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In industrial applications, software related to computational lithography using a DP system method, which refers to how efficiently hardware resources are used, has a significant impact on performance. Because the amount of data to be processed per unit of time is comparatively large in the current semiconductor industry, the efficiency of hardware should be increased through job 12 scheduling by using the most efficient load balancing techniques possible. For efficient scheduling of the load balancer, these are necessary to predict the end time of a given job, this is calculated based on the performance of computing resources and the development of effective traffic distribution algorithms. Due to the high integration of semiconductor chips, the volume of mask exposure data has increased exponentially, the number of slave nodes is increasing, and most EDA tools require one license per DP node to perform a simulation. In this paper, in order to improve efficiency and reduce cost through more efficient load balancing scheduling, a new type of DEVS load balancing method was studied based on the existing industrial E-beam cluster model. The designed DEVS model showed up to four times the throughput of the existing legacy model for medium and large clusters when the BSF policy was applied.

Only a few have evaluated the mitigation of greenhouse emissions and profit analysis along with soil carbon sequestration for corn cultivation. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the carbon sequestration and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions as well as their profit analysis with different composts mixed with biochar during corn cultivation. This experimental data provided the second year of corn cultivation. The soil type used was clay loam. The application amounts of synthetic fertilizer and biochar were 220–30–155 kg ha−1 (N–P–K) as the recommended amount after soil analysis and 2600 kg ha−1 based on 1.3% of soil bulk density. For the biannual experimental results, it appeared that carbon sequestration in cow manure cooperated with biochar was highest at 2.3 tons ha−1 and recovered from 67.3 to 78.5% with biochar application. Furthermore, mitigation of CO2-eq. emission as greenhouse gases was estimated to be at 7.3–8.4 MT ha−1, and its profit was evaluated from $7.2 to 8.4 as lowest, from $57.2 to 66.6 as medium and from $139.7 to 162.7 as highest per hectare regardless of organic compost types used. For agricultural practice in Korea, it is evaluated that the market price of CO2 in corn field cooperated with 2600 kg ha−1 of biochar application ranged from $57.2 to 162.7 per hectare in Korean Climate Exchange. For corn biomass, the treatment with biochar application did not significantly decrease compared with the only organic compost application. Based on these experimental results, it might be applied for carbon trading with clean development mechanism for agricultural practices.

BACKGROUND: For the heavy metal cotamination sites, it is very important to estimate the human bioavailability quotients for heavy metals in paddy soils released from mine tailings, which is a major source of contamination in Korea, and to assess the human health risks of heavy metals. METHODS AND RESULTS: This experiment was carried out to investigate the human bioavailability quotient of the heavy metals in paddy soils below part of the closed metalliferous mine. For estimating the human bioavailability quotients for heavy metals, 30 paddy soils below part of the closed mine were collected, and analyzed for Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As using simple bioavailability extraction test(SBET). The quantities of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn and As extracted from paddy soils below part of the mine by using the SBET analysis were 28.1, 17.3, 34.1, 14.6 and 2.3% respectively. Specially, the maximum values of Cd, Pb and Zn were 73.3, 81.5 and 58.1% of human bioavailability quotient, respectively, and varied considerably among the sampling sites. The human bioavailability quotient of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in soils near the closed mine showed significant positive correlation among soil pH value, O.M. and Ex. Ca. contents, while it correlated negatively between soil Ex. K and Ex. Mg contents in paddy soils. Also, its of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in paddy soils showed significant positive correlation with 0.1M HCl extractable and total contents, while in soils, it correlated negatively with As content in soil near the closed mine. CONCLUSION: The results of the simple bioavailability extraction test (SBET) indicate that regular ingestion of soils by the local population could be closed a potential health threat due to long-term heavy metals exposure in these mine areas.

BACKGROUND: Most of the tailings have been left without any management in abandoned meta lliferous mines and have become the main source of heavy metal contamination for agricultural soils and crops in the these areas. METHODS AND RESULTS: This experiment was carried out to investigate the assessment of the heavy metal contamination in paddy soils located on downstream of the closed metalliferous mine. The average total concentrations of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and arsenic (As) in paddy soils were 8.88, 56.7, 809, 754, and 37.9 mg/kg, respectively. Specially, the average concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn were higher than those of warning criteria for soil contamination(4 mg/kg for Cd, 200 mg/kg for Pb, and 300 mg/kg for Zn) in agricultural soil established by Soil Environmental Conservation Act in Korea. The proportions of 0.1 M HCl extractable Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As concentration to total concentration of these heavy metals in paddy soils were 27.7, 21.3, 35.1, 13.8 and 10.5%, respectively. The pollution index of these five metals in paddy soils ranged from 0.42 to 11.92. Also, the enrichment factor (EFc) of heavy metals in paddy soils were in the order as Cd>Pb>Zn>Cu>As, and the enrichment factor in paddy soil varied considerably among the sampling sites. The geoaccumulation index (Igeo) of heavy metals in soils were in the order as Cd>Pb>Zn>Cu>As, specially, the average geoaccumulation index of Cd, Pb, and Zn (Igeo 2.49 ～3.10) were relatively higher than that of other metals in paddy soils.

