• Title/Summary/Keyword: Environmental Degradation

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Characteristics of MEK Degradation using TiO2 Photocatalyst in the Batch-type Reactor-Metal Doping Effect (회분식 반응기에서 TiO2 광촉매의 MEK 분해특성-금속담지영향)

  • Jang, Hyun Tae;Cha, Wang Seog
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.1579-1584
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    • 2015
  • In photocatalytic reaction, the doping of metal matter can alter the titania surface properties. As such the metal matter can increase the rate of the reaction. The influence of metal doping and calcination condition of $TiO_2$ photocatalyst was investigated at the batch-type photoreactor. Several metal matters were doped to the $TiO_2$ catalyst to improve photodegradation efficiency. During the experiments, water content was 3wt%, and reactor temperature was $40^{\circ}C$. Palladium-doped $TiO_2$ was found to be the best, where as platinum or tungsten-added also showed good results. Additional doping of platinum or tungsten on Pd/$TiO_2$ had no increase on the removal efficiency. To obtain proper calcination condition, various experiments about calcination temperature and time were carried out. As a result, the optimum calcination condition was temperature of $400^{\circ}C$, time of 1 hour.

Development of Innovative Technologies for Enhancing Low Flow Discharge and Reducing Turbid Material from Overcrowded Forest Plantations by Intensive Thinning in Japan

  • Otsuki, Kyoichi;Kasahara, Tamao;Onda, Yuichi
    • Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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    • 2012.05a
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    • pp.18-18
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    • 2012
  • In Japan, about 67% of the land is covered by forests and about 41% of them consist of plantations. About 35% of the plantations consist of old-aged plantations of older than 50 yearsand the percentage is projected to 67% in ten years' time. Although the trees of these plantations are supposed to be cut for timber production, most of them remain unmanaged and thus overcrowded mainly due to declining domestic forest industry. Since the forests are mostly located in headwater watershed, there are growing concerns about the degradation of water resources by these unmanaged plantations. To understand the ecohydrological processes in these plantations and examine the effect of intensive 50-60 % thinning to increase infiltration rate and reduce overland flow and soil erosion by recovering understory vegetation, the JST-CREST project "Development of Innovative Technologies for Increasing in Watershed Runoff and Improving River Environment by the Management Practice of Devastated Forest Plantation (Representative: Yuichi Onda)" has been launched since 2009. The ultimate objective of this project is to provide potential scenario to enhance low flow discharge in drought period and reduce turbid material in high flow period. We have been conductingintensive field observation campaign in five research sites across Japan. In Fukuoka site, integrated ecohydrological observations have been conductedin two contrastive watersheds since 2010. Intensive 50% thinning was conducted from January to April 2012 and comparative studies of ecohydrological processes before and after thinning have been started. The interim results from all the sites of this project will be presented in the 3rd International Congress for Forest and Water in a Changing Environment held in Fukuoka during 18-20 September, 2012 (http://www.forest.kyushu-u.ac.jp/~ecohydrol/3ForestWater/index.html).

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Photocatalytic Properties of the Ag-Doped TiO2 Prepared by Sol-Gel Process/Photodeposition (졸-겔공정/광증착법을 이용한 Ag-Doped TiO2 합성 및 광촉매 특성)

  • Kim, Byeong-Min;Kim, Jung-Sik
    • Korean Journal of Materials Research
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.73-78
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    • 2016
  • $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol-gel process using titanium tetra isopropoxide as a precursor at room temperature. Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were prepared by photoreduction of $AgNO_3$ on $TiO_2$ under UV light irradiation and calcinated at $400^{\circ}C$. Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were characterized for their structural and morphological properties by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The photocatalytic properties of the $TiO_2$ and Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were evaluated according to the degree of photocatalytic degradation of gaseous benzene under UV and visible light irradiation. To estimate the rate of photolysis under UV (${\lambda}=365nm$) and visible (${\lambda}{\geq}410nm$) light, the residual concentration of benzene was monitored by gas chromatography (GC). Both undoped/doped nanoparticles showed about 80 % of photolysis of benzene under UV light. However, under visible light irradiation Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles exhibited a photocatalytic reaction toward the photodegradation of benzene more efficient than that of bare $TiO_2$. The enhanced photocatalytic reaction of Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles is attributed to the decrease in the activation energy and to the existence of Ag in the $TiO_2$ host lattice, which increases the absorption capacity in the visible region by acting as an electron trapper and promotes charge separation of the photoinduced electrons ($e^-$) and holes ($h^+$). The use of Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles preserved the option of an environmentally benign photocatalytic reaction using visible light; These particles can be applicable to environmental cleaning applications.

