• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.122-131
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• 2010

This paper introduces the concept of a virtual ecosystem and reports the following three mathematical approaches that could be widely used to construct such an ecosystem, along with examples: (1) a molecular dynamics simulation approach for animal flocking behavior, (2) a stochastic lattice model approach for termite colony behavior, and (3) a rule-based cellular automata approach for biofilm growth. The ecosystem considered in this study consists of artificial organisms and their environment. Each organism in the ecosystem is an agent that interacts autonomously with the dynamic environment, including the other organisms within it. The three types of model were successful to account for each corresponding ecosystem. In order to accurately mimic a natural ecosystem, a virtual ecosystem needs to take many ecological variables into account. However, doing so is likely to introduce excess complexity and nonlinearity in the analysis of the virtual ecosystem's dynamics. Nonetheless, the development of a virtual ecosystem is important, because it can provide possible explanations for various phenomena such as environmental disturbances and disasters, and can also give insights into ecological functions from an individual to a community level from a synthetic viewpoint. As an example of how lower and higher levels in an ecosystem can be connected, this paper also briefly discusses the application of the second model to the simulation of a termite ecosystem and the influence of climate change on the termite ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.714-721
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• 2013

A stoichiometric mixture of evaporating materials for $ZnAl_2Se_4$ single-crystal thin films was prepared in a horizontal electric furnace. These $ZnAl_2Se_4$ polycrystals had a defect chalcopyrite structure, and its lattice constants were $a_0=5.5563{\AA}$ and $c_0=10.8897{\AA}$.To obtain a single-crystal thin film, mixed $ZnAl_2Se_4$ crystal was deposited on the thoroughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by a hot wall epitaxy (HWE) system. The source and the substrate temperatures were $620^{\circ}C$ and $400^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of the single-crystal thin film was investigated by using a double crystal X-ray rocking curve and X-ray diffraction ${\omega}-2{\theta}$ scans. The carrier density and mobility of the $ZnAl_2Se_4$ single-crystal thin film were $8.23{\times}10^{16}cm^{-3}$ and $287m^2/vs$ at 293 K, respectively. To identify the band gap energy, the optical absorption spectra of the $ZnAl_2Se_4$ single-crystal thin film was investigated in the temperature region of 10-293 K. The temperature dependence of the direct optical energy gap is well presented by Varshni's relation: $E_g(T)=E_g(0)-({\alpha}T^2/T+{\beta})$. The constants of Varshni's equation had the values of $E_g(0)=3.5269eV$, ${\alpha}=2.03{\times}10^{-3}eV/K$ and ${\beta}=501.9K$ for the $ZnAl_2Se_4$ single-crystal thin film. The crystal field and the spin-orbit splitting energies for the valence band of the $ZnAl_2Se_4$ were estimated to be 109.5 meV and 124.6 meV, respectively, by means of the photocurrent spectra and the Hopfield quasicubic model. These results indicate that splitting of the ${\Delta}so$ definitely exists in the ${\Gamma}_5$ states of the valence band of the $ZnAl_2Se_4/GaAs$ epilayer. The three photocurrent peaks observed at 10 K are ascribed to the $A_1$-, $B_1$-exciton for n = 1 and $C_{21}$-exciton peaks for n = 21.