Tumor cells shed an abundance of extracellular vesicles (EVs) to body fluids containing bioactive molecules including DNA, RNA, and protein. Investigations in the field of tumor-derived EVs open a new horizon in understanding cancer biology and its potential as cancer biomarkers as well as platforms for personalized medicine. This study demonstrates that successfully isolated EVs from plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients contain DNA that can be used for EGFR genotyping through liquid biopsy. In both plasma and BALF samples, liquid biopsy results using EV DNA show higher accordance with conventional tissue biopsy compared to the liquid biopsy of cfDNA. Especially, liquid biopsy with BALF EV DNA is tissue-specific and extremely sensitive compared to using cfDNA. Furthermore, use of BALF EV DNA also demonstrates higher efficiency in comparison to tissue rebiopsy for detecting p.T790 M mutation in the patients who developed resistance to EGFR-TKIs. These finding demonstrate possibility of liquid biopsy using EV DNA potentially replacing the current diagnostic methods for more accurate, cheaper, and faster results. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12943-018-0772-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The level of nitrous oxide (), a long-lived greenhouse gas, in atmosphere has increased mainly due to anthropogenic sources, especially application of nitrogen fertilizers. Quantifying emission in the agricultural field is essential to develop National inventories of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission. The objective of this study was to develop emission factor to estimate direct emission from agricultural field by measuring emissions in the red pepper cultivating field from 2010 to 2012. Emission factor of calculated from accumulated emission, nitrogen fertilization rate, and background emission was N resulted from three year experiment of the research sites. More extensive studies need to be conducted to develop emission factors for other upland crops in the various regions of Korea because emission is influenced by many factors including climate characteristics, soil properties, and agricultural practices.

To estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, the inventory of rice cultivation at the farming without agricultural chemicals was established from farmers in Gunsan, Jeonbuk province in 2011∼2012. The objectives of this study were to calculate carbon footprint and analyse the major factor of GHGs. To do this, we carried out a sensitivity analysis using the analyzed main factors of GHGs and estimated the mitigation potential of GHGs. Also we suggested agricultural methods to reduce GHGs that can be appled by farmers at this region. At the farming system without agricultural chemicals, carbon footprint of rice production unit of kg was 2.15 kg CO₂.-eq. kg -1 . Although the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission was the largest among GHGs, methane (CH₄) emission had the highest contribution to carbon footprint on rice production system when it was converted to carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂-eq.) multiplied by the global warming potential (GWP). Main source of CO₂ emission in the rice farming system without agricultural chemicals was combustion of fossil fuels used by agricultural machinery. Most of the CH₄ was emitted during rice cultivation practice and its major emission factor was flooded paddy field in anaerobic condition. Also, most of the N2O was emitted from rice cultivation process. Major sources of the N₂O emission was application of fertilizer such as compound fertilizer. As a result of sensitivity analysis in energy consumption, diesel had the highest sensitivity among the energy inputs. With the reduction of diesel consumption by 10%, it was estimated that CO₂ potential reduction was about 2.0%. With reducing application rate of compound fertilizer by 10%, the potential reduction was calculated that CO₂ and N₂O could be reduced by 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively. At the condition of 10% reduction of silicate and compost, CO₂ and CH₄ could be reduced by 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively. With 8 days more drainage than the ordinary practice, CH₄ emission could be reduced by about 4.5%. Drainage and diesel consumption were the main sources having the largest effect on the GHG reduction at the farming system without agricultural chemicals. Based on the above results, we suggest that no-tillage and midsummer drainage could be a method to decrease GHG emissions from rice production system.

Although intermittent drainage is regarded as a key factor to reduce methane (CH4) emission from paddy soil during rice cultivation, it also could increase nitrous oxide (N2O) emission. However, the effects of intermittent drainage on CH4 and N2O emissions with different global warming potential (GWP) values have not been well examined. In the present study, the effect of a 26-day intermittent drainage from the 34th day after transplanting (DAT) to the 60th DAT on two greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes and yield properties were compared with those of a continuous flooding system under different fertilization (NPK as control, PK, and NPK+straw) during rice cultivation. The effect of intermittent drainage on changing two GHG emissions was compared using the GWP value, calculated as CO2 equivalents by multiplying 25 and 298 to the seasonal CH4 and N2O fluxes, respectively. Under the same irrigation condition, addition of nitrogen to PK significantly increased seasonal CH4 and N2O fluxes, and addition of straw to NPK increased CH4 and N2O. Irrespective with fertilization background, the intermittent drainage significantly reduced the total GWP by ca. 41–70% as affected by the big reduction of seasonal CH4 fluxes by ca. 43–53% to that of the continuous flooding even with an increase of seasonal N2O emissions by ca. 16–43%. Rice productivity was not significantly different between the two different irrigation systems under same fertilization background. As a result, total GWP per grain yield was significantly lower in all fertilization treatments with intermittent drainage compared with continuous flooding.

This study was conducted to assess N₂O emissions in agricultural soils of Korea under the 1996 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) methodology. N₂O emissions in agricultural soils were calculated the sum of direct emission and indirect emission by the N sources and emissions by field burning of crop residues. N₂O emission was highest in animal manure as 1,547 CO₂-eq Gg. Indirect emissions by atmospheric deposition and leaching and runoff were 1,463 and 1,753 CO₂-eq Gg, respectively. N₂O emission by field burning of crop residues was highest in pepper due to the residue/crop ratio and field burning ratio.

Rice cultivation in the paddy field and the burning of crop residues have been identified as the important sources of methane emission in agricultural sector. This study aimed at assessment of the methane emission from croplands in the year of 2011 with the IPCC guideline methodology. Methane from rice cultivation was emitted 6,813 CO₂-eq Gg in 2011. According to the water management, methane emission amounts by continuously flooded and intermittently flooded were 1,499 and 5,314 CO₂-eq Gg, respectively. Methane emission by crop residues burning was highest in red pepper and followed by rice straw, pulses and barely in 2011. Methane emission by field burning was very little compared with rice cultivation.

