• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.249-258
• /
• 2015

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the correlations between the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) and cytokines among elementary school children in an industrial city, Ulsan, South Korea, and to identify major environmental risk factors associated with AR prevalence. Methods: We conducted a case-control study in June 2009 and February 2010 in order to evaluate the relationship between AR and related cytokines. Data on physician-treated prevalence over the past 12 months and potential risk factors for AR were compiled through a questionnaire from a survey of 339 schoolchildren living in different urban environments. Logistic regression analysis was carried out with propensity score matched data (n=180) to assess the influences of cytokines (IL-13, IL-33, IL-4 and IL-5) on AR prevalence and to determine which environmental factors affected AR. Results: In univariate analysis, the AR prevalence was influenced by family history of AR (mother and siblings), environmental factors (odor condition and irritated symptoms of air pollution), and indoor allergens (D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus). The t-test demonstrated that eosinophils, Immunoglobulin E (IgE), and interleukins (IL-13 and IL-5) were statistically significantly different according to treatment of allergic rhinitis over the preceeding 12 months. The results of the multiple logistic regression analysis showed that a statistically significant association between several factors (such as irritated symptoms of air pollution (OR 4.075, CI 1.735-9.568), IL-13 (OR 0.825, CI 0.734-0.928), odor condition (OR 2.409, CI 0.908-6.389), and AR history of siblings (OR 2.217, CI 0.999-4.921)) and the prevalence of AR was found after adjusting for confounders. Conclusion: These results suggest that AR prevalence is significantly associated with cytokine level, genetic background, and outdoor environmental factors. Although living in a polluted area and genetic background can contribute to an increased risk of childhood AR, cytokine level should be considered as an important factor in the treatment of AR in the last 12 months.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.205-217
• /
• 2005

Purpose: To evaluate the factors affecting hospital utilization for respiratory diseases by ecological study design and GIS tool. To raise the social concern for respiratory disease by the result. Methods: Hospital admission data supported by national health insurance cooperation were transformed to spread sheet data format and combined with air monitoring dataset. Air pollution data were collected from the annual report of air monitoring published by Korea Ministry of Environment. Socioeconomic statistics including population density, age distribution, forest ratio etc.. were filed using Korea National Statistical Office database. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the factors affecting hospital utilization for respiratory diseases. Analytical unit was 52 cities. Results: The factors affecting hospital utilization for respiratory diseases were the proportion of population 60 years and over, seaside city, $O_3$ level, smoking rate. Conclusions: However, outdoor pollutants monitoring data and smoking rate have weakness in reflecting individual exposure. Further research is required to propose more illustrative means to evaluate causal relationship between air pollution and respiratory health effect factors.

• Land and Housing Review
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.129-137
• /
• 2021

External shading devices are well known solar control devices that can help reduce the cooling load of commercial buildings. For this study, experiments were conducted to examine the feasibility of shading devices in reducing both the cooling and heating loads. The influence of sky radiant cooling during winter was verified for the external shading device, internal roller blind, and window. Results can be summarized as follows. The temperature difference between the inner and outer surfaces of the window with the external shading device was 11.8℃ compared to 14.6℃ for one without the external shading device. This 2.8℃ difference was due to heat exchange by sky radiation when the surface temperature of the shading device was lower than the ambient outdoor air temperature. The roller blind resulted in a lower temperature of 0.8℃ compared to the average temperature of the window's air cavity. This was due to heat exchange by sky radiation of the roller blind surfaces. Without shading devices, the outside surface temperature of the window is about 3℃ higher. The study also found that when external shading devices were installed on both the southwest and southeast sides, the outside surface temperature of the windows were lower on the southwest side than the southeast side.

