• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1156-1163
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• 2008

We performed RT-nested PCR to study the distribution of human enteric viruses in urban rivers in Korea. During 2002-2003, water samples were collected from four rivers in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Among 58 samples, 45 (77.6%), 32 (55.2%), 12 (20.7%), 2 (3.4%), 4 (6.9%), and 4 (6.9%) showed positive results with adenoviruses (AdVs), enteroviruses (EVs), reoviruses (ReVs), hepatitis A viruses (HAVs), rotaviruses (RoVs), and sapoviruses (SVs), respectively. According to the binary logistic regression model, the occurrence of each enteric virus, except ReVs and HAVs, was not statistically correlated with the water temperature and levels of fecal coliforms (P<0.05). AdVs were most often detected; only 4 samples (6.9%) were negative for AdVs while positive for other enteric viruses in the studied sites. Our results indicated that monitoring human enteric viruses is necessary to improve microbial quality, and that AdVs detection by PCR can be a useful index for the presence of other enteric viruses in aquatic environments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.119-131
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to compare the differences of the ecological attributes in the two types of urban park at Suwon and Goyang city. 'Directly linked park' is forests and rivers in the vicinity, it is capable of re-supply of the species and 'Isolated park' is forests and rivers apart, it is a difficult re-supply of the species. The result of assessment of the ecological attributes in the two types of urban park was analyzed as the percentage of 'Forest zone' was high, but the percentage of 'Area of permeable pavement' and 'Bush area' was low. 'The planting structure' was mostly 1-layer structure(47%) and 'Foreign tree species' is high by half the proportion. 'Age classes' were a 2-3age classes level, and 'Water body' could barely. Thus, ecological attributes degree was very low. In addition, results of investigation whether the difference of ecological attributes degree between the two types of urban park, also statistically analyzed that there is no difference. Therefore, when establishing the composition of the future plans of the city park, to take full account of the ecological situation in the surrounding parkland, and identify the ecological potential with the parkland. Next, it should be designed and planned of the park that fully utilizing the potential of this ecological attributes.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2021

Rising urban flood patterns are a universal phenomenon and a significant challenge for city government and urban planners worldwide. Urban flood problems range from relatively localized incidents to substantial incidents, which lead to cities being flooded for a few hours to several days. Therefore, the effect may be widespread, such as the temporary displacement of individuals, disruption to civic facilities, water quality degradation and the possibility of epidemics. The problems raised by urban flooding are highly challengeable and compound by ongoing climate change, with adverse implications for changes in rainfall and gaps in intra-urban rainfall distribution. Unplanned construction and invasions of large houses along rivers and watercourses have interfered in natural rivers and watercourses. As a result, the runoff has risen in proportion to the urbanization of the urban floods. The location of the relief camp and the priority for evacuation were determined, and the safest route to avoid floods were established. This method can be used for emergency planning in future flood incidents, and it will help plan disaster preparedness for Panchayat. This study will promote the flood plain's potential use for disaster management and land use planning virtually.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.225-233
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• 2023

Urban rivers and their surrounding environments have been altered due to factors such as rapid economic growth and urban development. This alteration have caused the rivers to lose their original value and become exposed to various pollution, resulting decrease in citizens' quality of life. This study aims to estimate citizens' Willingness To Pay (WTP) for water quality improvement in Suyeong River in Busan. To estimate the non-market value of the Suyeong River, the WTP of Busan citizens for water quality improvement was estimated, applying Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The WTP for improving the water quality from Grade 4(polluted water) to Grade 2(game fish like bass can live in it) was estimated using the water quality ladder concept of the US Environmental Protection Agency, assuming annual donations for five years. For the CVM, the logistic distribution and Spike Model were adopted. As a result, citizens residing in the surrounding area of Suyeong River expressed a higher WTP. Considering more than half of the Busan citizens are aware of the "conservation of nature and ecosystems" as a major function of the Suyeong River, this higher WTP could serve as a basis for improving the value of urban rivers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.621-624
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to select representative rivers of Busan's regional second-class rivers that, as urban rivers, have public open spaces, to identify their environmental characteristics, and thus to present environmental improvement measures for those rivers as natural rivers. First, 5 second-class rivers that have not been covered, and that flow through Busan cities were examined.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.369-376
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• 2018

Korea is surrounded by the West Sea, the South Sea, and the East Sea. There are various points at which large and small rivers flow into the sea, and areas where these rivers meet the coast are vulnerable to disasters. Thus, it is necessary to study disaster prevention techniques based on coastal characteristics and the pattern of disasters. In this study, we analyzed the risk factors of disaster districts analyzed in comprehensive plans for the reduction of damage to coastal cities from storms and floods. As a result of standardization, four factors (tide level, intensive rainfall & typhoon, wave, and tsunami) were identified. Intensive rainfall & typhoon occurred along the West Sea, the South Sea, and the East Sea coast. Factors that should be considered to influence disasters are tide level for the West Sea, tsunami and tide level for the South Sea, and wave in the East Sea. In addition, disaster prevention techniques to address these factors are presented, focusing on domestic and overseas cases.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.220-230
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• 2022