Recently, special attention has been given to acid rain and its problem to environment such as acid precipitation and air pollution in East Asia. In the present study, rainwater samples were collected from Apr to Nov in 2012. The samples were chemically characterized for the assessment of emission sources. Suwon and Yeoju regions, typical agricultural areas in South Korea, were chosen for study sites. Ion composition and cation-affected neutralization were determined to evaluate the contribution of cations to the acidity of rainwater. Ion and electrical conductivity between the measured and the estimated showed high correlation. The cations observed in Suwon and Yeoju were Na + > NH 4 + > K + > Ca 2+ > Mg 2+ > H + and Na + > K + > NH 4 + > Ca 2+ > Mg 2+ = H + , respectively. The anions of all sites were SO 4 2- > NO 3 - > Cl - . While the amounts of sulfate, one of the major dissolved components of rainwater, were 77.6 and 75.6 ueq L -1 in Suwon and Yeoju, the ones of NSS-SO 4 2- (Non-Sea Salt sulfate) were 83 and 82% in Suwon and Yeoju, respectively. The comparison of observed pH values (pHobs) with the theoretical pH values (pHthe) showed that the neutralization of rain water considerably went along during the study periods. The highest amounts of rainfall throughout the year in Suwon and Yeoju were 572.3 and 484.6 mm in July, and its corresponding nitrogen loadings in Suwon and Yeoju were 5.28 and 3.50 kg ha-1, respectively. The major ion contents for crop growth with SO 4 2- , Ca 2+ , K + and Mg 2+ were 51.7, 5.2, 11.8 and 1.8 kg ha -1 in Suwon and 34.2, 4.0, 4.2 and 1.1 kg ha -1 in Yeoju.

Recently, special attention has been givento acid rain and its problem to environment such as acid precipitation and air pollution in East Asia.In the present study, rainwater samples werecollected from Apr to Oct (farming period) and from Nov to Mar (non-farming period) in 2009 ~ 2011. The samples were chemically characterized for the assessment of emission sources. Suwon region, a typical agricultural area in Gyeonggi province (South Korea) was chosen as a study site. The content of ionic species and theirtemporal variation were used forfactor analysis, which was used to presume the natural and anthropogenic sources depending upon the farming and non-farming periods. The cationsobserved during farming and non-farming periods were > Na+> Ca2+> K+> H+> Mg2+and Na+> N >Ca2+> H+= Mg2+> K+, respectively. The anions during farming and non-farming periods were > > Cl- and > > Cl-, respectively. While the amounts of sulfate, one of the major dissolved components of rainwater were 113.5 and 177.0 ueq.L-1, the ones of NSS- (Non-Sea Salt sulfate) were 93.7 and 87.1% during farming and non-farming periods, respectively. The comparison of observed pH values (pHobs) with the theoretical pH values (pHthe) showed that the neutralization of rainwater considerably went along during farming and non-farming periods. The highest amountof rainfall throughout the year was310.5 mmin August and its corre sponding nitrogen loading was5.03 kg·ha-1. The major ion contents for crop growth, , Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, were 49.4, 5.5, 18.1,1.4 kg·ha-1from April to October. The major contributions to the existing chemical ions in rainwaters during farming and non-farming periods were from the natural sources (sea and soil) and the anthropogenic sources (human and animal waste, vehicular emission + fossil fuels combustion), respectively.

Water control is mainly one of the key factors that can affect nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from soils. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of intermittent drainage compared to continuous flooding (conventional water regime) on N 2 O emission to global warming potential (GWP) with NPK (standard cultivation practice), NPK+Straw, and PK fertilizations. Nitrous oxide emission rates were collected twice a week using a closed chamber method. With continuous flooding, nitrogen (N) application increased N 2 O emission by 106.6% (0.64 kg ha -1 in NPK) with respect to the PK treatment (0.31 kg ha -1 ), and straw addition to NPK enhanced 148.3% of seasonal N 2 O flux (0.77 kg ha -1 in NPK+Straw). Although seasonal N 2 O emission slightly increased by 16.1-42.9% with intermittent irrigation, its seasonal CH 4 emission drastically reduced at 43.5-52.8% resulting in a lower GWP at 48.9-58.5% with respect to that of continuously flooded treatments (4.51 Mg CO 2 ha -1 , PK; 7.60 Mg CO 2 ha -1 , NPK; 14.55 Mg CO 2 ha -1 , NPK+Straw). Rice yield, at similar fertilization with the continuously-flooded rice field, was not affected by intermittent irrigation. Conclusively, intermittent irrigation can be very effective and a rational soil management strategy to mitigate GWP with considering rice productivity in a temperate paddy rice field like Korea.

This study was performed a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) among three rice production systems in order to analyze the difference of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and environment impacts. Its life cycle inventory (LCI) database (DB) was established using data obtained from interview with conventional, without agricultural chemical and organic farming at Gunsan and Iksan, Jeonbuk province in 2011. According to the result of LCI analysis, was mostly emitted from fertilizer production process and rice cropping phase. and were almost emitted from rice cultivation phase. The value of carbon footprint to produce 1 kg rice (unhulled) on conventional rice production system was 1.01E+00 kg -eq. and it was the highest value among three rice production systems. The value of carbon footprints on without agricultural chemical and organic rice production systems were 5.37E-01 -eq. and 6.58E-01 -eq. , respectively. Without agricultural chemical rice production system whose input amount was the smallest had the lowest value of carbon footprint. Although the yield of rice from organic farming was the lowest, its value of carbon footprint less than that of conventional farming. Because there is no compound fertilizer inputs in organic farming. Compound fertilizer production and methane emission during rice cultivation were the main factor to GHGs emission in conventional and without agricultural chemical rice production systems. In organic rice production system, the main factors to GHGs emission were using fossil fuel on machine operation and methane emission from rice paddy field.

We established a top-down methodology to estimate carbon footprint as national mean value (reference) with the statistical data on agri-livestock incomes in 2007. We also established LCI (life cycle inventory) DB by a bottom-up methodology with the data obtained from interview with farmers from 4 large-scale farms at Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do province to estimate carbon footprint in 2011. This study was carried out to compare top-down methodology and bottom-up methodology in performing LCA (life cycle assessment) to analyze the difference in GHGs (greenhouse gases) emission and carbon footprint under conventional rice cultivation system. Results of LCI analysis showed that most of was emitted during fertilizer production and rice cultivation, whereas and were mostly emitted during rice cultivation. The carbon footprints on conventional rice production system were 2.39E+00 kg -eq. by top-down methodology, whereas 1.04E+00 kg -eq. by bottom-up methodology. The amount of agro-materials input during the entire rice cultivation for the two methodologies was similar. The amount of agro-materials input for the bottom-up methodology was sometimes greater than that for top-down methodology. While carbon footprint by the bottom-up methodology was smaller than that by the top-down methodology due to higher yield per cropping season by the bottom-up methodology. Under the conventional rice production system, fertilizer production showed the highest contribution to the environmental impacts on most categories except GWP (global warming potential) category. Rice cultivation was the highest contribution to the environmental impacts on GWP category under the conventional rice production system. The main factors of carbon footprints under the conventional rice production system were emission from rice paddy field, the amount of fertilizer input and rice yield. Results of this study will be used for establishing baseline data for estimating carbon footprint from 'low carbon certification pilot project' as well as for developing farming methods of reducing emission from rice paddy fields.

