• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.661-674
• /
• 2017

This study used questionnaires to investigate how pre-service elementary teachers understand ocean acidification. As a result of gender, female teachers were more aware of ocean acidification than male teachers, but male teachers had a higher average rate of correct answers, with a lower standard deviation. Teachers from the natural sciences knew more about ocean acidification than did teachers the liberal arts. Teachers ranked environmental crisis in order of most dangerous to least dangerous as follow: global warming and the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, ocean acidification, and acid rain. About 46.7% of teachers learn about ocean acidification through education, followed by broadcasts, school lectures and the internet. The educational materials most desired for teachers were videos related to ocean acidification. Pre-service elementary teachers have two broad perspectives on ocean acidification. Firstly, they refer to economic loss and food shortages, and secondly, they note that there is a need for improved awareness and publicity about ocean acidification. The role of elementary school teachers is important because their awareness of environmental issues has a considerable effect on teachers perception of the environment. Revitalizing education on ocean acidification and government support are necessary to effectively communicate the seriousness of ocean acidification. Lastly, we need to study ocean acidification in detail so as to be able to persevere toward protecting our ocean ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.154-159
• /
• 2014

The increasing of atmospheric $CO_2$ are changing the pH (ocean acidification) and temperature of the sea. Although the effects of ocean acidification on calcifying organisms have well-documented, only a few studies have examined the combined effects of ocean acidification and elevated temperature. This study investigated the effects of ocean acidification and elevated temperature for 2100 on survival and growth of juvenile abalone, Haliotis discus hannai. Ocean acidification was simulated by bubbling $CO_2$ into seawater at concentrations of 1,000 and 1,500 ppm, and temperature was set at room temperature $+2^{\circ}C$. Neither $CO_2$ nor temperature had a significant effect on survival of abalone, while both significantly affected growth. There was no significant interaction between the two factors. Shell length can be used as a growth index of abalone to access the impacts of ocean acidification and elevated temperature.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.85-90
• /
• 2005

Homeostatic pH is very important for various cellular processes, including metabolism, survival, and death. An imbalanced-pH might induce cellular acidosis, which is involved in many abnormal events such as apoptosis and malignancy. One of several factors contributing to the onset of metabolic acidosis is the production of lactate and protons by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in anaerobic glycolysis. LDH is an important enzyme that catalyzes the reversible conversion of pyruvate to lactate. This study sought to examine whether decreases in extracellular pH induce apoptosis of CHO cells, and to elucidate the role of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in acidification-induced apoptosis. To test apoptotic signaling by acidification we used CHO dhfr cells that were sensitive to acidification, and CHO/anti-LDH cells that are resistant to acidification-induced apoptosis and have reduced LDH activity by stable LDH antisense mRNA expression. In the present study, cellular lactic acid-induced acidification and the role of MAPKs signaling in acidification-induced apoptosis were investigated. Acidification, which is caused by $HCO{_3}^-$-free conditions, induced apoptosis and MAPKs (ERK, JNK, and p38) activation. However, MAPKs were slightly activated in acidic conditions in the CHO/anti-LDH cells, indicating that lactic acid-induced acidification induces activation of MAPKs. Treatment with a p38 inhibitor, PD169316, increased acidification-induced apoptosis but apoptosis was not affected by inhibitors for ERK (U0126) or JNK (SP600125). Thus, these data support the hypothesis that activation of the p38 MAPK during acidification-induced apoptosis contributes to cell survival.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.197-208
• /
• 1996

