• English & American cultural studies
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-28
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• 2013

Edward Abbey is regarded as one of the most influential ecological or nature writers. He celebrates the American Southwestern desert, argues for wilderness preservation, and advocates politically-oriented environmental activism to defend wilderness. He, however, does not classify himself as a nature writer, but rather places himself in the tradition of a kind of autography. His books show his fascination with the delicate harmony of the desert, and at the same time his personal journey over the desert. That is, eco-centered, he keeps his journey into the heart of the desert. He finds the desert harsh, brutal, fatal, and most of all, indifferent. The desert reveals simplicity and mystery, silence and revelation, and emptiness and fulfillment. This mythical and paradoxical essence of the desert draws him into the place and inspires redemptive humility and beauty, which, in turn, peel off his old ego or self. During his journey, Abbey tries to immerge himself with the desert yet remains intact and individual. The desert serves for him as the bedrock which sustains him and offers an opportunity to gain a new whole perspective. Like a pocket hunter in the desert whom he characterizes himself, he sticks to the desert to dig out ground for his existence and survival. Pulling the energy and force of the desert into his soul, Abbey is free, or compelled to contemplate what is beyond the human. His experience in and of the desert leads to a discovery of self and initiates selfhood.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.175-184
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• 2009

This study attempts to analyze the difference among the variations of ecological distribution in Gobi desert and Manchuria through satellite based land cover classification. This was motivated by two well-known facts: 1) Gobi desert, which is an old source region, had been gradually expanded eastward; 2) Manchuria, which is located in east of Gobi desert, was observed as a new source region of yellow dust. An unsupervised classification called ISODATA clustering method was employed to detect the land cover change and to characterize the status of desertification and its expanding trends using NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) derived from VEGETATION sensor onboard the SPOT satellite for 1999 and 2007. We analyzed NDVI annual variation pattern for every classes and divide into 5 level according to their vegetation's density level based on NDVI. As results, Gobi desert is showed positive variation: a decrease $78,066km^2$ in central Gobi desert and out skirts of Gobi desert (level-0) but Manchuria area is worse than previous time: an increase $25,744km^2$.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.93-104
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• 2016

High school textbooks of world geography show geomorphic featuresin arid environments such as sand dune, yardang and ventifact which are largely created by aeolian processes. Desert pavements, ubiquitous armored surfaces composed of a mosaic of clasts in hot and arid regions, are introduced as a major landform which can be attributed to wind erosion. However, they are formed by a variety of processes including deflation, surface runoff, upward clast migration and dust accretion that cause coarse particles concentration at the surface. The deflation by wind leaving a lag of coarse clasts has been solely regarded at home, even though the classical mechanism of deflation has been evaluated as a relatively unimportant process of pavement formation abroad through empiricalstudies. The accretionary model is gaining wider acceptance, thus implying that desert pavements could be formed through deposition of aeolian material. In addition, sheetflood and upward migration of clasts, irrelevant to the aeolian processes, could also create stone pavements. As a consequence, the deflation process in high school textbooks has to be urgently modified into a range of processes including aeolian mantling. By stressing that desert pavements are an exceptional geomorphic feature in deserts where wind is a predominant geomorphic agent, they can be used as a good example to demonstrate that a landform is not monogenetic.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.227-233
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• 2022

The objective of the study, to develop adsorbent based purifier for removal of radiological and nuclear contaminants from contaminated water. In this regard, 3-aminopropyl silica functionalized with ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (APS-EDTA) adsorbent prepared and characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Prepared APS-EDTA used for adsorptive studies of Cs(I), Co(II), Sr(II), Ni(II) and Cd(II) from contaminated water. The effect on adsorption of various parameters viz. contact time, initial concentration of metal ions and pH were also analyzed. The batch method has been employed using metal ions in solution from 1000-10000 ㎍/L, contact time 5-60 min., pH 4-10 and material quantities 50-200 mg at room temperature. The obtained adsorption data were used for drawing Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms model and both models were found suitable for explaining the metal ions adsorption on APS-EDTA. The adsorption data were followed pseudo second order reaction kinetics. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained 1.3037-1.4974 mg/g for above said metal ions. The results show that APS-EDTA have great potential to remove Cd(II), Co(II), Cs(I), Ni(II) and Sr(II) from aqueous solutions through chemisorption and physio-sorption.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.26-34
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• 2023

Wetlands are very critical for the conservation of aquatic ecosystems, while also serving as the breeding/ nesting/ resting grounds for water birds. Generally, wetlands support both resident and migratory birds, thus serving as connecting dots in the global flyways. The Rajasthan state of India has two Ramsar sites (Keoladeo National Park and Sambhar Lake) and many other water bodies/wetlands. However, most of these areas are segregated in the eastern, southeastern, southern, and northern parts. In the western part of Rajasthan, where lies the Great Indian or Thar desert, there are no such reported prominent wetlands drawing attention towards a substantial number of resident and migratory water birds. The author is an Indian Forest Service officer, who was posted in the Thar Desert region and during that time had identified a hidden wetland in the desert landscape. This study deliberates on the wetland location and its faunal diversity with prospects of developing the area as a proper wetland conservation zone. India is a signatory to the Central Asian Flyway of migratory species and serves as an important member in terms of having significant wetlands and reported migratory birds count. The need of preserving and bring the arid zone's hidden wetlands to the forefront can serve as an important tool to conserve water birds and comply with worldwide bird migration conservation efforts.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.31.2-31.2
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• 2018