The role of inorganic nitrogen assimilation in the production of amino acids, organic acids and soluble sugars is one of the most important biochemical processes in plants, and, in order to achieve normally, nitrate uptake and assimilation is essential. For this reason, the characterization of nitrate assimilation and metabolite composition from leaves, roots and xylem sap of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) was investigated under different nitrate levels in media. Tomato plants were grown hydroponically in liquid culture under five different nitrate regimes: deficient (0.25 and 0.75 mM NO 3 -), normal (2.5 mM NO 3 -) and excessive (5.0 and 10.0 mM NO 3 -). All samples, leaves, roots and xylem sap, were collected after 7 and 14 days after treatment. The levels of amino acids, soluble sugars and organic acids were significantly decreased by N-deficiency whereas, interestingly, they remained higher in xylem sap as compared with N-normal and -surplus. The N-excessive condition did not exert any significant changes in metabolites composition, and thus their levels were similar with N-normal. The gene expression and enzyme activity of nitrate reductase (NR), nitrite reductase (NIR) and glutamine synthetase (GS) were greatly influenced by nitrate. The data presented here suggest that metabolites, as a signal messenger, existed in xylem sap seem to play a crucial role to acquire nitrate, and, in addition, an increase in α-ketoglutarate pathway-derived amino acids under N-deficiency may help to better understand plant C/N metabolism.

BACKGROUND: Soil utilization pattern can be the main factor affecting soil physico-chemical properties, especially in soil phosphorus (P). Understanding the distribution and bioavailability of P is important for developing management to minimize P release from arable soils to environment. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential bioavailability of soil organic P by using phosphatase hydrolysis method. METHODS AND RESULTS : Twenty-four soils from onion-rice double cropping and 30 soils from plastic film house were selected from Changyeong and Daegok in Gyeongnam province, respectively. The P accumulation pattern (total P, inorganic P, organic P, residual P) and water soluble P were characterized. Commercial phosphatase enzymes were used to classify water-extractable molybdate unreactive P from arable soils into compounds that could be hydrolysed by (i) alkaline phosphomonoesterase (comprising labile orthophosphate monoesters), (ii) a combination of alkaline phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase (comprising labile orthophosphate monoesters and diesters), and (ⅲ) phytase (including inositol hexakisphosphate). Available P was highly accumulated with 616 and 1,208 mg/kg in double cropping system and plastic film house, respectively. Dissolved reactive P (DRP) and dissolved unreactive P (DUP) had similar trends with available P, showing 24 and 109 mg/kg in double cropping and 37 and 159 mg/kg in plastic film house, respectively, indicating that important role of dissolved organic P in the environments had been underestimated. From the result of phosphatase hydrolysis, about 39% and 66% of DUP was evaluated as bioavailable in double cropping and plastic film house, respectively. CONCLUSION(S) : Orthophosphate monoester and orthophosphate diester accounted for high portion of dissolved organic P in arable soils, indicating that these organic P forms give important impacts on bioavailability of P released from P accumulated soils. Key Words: Bioavailability, Phosphatase hydrolysis, Soil phosphorusResearch Article Open Access

This study was conducted to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions on local government levels from 1990 to 2010 using 2006 IPCC guideline methodology. To calculate greenhouse gas emissions based on the 16 local governments, emission factor and scaling factor were used with default value and activity data came from the food, agricultural, forestry and fisheries statistical yearbook of MIFAFF (Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries). The total emissions in crop sector gradually decreased from 1990 to 2010 due to a decline in agricultural land and nitrogen fertilizer usage. The annual average emission of greenhouse gas was the highest in Jeonnam (JN) with 1,698 Gg -eq and following Chungnam (CN), Gyungbuk (GB), Jeonbuk (JB) and Gyunggi (GG). The sum of top-six locals emission had occupied 83.4% of the total emission in cropland sector. The annual average emissions in 1990 by applying 2006 IPCC guideline were approximately 43% less than the national greenhouse gas inventory by 1996 IPCC guideline. Jeonnam (JN) province occupied also the highest results of greenhouse gas emission estimated by gas types (methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide) and emission sources such as rice cultivation, agricultural soil, field burning of crop residue and urea fertilizer.

Polyethylene mulches have been used for weed control in vegetable production in Korea. One of the additional benefits associated with polyethylene mulches is soil warming. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of colored mulches on soil temperature change and Chinese cabbage yield. Mulch treatments were green (GV), black (BV), transparent (TV), and non-mulched (NM) soil. The highest soil-warming effect occurred under green mulch, and the lowest effect was found under black mulch. Daily mean values of soil temperature (10 cm depth) under GV were higher than in NM soil. At midday (16:00), mean soil temperature was higher by in GV, in BV, and in TV as compared to NM soil. At night (20:00-06:00), there was no significant difference in soil temperature among the treatments of different colored mulch, but soils in the mulch treatments were higher as compared to NM soil. As compared with NM, the yield of Chinese cabbage under GV, BV, and TV were higher by 6.0, 26.0, and 12.0%, respectively.

