See editorial commentary page on 351 Background: Although the number of medical institutions running a smoking cessation clinic is on the rise, there remains a paucity of research on the long-and short-term success rates of smoking cessation programs, as well as on smoking relapse rates, before and after project implementation. This study assessed the general characteristics of patients visiting the smoking cessation clinic, success rate of smoking cessation in the short term, and risks of relapse. Methods: Medical records from March 2015 to April 2017 were analyzed and telephone surveys were conducted with 151 smokers who visited a hospital smoking cessation clinic from March 2015 to April 2017. Results: Of the 139 smokers who were eligible for follow-up, 22 (15.8%) failed to quit smoking initially. The clinic's 6-month success rate of smoking cessation was 64.83%. Those with higher medication compliance had a lower risk of primary failure (odds ratio, 0.056; 95% confidence interval, 0.005-0.609), whereas those with higher age (hazard ratio [HR], 0.128; P=0.0252) and a greater number of visits to the clinic (HR, 0.274; P=0.0124) had a lower risk of relapsing. Conclusion: The risk of primary failure to quit was higher with low medication compliance, and that of relapsing was higher with lower age and fewer number of clinic visits. Various evaluation and analysis methods can be carried out in the future based on the accumulated data for maintenance of smoking cessation and relapse prevention.

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To predict the influence of volcano eruption on agriculture in South Korea we evaluated the dispersal ranges of the volcanic ashes toward the South Korea based on the possibilities of volcano eruption in Mt. Baekdu. The possibilities of volcano eruption in Mt. Baekdu have been still being intensified by the signals including magmatic unrest of the volcano and the frequency of volcanic earthquakes swarm, the horizontal displacement and vertical uplift around the Mt. Baekdu, the temperature rises of hot springs, high ratios of N 2 /O 2 and 3 He/ 4 He in volcanic gases. The dispersal direction and ranges and the predicted amount of volcanic ash can be significantly influenced by Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) and the trend of seasonal wind. The prediction of volcanic ash dispersion by the model showed that the ash cloud extended to Ulleung Island and Japan within 9 hours and 24 hours by the northwestern monsoon wind in winter while the ash cloud extended to northern side by the south-east monsoon wind during June and September. However, the ash cloud may extent to Seoul and southwest coast within 9 hours and 15 hours by northern wind in winter, leading to severe ash deposits over the whole area of South Korea, although the thickness of the ash deposits generally decreases exponentially with increasing distance from a volcano. In case of VEI 7, the ash deposits of Daejeon and Gangneung are 1.31 × 10 4 g m -2 and 1.80 × 10 5 g m -2 , respectively. In addition, ash particles may compact close together after they fall to the ground, resulting in increase of the bulk density that can alter the soil physical and chemical properties detrimental to agricultural practices and crop growth.