• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.131-141
• /
• 2021

The present study is following a series of research investigations on design resources coming from collected data referring to users' awareness and preferences. The aim of this research is to test the Healthcare Environmental Color Index as a basis for practitioners in the field of healthcare design. An array of color samples selected from previous research, have been presented to the respondents via an online survey, in order to identify the preferences of the two groups on the relation between environmental color and health. As a result of the first experiment and through the comparison of processed data, the maximum percentage of respondents from each group is validating the relation between environmental color and health. For the second experiment we intend to highlight the patterns of color preferences for each group, and thus to test the color samples healing function. The compared data also showed a higher awareness of Koreans than Romanians on the potential of color applied to healing environment. Last but not least in the third experiment we show the top five color samples preferred by each group. It is significant that the comparison of the results validated once more some of our previous findings related to the healthcare environment, such as: the general preference for the green hue (associated to fatigue relax according to color psychology) and the blue hue (sedation release effect) but also the yellow hue - associated to bright energy. Three out of the top five preferred color samples have been identical to both groups while the other two samples have shown characteristic variations. These results show that similarities are strong and can be used in a glocal design strategy as an accessible tool for any practitioner. Based on the Healthcare Environmental Color Index and users' preferences analysis, a new design culture for healthcare can be established and developed.

• Advances in Energy Research
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.75-90
• /
• 2019

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are rising rapidly despite efforts to curb release of such gases. One long term potential solution to offset these destructive emissions is the capture and storage of carbon dioxide. Partially depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs are attractive targets for permanent carbon dioxide disposal due to proven storage capacity and seal integrity, existing infrastructure. Optimum well completion design in depleted reservoirs requires understanding of prominent geomechanics issues with regard to rock-fluid interaction effects. Geomechanics plays a crucial role in the selection, design and operation of a storage facility and can improve the engineering performance, maintain safety and minimize environmental impact. In this paper, an integrated geomechanics workflow to evaluate reservoir caprock integrity is presented. This method integrates a reservoir simulation that typically computes variation in the reservoir pressure and temperature with geomechanical simulation which calculates variation in stresses. Coupling between these simulation modules is performed iteratively which in each simulation cycle, time dependent reservoir pressure and temperature obtained from three dimensional compositional reservoir models in ECLIPSE were transferred into finite element reservoir geomechanical models in ABAQUS and new porosity and permeability are obtained using volumetric strains for the next analysis step. Finally, efficiency of this approach is demonstrated through a case study of oil production and subsequent carbon storage in an oil reservoir. The methodology and overall workflow presented in this paper are expected to assist engineers with geomechanical assessments for reservoir optimum production and gas injection design for both natural gas and carbon dioxide storage in depleted reservoirs.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.154-162
• /
• 2020

Background: Several studies have reported that wild mushrooms contain high amounts of radioactive cesium (137Cs). After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident, a significantly high concentration of 137Cs has been detected in wild mushrooms, and their consumption may be the cause of the chronic internal exposure of local consumers to radioactivity. Therefore, an accurate evaluation of the internal radioactivity resulting from mushroom ingestion is needed. Materials and Methods: The 137Cs elution rate through the cooking and digestion stages was evaluated using in vitro experiments. The edible mushroom Pleurotus djamor was taken as a sample for the experiments. The mushrooms were cultivated onto solid media containing 137Cs. We evaluated the internal dose based on the actual conditions using the elution rate data. For various cooking methods, the results were compared with those of other wild edible mushrooms. Results and Discussion: From the elution experiment through cooking, we proved that 25%-55% of the 137Cs in the mushrooms was released during soaking, boiling, or frying. The results of a simulated digestion experiment after cooking revealed that almost all the 137Cs in the ingested mushrooms eluted in the digestive juice, regardless of the cooking method. The committed effective dose was reduced by 20%-75% when considering the dissolution through the cooking process. Conclusion: We found that cooking lowers 137Cs concentration in mushrooms, therefore reducing the amount of radioactivity intake. Besides, since there were differences between mushroom types, we demonstrated that the internal exposure dose should be evaluated in detail considering the release of 137Cs during the cooking stages.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.143-156
• /
• 2021

This study investigates the impacts of land cover change due to urbanization on the Urban Heat Island Intensity (UHII) and the Heat Index (HI) over the Seoul metropolitan area using the Unified Model (UM) with the Met Office Reading Urban Surface Exchange Scheme (MORUSES) during the heat wave from 16, July to 5, August 2018. Two simulations are performed with the late 1980s land-use (EXP1980) and the late 2000s land-use (EXP2000). EXP2000 is verified using Automatic Weather Station (AWS) data from 85 points in the study area, and observation sites are classified into two categories according to the urban fraction change over 20 years; Category A is 0.2 or less increase, and Category B is 0.2 or more increase. The 1.5-m temperature and relative humidity in Category B increase by up to 1.1℃ and decreased by 7% at 1900 LST and 2000 LST, respectively. This means that the effect of the urban fraction changes is higher at night. UHII increases by up to 0.3℃ in Category A and 1.3℃ in Category B at 1900 LST. Analysis of the surface energy balance shows that the heat store for a short time during the daytime and release at nighttime with upward sensible heat flux. As a result of the HI, there is no significant difference between the two experiments during the daytime, but it increases 1.6℃ in category B during the nighttime (2200 LST). The results indicate that the urbanization increase both UHII, and HI, but the times of maximum difference between EXP1980 and EXP2000 are different.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.257-263
• /
• 2021