Exchangeable cations are often overestimated especially in salt-affected soils due to the presence of high levels of soluble ions in soil solution. Thus, quantitative analysis of the soil exchangeable cation based on ammonium acetate extraction method {(Exch. Cation)total} requires additional process to remove the free ions (pre-washing) in soil with distilled water or alcohol {(Exch. Cation)pw} or subtraction of the soluble ion contents from the total exchangeable cations {(Exch. Cation)ref}. In this research, we compared the three different methods for the determination of exchangeable cations in soils affected by different types of salt accumulation such as the soils from upland, plastic film house, and reclaimed tidal land. In upland soils, non-saline and non-sodic soils, the regular ammonium acetate extraction method did not have any problem to determine the content of exchangeable cations without any additional process such as the pre-washing method or the subtraction method. However, the contents of exchangeable cations in the salt-affected soils might be determined better with the pre-washing method for the plastic film house soils and with the subtraction method for the reclaimed tidal land soils containing high Na.

Copper and Zinc are essential trace elements for all living organisms. When presenting in excess amount in soils, however they can be toxic to plants. In order to examine the transfer of Cu and Zn from soils to plants and to predict their contents in plants using soil factors, we investigated total and mobile contents of Cu and Zn in soils and their uptake by lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in plastic film houses. Total Cu and Zn contents in soils were 17.5∼65.9 mg kg -1 (mean: 39.3 mg kg -1 ) and 63.2∼200 mg kg -1 (mean: 137 mg kg -1 ), respectively. Mobile Cu and Zn contents in soils were (0.04)∼0.55 mg kg -1 (mean: 0.18 mg kg -1 ) and (0.05)∼2.62 mg kg -1 (mean: 0.47 mg kg -1 ), respectively. Soil pH ranged from 5.4 to 7.3 and OM from 24.1 to 59.9 g kg -1 . Mean Cu contents in leaves and roots of lettuce were 9.20 and 17.2 mg kg -1 , respectively which showed that Cu was accumulated mainly in root parts of lettuce and not easily transported to leaves. In contrast, Zn was fairly evenly distributed in leaves and roots with mean values of 54.5 and 56.7 mg kg -1 , indicating relative high mobility of Zn in lettuce. Transfer factors of Cu and Zn from soil total contents to roots and leaves of lettuce (TFStR and TFStL) were between 0.1 and 1, while transfer factors from soil mobile contents to roots and leaves (TFSmR and TFS mL) were between 10 and 1000. Transfer factors of Zn were higher than those of Cu, showing Zn was more easily absorbed by plants than Cu. Cu and Zn uptake was stronger influenced by soil pH and mobile contents than total contents and OM and could be significantly described by multiple regression equations including soil pH and soil mobile contents as variables.

Organic fertilizers application has become a popular alternatives to reduce the dependence on chemical fertilizer in Korean farming systems. In this study, we evaluated the nitrogen (N) use efficiency and growth performance of Chinese cabbage grown by black vinyl mulching after application of organic and chemical fertilizers compared with no-mulching. The treatments included chemical fertilizer alone as control (NPK, N- : ), organic fertilizer alone (OF100), 70% organic fertilizer and 30% chemical fertilizer (OF70+N30), and 30% organic fertilizer and 70% chemical fertilizer (OF30+N70), which were all applied in the no-mulching plots and in plots with black vinyl mulching. Daily means soil temperature was higher in the black vinyl mulched treatments throughout the 54 days compared with no-mulched treatments. OF100 with black vinyl mulching gave highest soil inorganic N content. Also, Chines cabbage yield increased 46% by black vinyl mulched compared with no-mulching in OF100 treatment. Without mulching, N use efficiency was, 44, 26, 29, and 27% in NPK, OF100, OF70+N30, and OF30+N70, respectively. However, black vinyl mulching much more effectively increased N use efficiencies by 56, 55, 51, and 39% in the same treatments in the order as mentioned above. Conclusively, combined organic and chemical fertilizers application with black vinyl mulching could be good practical technique to reduce a amount of used nitrogen because of its greater ability to enhance N use efficiency.

The aim of this study was to know whether leaf nitrate can be a substitute of total leaf N to justify plant N status and how nitrate influences macro elements uptake and physiological parameters of tomato plants under different nitrogen levels. Leaf nitrate content decreased in low N, while showed similar value with the control in high N, ranging from 55 to 70 mg g -1 . Differences in nitrate supply led to nitrate-dependent increases in macro elements, particularly cations, while gradual decrease in P. Physiological parameters, photosynthesis rates and antioxidants, greatly responded in N deficient conditions rather than high N, which didn’t show any significant differences compared the control. Considering nitrogen forms and physiological parameters, total-N in tomato plants represented positive relation with growth (shoot dry weight), nitrate and CO 2 assimilation, whereas negative relation with lipid peroxidation.

The nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents are the key factors to determine the quality of organic fertilizers and right amount of application for agricultural uses. The major nutrient contents in raw materials used for making organic fertilizers and products were evaluated in this study. Among the raw materials that were investigated, soybean cake gave the highest total N content at , followed by perilla cake (), rape seed oil cake (), cotton seed cake (), and rice bran (). We investigated 43 organic fertilizers and our results showed widely varied concentrations of major nutrients : total N at , total at , and total at . Our study would like to emphasize the importance of nutrient content labeling in packed organic fertilizers to be able to know its efficiency and for determining the right amount for application.

To establish the optimum nitrogen level for rice planting after Italian ryegrass cultivation, one experiment was conducted on a normal paddy soil (Jeonbug series soil taxonomy) with six different nitrogen treatments for two years from 2009 to 2010. The treatments were including no nitrogen fertilization (Free N), 50%-Basal N, 75%-Basal N, 100%-Basal N, 150%-Basal N and 100% of basal fertilization with (100%+N30-Basal N) for decomposing of Italian ryegrass stubble. The highest rice yields were 8,420 obtained by 100%-Basal N. 150%-Basal N and 100%+N30-Basal N produced a rice yield of . Those of 50%-Basal N and Free N were produced 8,020 and , respectively. The correlation between rice yield and nitrogen treatment showed a quadratic relationship in high significant. According to this regression, the highest level of nitrogen treatment was and the highest rice yield was . Nitrogen uptake rates were relatively higher with lower amounts of nitrogen fertilizer treated.