Endosomes lower their internal pH by an ATP-driven proton pump, which is critical to dissociation of many receptor-ligand complexes, the first step in the intracellular sorting of internalized receptors and ligands. Endosomes are known to exhibit n great range of pH values that can vary between 5.0 and 7.0 within a single cell although the factors that regulate endosomal pH remain uncertain. To evaluate the morphological and topological differences of endosomes in the different stages, confocal microscopy was used. The early endosomes labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran for 10 min at $37^{\circ}C$ were identifiable at the peripheral and tubule-vesicular endosome compartment. In contrast, the late endosomes formed by 10 min pulse and 20 min trace were located deeper in the cytoplasm and showed more vesicular features than early endosomes. For the purpose of determining whether ATP-dependent acidification was heterogeneous and whether the differences in acidification were attributed to differences in the activity of $Na^{+}-K^{+}$-ATPase and/or $Cl^{-}$ channel, endocytic compartments were fractionated into subpopulation using percoll gradient and measured ATP-dependent acidification. While all fractions exhibited ATP-dependent acidification activity, both the initial rate of acidification and extent of proton translocation were lower in early endosomes and gradually increased in late endosomes. Phosphorylation by PKA and ATP enhanced ATP-dependent acidification in both early and late endosomes, hut there was no difference in the degree of enhancement by phosphorylation between two subpopulations. When ATP-dependent acidification was determined in the presence or absence of vanadate ($Na_{3}VO_{4}$) or ouabain, only early endosomes exhibited the vanadate or ouabain dependent stimulation of acidification activity, suggesting the inhibition of $Na^{+}-K^{+}$-ATPase. Therefore, it seems probable that the inhibition of early endosome acidification by $Na^{+}-K^{+}$-ATPase observed in vitro at least in part plays a physiological role in controlling the acidification of early endosomes in vivo.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.1764-1782
• /
• 2015

The purpose of this study is to investigate the understanding on the acid-base, acid rain and soil acidification of the elementary students. The participants in the current study were 280 6th graders from a elementary school in Gyeongnam Province. A questionnaire consists of four categories: understanding of (a) acid-base basic knowledge, (b) acid rain and (c) soil acidification. (d) In addition, students were asked to comment about the introduction of the acid rain experiment in the science textbook. The results are as follows; First, the results regarding acid-base basic knowledge. They know the classification, characteristics, and properties of acid-based solutions well but they don't know the acid-base neutralization, examples using properties and application in real life. Second, the results regarding acid rain, students know the definition and damage of acid rain but they don't know the causing substances, emission source and way of solution of acid rain for lack of knowledge. Third, the results regarding soil acidification was the well-known part for the students because they had continued learning about the soil from the lesson of acid rain. Also, we looked into the difference in gender and region about the understanding of acid-base, acid rain and soil acidification. According to the gender of the data about the understanding of acid-base, acid rain and soil acidification, the percentage of correct answers of female was higher than male's. Also we expected that urban students were higher than rural students on the understanding of acid-base, acid rain and soil acidification, but the understanding of urban students were similar to rural students. Fourth, we got positive answers and negative answers to the introduction of acid rain experiment. Most of the positive opinion were I want to know a lot acid rain experiment", followed by "It is possible to prevent the risk of the damage and It seems to having fun and new order. Most of the negative opinion were Acid rain experiment may be difficult and complicated followed by Just a theory in the book is enough, Acid rain experiment were boring and not fun, Acid rain experiment is dangerous, There are many to study in this order.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.22-28
• /
• 2011

With the increasing cultivation of acid-loving plants such as blueberries, the artificial acidification of soils is frequently required. This research was conducted to determine the application rates of elemental sulfur (S) required in the soil acidification for blueberry cultivation. Laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to acidify three arable soils (pH 6-7) of different texture to pH 4.5-5.0 by the addition of varying amounts of elemental S. All rates of elemental S addition reduced soil pH, although the efficacy of acidification was related to the application rate and soil characteristics. pH reduction was slow in sandy loam soil, and the final equilibrium pH was obtained after 60, 43, and 30 days of incubation in sandy loam, loam, and silty clay, respectively. Although the final pHs obtained after 93 days of incubation were not significantly different among the three soils, the equilibrium pH was relatively higher in soil of higher clay content in the application rates of 1.5-2.0 g S $kg^{-1}$ soil. The estimated amounts of elemental S required in lowering pH to 4.5-5.0 were 0.59-1.01, 0.67-1.03, and 0.53-0.88 g S $kg^{-1}$ for sandy loam, loam, and silty clay, respectively. The lowest estimated amount of elemental S in the acidification of silty clay soil was attributable to the low organic matter content. For clay soils containing optimum level of organic matter, the application rates of elemental S should be much higher than those values estimated in this research. Soil acidification did not significantly increase the available concentrations of Ca, Mg and K. Extractable Cu and Zn was not greatly affected by the acidification, but extractable Fe, Mn, and Al in the acidified soils were higher than those found in non-acidified soils. Such increases in solubility are attributable to the dissolution of oxides and hydroxides of the elements.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.229-233
• /
• 2011

