The blackish cicada, Cryptotympana atrata Fabricius, 1775 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) was originally distributed mainly in the southernmost remote island, Jeju and rarely throughout low lands in South Korea, but has been explosively increased at the urban areas, where annual temperature is higher. In this study, we sequenced a partial mitochondrial COI from a total of 171 individuals collected throughout 12 localities in South Korea. The haplotype found with the highest frequency in Jeju island shares only with two inland localities in southern region with a low frequency, whereas the haplotype found with the highest frequency throughout inland localities was not found in Jeju island. These results showed that Jeju population, southern region, and other inland populations form somewhat different genetic groups.

The large copper butterfly Lycaena dispar (Haworth, 1803; Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) has been categorized as a near-threatened species (NT) in South Korea from 2012 mainly due to limited distribution. In this study, we visited 36 sites spread across all South Korean provinces to verify the distributional range of the species and sequenced mitochondrial COI for 53 individuals from nine sites. We observed L. dispar at 15 sites in six provinces, including the two previously known provinces, indicating a southward range expansion. The in-field monitoring and genetic data collectively suggested that L. dispar does not have a limited distribution nor is it isolated, indicating that it should be reclassified as less vulnerable. Our study demonstrates that the combination of field and genetic data can provide a more reliable assessment of the stability of a species.

The recent increase in the occurrence of common bed bug and tropical bed bug in shared areas highlights the need for rapid species identification at infestation sites, which is crucial for implementing targeted control measures due to differences in genetic and physiological traits. In this study, molecular diagnostic methods were developed using species-specific ITS2 sequences. Both multiplex PCR and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) protocols with a DNA release method successfully distinguished between the two bed bug species regardless of developmental stages in 0.5~2.5 hours, even with dead specimens. Especially, LAMP's simplicity and speed make it applicable for rapid and accurate bed bug diagnosis at infestation sites.

EU taxonomy requires to solve problems for safe management of radioactive waste and disposal of spent fuel, which is a precondition for growing demand for nuclear power plant. Currently, Korea manages about 18,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste at temporary storage facilities in nuclear power plant sites, but such temporary storage facilities are expected to become saturated sequentially from 2031. Therefore, it is necessary to secure a permanent disposal facility to safely treat high-level radioactive waste. In accordance with the second basic plan for high-level radioactive waste management in 2021, it is necessary to establish requirements for regulatory compliance for the site selection and site acquisition, investigation and evaluation, and construction for the establishment of a deep geological disposal facility. In this study, we analyzed the regulatory policies and cases of leading foreign countries related to deep geological disposal facilities for high-level radioactive waste disposal waste such as IAEA, USA, Sweden, and Finland using data analysis methodology. To analyze a large amount of textbased document data, text mining is applied as a major technology and a verification standard that secures validity and safety based on the regulatory laws described so far is developed to establish a regulatory base suitable for domestic deep geological disposal status. Based on the collected data, preprocessing and analysis with Python were performed. Keywords and their frequency were extracted from the data through keyword analysis. Through the measured frequency values, the contents of the objects and elements to be regulated in the statutory items were grasped. And through the frequency values of words co-occurring among different sections through the analysis of related words, the association was obtained, and the overall interpretation of the data was performed. The results of analyzing regulations of major foreign countries using text mining are visualized in charts and graphs. Word cloud can intuitively grasp the contents by extracting the main keywords of the contents of the regulations. Through the network connection graph, the relationship between related words can be visually structured to interpret data and identify the causal relationship between words. Based on the result data, it is possible to compare and analyze the factors to be supplemented by analyzing domestic nuclear safety case and regulations.