We have fabricated dye-sensitized solar cells consisting of TiO 2 thin film as an electrode material. The porous anatase TiO 2 nanowires were fabricated by a simple electrospinning process using a solution of dissolved poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and titanium (IV) isopropoxide (TTIP) in ethanol. The relationship of solution viscosity, diameter and beads of the PVP/TiO 2 composite nanowires was confirmed by FE-SEM. The TiO 2 nanowires were obtained to removal PVP by calcination, and decided on calcination temperature by TG-DTA. The crystalline phases of calcined TiO 2 nanowires were characterized by XRD. The anatase to rutile transformation and grain growth occurred during calcination of TiO 2 nanowires confirmed by TEM. The surface area and porosity were calculated from isotherm data by the BET and BJH method. The TiO 2 nanowires had higher surface area than a commercial powder (P25).

Introduction: Tissue rebiopsy has limited value for detecting T790M mutation to prescribe the third-generation EGFR-TKIs. Liquid biopsy using cell-free DNA is being adopted but it plays a complementary role because of low sensitivity. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EV) are proven to contain double-stranded DNA and liquid biopsy using EV DNA is highly promising owing to its intact stability. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of liquid biopsy using EV DNA isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and plasma in addition to tissue rebiopsy to detect T790M mutation in NSCLC patients who developed acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs Methods: From October 2014 to December 2016, we enrolled 30 patients who had disease progression after previous treatment with EGFR-TKIs. Rebiopsy was performed in 23 patients and liquid biopsy was done in 16 BALF and 6 plasma samples. Sixteen BALF samples were obtained in 9 T790M-negative cases by rebiopsy and 7 patients ineligible for rebiopsy. Plasma testing was done in 6 BALF T790M-negative cases. EV were isolated from BALF and plasma by ultracentrifuge method. After DNA extraction from the isolated EV, EGFR genotyping to detect T790M mutation was done by peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-clamping method. We retrospectively reviewed patient characteristics, types of tumor rebiopsy procedure, and responses to third generation EGFR-TKIs. Results: Thirty patients who experienced progression to EGFR-TKIs were evaluated. Tumor rebiopsy was not possible in 7 patients. Out of 23 patients who performed tumor rebiopsy, 22 patients achieved adequate tissue specimen for evaluation, among whom 5 patients conducted rebiopsy twice (4 patients) or three times (1 patient), but 1 patient did not get evaluable tumor cells. Twenty two evaluable tumor rebiopsy revealed 54.5% (12/22) of T790M positivity. Among 17 patients who showed T790M negativity for tumor rebiopsy (n=10) or were ineligible for tumor rebiopsy (n=7), BAL was done in 16 patients and EGFR genotyping using BALF EV DNA showed 31.3% (5/16) of T790M positivity. In 11 patients with T790M negativity from EGFR genotyping using BALF EV DNA, 6 available plasma samples were tested for EGFR genotyping using plasma EV DNA and 3 patients revealed T790M positivity (3/6 = 50%). Finally, we found 8 more T790M positive patients by liquid biopsy (BALF EV DNA = 5, plasma EV DNA = 3) in addition to standard tissue rebiopsy (n=12). Conclusion: Liquid biopsy using EV DNA isolated from BALF and plasma could be an alternative and promising method to detect T790M mutation in NSCLC patients with acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs. Citation Format: Jong Sik Lee, Hee Joung Kim, In Ae Kim, Jae Young Hur, Kye Young Lee. Feasibility of liquid biopsy using extracellular vesicle-derived DNA isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and plasma in addition to tissue rebiopsy to detect T790M mutation in NSCLC patients with acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1596.

The specific molecular profiles of ovarian cancer interface zones (IZ), the region between tumors and normal tissues, were evaluated using a new method involving matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-imaging mass spectrometry (IMS). We analyzed three ovarian serous carcinomas using MALDI-IMS. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to evaluate the quality of tissue spatial features based on MALDI-IMS, and for analysis of large data sets of MALDI-IMS. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and fluorescence microscopy were used to verify interface-specific proteins. Unique profiles were identified for the tumors, the normal zone, and the IZ. Through MALDI analysis, two interface-specific proteins, plastin 2 and peroxiredoxin 1 (PRDX 1), were identified as differentially regulated between zones. Fluorescence microscopy revealed high expression levels of plastin 2 and PRDX 1 along the IZ of ovarian tumors. This comparative proteomics study using tissue MALDI-IMS suggested that the IZ is different from the adjacent tumor and normal zones, and that plastin 2 and PRDX 1 may be interface markers specific to ovarian tumors.

This study was conducted to assess the impact of agricultural land use on the water quality in mountain village farmlands. Two soil types, paddy and upland soil were analysed for their chemical properties. Although, pH and organic matter contents were not significantly different to each other, concentrations of available P and exchangeable K and Ca were much higher in upland soil compared with those in paddy soil. The results of water quality analysis indicated that, in Goseong-cheon watershed, the nutrients contents were much higher in downstream area than in upstream area. Particularly, the elevation of and T-P were significant during rainy season. When paddy fields coexist with upland fields, SS, T-N, and T-P concentrations in paddy fields were lower than those of upland fields. This may indicate that paddy fields possess an water-purifying ability by absorbing nutrients. This effect may reduce excessive nutrients discharged into the neighboring streams which may cause eutrophication problem. The difference between inflow and outflow of nitrogen and phosphorus during the cultivation period were measured as -98.9 kg and -29.7 kg , which means that nutrient outflow was higher than inflow. This may suggest that much nutrient was discharged during the crop harvest period.

