planting PA and/or TA. In addition, we recommend that integrated weed management system with utilizing various options at the most appropriate timing must be applied for maintaining sustainable high biomass production at the artificial wetlands.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.425-434
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• 2008

Arsenic contamination in soil and groundwater has recently been one of the most serious environmental concerns. This arsenic contamination can be originated from natural or anthropogenic sources. It has been well known that arsenic behavior in geo-environmental is controlled by various oxides or hydroxides, such as those of iron, manganese, and aluminum, and clay minerals. Among those, particularly, iron (oxy)hydroxides are the most effective scavengers for arsenic. For this reason, this study characterized arsenic adsorption of magnetite which is a kind of iron oxide in nature. The physicochemcial features of the magnetite were investigated to evaluate adsorption of arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] onto magnetite. In addition to experiments on adsorption equilibria, kinetic experiments were also conducted. The point of zero charge (PZC) and specific surface area of the laboratory-synthesized magnetite used as an arsenic adsorbent were measured 6.56 and $16.6\;g/m^2$, which values seem to be relatively smaller than those of the other iron (oxy)hydroxides. From the results of equilibria experiments, arsenite was much more adsorbed onto magnetite than arsenate, indicating the affinity of arsenite on magnetite is larger than arsenate. Arsenite and arsenate showed adsorption maxima at pHs 7 and 2, respectively. In particular, adsorption of arsenate decreased with increase in pH as a result of electrical repulsion caused by anionic arsenate and negatively-charged surface of magnetite. These results indicate that the surface charge of magnetite and the chemical speciation of arsenic should be considered as the most crucial factors in controlling arsenic. The results of kinetic experiments show that arsenate was adsorbed more quickly than arsenite and adsorption of arsenic was investigated to be mostly completed within the duration of 4 hours, regardless of chemical speciation of arsenic. When the results of kinetic experiments were fitted to a variety of kinetic models proposed so far, power function and elovich model were evaluated to be the most suitable ones which can simulate adsorption kinetics of two kinds of arsenic species onto magnetite.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.345-350
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• 2012

To investigate the exposure and health risk assessment for the residents near the D-asbestos mine in Chungbuk, Korea. We analyzed asbestos in the 20 ambient air and 23 activity based samples near the mine. The airborne sample results are showed that 8 of 20 samples ranged between 0.0025 to 0.0029 f/cc (fiber per cubic centimeter) and the others were below the detection limit by phase contrast microscopy (PCM). In addition, asbestos fibers were under the detection limit or not being by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Based on interview and survey targeting the local residents, we made the activity based sampling (ABS) scenarios fit to the conditions of field. At the same time, we calculated the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) of these ABS scenarios according to the ELCR average value and 95% upper confidence limit (UCL). At the case of weed whacking, soil digging and sweeping yard scenario, 95% UCL of ELCR exceeded the $1{\times}10^{-4}$, acceptable risk range for exposure. Based on our study results, it is necessary safety measures such as risk communication, abatement or management of naturally occurring asbestos (NOA).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.72-89
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• 2012

This study aimed to reconsider the theory that the renowned Amisan(峨眉山) terraced garden at north of Gyotaejeon(交泰殿) was artificially made, by reviewing the historical records and drawings. It has been widely accepted that Amisan was made of the digged soil from Gyeonghoeji(慶會池). But several arguments about artificial mountain theory of Amisan that completely not be found in historical records have been raised in this study. The results were summarized as follows; the inherent contradiction in existing opinion, the discordance between the time of building Gyeonghoeji and Gyotaejeon, the existence of the mountain range which connect Baekaksan and Amisan appeared in Dohyeong(圖形), historical documents written in the years of kingdoms of Youngjo(英祖) and Gojong(高宗), a high position seen from Heungbogjeon(興復殿) in the north Amisan through the wall in the east but impassable, an opinion about realization Amisan as geomantic term of Amisa(蛾眉砂) at the time of Gyeongbok Palace reconstruction, and preservation of the mountain range in Gyeongbok Palace that comes from the result of the arguments in main mountain of Gyeongbok Palace in the year of Sejong(世宗). In addition, it was investigated why the slop in the north of Gyotaejeon was named as Aminsan and why the artificial mountain theory is appeared and made a conclusion that the Amisan comes from the change of the pronunciation of the geomantic term "Amisa", and modeling the yijing[意景] of Amisan which is a sacred place of Taoism and Buddhism in Sichuan[四川] of Chinaand the view of construction to mean defeating a spirit of smallpox which had to be cured. And it seems to be a result which retroactively applied the artificial mountain theory of Amisanis the technique of 'constructing mountain with digged pond dirt' to the relationship between Gyeonghoeji and Amisan. The greater part of mountain range which was connecting with Baekaksan and Amisan was seriously disconnected with large scale of exposition by the Japanese colonial period in 1915. But low slope is kept about 70 meters along the trail northeast of Gyotaejeon. Accordingly, it is judged that the range has not been entirely destroyed. And according to the result of elevation analysis, discontinuous slope form certain axis is found, so the mountain range of Amisan is approximately estimated. This basic research about the mountain range of Amisan might provide a critical clue about restoration of topography in Gyeongbok Palace.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.37-47
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• 2017

In this study, a series of full-scale field tests on prebored and precast steel pipe piles and the corresponding numerical analysis have been conducted in order to study the characteristics of pile load-settlement relations and shear stress transfer at the pile-soil interface. Dynamic pile load tests (EOID and restrike) have been performed on the piles and the estimated design pile loads from EOID and restrike tests were analysed. Class-A type numerical analyses conducted prior to the pile loading tests were 56~105%, 65~121% and 38~142% respectively of those obtained from static load tests. In addition, design loads estimated from the restrike tests indicate increases of 12~60% compared to those estimated in the EOID tests. The EOID tests show large end bearing capacity while the restrike tests demonstrate increased skin friction. When impact energy is insufficient during the restrike tests, the end bearing capacity may be underestimated. It has been found that total pile capacity would be reasonably estimated if skin friction from the restrike tests and end bearing capacity from the EOID are combined. The load-settlement relation measured from the static pile load tests and estimated from the numerical modelling is in general agreement until yielding occurs, after which results from the numerical analyses substantially deviated away from those obtained from the static load tests. The measured pile behaviour from the static load tests shows somewhat similar behaviour of perfectly-elastic plastic materials after yielding with a small increase in the pile load, while the numerical analyses demonstrates a gradual increase in the pile load associated with strain hardening approaching ultimate pile load. It has been discussed that the load-settlement relation mainly depends upon the stiffness of the ground, whilst the shear transfer mechanism depends on shear strength parameters.