• Journal of the Korea Computer Graphics Society
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.11-20
• /
• 2019

In this study, a novel virtual reality (VR) experience environment is proposed for enabling walking adaptation of visually impaired people. The core of proposed VR environment is based on immersive walking interactions and deep learning based braille blocks recognition. To provide a realistic walking experience from the perspective of visually impaired people, a tracker-based walking process is designed for determining the walking state by detecting marching in place, and a controller-based VR white cane is developed that serves as the walking assistance tool for visually impaired people. Additionally, a learning model is developed for conducting comprehensive decision-making by recognizing and responding to braille blocks situated on roads that are followed during the course of directions provided by the VR white cane. Based on the same, a VR application comprising an outdoor urban environment is designed for analyzing the VR walking environment experience. An experimental survey and performance analysis were also conducted for the participants. Obtained results corroborate that the proposed VR walking environment provides a presence of high-level walking experience from the perspective of visually impaired people. Furthermore, the results verify that the proposed learning algorithm and process can recognize braille blocks situated on sidewalks and roadways with high accuracy.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.152-159
• /
• 2021

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) occur in indoor and outdoor industrial and urban areas and cause environmental problems. Malodorous VOCs, along with aesthetic discomfort, can have a serious effect on the human body. Compared with the existing method of reducing malodorous VOCs, a wet scrubbing method using an electrolytic oxidant has the advantage of reducing pollutants and regenerating oxidants. This study investigated the optimal conditions for producing OCl^-, a chlorine-oxidant. Experiments were conducted by changing the type of anode and cathode electrode, the type of electrolyte, the concentration of electrolytes, and the current density. With Ti/IrO₂ as the anode electrode and Ti as the cathode electrode, OClproduction was highest and most stable. Although OCl^- production was similar with the use of KCl or NaCl, NaCl is preferable because it is cheap and easy to obtain. The effect of NaCl concentration and current density was examined, and the OCl^- production rate and concentration were highest at 0.75 M NaCl and 0.03 A cm^-2. However, considering the cost of electric power, OCl^- production under the conditions of 1.00 M NaCl and 0.01 A cm^-2 was most effective among the conditions examined. It is desirable to produce OCl^- by adjusting the current density in accordance with the concentration and characteristics of pollutants.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.18-32
• /
• 2024

This study aims to analyze the summer human thermal environment in Jeju City's outdoor parking lots by measuring microclimate data and comparing pavement and vegetation albedoes and elements through computer simulations. In measured cases, results due to albedo showed no significance, but there was a significant difference between sunny and shaded areas by trees. The sunny area had a PET (physiological equivalent temperature) in the 'very hot' level, while the shaded area exhibited a 2-step lower 'warm' level. UTCI (universal thermal climate index) also showed that the sunny area was in the 'very strong heat stress' level, whereas the shaded area was 1-step lower in the 'strong heat stress' level, confirming the role of trees in reducing incoming solar radiant energy. Simulation results, using the measured albedoes, closely resembled the measured results. Regarding vegetation, scenarios with a wide canopy, high leaf density, and narrow planting spacing were effective in mitigating the human thermal environment, and the differences due to tree height varied across scenarios. The scenario with the lowest PET value was H9W9L3D8 (tree height 9m, canopy width 9m, leaf area index 3.0, planting spacing 8m), indicating a 0.7-step decrease compared to the current landscaping scenario. Thus, it was confirmed that, among landscaping elements, trees have a significant impact on the summer human thermal environment compared to ground pavement.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.43 no.5
• /
• pp.100-110
• /
• 2015

