• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2014

Timber harvest in natural forests and its implications on carbon sequestration were investigated in the Southwestern Nigeria. Data on timber harvest from forest estates for a 3-year period were collected from the official record of States' Forestry Department. The data registered the species, volume and number of timbers exploited during the study period. The data were analyzed accordingly for rate of timber harvest and carbon value of the exploited timbers using existing biomass functions. Values were compared for significant differences among states using one way analysis of variance. The results showed that the most exploited logs, in terms of volume and number of trees, have the highest amount of carbon removal. There was a variation in type of timber species being exploited from each state. The total number of harvested trees from Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti and Osun were estimated at 100,205; 111,789; 753; 15,884 and 18,153 respectively. Total quantity of carbon removed for the 3-year period stood at 2.3 million metric tons, and this translated to 8.4 million metric tons of $CO_2$. The annual carbon and $CO_2$ removal therefore were estimated at 760,120.73 tons and 2.8 million tons/ year respectively. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in the amount of $CO_2$ removed from the five states. Based on our result, we inferred that there is increasing pressure on economic tree species and it is plausible that they are becoming scarce from the forests in Southwestern Nigeria.. If the present rate of log removal is not controlled, forests could become carbon source rather than carbon sink and the on biological conservation, wood availability and climate change may turn out grave. For the forest to perform its environmental role as carbon sink, urgent conservation measures and logging policies are needed to be put in place.

• Carbon letters
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.184-190
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• 2007

Carbon Nano Tubes could be either metallic or semi-conducting in nature, depending on their diameter. Its photocatalytic behavior has given an impetus to use it as an anti-microbial agent. More than 95% Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria got killed when exposed to Carbon Nano Tubes for 30 minutes in presence of sunlight. Carbon Nano Tubes are supposed to have smooth surface on to which it accumulates positive charges when exposed to light. The surface that is non illuminated has negative charge. At the cellular level microorganisms produce negative charges on the cell membrane, Therefore damaging effect of multi walled carbon nano tubes (exposed to light) on the microorganisms is possible. In this paper, photo catalytic killing of microbes by multi walled carbon nano tubes is reported. Killing was due to damage in the cell membrane, as seen in SEM micrographs. Moreover biochemical analysis of membrane as well as total cellular proteins by SDS PAGE showed that there was denaturation of membrane proteins as well as total proteins of both the microbes studied. The killed microbes that showed a decrease in number of protein bands (i.e. due to breaking down of proteins) also showed an increase in level of free amino acids in microbes. This further confirmed that proteins got denatured or broken down into shorter units of amino acids. Increased level of free amino acids was recorded in both the microbes treated with multi walled carbon nano tubes and sunlight.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.33-46
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• 2023

In this study, carbon storage in the aboveground biomass, litter layer, and soil layer was calculated for abandoned mining restoration areas to determine the level of carbon storage after the restoration project through comparison with the ecological reference. Five survey sites were selected for each abandoned mining restoration area in Boryeong-si, Chungcheongnam-do, and the ecological reference that can be a goal and model for the restoration project. The carbon storage in the restoration area was 0~21.3Mg C ha^-1, the deciduous layer 3.3~6.0Mg C ha^-1, and the soil layer(0-30cm) 8.3~35.1Mg C ha^-1, showing a significant difference in carbon storage by target site. The total carbon storage was between 6.1 and 35.3% of the ecological reference, with restoration area ranging from 14.0 to 62.4 Mg C ha^-1. The total carbon storage in the restoration area and the ecological reference differed the most in the aboveground biomass and was less than 12%. Based on these results, forest restoration area need to improve the carbon storage of forests through continuous management and monitoring so trees can grow and restore productivity in the early stages of the restoration project. The results of this study can be used as primary data for preparing future forest restoration indicators by identifying the storage of abandoned mining restoration areas.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.1290-1302
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• 2016