To evaluate the acidity and chemical characteristics of rainwater in Korea, its pH and ion concentrations were investigated in Suwon from April to December, 2006. In addition, to estimate the contribution of ions on its acidity, ion composition and neutralization effect of major cations were investigated. Ion balance and electrical conductivity balance between measured and estimated values showed a high correlation. The mean pH and EC in rainwater collected during the investigation periods were 4.7 and , respectively. The monthly variation in EC showed a clear seasonal pattern, which had the lowest value of in July and increased remarkably in November. was the most abundant cation and followed by >>>>. Among them, and accounted for more than 65% of the total cations. In case of anions, the relative abundance was >>. About 67% of the total anions in rainwater was , which showed as mean value during the monitoring periods. Furthermore, 94% of the soluble sulfate in rainwater was identified as nss-(non-sea salt sulfate). We also found that and contributed greatly in neutralizing the rain acidity, especially in dry season.

This study was focused on understanding the agricultural non-point sources pollution in 72 rural catchments of Nakdong river watershed from 2001 to 2005 every two year. Also. Pearson correlations between water quality and basin characteristic were computed. Water quality of this study watershed was better in 2003 than any other period. The water quality of upstream was recorded from 0.040 to 0.510 dS/m in EC, from 3.55 to 22.60 mg/L in DO, from 0.32 to 16.64 mg/L in T-N, from 0.00 to 12.21 mg/L in , from 0.000 to 0.860 mg/L in T-P, and from 0.000 to 0.640 mg/L in . A the downstream, EC was measured from 0.030 to 0.520 dS/m, DO from 4.13 to 18.36 mg/L, T-N from 0.38 to 26.88 mg/L, from 0.10 to 20.12 mg/L, T-P from 0.002 to 0.820 mg/L, from 0.002 to 0.690 mg/L. But there was no difference between upstream and downstream for the water quality. Based on the correlation analysis between water quality and land use, correlation between BOD and residential was the highest positive correlation of 0.541 (p and forest was the highest negative correlation of -0.451 (p, and pH were not correlated with all basin characteristics and basin was not correlated with all water quality parameter. According to the correlation residential was causative of growing worst for water quality, and forest was causative of improving for water quality.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the distribution and burden characteristics of heavy metals in the rainwater sampled at Suwon area, in the middle part of Korea, from April 2002 to October 2003. The relationship between concentration of heavy metal and other chemical properties in the rainwater was also evaluated. Chemical properties in the rainwater were various differences with raining periods and years. It appeared that a weighted average pH of rainwater was ranged from 4.7 to 5.5. Heavy metal concentrations in the rainwater were ranked as Zn>Pb>Cu>Ni>Cr>As>Cd. As compared with heavy metal concentrations of rainwater in 2002, Cd, Cu and As were higher than other element in 2003. There were positive correlation between major ionic components, such as Ca, Mg, and K, and heavy metal concentrations of rainwater, and As, CU, Cu, Zn and Ni were relatively higher relationship than Pb and Cr in respective to correlation coefficient. For heavy metal distribution of rainwater, the order of average enrichment factors was Cd>Pb>AS>Cu>Zn>Ni>Cr, and these were relatively higher than the natural component such as Fe, Mg and Ca. The monthly enrichment factors were relatively high in the spring (from April to May) at Suwon. The monthly amount of heavy metal precipitation was high in the rainy season from June to August because of great influence of rainfall.

The issue of acid precipitation and related environmental problems in East Asia has been emerging. To evaluate the acidity and chemical characteristics of rainwater in Korea, its chemical properties during cultivation season from April to October in 2005 were investigated at Taean. Also, to estimate the contribution of ions on acidity, ion composition characteristics and neutralization effects by cations were determined. The electrical conductivity balance between measured and estimated values showed a high correlation. Rainwater was highly distributed in the range of pH . The acidity of rainwater was relatively low during the month of June compared with other monitored periods. was the main cation, followed by $H^+>Ca^{2+}>NH_4^+>K^+>Mg^{2+}$. Among these ions, and comprised over 94% of the total cations. Rainwater anion composition was more than 80% with and . In rainwater samples, and contributed greatly to neutralizing the rain acidity. The sulfate content decreased until September, and sea salt derivatives were higher in May and October than during other monitored periods. Also, 78% of the soluble sulfate in rainwater was nss- (non-sea salt sulfate).

Objective of this research was to assess the release characteristics of metals from the mine tailing to base the prediction of metal load potential from tailing to soils. Water-soluble concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn released from mine tailing after 2 hrs were 2.31, 129.38, 17.17, and 287.53 mg/kg, respectively, as compared to 1.6, 128, 108, and 142 mg/kg that were extractable by 0.1 M HCl. Kinetics of metal releases followed the power function model significantly indicating that more of water soluble fractions of those metals released at the initial short time, followed by a slow increase. Concentrations of metals released from tailing by water and 0.1 M HCl were in the orders of Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd. The breakthrough curve from the column experiment showed that concentrations of Cd, Cu, and Zn reached at highest after one pore volume, but that of Pb reached highest after five pore volumes when 0.1 M HCl was used as eluent. The release rate of Cd from mine tailing was the fastest but Pb was the slowest. The cumulative mass of metal released by 0.1 M HCl was in the order of Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd after nine pore volume elution.

This experiment was conducted to investigate heavy metal transition and bioavailability from soil to the edible pare of water dropwort near industrial complex. The soils were collected from the paddies cultivating water dropwort stream sediments, and background soils near industrial complex. The pH values, organic matter, Av. , Ex. Ca content of paddy soils were higher than those measured for nor-contaminated paddy fields in 2003. The contents of Cd and Cu was higher than those of standard level for soil contamination by Soil Environmental Conservation Act in Korea. The pollution index in stream sediments were higher than those of paddies cultivating water dropwort. The geoaccumulation index of heavy metals in paddy soils and stream sediment were in the order Cu>Cd>Ni>Zn>Pb. The rates of 0.1N-HCl extractable heavy metals to total contents in soils were in the order Cd>Cu>Zn>Ni>Pb. In case of Cd and Ni in paddy soils near industrial complex, 0.1N-HCl extractable heavy metals and total content were highly correlated with each other. Heavy metal contents in mot parts were higher than those in top pare of water dropwort. The Zn and Cu transfer factor from soil to the top pare of water dropwort were higher than those of other heavy metals. The bioavailability of water dropwort varied considerably between the different parts and heavy metals. Cd, Cu and Ni contents in water dropwort were correlated with each elements in paddy soils.

