The walking-stick insects, Ramulus mikado, are outbreaks in several mountainous areas from 2020 to 2022. In recent, some population of the insect are showed rapidly decline in their abundance, while some of them are still maintained high population density. In worldwide, insects belonging to Phasmida are reported to outbreak in their habitats as mentioned above environments, but knowledge about outbreak pattern of the walking-stick insects is still lacking. In this study, we aimed which biological and environmental factors are related to wax and wane of the insect population. From 2022 to 2023, we studied host tree preferences in natural conditions, ecological stoichiometry in major host trees, overwintering ecology of R. mikado eggs, and infection rate by entomophathogenic fungi during growing season.

Recently, the necessity of designing and applying tool materials that perform machining of difficult-to-cut materials in a cryogenic treatment where demand is increasing. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of cryogenically treated WC-5 wt% NbC hard materials fabricated by a pulsed current activated sintering process. The densely consolidated specimens are cryogenically exposed to liquid nitrogen for 6, 12, and 24 h. All cryogenically treated samples exhibit compressive stress in the sintered body compared with the untreated sample. Furthermore, a change in the lattice constant leads to compressive stress in the specimens, which improves their mechanical performance. The cryogenically treated samples exhibit significant improvement in mechanical properties, with a 10.5 % increase in Vickers hardness and a 60 % decrease in the rupture strength compared with the untreated samples. However, deep cryogenic treatment of over 24 h deteriorates the mechanical properties indicating that excessive treatment causes tensile stress in the specimens. Therefore, the cryogenic treatment time should be controlled precisely to obtain mechanically enhanced hard materials.

In this study, molten salt experiments were performed using a multi-purpose molten salt experimental loop to evaluate the corrosion and thermodynamic properties of the molten salt. The multi-purpose molten salt experimental loop is made of 1-inch austenitic 316 stainless steel, and 1/4-inch austenitic 316 stainless steel tubes were welded on the surface of a 1-inch pipe to measure temperatures of molten salt. During the experiment, the molten salt leaked due to corrosion of the welded part of the 1/4-inch tube connected to the 1-inch pipe. Therefore, the cause of corrosion damage of the leaked welded part was analyzed. The effect of NaCl-MgCl2 salt selected as the molten salt on corrosion failure was considered. And based on the operation data of molten salt experiments, the time of occurrence of the issue was estimated. Lastly, the cause of corrosion failure was estimated by comparing and analyzing the pipe shape before and after failure using SEM-EDS.

Investigations and monitoring of environmental radiation are important for preventing expected accidents or for early detection of unexpected accidents, in nuclear facilities and the surrounding. In the event of an environmental radiation accident, it should be possible to identify and analyze the radiation-contaminated area. Therefore, a rapid radiation monitoring system is required for immediate response and necessary measures. In this study, the distribution of radiation mapping is performed on a contaminated area using 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional contour mapping techniques. The entire surrounding area can be understood at a glance by displaying the radiation contour line on the map of the measured area.

At high temperatures, molten salt has heat transfer properties like water. Molten salt has the characteristics of a strong natural circulation tendency, large heat capacity, and low thermal conductivity. Unlike sodium, molten salt does not react explosively exothermically with air. However, molten salt has a strong tendency to corrode materials, and its properties are easily changed by a sensitive reaction to oxygen and moisture. Therefore, it is necessary to study material corrosion properties and chemical control methods for nuclear fuel salts, which are eutectic mixtures. In this study, the optimal operation method of the thermal convection loop is established to perform the experiments on the molten salt. The process describes briefly as follows. The operation step consists of preparation, purification, transportation, and operation. In the preparation, the step checks the entire structure and equipment (TC, blower, vacuum pump, etc.). And melt the salt mixture at a high temperature (670°C) slowly in the purification step. Before injecting the molten salt, the surface temperature of the entire loop must retain temperature (about 500°C) constantly. Completely melted molten salt in the melting pot is flow along the pipe of the thermal convection loop in the transportation step. Lastly, the convection of molten salt goes to keep by the temperature difference. The thermal convection loop can be utilized for various experiments such as corrosion tests, component analyses, chemistry control, etc.

Molten salt used in the multipurpose molten salt experiment must be of high purity. Depending on the purpose of the experiment, only the base component of the molten salt be used, or a component simulating a nuclear fission product be added to the base component and used. In all cases, an increase in the concentration of impurities such as oxygen and moisture may lead to an erroneous interpretation when analyzing the experimental results. Therefore, molten salt should be purified before use. In this study, the purification of molten salt is described for multi-purpose molten salt experiments. The salt mixture is selected as MgCl2-NaCl and is quantified at a mixing ratio of 43mol%:57mol%. The salt mixture is treated in a glove box environment because of must minimize the reaction of adsorbing oxygen and moisture when the salt mixture is exposed to the atmosphere. MgCl2 is more likely to contain water than NaCl, the purification of the NaCl-MgCl2 mixture is established according to the purification process for removing water from MgCl2. A process for purifying the salt mixture briefly consists as follows: drying moisture, melting salts, purification, removing HCl, and stabilization. Through the process be able to obtain high-purity molten salt and more accurate experiment results.

시설토마토에서 사전에 해충밀도를 예찰 하지 않고 작물 정식과 동시에 적용한, 기생성/포식성 천적과 그들의 먹이원/서식처가 결합되어 있는, ‘Natural Enemy in First (NEF)’ 기술의 총채벌레와 진딧물 방제효과를 확인하였다. 처리 후 12주차에 NEF 처리구에서 총채벌레 밀도억제 효과는 천적처리구 및 관행방제구에 비해 각각 32%와 82% 더 높았다. 처리 후 진딧물의 밀도는 모든 처리구에서 낮게 유지되어 처리구간 유의성 있는 차이를 확인할 수 없었다.

해충의 예찰 없이 작물 정식 초기에 천적을 먼저 적용할 수 있는 천적-서식처 혼합적용(Natural Enemy in First; NEF)기법의 방제효과를 확인하였다. 시설 딸기에서 조사 12주차에 NEF처리구와 천적 단독 처리구에서 친환경자재 처리구 대비 각 83%, 70%의 점박이응애 밀도 억제효과를 확인할 수 있었다. 또한 예찰 없이 작물 정식 초기에 NEF를 적용한 처리구에서 천적 단독 처리구보다 3배 이상의 높은 천적 밀도를 확인하였다.

Biological control is becoming an increasingly important part of integrated pest management programs in Korea. For this reason, effective and sustainable insect pest management is a priority for many growers. And the success of biological control depends upon the use of the economical methods such as a combination of proper natural enemies and plants (banker, habitat, trap, companion, etc.). For the last nine years, we have developed simple and reliable new habitat plants system with natural enemies, and named it『Natural Enemy in First Method』that we are introducing here. Our goal was to better understand the potential for effective use of beneficial insects and their habitat plants for the management of thrips, spider mites, and aphids in greenhouses. This approach is being developed to improve biological control in various crops in Korea.