Microalgae are being researched for their potential as attractive biofuel feedstock, particularly for their lipid production. For maximizing biofuel production, it is necessary to explore the effects of environmental factors on algal lipid-producing potential. In this study, the effects of nitrogen (N) sources (NO₂-N, NO₃-N, urea-N, NH₄-N, and N-deficiency) and carbon-to-nitrogen ratios (C/N= 0, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0) on algal lipid-producing potential of Chlorella sp. HQ were investigated. The results showed that for Chlorella growth and lipid accumulation potential, NO₂-N was the best amongst the nitrogen sources, and NO₃-N and urea-N also contributed to algal growth and lipid accumulation potential, but NH₄-N and N-deficiency instead caused inhibitory effects. Moreover, the results indicated that algal lipid-producing potential was related to C/N ratios. With NO₂-N treatment and carbon addition (C/N = 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0), total lipid yield was enhanced by 12.96-20.37%, but triacylglycerol (TAG) yields decreased by 25.52-94.31%. As for NO₃-N treatment, carbon addition led to a 17.82-57.43%/25.86-82.67% reduction of total lipid/TAG yields. When NH₄-N was used as the nitrogen source, total lipid/TAG yields were increased by 46.67-113.33%/28.99-74.76% with carbon addition. The total lipid/TAG yields of urea-N treatment varied with C/N ratios. Overall, the highest TAG yield (TAG yield: 38.75 ± 5.21 mg/l; TAG content: 44.16 ± 4.35%) was achieved under NO₂-N treatment without carbon addition (C/N = 0), the condition that had merit for biofuel production.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.13-23
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• 2003

Organic carbon and nitrogen contents in suspended particulate matter (SPM) and surface sediments in seawater were measured in the Northern East China Sea in summer. The distribution of particulate organic carbon(POC) and particulate organic nitrogen(PON) were in the ranges of 54~481㎍/ℓ and 6~85㎍/ℓ, respectively, with relatively high level of concentrations in the western and southern sides of the study area. Also, there has been a significantly positive correlation between POC and PON, gradually increasing toward the deeper range of depth. Average C:N ratios of POC and PON of SPM were 6 in study area. The ratios of POC to PON of SPM increased as the range of depth increased, indicating nitrogen decomposes more rapidly than carbon and is considered to be influenced by the input of detritus from surface sediments. The distribution of total organic matter(TOM), total organic carbon(TOC) and total organic nitrogen(TON) in surface sediments were in the ranges of 3.1~9.6%, 0.282~0.635% and 0.022~0.069%, respectively, with relatively low range in the western and northern sides of the study area. The ratio of TOC to TON of surface sediments were in the range of 9.8~17.4(average of 13), strongly indicating the active role of the input from the terrestrial organic pollutants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.62-69
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• 2007

This study has been carried out to estimate aboveground carbon contents in an average 30-years-old Betula platyphylla and 32-years-old Juglans mandshurica stands in Chungju, Chungbuk Province. Nine sample trees were cut in each forest and soil samples were collected. Carbon concentration in stemwood, stembark, branch, and foliage were ranged from 54.6% to 57.0% in Betula platyphylla and 53.5% to 56.9% in Juglans mandshurica stands. Aboveground carbon contents was estimated by the equation model logWt=A+BlogD where Wt is oven-dry weight in kg and D is DBH in cm. Total aboveground carbon contents was 34.31t/ha in Betula platyphylla stand and 21.10t/ha in Juglans mandshurica stand. Aboveground net primary carbon production was estimated at 2.31t/ha/yr in Betula platyphylla stand and 2.03t/ha/yr in Juglans mandshurica stand.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.121-122
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• 2011

Globally about 40% of total carbon dioxide emissions occupies from the construction industry. Therefore, it is important to quantitatively calculate carbon dioxide emission of concrete prior to the reduction of carbon dioxide. ddd In addition, it is also important to quantitatively calculate carbon dioxide absorption of concrete because concrete absorbs in a measure of carbon dioxide. In this study, it carried out carbon dioxide balance evaluation of building and civil engineering structures through carbon dioxide balance evaluation method of concrete. Consequently absorption rate compared with carbon dioxide emission is about 2.5~5.18%.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.679-686
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• 2010

