A Study on the Cross-Cultural Adaptation of International Chinese Teachers at Confucius Institutes in South Korea

International Chinese teachers are one of the determinants of the quality development of Confucius Institutes,and their cross-cultural sociocultural adaption,psychological adaption,and job adaption are in need of in-depth investigation and research.Based on previous research,this paper analyzed the cross-cultural adaptation of international Chinese teachers at Confucius Institutes in South Korea during 2022-2023 through surveys and personal interviews.The study found that the teachers’adaptation was best in terms of work,followed by sociocultural adaptation,and weakest in terms of psychological adaptation.In terms of work adaptation,attention should be focused on adapting to teaching language and teaching methods.In terms of sociocultural adaptation,the focus should be on adapting to personal communication.In terms of psychological adaptation,attention should be paid to feelings of loneliness and anxiety.The study also focused on the internal and external factors influencing their cross-cultural adaptation,as well as the true inner feelings of international Chinese teachers.The study found that factors such as English proficiency,gender,education,professional background,and overseas experience had little impact on teachers’cross-cultural adaptation,while factors such as Korean proficiency,participation in cross-cultural training before going to South Korea,understanding of Korean culture before going to South Korea,and length of time spent in working in South Korea had a greater impact on the cross-cultural adaptation of the research subjects.This study provides reliable reference materials for international Chinese teachers going to South Korea to improve their cross-cultural adaptation abilities and promote the reform and innovation of international Chinese education.

Model development to estimate site index values for six major tree species in North Korea

Due to considerable deforestation in North Korea,there is a need to plan forest restoration programs based on scientific forest management.In this study,a methodology was developed for estimating the site index values of six major tree species and the forest productivity potential.The site index values of these tree species were derived in South Korea using the Chapman-Richards equation.These values were used with data from the 6th National Forest Inventory,which included 20 types of edaphic,topographic,and climatic factors,and random forest analysis—a widely used machine learning technique for spatial prediction—to develop a new model for estimating the site index values of these species across South Korea.The prediction accuracy of this model was evaluated using the root mean square error.The results show that the prediction accuracy was high,with a root mean square error of~1m.Moreover,the importance of the variables related to climate and geography was generally high.The proposed site index estimation model for six tree species was applied across North Korea,and its effectiveness tested by comparing the estimated values with those reported in literature from North Korea.The differences between the model outputs and recorded data in the northern alpine regions were presumably due to the lack of data for high-altitude regions in South Korea.This model is based on the determination of the suitability of tree species in restoration efforts.Therefore,it can contribute to the evaluation of forest productivity in North Korea and may help plan efficient forest restoration programs.

Recent research progress on magnesium alloys in Korea:A review

This review highlights the recent advancements in Mg research in South Korea with a prime focus on high-speed-extrudable Mg–Bi-based alloys for high productivity and strength,innovative techniques utilizing{10–12}twinning for improved mechanical properties,and alloying and processing methods for enhanced corrosion resistance.High-alloyed Mg–Bi-based alloys possess thermally stableα-Mg matrix and secondary phase,which ensures high-speed extrusion of these alloys at elevated temperatures without hot cracking.Consequently,they exhibit outstanding extrudability with a maximum extrusion speed of up to 70 m/min.Furthermore,their high alloying contents offer excellent strength even after high-speed extrusion through strong solid solution hardening and particle hardening effects,making them suitable for high-performance extruded Mg products.The pre-twinning process utilizing{10–12}twinning and the combined process of pre-twinning and subsequent annealing have shown promise in controlling microstructure and texture of wrought Mg alloys and thus enhancing their mechanical properties.The pre-twinning process enhances tensile strength,fatigue properties,and age-hardening rate of Mg alloys.Furthermore,the combined processes of pre-twinning and subsequent annealing considerably improve their ductility,stretch formability,bending formability,and damping capacity.Efforts have been made to improve the corrosion resistance of Mg alloys through alloying additions,process treatments,and surface coatings.Alloying elements like Ca,Sc,and Sm alter the microstructural features(such as secondary phases and grain size)that affect the corrosion phenomenon.Process treatments such as multidirectional forging,screw rolling,and pulse electron beam can also improve the corrosion resistance by refining the microstructure.Furthermore,advanced surface coating technologies can create durable and corrosion-resistant layers for effectively protecting the Mg alloys.All these research activities conducted in South Korea have considerably contributed to the widespread utilization of Mg alloys in diverse applications by overcoming the inherent limitations of Mg alloys such as low extrudability,formability,and corrosion resistance.