Most of the tailings have been left without any management in abandoned metalliferous mines and have become the main source of heavy metal contamination of agricultural soils and crops in the these areas. To compare of environmental assessment of heavy metals in tailings derived from various 25-metalliferous mines in Korea, 3 different analysis methods such as water soluble, 0.1 M-HCl extractable, and total acid digestion method (aqua regia) were used. The chemical composition of water soluble in mine tailing were in the order ${SO_4}^{2-}>Ca^{2+}>Mn^{2+},\;Na^+,\;Al^{3+}>Mg^{2+},\;Fe^{3+}>Cl^-$. Specially, pH, EC, concentrations in tailing varied considerably among the different mines. The average total concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As in tailing were 31.8, 708, 4,961, 2,275 and 3,235 mg/kg, respectively. Specially, the contents of Cd, Zn and As were higher than those of countermeasure values for soil contamination (Cd : 4, Zn : 700 and As : 15 mg/kg in soil) by Soil Environmental Conservation Act in Korea. The rates of water soluble heavy metals to total contents in tailings were in the order Cd > Zn > Cu > Pb > As. The rates of 0.1M-HCl extractable Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As (1M-HCl) to total content were 17.4, 10.2, 6.5, 6.8 and 11.4% respectively. The enrichment factor of heavy metals in tailings were in the order As > Pb > Cd > Cu > Zn. The pollution index in tailing Au-Ag mine tailing were higher than those of other mine tailing. As a results of enrichment factor and pollution index for heavy metal contaminations in mine tailing of metalliferous mines, the main contaminants are mine waste materials including tailings.

Objectives of this study were to monitor the distribution of heavy metals, to compare extractable heavy metal with total content and to investigate the relationships between soil physico-chemical properties and heavy metals in orchard soil. Sampling sites were 48 in Gyeonggi, 36 in Gangwon, 36 in Chungbuk, and 44 in Chungnam, Soils were collected farm form two depths, 0 to 20 and 20 to 40 cm (here after referred to as upper and lower layers) from March to May in 1998. Total contents of heavy metal in soils were analyzed by ICP-OES after acid digestion (:HCl:) whereas extractable contents were measured after successive extraction of 0.1N-HCl, 0.05 M-EDTA, and 0.005 M-DTPA. Mercury was analysed by mercury atomizer. The average contents of Cd Cu, and Pb in the extractant with 0.1N-HCl at upper layer were 0.080, 4.23, and 3.42 mg/kg, respectively. As content in the extractant with 1N-HCl was 0.44 mg/kg, and total contents of Zn, Ni and Hg were 78.9, 16.1, and 0.052 mg/kg, respectively. The ratios of concentrations of heavy metals to threshold values (Cd 1.5, Cu 50, Pb 100, Zn 300, Ni 40, Hg 4 mg/ke in Soil Environmental Conservation Act in Korea (2001) were low in the range of in orchard soils. The ratios of extractable heavy metal to total content ranged for Cd, for Cu, % for Pb, for Zn, for Ni, and for Zn, respectively. Cu and Pb contents in 0.05 M-EDTA extractable solution were higher than those in the other extractable solution. Total contents of Cd, Ni and Ni in soils were negatively correlated with sand content but positively correlated with silt and clay contents. Ratios of extractable heavy metal to total content were negatively correlated with clay content but ai and Ni contents were positively correlated with soil pH, organic matter, and available phosphorous. Therefore, the orchard soil was safe because the heavy metal contents of orchard soil were very low as compared to its threshold value in the Soil Environmental Conservation Act. However, it need to consider the input of agricultural materials to the agricultural land for farming practices for assessment of heavy metals.

The objective of this study was to know the qualities of soil and shallow groundwater in plastic film house fields around Central Part of Korea. The study was conducted at 11 sites in Suweon, Hwasung, Pyungtaek, Yongin and Chuncheon through May to August in 1999. Soil textures of plastic films house were mainly sandy loam or loam. Electric conductivity and organic matter content of surface soils mostly exceeded the critical levels for crop production. Average concentration of in the sha]low groundwater was 19.1 mg/L, and it reached almost the limiting level of agricultural groundwater quality (20 mg/L). Moreover about 36% of survey sites exceeded the limiting level of agricultural groundwater quality. Sulfate concentrations also at some sites exceeded agricultural groundwater quality limit level (50 mg/L). Nitrate-N, one of the most important factors in the groundwater quality, had positive correlations with other ions in foundwater.

The effect of lime on plant availability of heavy metals in soils amended with industrial sewage sludge (ISS) or pig manure compost (PMC) was investigated. A pot experiment with Altari radish (Raphanus sativus) was conducted. Industrial sewage sludge and Pig manure compost were added at 25 and 50 Mg/ha, and lime was added at 3 Mg/ha. Heavy metal contents of ISS treated soils after experiment were higher than those in control (NPK plot) and PMC treatment. Specially, the contents of copper, zinc, nickel and chromium in the 50 Mg/ha of ISS treated soils were higher 1248 times than those in control. Copper, zinc, and nickel contents in Altari radish leaves cultivated at the ISS treated soil exceeded the critical levels of plant toxicity. Copper, zinc, and nickel contents in Altari radish loaves and roots cultivated at the ISS treated soil were reduced by the addition of lime. Copper, zinc, and nickel contents in Altari radish loaves were negatively correlated with soil pH after experiment. It concluded that liming would reduce the uptake of heavy metals by plants and be a temporary method of reclamation at the highly heavy metal accumulated soils by ISS.