미국 유타주 유타사막에 설치된 MDRS(Mars Desert Research Station)는 미국의 비영리기구인 화성학회(The Mars Society)에서 운영하는 화성탐사연구기지다. 화성학회는 1998년 우주비행사, 천문학자, 과학자 4000여명이 모여 만든 비영리연구단체다. 2001년 미국 유타주에 문을 연 MDRS에서는 토양 미생물 검출실험, 태양에너지 조리실험, 영구동토층 연구, 해빙 연구, 드론 정찰 및 지도 작성 등 인류가 화성에 도착했을 때 실제 수행할 연구들을 진행하고 있다. tVN <갈릴레오 : 깨어난 우주> 촬영 차 MDRS에 머물며 과학실험을 수행한 사례를 공유하고 이를 통해 천문학 및 우주탐사에 대한 대중화 방안에 대해 논의해 보고자 한다.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.177-186
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• 2023

Background: Inner Mongolia, desertification is happening due to climate change and land use alterations. In order to evaluate desert restoration effectiveness, this study compares number of species and species diversity in restored (with planted trees), unrestored area, and the reference ecosystem (Ref-E, typical steppe and woody steppe). Results: The Ref-E had the most plant species (64 taxa), while the unrestored area had the fewest (5 taxa). Among restored areas (restored in 2012, 2008, 2005), older restoration sites had more species (18-42). Similarly, species richness (3.93-0.41) and diversity (1.99-0.40) were highest in the Ref-E and lowest in unrestored areas, with older restored sites having higher values. Conclusions: More plant species and diversity in older restoration areas suggest progress toward ecosystem stabilization, approaching the Ref-E. Therefore, tree planting in Inner Mongolia's Hulunbuir semi-arid desert is a successful restoration effort.

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.173-174
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• 2006

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1517-1526
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• 2018

Investigating bacterial diversity and its metabolic capabilities is crucial for interpreting the ecological patterns in a desert environment and assessing the presence of exploitable microbial resources. In this study, we evaluated the spatial heterogeneity of physicochemical parameters, soil bacterial diversity and metabolic adaptation at meter scale. Soil samples were collected from two quadrats of a desert (Thar Desert, India) with a hot, arid climate, very little rainfall and extreme temperatures. Analysis of physico-chemical parameters and subsequent variance analysis (p-values < 0.05) revealed that sulfate, potassium and magnesium ions were the most variable between the quadrats. Microbial diversity of the two quadrats was studied using Illumina bar-coded sequencing by targeting V3-V4 regions of 16S rDNA. As for the results, 702504 high-quality sequence reads, assigned to 173 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at species level, were examined. The most abundant phyla in both quadrats were Actinobacteria (38.72%), Proteobacteria (32.94%), and Acidobacteria (9.24%). At genus level, Gaiella represented highest prevalence, followed by Streptomyces, Solirubrobacter, Aciditerrimonas, Geminicoccus, Geodermatophilus, Microvirga, and Rubrobacter. Between the quadrats, significant difference (p-values < 0.05) was found in the abundance of Aciditerrimonas, Geodermatophilus, Geminicoccus, Ilumatobacter, Marmoricola, Nakamurella, and Solirubrobacter. Metabolic functional mapping revealed diverse biological activities, and was significantly correlated with physicochemical parameters. The results revealed spatial variation of ions, microbial abundance and functional attributes in the studied quadrats, and patchy nature in local scale. Interestingly, abundance of the biotechnologically important phylum Actinobacteria, with large proposition of unclassified species in the desert, suggested that this arid environment is a promising site for bioprospection.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.30-42
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• 2018

Background: The southern and eastern parts of the Gobi Desert area are a unique dry ecosystem with a diverse regional desert, semi-desert, and mountain dry steppe flora. This area habitat is located at the overlap of different floristic regions; on its northeast side, Central Asian desert flora is dominating, and on the eastern side, East Asian flora is observed. The comprehensive survey was carried out to find the floral diversity of the medicinal plants on the region. Methods: All recorded species in this study were based on the collected voucher specimens between June and August in the year 2017. Results: We recorded 23 families, 57 genera, and 78 species of vascular plants. The families Asteraceae (15 species), Fabaceae (10 species), and Amaranthaceae (10 species) were represented most in the study area, while Caragana (5 species), Salsola (4 species), and Arnebia (3 species) were the most common genera found. Conclusion: Conservation status for remarkable species was also reviewed based on the literature. Around the study area, 24 species as "sub-endemic," 10 species as "very rare," 4 species as "rare," 1 species as "alien," 13 species as "relict," 10 species as "Red Book," 2 species as "endangered (EN)," 3 species as "vulnerable (VU)," 3 species as "near threatened (NT)," and 2 species as "least concern (LC)" plants are growing.