• Title/Summary/Keyword: Environmental Degradation

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Assessment of Carbon Stock in Chronosequence Rehabilitated Tropical Forest Stands in Malaysia

  • Kueh, Roland Jui Heng;Majid, Nik Muhamad;Ahmed, Osumanu Haruna;Gandaseca, Seca
    • Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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    • v.32 no.3
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    • pp.302-310
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    • 2016
  • The loss and degradation in tropical forest region are some of the current global concern. Hence, these issues elevated the role of rehabilitated forests in providing ecological products and services. The information on the carbon stock is important in relation to global carbon and biomass use, but lacking from the tropical region. This paper reports the assessment of tree and soil carbon stock in a chronosequence rehabilitated tropical forest stands in Malaysia. The study site was at the UPM-Mitsubishi Forest Rehabilitation Project, UPMKB. $20{\times}20m$ plot was established each and assessed in 2009 at 1-, 10- and 19-year-old sites while an adjacent ${\pm}23-year-old$ natural regenerating secondary forest plot was established for comparison. The overall total carbon stock was in the order of 19-year-old>${\pm}23-year-old$>10-year-old>1-year-old. When forest carbon stock is low, the soil component plays an important role in the carbon storage. The forest carbon recovery is crucial to increase soil carbon stock. The variations in the carbon stock showed the different stages of the forest recovery. Species survived after 19-years of planting are potential species for carbon sequestration activities in rehabilitated forest. Human intervention in rehabilitating degraded forest areas through tree planting initiatives is crucial towards recovering the forest ecological role especially in forest carbon stock capacity.

Isolation and characterization of micro satellite loci in the Korean crayfish, Cambaroides similis and application to natural population analysis

  • Ahn, Dong-Ha;Park, Mi-Hyun;Jung, Jae-Ho;Oh, Mi-Jin;Kim, Sang-Hee;Jung, Jong-Woo;Min, Gi-Sik
    • Animal cells and systems
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.37-43
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    • 2011
  • The Korean freshwater crayfish, Cambaroides similis, has recently suffered from range reduction and habitat degradation caused by environmental changes and water pollution. For the conservation and restoration of this species, it is necessary to understand the current population structures of Korean C. similis using estimation of their genetic variation. In this study, eight micro satellite loci were developed and characterized from 49 individuals collected from four locations: one population from Mt. Bukhan (BH) and three populations from Mt. Gwanak (GA) in Seoul, Korea. As a result, the number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 12. The observed heterozygosities and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.000 to 0.833 and from 0.125 to 0.943, respectively, and the former values were significantly lower than the latter ones expected under the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. No significant linkage disequilibrium was revealed between any of the locus pairs after Bonferroni correction. From the pairwise Fst results over all samples, higher differentiation between GA-BH population pairs (mean 0.1789) was observed than between GA population pairs (mean 0.0454). This was also supported by Mantel's test showing that the genetic distances of these crayfish populations were significantly correlated with geographic distances. This result may show the regional differentiation caused by restricted gene flow between northern (BH) and southern (GA) populations within Seoul. These micro satellite markers have the potential for use in analyses of the genetic diversity and population structure of C. similis species, with implications for its conservation and management plans.

Analysis of Non-point Pollution Source Reduction by Permeable Pavement (투수성 포장에 의한 비점오염원 저감 효과 분석)

  • Koo, Young Min;Kim, Young Do;Park, Jae Hyeon
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.47 no.1
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    • pp.49-62
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    • 2014
  • As the Urban area grows and more land is developed both within the city and in surrounding areas, hydrologic functions of the natural water cycle are altered. Urbanization creates impervious areas that negatively impact stormwater runoff characteristics. these changes to the natural hydrologic cycle result in the increased flooding, decreased groundwater recharge, increased urban heat island effects. Finally, the land use and other activities result in accumulation and washoff of pollutants from surface, resulting in water quality degradation. Therefore, in this study, evaluating and quantitative analysis of the percolation effect through infiltration experiment of permeable pavement, which is one of the ways that can reduce the problem of the dry stream. Also the SWMM model is used to study the effect of the hydrologic cycle for permeable pavement block contribution.

Evaluation of Biocatalyst and Bioreactor System for the Continuous Treatment of Trichloroethylene (미생물 생촉매를 이용한 Trichloroethylene 연속처리용 생물반응기 시스템 평가)

  • 이은열
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.13 no.6
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    • pp.970-975
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    • 2003
  • Microbial trichloroethylene (TCE) degradation using trickling biofilter (TBF) is a cost-effective treatment method, in which monooxygenase (MO) fortuitously transforms TCE via cometabolism. Simple TBF, however, could not be stably operated for long-term treatment of TCE due to the contradictory characteristics of cometabolism. In this paper, microbial biocatalyst and biofilm reactor system, a two-stage continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR)/TBF system using Burkholderia cepacia G4 and Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b, are evaluated for the long-term continuous treatment of TCE. The maximum TCE elimination capacities were in the range of 28 and 525 mg TCE/1$.$day. The reactor systems were stably operated for more than 3∼12 months.

