Korea University

About: Korea University is a education organization based out in Seoul, South Korea. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Thin film. The organization has 39756 authors who have published 82424 publications receiving 1860927 citations. The organization is also known as: Bosung College & Bosung Professional College.

Metal contamination and bioremediation of agricultural soils for food safety and sustainability

Abstract: Agricultural soil is a non-renewable natural resource that requires careful stewardship in order to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals However, industrial and agricultural activity is often detrimental to soil health and can distribute heavy metal(loid)s into the soil environment, with harmful effects on human and ecosystem health In this Review, we examine processes that can lead to the contamination of agricultural land with heavy metal(loid)s, which range from mine tailings runoff entering local irrigation channels to the atmospheric deposition of incinerator and coal-fired power-plant emissions We discuss the relationship between heavy metal(loid) biogeochemical transformations in the soil and their bioavailability We then review two biological solutions for remediation of contaminated agricultural land, plant-based remediation and microbial bioremediation, which offer cost-effective and sustainable alternatives to traditional physical or chemical remediation technologies Finally, we discuss how integrating these innovative technologies with profitable and sustainable land use could lead to green and sustainable remediation strategies, and conclude by identifying research challenges and future directions for the biological remediation of agricultural soils Contamination of agricultural soils by heavy metals and metalloids has severe consequences on human and ecosystem health This Review discusses the sources of heavy metal(loid) contamination, the mechanisms by which these contaminants interact with biological and geochemical soil elements, and plant-based and microorganism-based remediation strategies

Efficient Energy Management for the Internet of Things in Smart Cities

Abstract: The drastic increase in urbanization over the past few years requires sustainable, efficient, and smart solutions for transportation, governance, environment, quality of life, and so on. The Internet of Things offers many sophisticated and ubiquitous applications for smart cities. The energy demand of IoT applications is increased, while IoT devices continue to grow in both numbers and requirements. Therefore, smart city solutions must have the ability to efficiently utilize energy and handle the associated challenges. Energy management is considered as a key paradigm for the realization of complex energy systems in smart cities. In this article, we present a brief overview of energy management and challenges in smart cities. We then provide a unifying framework for energy-efficient optimization and scheduling of IoT-based smart cities. We also discuss the energy harvesting in smart cities, which is a promising solution for extending the lifetime of low-power devices and its related challenges. We detail two case studies. The first one targets energy-efficient scheduling in smart homes, and the second covers wireless power transfer for IoT devices in smart cities. Simulation results for the case studies demonstrate the tremendous impact of energy- efficient scheduling optimization and wireless power transfer on the performance of IoT in smart cities.