Housing prices are determined by a variety of factors, including the features of the building and the neighborhood environment, and a potential buyer decides to buy a house after reviewing these factors and concluding that it is worth the price. We used Hedonic Price Methods to find the relationship between monetary value of house and access conditions to urban parks. Two meaningful results were discovered in this study: first, as the distance from the park increases, the value of the park inherent in the housing price decreases; second, the greater walking accessibility, to the park, the higher the park value inherent in housing prices. Despite presenting shorter distances to walk and more entrances, poorly accessible zones were deemed as such due to the necessity of crossing an arterial road. This indicates that the results can define accessibility not as the Euclidian distance but as the shortest walking distance while considering crossroads and park entrances. The results of this study have significant implications for urban park economic impact analyses in Seoul. Also, the increase in housing prices closer to parks supports the idea that access is dependent on the residents’ socioeconomic status. Lastly, the results of this study can improve walking accessibility to the park.

Resident participation is crucial to the success of tourism development at community-level destinations. This study examines the effect of residents’ participation on their support for tourism development at the community level through a case study of Gamcheon Culture Village, South Korea. Using the structural equation model (SEM), including the variables of participation of tourism development, community attachment, economic dependence, perceived positive impacts, perceived negative impacts, and attitude toward tourism development, this study found that participation in tourism development significantly influences residents’ attitude toward development. Residents’ participation not only directly affects their attitude toward tourism development, but also indirectly influences it by increasing their positive perception of tourism development. Results empirically reveal that resident participation is critical to tourism development, especially for destinations at the local level.

Regular exercise provides several health benefits that can improve the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems, but clear evidence on the effect of exercise-induced hyperventilation in particulate matter (PM) exposure is still lacking. This study aimed to investigate the effects of exercise in PM exposure on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, inflammatory response, and mitochondrial integrity in human lung epithelial cells (A549), as well as in mouse lung tissue. In in vitro experiments, PM treatment was shown to significantly increased ROS production, and reduced cell viability and mitochondrial function in A549 cells. The mice were divided into four groups for an in vivo exercise experiment: control (CON), PM inhalation (PI), PM inhalation during exercise (PIE), and exercise (EX) groups. The PI and PIE groups were exposed to 100 μg/m³ of PM for 1 h per day for a week. The PIE and EX groups performed treadmill exercises every day for 1 h at 20 m/min for a week. The levels of pro-inflammatory markers (IL-6 and TNF-α) were significantly higher in the PI group than in the CON group (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). The carbonyl protein level was decreased in EX vs. PI (P < 0.001). Mitochondrial fission (Drp1) content was significantly decreased in the EX vs. CON group (P < 0.01), but anti-mitochondrial fission (P-Drp1 Ser637) was increased in the EX vs. PI group (P < 0.05). Mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy), which is an assessment of mitochondrial integrity, was markedly increased in PI vs. CON (P < 0.001), but the level was reversed in PIE (P < 0.05). Lung fibrosis was increased in PI vs. CON group (P < 0.001), however, the cells were rescued in the PIE (P < 0.001). The number of apoptotic cells was remarkably increased in the PI vs. CON group (P < 0.001), whereas the level was decreased in the PIE (P < 0.001). Taken together, these results showed that short-term exposure to PM triggers oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory responses, and apoptosis in the lungs, but the PM-induced adverse effects on the lung tissue are not exacerbated by exercise-induced PM hyperventilation but rather has a protective effect.

The net primary productivity (NPP) of a forest is an important indicator of its potential for the provision of ecosystem services such as timber, carbon, and biodiversity. However, accurately and consistently quantifying global forest NPP remains a challenge in practice. We converted carbon stock changes using the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) data and carbon losses associated with disturbances and timber removals into an NPP equivalent measurement (FRA NPP*) and compared it with the NPP derived from the MODIS satellite data (MOD17 NPP) for the world’s forests. We found statistically significant differences between the two NPP estimates, with the FRA NPP* being lower than the MOD17 NPP; the differences were correlated with forest cover, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and GDP per capita in countries, and may also stem from the NPP estimation methods and scopes. While the former explicitly accounts for carbon losses associated with timber removals and disturbances, the latter better reflects the principles of photosynthesis. The discrepancies between the two NPP estimates increase in countries with a low income or low forest cover, calling for enhancing their forest resource assessment capacity. By identifying the discrepancies and underlying factors, we also provide new insights into the relationships between the MOD17 NPP and global forest carbon stock estimates, motivating and guiding future research to improve the robustness of quantifying global forest NPP and carbon sequestration potential.

Despite the strength of revenue creation of long-stay tourists, determinants of their revisit intention have not been studied sufficiently. To this end, this study examined the determinants of long-stay tourists’ satisfaction and revisit intention who visited Jeju Island, South Korea. The results revealed that long-stay tourists’ destination attachment influences their satisfaction and revisit intention. Novelty seeking, escape from a mundane environment and relaxation positively impact on satisfaction. The results imply that destination managers need to offer more chances to involve destinations to construct destination attachment and opportunities to escape, relax, and seek novelty if they aim to promote long-stay tourists’ revisit intention.

Meteorological conditions regulate particulate matter concentrations near the earth surface. This study investigates the impacts of meteorological conditions (yellow-dust events, wind-speed, relative humidity, days after rainfall, solar duration, downward short-wave radiation, and diurnal temperature range) on particulate matter concentration less than 10 ㎛ (PM10) and less than 2.5 ㎛ (PM2.5) and their ratio (PM2.5/PM10) by analyzing five years (2015-2019) of in-situ surface observations in Seoul. Our results show apparent impacts of meteorological conditions on PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations and their ratio: 1) decrease in PM2.5/PM10 during yellow-dust events, 2) negative (positive) relationships of PM2.5 and PM2.5/PM10 with wind-speed (relative humidity), and 3) increase in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations with elapsed days after rainfall.