With the trend for the construction of barrier-free living environments in accordance with the ever-increasing external activity of the aging population, multi-culture families and socially disadvantaged, there is also a demand for the facilities improvement at parks for their convenience of use. This study analyzed the possibility of Barrier-Free Certification of an existing open space and defined its prototype renovation plan. This study is intended to help develop Borame Park into a barrier-free park by securing a barrier-free line of movement linking the major facilities sites within the park, improving park facilities lest there should be inconvenience in the use of the major facilities, and a guidance system convenient for use by physically and mentally impaired people. The significance of this study lies in the fact that it diagnosed the possibility of the BF Certification of existing urban parks and established a barrier-free park, which is easy for anyone to use. In the course of doing research on this, this study was able to discover the limitations of the BF Certification system, and its related tasks to be solved in the future as follows: The first thing this study shows is that there is a lack of understanding and awareness of the BF Certification system. Basically, there is a need for giving consideration to the development of a barrier-free living environment from the planning and design phase of a park, but in actuality, an examination of the certification is undertaken at the time of the completion of design and construction, which causes a large loss both time-wise and economically. Second, as evaluative items for the BF Certification of a park, applied are detailed evaluation items that fail to reflect the characteristics of an outdoor space whose natural constraints are large, such as geographical highs and lows and existing trees, plants, etc. Third, guidelines for establishment of a barrier-free park must be created in the light of the locational conditions of the park, followed by improvements of its BF Certification evaluation items.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.105-116
• /
• 2017

Murals in villages revitalize communities and spaces, and are economically efficient. Central and local governments are therefore actively undertaking Mural Village Projects but there are some issues and concerns about the projects for the provision of uniformed landscapes for the regions that are the result of a short-term completion of projects, and instead of cohesion, cause destruction of place identities. In addition, the problem of sustainable landscape management that is the result of low community involvement can be pointed out because the murals are products of government-led projects. The study covered the context of landscape and space change processes from a critical perspective, and focused on Ihwa-dong Mural Village, which is considered the first mural village in Korea and has begun to undergo drastic changes due to attention received from media. The purposes of this study are as follows. First, the study provides data about difference of place identity perception and landscape preference between residents and tourists in Ihwa-dong Mural Village. Second, this paper evaluates the current Mural Village Projects and finds alternative directions to improve the projects by using these data. This paper analyzed tourist hot spots in Ihwa-dong Mural Village by using SNS analysis, a field study and focus group interviews. The difference of place identity perception and landscape preference was examined among three groups: residents, new residents who are invited by Mural Village Projects, and tourists. This study showed that many tourists are focused on landscape areas that were not intentionally constructed projects. In addition, the locations of preferred landscapes and stores overlapped. Meanwhile, using qualitative data analysis, it was found that residents perceived the area as being an under-privileged location, while the murals, a non-daily landscape, largely affected place identity perception of new residents and tourists. For landscape preference, tourists preferred outdoor rest areas, while new residents and residents preferred less. Additionally, new residents and tourists preferred an area's night view while residents made no mention of this. Related to the direction of the projects, three groups showed their dependence on the government. This empirical study is significant from a participatory design perspective and in analyzing the issues for mural villages' landscapes, which are spreading across the nation and proceeding without criticism in urban regeneration. Implications for urban planners and suggestions for the future projects are given.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.42-59
• /
• 2014

Han Pilgyo (1807~1878) was a scholar-official in the later period of the Joseon Dynasty. The research results on spatial structure and landscape techniques of the central government office reviewed through the Sukcheonjeado(宿踐諸衙圖) album collection edited by Han Pilgyo are as follows. First, Sukcheonjeado(宿踐諸衙圖) using Sabangjeondomyobeob(四方顚倒描法, a Korean traditional drawing type) is uniquely proven historical data which helps to understand the spatial structure of the center and local government offices and the characteristics of cultural landscape. Secondly, the central government office located in Yookcho(六曹) Street which is the outside Gwanghwamun(光化門) of the Main Palace(Gyeongbokgung, 景福宮) of the Joseon Dynasty has a center facility(Dangsangdaecheong, 堂上大廳) and attached buildings which are distributed from high to low or from left to right, according to its order of presidency in square-shaped portion of land. The main building was located facing south and by considering the administrative convenience, the environmental effect and the practice of Confucian norms this structure reflects a hierarchical landuse system. Thirdly, the main buildings such as Dangsangdaecheong and Hyangcheong(鄕廳), which are the working place for government officials had large square front yards for constructing a practical patio garden. The back garden was tended to reflect the meaning landscape, with such as pond and pavilion. A particular point was the repeated crossing of active space and passive space(movement and stillness, building and yard, yard and garden), which implements the Yin-Yang principle. Fourth, the characteristics that can be extracted from the central government office landscapes are (1) expandability of outdoor space, connects of front gardens, emphasizes the characteristic of serviceable gardens and back gardens, which in turn emphasizes scenic sides, (2) introduction of water features(square-shaped ponds) that can be used as fire-water and considers environmental-amenity and landscape characteristics, (3) introduction of pavilions for relaxation, mental and physical discipline, and the development of back gardens, (4) significance of Jeongsimsoo(庭心樹) in such things as selection of concise landscape plants like lotus, willow, pine, zelkova and so on, and limited plant introduction, (5) environmental design techniques which set importance on not only aesthetics and ideality but also practical value. Thus, these aspects of the government office landscape can be said to be the universality and particularity of Korean traditional landscape technique and can be extracted similarly in the palaces, temples, lecture halls, and houses of the upper class of the Joseon Dynasty.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.28-37
• /
• 2011