Looking towards the Future of BIM in South Korea Towards AI-Enhanced BIM

This paper provides an overview of South Korea’s 20-year journey in adopting building information modeling(BIM) and future direction. It first discusses the six phases of BIM adoption in South Korea, starting from the use of BIM as a marketing tool to its current intelligent BIM phase. The government’s support for BIM-related research and development projects is also highlighted, with a focus on the artificail intelligence (AI)-based architectural design automation project. As the future direction, it explores the integration of AI with BIM in both local and global contexts. The paper presents AIpowered architectural design methods, including AI-powered early architectural design generation and architectural detailing.Compared to AI-based early architectural design generation, architectural detailing is an unexplored research topic. This paper introduces two AI-and BIM-based architectural detailing methods, being developed at Yonsei University:namely,BIM library transplant and Natural language-based Architectural Detailing through Interaction with AI (NADIA). These methods demonstrate how AI-enhanced BIM can enable architects to interactively develop building details using a language model as a conversational AI and a knowledge base, and a BIM authoring tool as a design platform, in the near future.

A Systematic Study on the Genus Aphytis Howard (Hymenoptera:Aphelinidae) from South Korea

The present paper deals with the systematic study on the genus Aphytis Howard from South Korea. Five species of Aphytis are recognized, including one new species (Aphytis albus sp. nov.) and four new records (A. diaspidis, A. japonicus, A. proclia and A. vandenboschi). A key to the female species of Aphytis from South Korea is provided. The type specimens are respectively deposited in Korea National Arboretum and the Insect Collection of Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.

Comparative Study on Changes of Croplands Between North Korea and South Korea During 1990–2015

Studies on long-term change of cropland is of great significance to the utilization of land resources and the implementation of scientific agricultural policies. The Korean Peninsula, adjacent to China, plays an important role in the international environment of Northeast Asia. The Korean Peninsula includes South Korea and North Korea—two countries that have a great difference in their institutions and economic developments. Therefore, we aim to quantify the spatiotemporal changes of croplands in these two countries using Landsat Thematic Imager(TM) and Operational Land Imager(OLI) imagery, and to compare the differences of cropland changes between the two countries. This paper take full advantage of ODM approach(object-oriented segmentation and decision-tree classification based on multi-season imageries) to obtain the distribution of croplands in 1990 and 2015. Results showed that the overall classification accuracy of cropland data is 91.10% in 1990 and 92.52% in 2015. The croplands were mainly distributed in areas with slopes that were less than 8° and with elevations that were less than 300 m in the Korean Peninsula. However, in other region(slope > 8° or elevation > 300 m), the area and proportion of North Korea's croplands were significantly higher than that of South Korea. Croplands significantly increased by 15.02% in North Korea from 1990 to 2015. In contrast, croplands in South Korea slightly decreased by 1.32%. During the 25 years, policy shift, economic development, population growth, and urban sprawl played primary roles for cropland changes. Additionally, the regional differences of cropland changes were mainly due to different agriculture policies implemented by different countries. The achievements of this study can provide scientific guidance for the protection and sustainability of land resources.

Hepatitis B virus mutations related to liver disease progression of Korean patients

Hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection is a global health problem and more than 350 million people worldwide are chronic carriers of the virus.Despite the recent dramatic decline in HBV chronic patients through successful programs of hepatitis B surface antigen vaccination,South Korea is still recognized as an endemic area of HBV infection.HBV infections in South Korea exhibit several distinct features in epidemiologic and clinical aspects.In this review paper,we summarize the distinct HBV mutation patterns related to clinical severity and the molecular epidemiologic traits in Korean chronic patients based on previous reports.Generally,several lines of evidence,including our previous results,have led to the conclusion that a combination of the exclusive predominance of genotype C2,which is prone to mutations,the high prevalence of basal core promoter double mutations,and the presence of distinct immune responses against HBV proteins in the Korean population may generate the distinct HBV variants rarely or not encountered in other areas,which results in distinct clinical manifestations in Korean chronic patients.This may provide a novel insight into the relationships between clinical severity,HBV genotype distribution,and HBV naturally occurring variants.

Surface and Upper-Level Features Associated with Wintertime Cold Surge Outbreaks in South Korea

The surface and upper-level features associated with a sharp drop ofwintertime daily temperature over South Korea is investigated in this study. This sharp drop indaily temperature is called a cold surge and is one of the most hazardous weather phenomena in EastAsian winters. An upper-level baroclinic wave of 60° wavelength propagating eastward at a phasespeed of 12° longitude per day across the continent of northern China from the west of Lake Baikaltoward the eastern coast of China causes the outbreak of cold air over South Korea. The coolingassociated with the upper-level baroclinic jvave is found at all altitudes under the geopotentialheight-fall center near the tropopause. The development in the ridge seems to derive the earlyevolution of the eastward-propagating sinusoidal wave, whereas the trough is connected directly withthe tropospheric temperature-drop. An enhancement of the wintertime East Asian jet stream after theoutbreak of a cold surge is a response to the steep temperature gradient associated with thedeveloping baroclinic wave.