Soil Quality Assessment Method of Paddy and Upland (논과 밭토양의 질 평가 방법)

  • Yoon, Jung-Hui;Jung, Beung-Gan;Jun, Hee-Joong;Kwak, Han-Kang
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.37 no.6
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    • pp.357-364
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    • 2004
  • Modern agriculture depending on chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides gave rise to questions about long-term sustainability of agriculture in relation to degradation of soil quality. Improving soil quality is prerequisite to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health. Assessment and monitoring of the health and quality of soil is necessary to provide opportunity to evaluate and redesign soil management system for sustainability. To develop the soil quality assessment method, we collected national data on soil properties of paddy and upland and attempted to evaluate the data in aspect of soil quality by the process of selecting a minimum data set (MDS), scoring the soil properties and calculating soil quality index (SQI) integrating the score of each soil property. This approximation indicated that soil quality index was in the order of paddy soil, upland soil and plastic film house soil.

Freezing-Thawing Resistance of Fiber Reinforced Polymers in Strengthening RC Members (구조보강용 FRP 복합체의 동결용해 저항성 평가 연구)

  • You, Young-Chan;Choi, Ki-Sun;Kim, Keung-Hwan
    • Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.182-189
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    • 2010
  • The strengthening performance of FRPs(Fiber Reinforced Polymers) is directly affected by the environmental conditions such as freezing-thawing and moisture because FRPs are usually bonded on the concrete surface. It is, therefore, strongly required to evaluate a durability of bond between FRPs and concrete as well as FRP materials itself. The freezing-thawing resistance of FRPs is evaluated in this study with the variables of freezing-thawing conditions, types of FRP and freezing-thawing cycles. From the test results, it is found that tensile strength and pull-off strength of CFRP are not affected by the freezing-thawing. On the other hands, those of GFRP show a little degradation because of continuous water immersion during thawing process. But, cautions are needed on the bond durability between FRPs and concrete in case of continuous water supplying from adjacent to the concrete.

New Landscape of Poverty Management in Land Information System (토지정보를 이용한 빈곤관리의 모델)

  • Liou, Jae-Ik;Oh, Min-Soo;Shin, Young-Chul
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.5 no.1
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    • pp.1-19
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    • 2002
  • Estimation and indication for spatial distribution of living quality and poor condition associated with land and house's access as a basic human need has been imperative questions and predicaments while it is required to boost digital economic development and consolidate social maturity. Although modern IT and sophisticated GIS/LIS technologies are used to examine spatial analysis of population location-patterns, land uses and development, and environmental degradation, etc, it still might remain immature step to figure out the causations and results of poverty in space and time. In this research, a new approach to poverty management is explicated by using 6 parameters as a major tool for assisting poverty monitoring concerning the poor who are very unpredictable in space and could be regarded as renegades in the Internet age. In addition, it expounds a new approach and conceptual idea for poverty management to notify spatial location of the digital divide when poverty reduction is closely concerned with sustainable goal of land information.

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A Study on Science and Technology Policy in Korea: Searching for New Policy Ideas (우리나라 과학기술정책의 이념: 국가.기업.시민사회)

  • Cho Hyun-Suk
    • Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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    • v.2 no.1 s.3
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    • pp.85-105
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    • 2002
  • This is to review the nature of Korean science and technology policy based on the concept of policy ideas. According to the institutional theory, policy ideas are composed of the beliefs on both principle and causal relations concerning policy behaviors. Policy ideas influence science and technology policy considerably because they are embodied by policy-makers and embedded in government institutions such as decision-making rules and procedures. Recently, promoting industrial competitiveness is a leading policy idea in Korea's science and technology policy. It means that the science and technology policy is influenced mainly by economic interests rather than by civic interests. Though the economic value of science and technology may not easily underestimated, the negative external effects such as environmental degradation and technological risks should not be neglected. Therefore, in developing science and technology policy, much efforts should be made to consider both the policy idea of industrial competitiveness and the new one of quality of life in a balanced way. It means that civil society should be allowed to have more access to policy process in the area of science and technology than before.

