• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.9-14
• /
• 1996

For three cultivars of chilling-sensitive cucumber plants, chilling sensitivity was evaluated in terms of photosynthetic activity using Chl fluorescence techniques. Low-temperature treatment caused a decrease in photosynthetic activities of cucumber leaves, measured as CO$_2$ exchange, as well as the decrease in the stomatal conductance. FR of the three cultivars decreased after chilling for 24 h in light and the extent of decline of F$_R$ was the greatest in 'Chosaeng' cultivar. When these plants were recovered from light-chilling, 'Chosaeng' and 'Samchuk' cultivars did not fully restore the original value of F$_R$ after 24 h of recovery, in contrast to 'Ilmi' cultivar which showed a rather efficient recovery. The results of FR study showed that 'Chosaeng' was most susceptible, whereas Ilmi was most resistant, to chilling among the three cultivars of cucumber plants. When quenching coefficients for chlorophyll fluorescence was analyzed after chilling the cucumber plants for 24 h in light, 'Chosaeng' elicited more rapid declines in the coefficients for photochemical quenching (qQ), non-photochemical quenching (qNP) and energy-dependent quenching (qE) than 'Ilmi' and 'Samchuk'. The implications of these observations are discussed in relation to the growth habits of the respective cultivars in the field. The results showed that measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence was an effective means of screening chilling tolerance of cucumber plants. Furthermore, the study on the chlorophyll fluorescence induction and fluorescence quenching charactersitics showed that low temperature could accelerate inhibition of photosynthesis in chilling-sensitive plants, by limiting Calvin cycle activity and disrupting, in part, the energy dissipation mechanims of the photosystem II.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.17-29
• /
• 2018

For the first time in the city of Riyadh, the formation of $O_3$ and its relationship with NO and $NO_2$ ($NO_x$) was investigated. Throughout the summer $O_3$, NO, and $NO_2$ were collected from three locations: residential, industrial, and rural areas. During the sampling period $O_3$ concentrations exceeded 1-hour local standards a few times yet remained consistent with the standards most of the time. The $O_3$ concentrations were observed highest in the rural location and lowest in the industrial area. The diurnal variation of NO followed a double peak: one in the morning and the other in the evening, representing the traffic pattern. Early morning NO peaks were observed in the rural location, which were attributed to the movement of NO from other locations. The $O_3$ concentrations depicted typical pattern, increasing after sunrise and reaching its maximum during midday. The highest $O_3$ concentrations were observed in the rural location followed by the residential and industrial. $NO_2$ photolysis rates were 3-4 times higher compared to other similar investigations, potentially due to intense solar radiation. A strong negative correlation was observed between $NO_x$ and $O_3$ values in the industrial location indicating photochemical activities around the industrial area were higher, likely due to additional $NO_x$ emissions from industries. Regression analysis of $NO_x$ and OX ($O_3+NO_2$) indicated that in residential and industrial locations at nighttime there were large $NO_x$ independent regional contributions which is attributed to VOCs. The Weekend Effect was observed in the city potentially due to the production of the OH radical and subsequent reactions with VOCs implying that the area is VOC-sensitive.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.147-162
• /
• 2020

The main objective of this study is to estimate the levels of pollution to which the community is presently exposed and to model the regimes of local air quality. Diurnal, daily, and monthly variations of NO, NO₂, SO₂, and O₃ were thoroughly investigated in three areas; namely, residential, industrial, and terminal in Ras Al-Khafji. There is obvious diurnal variation in the concentration of these pollutants that clearly follows the diurnal variation of atmospheric temperature and main anthropogenic and industrial activities. Correlation analysis showed that meteorological conditions play a vital role in shaping the pattern and transportation of air pollutants and photochemical processes affecting O₃ formation and destruction. Bivariate polar plots, an effective graphical tool that utilizes air pollutant concentrations' dependence on wind speed and wind direction, were used to identify prevailing emission sources. Non-buoyant ground-level sources like domestic heating and street transport emissions, various industrial stacks, and airport-related activities were considered dominant emission sources in observatory sites. This study offers valuable and detailed information on the status of air quality, which has considerable, quantifiable, and important public health benefits.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.23-29
• /
• 2001

The NBP assay was conducted to determine the photomutagenic or photocarcinogenic potential of alkylating agents. Using a 4-NBP in vitro technique, whereby photochemical treatment on CAS (Chemical Activation System) was performed to investigate the enhancement effect, 20 compounds were shown to undergo alkylating mechanisms with 4-NBP. Chemically meaningful results were obtained with different sets of 20 compounds for the alkylating activities due to the UV irradiation, demonstrating that all of the testing compounds showed increasing photoalkylating effects either in the presence or absence of CAS in comparison with previously reported data, except furoic acid and fumaric acid that showed decreasing effect in the presence of a CAS. Caffeine did not show a meaningful result either. However, these findings demonstrate the effects of potential photoalkylating activity in chemical activation system (CAS) and suggest a potential risk-ranking system for the in vivo assays.

• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.105-119
• /
• 2003

Fullerenes, $C_{60}$ and $C_{70}$, display interesting physicochemical properties in solutions, especially due to their unique chemical structures and their good electron accepting abilities. Solubility of fullerenes in different organic solvents and their unusual solvatochromic behavior, the ability of the fullerenes to form aggregates in solutions, and their electron transfer and charge transfer interactions with variety of electron donors, are the subjects of extensive research activities for more than one decade. Many research groups including ours have contributed substantially in the understanding of the solvatochromism, aggregation behavior, and the photoinduced electron transfer and charge transfer chemistry of fullerenes, in condensed phase. Present article is aimed to summarize the important results reported on the above aspects of fullerenes, subsequent to the earlier report from our group (D.K. Palit and J.P. Mittal, Full. Sci. & Tech. 3, 1995, 643-659).)., 643-659)..

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
• /
• v.3 no.4
• /
• pp.73-75
• /
• 2014

Novel diphenylphenanthrenes (DPPs) were prepared by a photocyclization method, and the substituent effects of the phenyl groups on the photophysical properties of the phenanthrene chromophore were investigated based on measurements of fluorescence yields, lifetimes, and transient absorption. Fluorescence activities in DPPs are increased by introducing phenyl rings that can enhance the transition moment along the short axis of the phenanthrene skeleton. Intersystem crossing from the fluorescent states to the triplet manifolds is shown to be operative through the triplet-triplet absorption spectra obtained by laser photolysis techniques.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.369-378
• /
• 1997

The effects of various intensity of W-B on barley seeding were investigated by PS I and II activities and chlorophyll fluorescence. The Inhibitory effect of UV-B radiation on electron transport activity was Increased as the intensity of UV-B Irradiation was increased. Especially, PS I is more sensitive to UV-B radiation than PS I is. By the addition of uncle electron donor, DPC, to the chloroplasts of the barley seedlings treated with UV-B, the photoreduction of DCPIP was recovered by only 1 IBI on electron transport activity. However, the activity of PS II was Inhibited by 45% by the treatment with UV-B, but recovered it only 11% by the addition of DPC. These suggest that other sites besides the oxidation site of PS II may be affected more by UV-B Irradiation. As the intensify of UV-B was Increased, Fo was Increased while Fv was decreased, and thus Fv/Fm was decreased. This means that photochemical efficiency was reduced. With this parameters, it might be that UV-B radiation affected adversely to around PS II.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.257-264
• /
• 2007

Over-expression of a copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/ZnSOD) resulted in substantially increased tolerance to cadmium exposure in Arabidopsis thaliana. Lower lipid peroxidation and $H_2O_2$ accumulation and the higher activities of $H_2O_2$ scavenging enzymes, including catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in transformants (CuZnSOD-tr) compared to untransformed controls (wt) indicated that oxidative stress was the key factor in cadmium tolerance. Although progressive reductions in the dark-adapted photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) and quantum efficiency yield were observed with increasing cadmium levels, the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were less marked in CuZnSOD-tr than in wi. These observations indicate that oxidative stress in the photosynthetic apparatus is a principal cause of Cd-induced phytotoxicity, and that Cu/ZnSOD plays a critical role in protection against Cd-induced oxidative stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.08a
• /
• pp.189.1-189.1
• /
• 2013

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a wide bandgap semiconductor possessing photochemical stability and thus widely used for photocatalysis. However, enhancing photocatalytic efficiency is still a challenging issue. In general, the efficiency is affected by physio-chemical properties such as crystalline phase, crystallinity, exposed crystal facets, crystallite size, porosity, and surface/bulk defects. Here we propose an alternative approach to enhance the efficiency by studying interfaces between thin TiO2 layers to be stacked; that is, the interfacial phenomena influencing on the formation of porous structures, controlling crystallite sizes and crystallinity. To do so, multi-layered TiO2 thin films were fabricated by using a sol-gel method. Specifically, a single TiO2 thin layer with a thickness range of 20~40 nm was deposited on a silicon wafer and annealed at $600^{\circ}C$. The processing step was repeated up to 6 times. The resulting structures were characterized by conventional electron microscopes, and followed by carrying out photocatalytic performances. The multi-layered TiO2 thin films with enhancing photocatalytic efficiency can be readily applied for bio- and gas sensing devices.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.197-204
• /
• 2002

Gourd seeds were irradiated with the doses of 0-20 Gy to investigate the effect of the low dose $\gamma$-radiation on the early growth and physiological activity. The stimulating effects of the low dose y- radiation on the early growth were not noticeably high, but were increased generally at 4-16 Gy irradiation group. The catalase and peroxidase activity of cotyledon from seeds irradiated with $\gamma$- radiation were increased at 8 Gy irradiation group. The photochemical activity of leaf was noticeably high at 4 Gy irradiation group. The photochemical yield of PSII, estimated as Fv/Fm, decreased with increasing illumination time by 50% after 4 hrs in the control and 8 Gy irradiation group, while Fo slightly increased. However, Fv/Em in the 4 Gy irradiation group decreased by 40% of inhibition, indicating that photoinhibition decreased by the low dose $\gamma$- radiation. Changes in the effective quantum yield of PSII, $\varphi_{PSII}$ and 1/Fo- l/Fm, a measure of the rate constant of excitation trapping by the PSII reaction center, showed similar pattern to Fv/Em. NPQ decreased by 70% after photoinhibitory treatment with showing similar pattern between the control and the irradiation group. These results showed the positive effect of low dose $\gamma$- radiation on the seedling growth and the reduction of photoinhibition in the 4 Gy irradiation group.