A Study on Chlorine Resistance Improvement of Reverse Osmosis Membrane by Surface Modification (역삼투 분리막의 표면개질을 이용한 내염소성 향상에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Younggil;Kim, Nowon;Lee, Yong-Taek
    • Membrane Journal
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    • v.15 no.4
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    • pp.320-329
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    • 2005
  • Polyamide membrane degradation by chlorine has been studied to improve membrane durability. In this study, it was found that the salt rejection was reduced rapidly and flux of the membrane was increased slowly far membrane treated under chlorine condition. In order to improve resistance to chlorine of the polyamide reverse osmosis membrane, fluorine-containing silane coupling agent (FSCA) was introduced to surface modification. Surface properties and chlorine resistance of silane modified membrane were compared with virgin membrane. It was found that the surface of silane modified membrane has dense structure according to FSCA concentration increasing. The results of surface analysis suggest that FSCA retrieved a severe change in the hydrophobicity and surface roughness. In addition, it appears that FSCA can enhance chlorine resistance due to the interaction of such substance with free radical chlorine.

Studies on the Decomposition of Environmental Pollutants by Utilizing Microorganisms (미생물을 이용한 환경오염원의 분해에 관한 연구 II)

  • 이재구;김기철;김창한
    • Korean Journal of Microbiology
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.53-66
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    • 1982
  • 1. When Chong Ju and Chung Ju soils possessing different physicochemical properties were treated with 500 ppm of TOK and incubated in flooded anaerobic condition for 2, 4, and 6 months, respectively, they produced 4-Chloro-4'-amino diphenyl ether, 2,4-Dichloro-4'-amino diphenyl ether(amin-TOK), N-[4'-(4-Chlorophenoxy)] phenyl acetamide, and N-[4'-(4-Chlorophenoxy)] phenyl formamide as the metabolities. This result indicates that TOK undergose the reduction of its $NO_2\;to\;NH_2$ group, dechlorination, acetylation, and formylation under this condition. The cleavage of ether linkage does not occur. In addition, TOK degrades more readily in Chung Ju soil which is characterized by pH 6.43 and higher contents of $Ca^{++}$ and C.E.C. than in Chong Ju soil which is lower in pH, $Ca^{++}$, and C.E.C. 2. In the aerobic incubation of TOK of 25ppm in Chung Ju soil suspension for 21 days, the ratio of the resulting metabolites, TOK : amino-TOK : 4-Chloro-4'-amino diphenyl ether was 100 : 130 : 76. Meanwhile, in the 42 day incubation, the ratio was 100 : 19 : 5, which indicates that TOK in aerobic condition dose not necessrily degrade as a function of the incubation period. 3. The citrate buffer extract of Chung Ju soil has the capability of degrading TOK, which was verified to be due to the action of the microorganisms involved. 4. Twelye strains of soil bacteria were isolated from the TOK-treated soils. In the incubation of TOK in pure cultures of the respective isolates, the strain T-1-1 isolated from Chong Ju soil had almost no degradability whereas the strain T-2-3 was the most potent. The degradation of TOK by the isolates constituted mostly the reduction of the nitro group to amino group. 5. In a test for the degradability of TOK by some selected microorganisms, Pseudomonas species were more potent than fungi. Yet, Isolate B which had been isolated from Chung Ju soil suspension was the most potent.

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Regional Revitalization Policies of the Ruhr, Germany: Path Dependence or Path Creation? (독일 루르지역의 지역재생정책: 추진과정과 성과에 대한 경로이론적 접근)

  • Shin, Dong-Ho
    • Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.200-213
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    • 2014
  • During the 1970s and 1980s, most of the industrial cities of the Western World went through serious de-industrialization process. While the economy of the cities declined, the cities were suffering from the lack of job opportunities, under-use of industrial infrastructure, and environmental degradation. Many of the cities attempted to tackle such problems, but very few of them have succeeded. However, the Ruhr area is showing some promising signs. This paper attempts to analyze regional revitalization policies of Dortmund, a central city of the Ruhr, and looks into the processes and outcomes of the policies. The author argues Dortmund has successfully created and set forth a new industrial path based on high-tech industries, such as information technology, micro-electromechanical systems(MEMS), logistics, and biomedical industries, away from its traditional industries, such as coal mining and steel making. Speaking from the perspective of path theory, he continues to argue that Dortmund has successfully 'locked-out' from the traditional industries, in contrast to the Grabher's argument.