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Joint Crediting Mechanism under the Paris Agreement and Its Implication to the Climate Policy in Korea

  • Jung, Tae Yong;Sohn, Jihyun
    • Journal of Climate Change Research
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    • v.7 no.4
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    • pp.373-381
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    • 2016
  • Before the Conference of Parties (COP) 21 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015, most parties of UNFCCC had submitted their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) and to achieve their voluntary targets, some parties consider using international market mechanisms. As one of such mechanisms, Japan promoted its own bilateral mechanism called Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM). In this study, feasibility studies and projects under JCM have been analyzed by project type, sector, country and region, which could provide some implications in designing Korea's future climate policy to achieve Korea's targets of 11.7% using international market mechanism in INDC. Since 2010, JCM has promoted 542 projects and feasibility studies in 44 countries according to the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) database. Among 542 projects, about 80% were feasibility studies implying that JCM was more focused on project identification. However, current trends of JCM show that more projects will be soon implemented based on these feasibility studies. For sectoral categorization, projects were categorized into seven sectors-energy technology, energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste management, city, strategic planning and projects related to the country's efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). JCM projects were mitigation focused with more than 70% of projects were related to energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy technology. At the regional and country level, JCM is highly focused on Asia and especially, more than 100 projects were developed in Indonesia. Based on the analysis of JCM, in order to develop bilateral international mechanism for Korea, it is worthwhile to emphasize that Korea considers Asian countries as her partner. In addition, Korea may consider the collaboration with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to implement projects identified by Korea and Asian partner countries. Furthermore, strategically, it is recommendable to develop jointly with Japan who has already capacity and networks with other Asian countries to mitigate GHG emissions. Such financial resources from MDBs and Japan may contribute to meet the 11.3% of GHG reduction target from abroad according to INDC of Korea.

Experimental study on seismic behavior of reinforced concrete column retrofitted with prestressed steel strips

  • Zhang, Bo;Yang, Yong;Wei, Yuan-feng;Liu, Ru-yue;Ding, Chu;Zhang, Ke-qiang
    • Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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    • v.55 no.6
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    • pp.1139-1155
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    • 2015
  • In this study, a new retrofitting method for improving the seismic performance of reinforced concrete column was presented, in which prestressed steel strips were utilized as retrofitting stuff to confine the reinforced concrete column transversely. In order to figure out the seismic performance of concrete column specimen retrofitted by such prestressed steel strips methods, a series of quasi-static tests of five retrofitted specimens and two unconfined column specimen which acted as control specimens were conducted. Based on the test results, the seismic performance including the failure modes, hysteresis performance, ductility performance, energy dissipation and stiffness degradation of all these specimens were fully investigated and analyzed. And furthermore the influences of some key parameters such as the axial force ratios, shear span ratios and steel strips spacing on seismic performance of those retrofitted reinforced concrete column specimens were also studied. It was shown that the prestressed steel strips provided large transverse confining effect on reinforced concrete column specimens, which resulted in improving the shearing bearing capacity, ductility performance, deformation capacity and energy dissipation performance of retrofitted specimens effectively. In comparison to the specimen which was retrofitted by the carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) strips method, the seismic performance of the specimens retrofitted by the prestressed steel strips was a bit better, and with much less cost both in material and labor. From this research results, it can be concluded that this new retrofitting method is really useful and has significant advantages both in saving money and time over some other retrofitting methods.

Proposed Data-Driven Approach for Occupational Risk Management of Aircrew Fatigue

  • Seah, Benjamin Zhi Qiang;Gan, Wee Hoe;Wong, Sheau Hwa;Lim, Mei Ann;Goh, Poh Hui;Singh, Jarnail;Koh, David Soo Quee
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.12 no.4
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    • pp.462-470
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    • 2021
  • Background: Fatigue is pervasive, under-reported, and potentially deadly where flight operations are concerned. The aviation industry appears to lack a standardized, practical, and easily replicable protocol for fatigue risk assessment which can be consistently applied across operators. Aim: Our paper sought to present a framework, supported by real-world data with subjective and objective parameters, to monitor aircrew fatigue and performance, and to determine the safe crew configuration for commercial airline operations. Methods: Our protocol identified risk factors for fatigue-induced performance degradation as triggers for fatigue risk and performance assessment. Using both subjective and objective measurements of sleep, fatigue, and performance in the form of instruments such as the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, Samn-Perelli Crew Status Check, Psychomotor Vigilance Task, sleep logs, and a wearable actigraph for sleep log correlation and sleep duration and quality charting, a workflow flagging fatigue-prone flight operations for risk mitigation was developed and trialed. Results: In an operational study aimed at occupational assessment of fatigue and performance in airline pilots on a three-men crew versus a four-men crew for a long-haul flight, we affirmed the technical feasibility of our proposed framework and approach, the validity of the battery of assessment instruments, and the meaningful interpretation of fatigue and work performance indicators to enable the formulation of safe work recommendations. Conclusion: A standardized occupational assessment protocol like ours is useful to achieve consistency and objectivity in the occupational assessment of fatigue and work performance.