To investigate the contribution of macroalgae to biogeochemical nutrients and carbon cycles, we measured the uptake rates of nutrients and $CO_2$ by Undaria pinnatifida using an incubation method in an acrylic chamber. From January to March 2010, U. pinnatifida was sampled at Ilkwang, a well-known area of macroalgae culture in Korea. The initial and final concentrations of nutrients, dissolved oxygen, total alkalinity, and pH of the chamber water were measured, and production/uptake rates were calculated using concentration changes, chamber volume, and incubation time. The production rate of dissolved oxygen by U. pinnatifida (n = 32) was about $5.4{\pm}4.0\;{\mu}mol\;g_{fw}^{-1\;}h^{-1}$. The uptake rate of total dissolved inorganic carbon (TDIC), calculated by total alkalinity and pH, was $7.9{\pm}6.5\;{\mu}mol\;g_{fw}^{-1}\;h^{-1}$. Nutrients uptake averaged $141.7{\pm}119.2$ nmol N $g_{fw}^{-1}\;h^{-1}$ and $15.0{\pm}9.1$ nmol P $g_{fw}^{-1}\;h^{-1}$. A positive linear correlation ($r^2$ = 9.6) existed between the production rate of dissolved oxygen and the uptake rate of total dissolved inorganic carbon, suggesting that these two factors serve as good indicators of U. pinnatifida photosynthesis. The relationships between fresh weight and uptake rates of nutrients and $CO_2$ suggested that younger specimens (<~50 g fresh weight) are much more efficient at nutrients and $CO_2$ uptake than are specimens >50 g. The amount of carbon uptake by the total biomass of U. pinnatifida in Korea during the year of 2008 was about 0.001-0.002% of global ocean carbon uptake. Thus, more research should be focused on macroalgae-based biogeochemical cycles to evaluate the roles and contributions of macroalgae to the global carbon cycle.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.3331-3335
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• 2014

We examine the potential use of disordered mesoporous carbon as a functional additive for confining dissolved Li-polysulfides and improving the cycling performance of Li-S batteries. To promote a better understanding of the correlation between the total pore volume of disordered mesoporous carbon and the cycling performance of Li-S batteries, a series of disordered mesoporous carbons with different total pore volumes are successfully synthesized using a commercial silica template. Based on the electrochemical and structural analyses, we suggest that the total pore volume of disordered mesoporous carbon is a predominant factor in determining its capability for either the absorption or adsorption of Li-polysulfides, which is primarily responsible for enhancing the cycling performance. The addition of disordered mesoporous carbon is also effective in enhancing the homogeneous distribution of active sulfur in the cathode, thereby affecting the cycling performance.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.320-325
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• 2021

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) methods are conventional analytical methods to analyze water quality. Both of these methods are technically indirect measurement methods, require complicated preconditions, and are time-consuming. On the other hand, the total organic carbon (TOC) method is a direct and fast measurement method which is more intuitive and accurate than the BOD and COD methods. However, general TOC analysis methods involve complicated processes and high power consumption owing to the process of phase transition from liquid to gas by a high-temperature heater. Furthermore, periodic consumables are also required for the removal of inorganic carbon (IC). Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is one of the most suitable photocatalysts for simple processes. Its usage involves low power consumption because it only reacts with the organic carbon (OC) without the requirement of any other reagents and extra processes. We investigated a TiO₂ photocatalyst-based TOC analysis for simple and affordable products. TiO₂-coated fiber substrate maintained under carbon included water was exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation of wavelength 365 nm. This method is suitable for the real-time monitoring of water pollution because of its fast reaction time. Its linear property is also sufficient to match the real value.