BACKGROUND: Soil acidification, which is known to be one of the reasons of forest decline, is associated with decreases in exchangeable Ca and increases in Al concentration, leading to low Ca/Al ratio in soil solution. As tree rings are datable archives of environmental changes, Ca/Al ratios of annual growth ring may show decreasing pattern in accordance with the progress of soil acidification. This study was conducted to investigate Ca/Al pattern of Pinus densiflora tree ring in an attempt to test its usefulness as an indicator of historical soil acidification. METHODS AND RESULTS: Three P. densiflora tree disks were collected from P. densiflora forests in Jeonnam province, and soil samples (0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm in depth) were also collected from the tree locations. Soils were analyzed for pH and exchangeable Ca and Al concentrations, and Ca/Al was calculated. Annual growth rings formed between 1969 and 2007 were separated and analyzed for Ca/Al. Soil Ca/Al was positively (P<0.01) correlated with soil pH, suggesting that soil acidification decreased Ca while increasing Al availability, lowering Ca/Al in soil solution. The Ca/Al of tree rings also showed a decreasing pattern from 18.2 to 5.5 during the period, and this seemed to reflect historical acidification of the soils. CONCLUSION(s): The relationship between soil pH and Ca/Al and the decreasing pattern of Ca/Al of tree ring suggest that Ca/Al of tree ring needs to be considered as a proxy of the progress of soil acidification in P. densiflora forest in southern Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.64-73
• /
• 2013

Because some particulate matter emission sources may inherently produce soluble species, or some soluble species may be produced during atmospheric transport, it is important to understand the origin of a particles's solubility when water-soluble tracers are used in source apportionment studies. Laboratory experiments were performed on three types of soils (Mongolia grassland, Mongolia desert, and Korean rural soils), to study the impact of acidification by nitric acid vapor on the solubility of metals in the soils. To achieve this goal, concentrations of water-soluble metals (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Mn, and Fe) in the soils measured before and after acidification. Contributions of concentrations of water-soluble metal species before and after acidification attack to their total concentrations varied little with soil type. Concentrations of water-soluble Mg, Al, K, Ca, Mn, and Fe from the soils after interaction with nitric acid vapor increased, with significant increases in soluble Ca and Mn for all soil types suggesting soil acidification enhances the amount of leachable metal species in soil dust. There was little increase in water-soluble Na and K after acidification for each soil type. This experiment demonstrates that quantities of water-soluble metal species in particulate matter are produced under high gaseous nitric acid conditions.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 1999

To find the latent effect of paper mill sludges (PMS) with and without alum, and alum paper mill sludge compost(PMSC) on aluminum toxicity of crops, the pH buffer capacity and the acidification resistance index (ARI) for PMSs and PMSC were investigated, comparing to upland soil. Buffer capacities of PMS with and without alum, and PMSC were significantly higher than $2.5cmol^+kg^{-1}$ of check soil as 137, 250, and $147cmol^+kg^{-1}$, respectively. Owing to such high buffer capacity of PMS and PMSC, they showed to be well-resisted to acidification.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.153-158
• /
• 2001

To investigate the effects of soil acidification on growth of Impatiens balsamina L. plants were transplanted to acidified soils with H$_2$SO$_4$ solution. The concentrations of soluble Ca, Mg, K, Al and Mn in the acidified soils increased with increment of H$^{+}$ addition to the soil. In both species, the plant height and root length were inhibited by soil acidification, showing much severer inhibition in Impatiens balsamina L. than in Tagetes patula L., As the soil pH decreases, the growth of underground parts decreased greatly than that of above ground parts in both species. Total dry weight decreased with increased Al concentration as well as lowered soil pH in both plants. There was a strong positive correlation between relative total dry weight and molar (Ca+Mg+K) / Al ratio of the soil. The results suggest that molar(Ca+Mg+K)/ Al ratio of the soil may be useful indicator for assessing the critical load of acid deposition in herb species.s.