강원특별자치도 18개 시군을 대상으로 감나무와 콩에 발생하는 미국선녀벌레, 썩덩나무노린재, 담배거세미 나방의 발생을 조사하였다. 돌발해충인 미국선녀벌레는 약충기인 6월과 성충기인 10월에 발생조사를 진행하고 남방계해충인 담배거세미나방과 썩덩나무노린재는 7월과 9월 콩 재배기에 발생조사를 진행하였다. 미국선녀 벌레는 강원지역에 있는 감나무에서 발생을 확인할 수 없었고. 감나무 주변 기타 수목에서 가지당 평균 6.7마리 발생하였다. 담배거세미나방은 7월, 속초를 제외한 모든 시군에서 발생이 되었으며, 춘천, 횡성에서 트랩당 60마 리가 넘는 발생밀도를 보였으며, 원주, 강릉, 화천 등 에서는 트랩당 1마리로 낮은 발생밀도를 나타냈다. 썩덩나무 노린재는 7월 춘천, 속초, 홍천 등 7개 시군을 제외한 11개 시군에서 트랩에 포획되는 것을 확인하였으며, 화천에 서 트랩당 26마리로 최고발생밀도를 보였다.

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), which is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Western Hemisphere is now annually arrives in Korea. In this study, we developed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, one of the main merits of which is a rapid identification of target species. Five among 11 FAW-specific loci tested successfully provided a consistent reaction when ten FAWs, which were collected from eight localities in four countries were tested, whereas the 13 non-target species were not amplified. To increase in-field applicability of the method all life stages, reaction time, and different periods after death was tested using the quick extracted DNA. Our FAW diagnostic protocol can be completed within 30 min, from the process of extracting genomic DNA from an egg or a 1st instar larva to species determination.

Kori-1, the nuclear power plants in South Korea, first started operation in April 1978 and was suspended permanently in 2017. The saturation rate time of spent nuclear fuel generated by major nuclear power plants operating in Korea are getting closer. If we fail to dispose spent nuclear fuel, which is equivalent to high-level radioactive waste, the nuclear power plants will have to be shutdown. High-level radioactive waste is permanently disposed through a deep geological disposal system because it contains long-term half-life nuclides and emits high energy. To select the deep geological disposal site and construct the disposal facilities, it is necessary to establish appropriate regulatory policies accordingly. The status of database construction in OECD-NEA, NRC, SITEX, and IAEA, which provides safety regulations for deep geological disposal system, stipulates each requirement for dismantling nuclear power plants. However, details such as specific figures are not specified, and guidelines for the disposal of high-level radioactive wastes are not clearly distinguished. In Korea, the CYPRUS program, an integrated database system, has been developed to support comprehensive performance evaluation for high-level waste disposal. However, due to several difficult situations, maintenance and upgrades have not been performed, so the research results exist only in the form of raw data and the new research results have not been reflected. Other than that, there is no preemptive basis for regulating the deep geological disposal system. With real-time database, we can develop a regulatory system for the domestic deep disposal system by systematically analyzing the regulatory condition and regulatory case data of international organizations and foreign leading countries. The database system processed and stored primary data collected from nuclear safety reports and other related data. In addition, we used relational database and designed table to maximize time and space efficiency. It is provided in the form of a web service so that multiple users can easily find the data they want at the same time. Based on these technologies, this study established a database system by analyzing the legal systems, regulatory standards, and cases of major foreign leading countries such as Sweden, Finland, the United States, and Japan. This database aims to organize data for each safety case component and further prepare a safety regulatory framework for each stage of development of disposal facilities suitable for the domestic environment.

Non-destructive estimation of leaf area is a more efficient and convenient method than leaf excision. Thus, several models predicting leaf area have been developed for various horticultural crops. However, there are limited studies on estimating the leaf area of strawberry plants. In this study, we predicted the leaf areas via nonlinear regression analysis using the leaf lengths and widths of three-compound leaves in five domestic strawberry cultivars (‘Arihyang’, ‘Jukhyang’, ‘Keumsil’, ‘Maehyang’, and ‘Seollhyang’). The coefficient of determination (R2) between the actual and estimated leaf areas varied from 0.923 to 0.973. The R2 value varied for each cultivar; thus, leaf area estimation models must be developed for each cultivar. The leaf areas of the three cultivars ‘Jukhyang’, ‘Seolhyang’, and ‘Maehyang’ could be non-destructively predicted using the model developed in this study, as they had R2 values over 0.96. The cultivars ‘Arihyang’ and ‘Geumsil’ had slightly low R2 values, 0.938 and 0.923, respectively. The leaf area estimation model for each cultivar was coded in Python and is provided in this manuscript. The estimation models developed in this study could be used extensively in other strawberry-related studies.