Rapid morphological changes in fish larvae during growth make adult classification criteria ineffective for identifying larval fishes. Therefore, species identification of fish larvae requires understanding morphological changes during growth stages within and between species. However, for many fish larvae, the lack of morphological trait information, along with physical damage or protein degradation that occurs during specimen collection and preservation in the wild, creates obstacles for morphology-based identification. A fish larva (10.0 mm SL) collected from the coastal waters of the western Korean Peninsula in August 2019 exhibited morphological characteristics and melanophore distribution patterns closely matching those of an unidentified species of the family Platycephalidae (sp.5). Its MT-CO1 amplicon sequences identified it as Cociella crocodilus, through genetic similarity with MT-CO1 reference sequences and phylogenetic analyses of related species. This study provides significant insights into the early life stages of Cociella crocodilus, marking the first identification of this species at the larval stage.

This study investigated and reported the results of the distribution of in air particulate matter concentration inside school classrooms where children, who are known to be environmentally vulnerable, spend the most time after home. The objective of this study is to provide basic data for future studies related to indoor air quality in Yeongwol county and studies for improving school environment. The study investigated the levels of the concentration distribution of PM10 and PM2.5 in classrooms at 19 different elementary schools based in Yeongwol county from December 12 to 19, 2016. In the classrooms of the elementary schools in Yeongwol county, the pooled average concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 was 11.9 μg/m³ and 4.2 μg/m³, respectively. These concentration rates were lower than those of PM10 and PM2.5 surveyed in classrooms of elementary schools based in other regions of Korea. Further, they did not exceed 100 μg/m³, the PM10 guideline concentration provided by the School Health Act. The study results revealed that the winter concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 in air inside classrooms of elementary schools based in Yeongwol county were influenced more by indoor sources such as indoor residents rather than outdoor sources.

The present study was conducted to investigate the public awareness level of the Korean population on the hazards of radon. Its purpose was to serve as a preliminary study for the development of a risk communication program suited to Korean domestic conditions. An in-house developed questionnaire was used as an awareness surveying tool. Five thousand people (adults) from the general population, randomly selected regardless of their age, academic background, income level, and regional distribution were surveyed. The survey was conducted between December 2015 and February 2016, and completed in a self-reporting format. The survey results showed that public awareness of the radon risk was very low, as indicated by more than roughly 85% of the respondents saying that they did not know what radon was. Moreover, survey results for those who knew what radon was showed a very low level of awareness regarding the physical properties and hazards of radon. Through the findings of the present study, it was confirmed that the awareness of radon hazards among the residents of Korea needs urgent improvement and that the development of a radon risk communication program accounting for age, income, region, occupation, and various information delivery routes is also needed.