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System identification of soil behavior from vertical seismic arrays

  • Glaser, Steven D.;Ni, Sheng-Huoo;Ko, Chi-Chih
    • Smart Structures and Systems
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    • v.4 no.6
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    • pp.727-740
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    • 2008
  • A down hole vertical seismic array is a sequence of instruments installed at various depths in the earth to record the ground motion at multiple points during an earthquake. Numerous studies demonstrate the unique utility of vertical seismic arrays for studying in situ site response and soil behavior. Examples are given of analyses made at two sites to show the value of data from vertical seismic arrays. The sites examined are the Lotung, Taiwan SMART1 array and a new site installed at Jingliao, Taiwan. Details of the installation of the Jingliao array are given. ARX models are theoretically the correct process models for vertical wave propagation in the layered earth, and are used to linearly map deeper sensor input signals to shallower sensor output signals. An example of Event 16 at the Lotung array is given. This same data, when examined in detail with a Bayesian inference model, can also be explained by nonlinear filters yielding commonly accepted soil degradation curves. Results from applying an ARMAX model to data from the Jingliao vertical seismic array are presented. Estimates of inter-transducer soil increment resonant frequency, shear modulus, and damping ratio are presented. The shear modulus varied from 50 to 150 MPa, and damping ratio between 8% and 15%. A new hardware monitoring system - TerraScope - is an affordable 4-D down-hole seismic monitoring system based on independent, microprocessor-controlled sensor Pods. The Pods are nominally 50 mm in diameter, and about 120 mm long. An internal 16-bit micro-controller oversees all aspects of instrumentation, eight programmable gain amplifiers, and local signal storage.

Automation of urine dipstick test by simultaneous scanning : A pilot study (요 스트립검사 자동화를 위한 동시 비교 스캔 기법 예비 연구)

  • Lee, Sang-Bong;Choi, Seong-Su;Lee, In-Kwang;Han, Jeong-Su;Kim, Wan-Seok;Kim, Wun-Jae;Cha, Eun-Jong;Kim, Kyung-Ah
    • Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.169-175
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    • 2010
  • Urinalysis is an important clinical test to diagnose urinary diseases, and dipstick method with visual inspection is widely applied in practice. Automated optical devices recently developed have disadvantages of long measurement time, big size and heavy weight, accuracy degradation with time, etc. The present study proposed a new computer scanning technique, in which the test strip and the standard chart were simultaneously scanned to remove any environmental artifacts, followed by automated differentiation with the minimum distance algorithm, leading to significant enhancement of accuracy. Experiments demonstrated an accuracy of 100 % in that all test results were identical with the human visual inspection. The present technique only uses a personal computer with scanner and shortens the test time to a great degree. The results are also stored and accumulated for later use which can be transmitted to remote locations through a network, thus could be easily integrated to any ubiquitous health care systems.

A Review of Withering in the Processing of Black Tea

  • Deb, Saptashish;Jolvis Pou, K.R.
    • Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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    • v.41 no.4
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    • pp.365-372
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    • 2016
  • Purpose: Tea is the most frequently consumed drink worldwide, next to water. About 75% of the total world tea production includes black tea, and withering is one of the major processing steps critical for the quality of black tea. There are two types of tea withering methods: physical and chemical withering. Withering can be achieved by using tat, tunnel, drum, and trough withering systems. Of these, the trough withering system is the most commonly used. This study focuses on the different types of withering, their effect on the various quality attributes of tea, and other aspects of withering methods that affect superior quality tea. Results: During physical withering, tea shoots loose moisture content that drops from approximately 70-80% to 60-70% (wet basis). This leads to increased sap concentration in tea leaf cells, and turgid leaves become flaccid. It also prevents tea shoots from damage during maceration or rolling. During chemical withering, complex chemical compounds break down into simpler ones volatile flavor compounds, amino acids, and simple sugars are formed. Withering increases enzymatic activities as well as the concentration of caffeine. Research indicates that about 15% of chlorophyll degradation occurs during withering. It is also reported that during withering lipids break down into simpler compounds and catechin levels decrease. Improper withering can cause adverse effects on subsequent manufacturing operations, such as maceration, rolling, fermentation, drying, and tea storage. Conclusion: Freshly harvested leaves are conditioned physically and chemically for subsequent processing. There is no specified withering duration, but 14-18 h is generally considered the optimum period. Proper and even withering of tea shoots greatly depends on the standards of plucking, handling, transportation, environmental conditions, time, and temperature. Thus, to ensure consumption of high quality tea, the withering step must be monitored carefully.