Local Meteorological and Synoptic Characteristics of Fogs Formed over Incheon International Airport in the West Coast of Korea

Fogs observed over Incheon international airport （IIA） in the west coast of Korea from January 2002 to August 2006 are classified into categories of coastal fog, cold sea fog, and warm sea fog based on the areal extent of the fogs and the difference between the air temperature （T ） and the SST, i.e., cold sea fog if TSST = T -SST 〉 0~0C and warm sea fog if TSST 〈 0~0C. The numbers of coastal, cold, and warm sea fog cases are 64, 26, and 9. Coastal fogs form most frequently in winter, while cold sea fogs occur mostly in summer and warm sea fogs are observed from January to May but not in November and December. On average the air gets colder by 1.6~0C during the three hours leading up to the coastal fog formation, and an additional cooling of 1.1~0C occurs during the fog. The change in the dew point temperature （T_d） is minimal except during the fog （0.6~0C）. Decreases in T for the cold and warm sea fogs are relatively smaller. The average Td is higher than SST during the cold sea fog periods but this T_d is more than 4~0C higher than that for the corresponding non-fog days, suggesting that cold sea fogs be formed by the cooling of already humid air （i.e., T_d〉SST）. Increases of T_d are significant during the warm sea fog periods （1.4~0C）, implying that effcient moisture supply is essential to warm sea fog formation. Four major synoptic patterns are identified in association with the observed fogs. The most frequent is a north Pacific high that accounts for 38% of cases. Surface or upper inversions are present in 77%, 69%, and 81% of the fog periods for coastal, cold, and warm sea fogs, respectively.

Insect community structures along elevation gradients on Mt.Seongak-san, South Korea

Insect communities along three elevation gra- dients on Mt. Seongak-san, South Korea, were investigated from May to September 2013 using traps in order to collect basic data for distributional monitoring of species in a forest ecosystem. A total of 2698 individuals of 309 moth species of 18 families were collected in bucket-light traps, along with 196 individuals of 26 ground-beetle species and 11,276 individuals of 14 ant species in pit-fall traps. The insect community at each site was analyzed using analysisof variance and non-metric multidimensional scaling （NMS）. The ground-beetle and ant abundances varied with elevation. The NMS showed distinct clusters of moths between the ground-beetle and ant distributions with ele- vation and month. The community-level responses of these insect groups to those gradients were analyzed.

Last-instar Larval Descriptions of Three Species of Pyraustinae (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) from Korea

The last-stage larval external morphologies of Pleuroptya rulalis （Scopoli）, Pleuroptya harutai （Inoue） and Botyodes diniasalis （Walker） of Pyraustinae are described and illustrated. All specimens are deposited in the Insect Collection of Department of Forest Resources Protection, Kangwon National University, Korea.

Last-instar Larval Descriptions of Three Species of Zygaenidae (Lepidoptera) from Korea

The last-instar larval external morphologies of Illiberis tenuis (Butler), Chalcosia remota (Walker) and Pryeria sinica Moore of Zygaenidae are described and illustrated. All the specimens are deposited in the Insect Collection of Department of Forest Resources Protection, Kangwon National University, Korea.

Perfluorooctanoic acid(PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid(PFOS) concentrations in the South Korean agricultural environment: A national survey

Research on the occurrence of perfluorochemicals （PFCs） such as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid （PFOS） and perfluorooctanoic acid （PFOA） in the agricultural environment is lacking, in spite of their potential risk via food chain transfer from aquatic and soil-plant systems to animals and/or humans. In the present study, for the first time, soil and water samples collected from 243 different agricultural sites adjacent to waste water treatment plants （WWTPs） belonging to 81 cities and 5 provinces with different levels of industrialization in South Korea were monitored for concentrations of PFOS and PFOA by use of solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy （LC-MS/MS）. Significant mean concentrations of PFOA （0.001-0.007 tJg L-1 water and 〈0.05-1.573 tJg kg-1 soil） and PFOS （0.001-0.22 tJg L-1 water and 〈0.05-0.741 pg kg-1 soil） were found in all samples. Concentrations of PFCs in soils were high, highlighting that soil is an important sink for PFCs in the agricultural environment. Samples from near WWTPs in Gyeongsang Province contained the highest concentrations of PFOS and PFOA, reflecting the concentration of heavy industry in the province. The concentrations of PFCs in agricultural water （most samples 〈0.05 pg L-~） and soils （most samples 〈1 IJg kg-~） from South Korea were less than acceptable guideline values, indicating that South Korea is not a hotspot of PFOS and PFOA contamination and that there is negligible risk to human and ecological health from these chemicals. However, further studies investigating the seasonal variation in PFOA, PFOS and other perfluorochemical concentrations in the agricultural environment are needed.