In this study, the series-poem, Bihaedangsasippalyoung(48 poems for beautiful scene of Bihaedang), written by scholars of Jiphyonjeon for Bihaedang garden of Anpyung-Daegun(Prince Anpyung, 1416-1453), was analyzed focusing on scenery lexeme to interpret the meaning of scenery and gardening culture of Sadaebu(noblemen) during the first term of Chosun Dynasty. The study result is as followings. First, the subtitle of Sasippalyoung(48 poems) written by Anpyung-Daegun while he grew Bihaedang garden on the foot of Inwang Mountain showed repetitive nomativity comparing joining of yin and yang, such as life and form of animal and plan, time and space, meaning and symbolism, etc. Among scenery lexemes, 38 are represented plant and flowers, and 8 are represented gardening ornaments and animals. Second, the names of gardens were expressed as Wonrim, Jongje, Imchon(Trees and Ponds), or Hwawon(Flower garden), or also presented as Gongjeong(Empty garden), Manwon(Full garden), Jungjeong(Middle garden), Huwon(Backyard), Wonrak(Inner court), or Byulwon(Seperated garden) depending on density and location. In addition, there were pavilions and ponds, stepping stones and stairs, a pergola, a flat bench, flowerpots, an artificial hill, oddly shaped stones, wells, aviary, flower beds, or hedges. A gardener was called Sahwa(flower keeper), planting and gardening of garden trees were called Jaebae(cultivation), a pond island was called Boogoo(floating hill), and miniature landscapes were called Chukjee(reduced land). Third, willows were planted on the outdoor yard, and plum trees were planted in front of the library, which led to bamboo woods road. Peony, camellia, tree peony and crepe myrtle were planted on the inner court with mossy rocks, small artificial hills, glass rocks, flower pots. There were rectangular ponds, while breeding deer, dove, rooster, and cranes. Fourth, landscape elements were enjoyed as metaphysical symbolic landscape by anthropomorphism, such as (1) gentlemen and loyalty, (2) wealth and prosperity, (3) Taoist hermit and poetical life, (4) reclusion and seclusion, (5) filial piety, virtue, introspection, etc. In other words, the garden presented a variety of gardening culture appreciating meaningful landscape, such as investigation of things, reclusion and seclusion, and building orientation of a fairyland yearning eternal youth and Mureungdowon(Taoist Arcadia) by making a garden blending beautiful flowers and trees, with precious birds and animals. Fifth, there were many landscape appreciation schemes, such as Angkyung(looking-up), Bukyung(looking-down), Jeokyung(looking-under), Chakyung(bringing outer space into inside), Yookyung(flower viewing), Yojeong(walking around the garden enjoying flowers), Hwasaekhyangbyuk(flower gardening), and Garden appreciation enjoying landscape through time and seasons with different inspirations.