Seasonal variability of water quality in the upland headwater streams in ten forested catchments (37.0~209.0 ha) was examined from April to November 2021. Here, seven physicochemical parameters were analyzed including pH, electrical conductivity (EC), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (T-N), total phosphorous (T-P), and BOD/TOC. The parameters were compared with those of lowerland rivers as middle and lower reaches within a watershed. The pH showed was low (6.4~6.9) during all the seasons, however, BOD and BOD/TOC in the fall season were 2-fold higher than in the spring and summer seasons. Based on environmental standards, the water quality level revealed that the upland headwater streams maintained the purity and cleanliness of water except for pH in the summer season. BOD/TOC of all the seasons and BOD of the fall season in the upland headwater streams were higher than that in the lowerland rivers, whereas the rest of the physicochemical parameters in the upland headwater streams were lower than that in the lowerland rivers. Additionally, the water quality level maintained the purity and cleanliness of water as "Good" in two reaches. The unique aspects of our study design enabled us to draw inferences about water quality characteristics with temporal and spatial analysis in upland headwater streams. This design will be useful for the long-term strategy of effective water quality management for integrated upland headwater streams and lowerland rivers within a watershed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.320-329
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• 2022

Urban areas in watersheds increase the impervious surface, and agricultural areas deteriorate the water quality of rivers due to the use of fertilizers. As such, anthropogenic land use affects the type, intensity and quantity of land use and is closely related to the amount of substances and nutrients discharged to nearby streams. Riparian vegetation reduce the concentration of pollutants entering the watershed and mitigate the negative impacts of land use on rivers. This study analyzes the data through correlation analysis and regression analysis through point data measured twice a year in spring and autumn in 21 selected damaged tributary rivers within the Han River area, and then uses a structural equation model to determine the area land use. In the negative impact on water quality, the mitigation effect of riparian vegetation was estimated. As a result of the correlation analysis, the correlation between the agricultural area and water quality was stronger than that of the urban area, and the area ratio of riparian vegetation showed a negative correlation with water quality. As a result of the regression analysis, it was found that agricultural areas had a negative effect on water quality in all models, but the results were not statistically significant in the case of urban areas. As a result of the model estimated through the structural equation, BOD, COD, TN, and TP showed a mitigation effect due to the accumulation effect of river water quality through riparian vegetation in agricultural areas, but the effect of riparian vegetation through riparian vegetation was found in urban areas. There was no These results were interpreted as having a fairly low distribution rate in urban areas, and in the case of the study area, there was no impact due to riparian forests due to the form of scattered and distributed settlements rather than high-density urbanized areas. The results of this study were judged to be unreasonable to generalize by analyzing the rivers where most of the agricultural areas are distributed, and a follow-up to establish a structural equation model by expanding the watershed variables in urban areas and encompassing the variables of various factors affecting water quality research is required.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.171-171
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• 2008

We monitored the occurrence of human enteric viruses in urban rivers by cell culture-PCR and RT-nested PCR. Water samples were collected monthly or semimonthly between May 2002 and March 2003 in four urban tributaries. Enteric viruses were detected by RT-nested PCR and cell culture-PCR based on a combination of Buffalo Green monkey kidney (BGMK) and A549 cell lines, followed by phylogenetic analysis of amplicons. By RT-nested PCR analysis, 45 (77.6%), 32 (55.2%), 32 (55.2%), 26 (44.8%), 12 (20.7%), 2 (3.4%), 4 (6.9%), and 4 (6.9%) of 58 samples showed positive results with adenoviruses, enteroviruses, noroviruses (NV) genogroup I (GI) and II (GII), reoviruses, hepatitis A viruses, rotaviruses and sapoviruses, respectively. Adenoviruses were most often detected and only eight (13.8%) samples were negative for adenoviruses and positive for other enteric viruses in the studied sites. Thirty-one (77.5%) of the 40 samples were positive for infectious adenoviruses and/or enteroviruses based on cell culture-PCR, and the frequency of positive samples grown on A549 and BGMK (65.0%) was higher than that grown on BGMK alone (47.5%). The occurrence of each enteric virus, except reoviruses and hepatitis A viruses was not statistically correlated with the water temperature and levels of fecal coliforms according to Binary logistic regression model. By sequence analysis, most strains of adenoviruses and enteroviruses detected in this study are similar to the causative agent of viral diseases in Korea and most NV GI- and GII-grouped strains were closely related to the reference strains from China and Japan, and GII/4-related strains had similar sequences to strains recognized as a worldwide epidemic outbreak. Our results suggested that monitoring human enteric viruses is necessary to improve microbial quality and cell culture-PCR using the combination of A549 and BGMK cells and the adenovirus detection by PCR could be useful for monitoring viral contamination in the aquatic environment.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.2190-2199
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• 2009

Nihombashi is located in the central area of Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo has been the capital in Japan since the Edo period, which started approximately 400 years ago, and has accepted a variety of cultures, human resources, businesses for the last 400 years. This has resulted in building up the present prosperity. The Sumida River, one of the symbols of Tokyo and its tributaries including the Kanda River and the Nihombashi River, flows through the Nihombashi district. The river and tributaries used to benefit to the City of Edo. Due to the economic development and the industrial growth in Tokyo, however, they were polluted and lost their functions. In 1960s, approximately 40 years ago, the Sumida River became so dirty that local citizens kept away from it. The Nihombashi River was covered with an expressway, which was obscuring the river view. Since 1970s, local communities have proposed to rehabilitate rivers in Tokyo successively, and have proceeded with measures for river floods, improvement of sewage systems and construction of water purification facilities. Consequently, the quality of the river water was considerably improved in 1990. The stagnant rivers were turned into ones that local citizens were physically able to come close by. Today, restoring of the environment and the appearance of the city in the old days, Nihombashi district has been proposed as a model city of the future, which is alive with history and culture and harmonizing with rivers. The concept is "To Create, To Reserve, To Restore." This paper introduces a case study of the urban development, in which the local communities and public authorities collaborated with and proposed a brand-new style of the urban city harmonizing with the environment.