Influence of roads on small rodents population in fragmented forest areas, South Korea

The road effect on small rodent population is investigated at 8 fragmented forest areas in the Baekdudaegan mountain range, South Korea in September 2001. We especially focused on the distribution and body condition of small rodents near the roads. Korean field mouse (Apodemus peninsulae) seems to be more sensitive to the existence of a road than striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius). Korean field mouse prefers interior forest area to around road. Striped field mouse is a habitat generalist and has wide distributional range around road, but Korean field mouse is forest-inhabiting species and their distribution is limited in forest area. These results suggest the effect of road is different on each small rodent species and their habitat preferences.

Current guidelines for Helicobacter pylori treatment in East Asia 2022:Differences among China,Japan,and South Korea

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is highly prevalent in East Asia. The overallseroprevalence rate of H. pylori infection is 44.2% in China, 37.6%-43.2% in Japan,and 51.0% in South Korea. H. pylori can cause peptic ulcer disease and gastriccancer. East Asian countries have high rates of gastric cancer (age-standardizedincidence rate: 20-30 per 100000). The Kyoto global consensus report emphasizedthat H. pylori gastritis should be considered the main cause for the development ofgastric cancer. H. pylori treatment guidelines in China, Japan, and South Koreahave recently been revised according to data from each of those countries.However, emerging antibiotic resistance is an important barrier to H. pylorieradication. The recommended H. pylori treatment regimens differ among thosethree East Asian countries. In this review, recent guidelines and up-to-dateresearch on H. pylori treatment regimens from China, Japan, and South Korea arediscussed.

Influences of diel and tidal cycles on fish assemblage in eelgrass(Zostera marina) bed of southern Korea during autumn

Short-term tidal and diel variations of autumn fish assemblage in a Zostera marina bed were investigated using 3 h interval samplings for 24 h in both spring and neap tide using a small beam trawl.A total of 1 346 fishes belonging to 19 species were collected at spring tide,whereas 1 115 fishes belonging to 17 species were at neap tide.The common fish species were Nuchequula nuchalis,Acanthogobius flavimanus,Takifugu niphobles,Acentrogobius pflaumii,and Pholis nebulosa with the former three species dominating at spring tide,while the latter two species being abundant at neap tide.Diel variation in abundance was significant with higher abundance at night than day,but there were no significant differences between spring and neap tides,and between ebb and flood tides（three-way ANOVAs）.Diel variation in the abundance of fishes may be influenced by tidal range and cycle,and day-night differences of food availability and behaviors of fishes indirectly.Non-metric multidimensional scaling（n MDS） ordination and analysis of similarity（ANOSIM） results revealed significant differences in species compositions both between day and night,and between spring and neap tide.Eelgrass beds are highly productive marine ecosystem,and thus,our results will contribute to conservation of seagrass ecosystem in the study area.

Factors associated with nursing students' willingness to care for older adults in Korea and the United States

Objective: Elderly health care needs increase and nurses' role for elderlies is vital.It is significant to identify nursing students' intention to care for elderlies.Thus,this study investigated nursing students' willingness to care for elderlies in Korea and the United States.Methods: The study was conducted with 437 undergraduate nursing students from Korea and the United States from May 25 to 31,2018.Participants completed a survey including frequency and quality of contact,anxiety about aging,empathy,attitude toward elderly,and willingness to care.Results: Study findings from the entire group showed that nursing students' willingness to care for the elderly was positively associated with contact quality (β =0.22,P<0.001) and empathy (β =0.12,P 0.009) but negatively associated with anxiety about aging (β =0.23,P < 0.001) and attitude toward the elderly (β =0.14,P =0.004).Contact quality (β=0.30,P < 0.001) was positively associated with the willingness to care in Korean students,whereas extended family living type (β =-0.15,P=0.012) and attitude toward the elderly (β =-0.18,P=0.005) negatively associated in US students.Conclusion: This study suggested that nursing educators reinforce contact quality and empathy but reduce anxiety about aging and attitude toward elderly to enhance future nurses' care quality.

Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori in female Vietnamese immigrants to Korea

AIM： To investigate the seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori （H. pylorl） and its relationship to nutritional fac- tors in female Vietnamese immigrants to Korea. METHODS： A total of 390 female immigrants from Vietnam and 206 Korean male spouses participated in the study. Blood samples from 321 female immigrants and 201 Korean male spouses were analyzed for H. py- Iori antibodies. Data on age, sex, alcohol consumption, smoking status, dietary nutritional factors and gastro- intestinal symptoms were collected using question- naires. The daily intakes of the following nutrients were estimated： energy, protein, niacin, lipid, fiber, calcium, iron, sodium, potassium, zinc, folate, cholesterol, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C and E. RESULTS： The prevalence of H. py/ori positivity was lower in the immigrants than in age-matched Koreanfemales （55.7% vs 71.4%, respectively; P 〈 0.0001） and the domestic population of Vietnam. The preva- lence of H. pylori positivity among married couples was 31.7% for both spouses. There were no statistically sig- nificant differences in the incidence of smoking, amount of alcohol consumed, or nutritional factors between the H. pylori-positive and negative groups. CONCLUSION： The prevalence of H. pylori positivity was lower among female Vietnamese immigrants than among Korean females. Nutritional factors did not differ between the H. pylori-positive and negative groups.

The effect of a urinary incontinence selfmanagement program for older women in South Korea:A pilot study

Background:Although self-management approaches have shown strong evidence of positive outcomes for urinary incontinence prevention and management,few programs have been developed for Korean rural communities.Objectives:This pilot study aimed to develop,implement,and evaluate a urinary incontinence self-management program for community-dwelling women aged 55 and older with urinary incontinence in rural South Korea.Methods:This study used a one-group pre-post-test design to measure the effects of the intervention using standardized urinary incontinence symptom,knowledge,and attitude measures.Seventeen community-dwelling older women completed weekly 90-min group sessions for 5 weeks.Descriptive statistics and paired t-tests and were used to analyze data.Results:The mean of the overall interference on daily life from urine leakage(pre-test:M=5.76±2.68,post-test:M=2.29±1.93,t=4.609,p<0.001)and the sum of International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire scores(pre-test:M=11.59±3.00,post-test:M=5.29±3.02,t=-5.881,p<0.001)indicated significant improvement after the intervention.Improvement was also noted on the mean knowledge(pre-test:M=19.07±3.34,post-test:M=23.15±2.60,t=7.550,p<0.001)and attitude scores(pre-test:M=2.64±0.19,post-test:M=3.08±0.41,t=5.150,p<0.001).Weekly assignments were completed 82.4%of the time.Participants showed a high satisfaction level(M=26.82±1.74,range 22e28)with the group program.Conclusions:Implementation of a urinary incontinence self-management program was accompanied by improved outcomes for Korean older women living in rural communities who have scarce resources for urinary incontinence management and treatment.Urinary incontinence self-management education approaches have potential for widespread implementation in nursing practice.

Geometrical and Geotechnical Characteristics of Landslides in Korea under Various Geological Conditions

The goal of this study is to determine the geometrical and geotechnical characteristics of landslides under various geological conditions using detailed field surveys, laboratory soil tests and precipitation records. Three study areas are selected to consider different rocks, including gneiss in Jangheung, granite in Sangju and sedimentary rocks in Pohang, South Korea. Many landslides have occurred in these three areas during the rainy season.Precipitation records indicate that landslides occurring in the gneiss area of Jangheung and granite area of Sangju may be influenced by the hourly rainfall intensity rather than cumulative rainfall.However, landslides occurring in the sedimentary rock area of Pohang may be influenced by hourly rainfall intensity and cumulative rainfall. To investigate the factors that influence these types of landslides, a detailed landslide survey was performed and a series of laboratory soil tests were conducted.According to the detailed field survey, most landslides occurred on the flanks of mountain slopes, and the slope inclination where they occurred mostly ranged from 26 to 30 degrees, regardless of the geological conditions. The landslide in the gneiss area of Jangheung is larger than the landslides in the granite area of Sangju and sedimentary rock area of Pohang.Particularly, the landslide in the sedimentary rock area is shorter and shallower than the landslides in the gneiss and granite areas. Thus, the shape and size of the landslide are clearly related to the geological conditions. According to the integrated soil property and landslide occurrence analyses results, the average dry unit weight of the soils from the landslide sites is smaller than that of the soils obtained from the nonlandslide site. The average coefficient of permeability of soils obtained from the landslide sites is greater than that of soils obtained from the non-landslide sites with the same geology. These results indicate that the soils from the landslide sites are more poorly graded or looser than the soils from the non-landslide sites.