Composite materials have been widely applied for fabricating pressure vessels used for storing gaseous and liquid fuel because of their high specific stiffness and specific strength. Accordingly, the accurate measurement of their mechanical property, particularly the burst pressure or fracture strain, is essential prior to the commercial release. However, verification of the safety of composite pressure vessels using conventional test methods poses some limitations because it may lead to the deformation of the load transferring media or provoke an additional energy loss that cannot be ignored. Therefore, in this study, the segment-type ring burst test device was designed considering the theoretical load transferring ratio and applicable displacement of the vertical column. Moreover, to verifying the uniform distribution of pressure of the segment type ring burst test device, the hoop stress and strain distribution of ring specimens were compared with that of the hydraulic pressure test method via FEM. To conduct a simulation of the fracture behavior of the composite pressure vessel, a Hashin failure criterion was applied to the ring specimen. Furthermore, the fracture strain was also measured from the experiment and compared with that of the result from the FEM.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2021

Air-water interfacial area is of great importance for the analysis of contaminant mass transfer processes occurring in the soil systems. Capillary bundle model has been proposed to estimate the specific air-water interfacial areas in unsaturated soils. In this study, the measured air-water interfacial areas of a soil (loam) using the gaseous interfacial tracer technique were compared to those from capillary bundle model. The measured values converged to the specific solid surface area (7.6×104 ㎠/㎤) of the soil. However, the simulated air-water interfacial areas based on the capillary bundle model deviated significantly from those measured. The simulated values were substantially over-estimated at low end of the water content range, whereas the model under-estimated the air-water interfacial area for the most of the water content range. This under-estimation is considered to be caused by the nature of the capillary bundle model that replaces the soil pores with a bundle of glass capillaries and thus no surface roughness at the inner surface of the capillaries is taken into account for the estimation of the air-water interfacial area with the capillary bundle model. Subsequently, appropriate correction is necessary for the capillary bundle model to estimate the air-water interfacial area in soils. Since the soil-moisture release curve data is the basis of the capillary bundle model, the model can be of use due to its simplicity, while the gaseous tracer technique requires complicated experimental equipment followed by moment analysis of the breakthrough curves. The size distribution profile of the pores filled with gas estimated by the water retention curve was found to be similar to that of particle size at different size range. The shifted distribution of gas-filled pores toward smaller size side compared to the particle size distribution was also found.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.520-530
• /
• 2021

Multivariate statistical analysis and an environmental hydrological model were applied for investigating the causes of water pollution and providing best management practices for water quality improvement in urban and agricultural watersheds. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) for water quality time series data show that chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), suspended solids (SS) and total phosphorus (T-P) are classified as non-point source pollutants that are highly correlated with river discharge. Total nitrogen (T-N), which has no correlation with river discharge and inverse relationship with water temperature, behaves like a point source with slow and consistent release. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) shows intermediate characteristics between point and non-point source pollutants. The results of the PCA and CA for the spatial water quality data indicate that the cluster 1 of the watersheds was characterized as upstream watersheds with good water quality and high proportion of forest. The cluster 3 shows however indicates the most polluted watersheds with substantial discharge of BOD and nutrients from urban sewage, agricultural and industrial activities. The cluster 2 shows intermediate characteristics between the clusters 1 and 3. The results of hydrological simulation program-Fortran (HSPF) model simulation indicated that the seasonal patterns of BOD, T-N and T-P are affected substantially by agricultural and livestock farming activities, untreated wastewater, and environmental flow. The spatial analysis on the model results indicates that the highly-populated watersheds are the prior contributors to the water quality degradation of the river.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.10
• /
• pp.3631-3640
• /
• 2022

Uranium mill tailing ponds (UMTPs) are risk source of debris flow and a critical source of environmental U and Rn pollution. The technology of microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) has been extensively studied on reinforcement of UMTs, while little attention has been paid to the effects of MICP on U & Rn release, especially when incorporation of metakaolin and bacillus subtilis (MBS). In this study, the reinforcement and U & Rn immobilization role of MBS -MICP solidification in different grouting cycle for uranium mill tailings (UMTs) was comprehensively investigated. The results showed that under the action of about 166.7 g/L metakaolin and ~50% bacillus subtilis, the solidification cycle of MICP was shortened by 50%, the solidified bodies became brittle, and the axial stress increased by up to 7.9%, and U immobilization rates and Rn exhalation rates decrease by 12.6% and 0.8%, respectively. Therefore, the incorporation of MBS can enhance the triaxial compressive strength and improve the immobilization capacity of U and Rn of the UMTs bodies solidified during MICP, due to the reduction of pore volume and surface area, the formation of more crystals general gypsum and gismondine, as well as the enhancing of coprecipitation and encapsulation capacity.

• Journal of Naturopathy
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.33-36
• /
• 2020

Purpose: For the health of pet dogs and to reduce harm to humans, we investigated the preference of pet dogs on cushions made from functional ocher textile, which is known to be beneficial to human health. Methods: The preference of 12 small dogs between cushions made using functional ocher textile and normal yellow colored fabrics was observed. Results: The observation study showed 83.3% preference on cushions made from functional ocher textile where dogs rested or slept mostly. The biting behavior was improved by 83.3%. After using the functional cushions, four dogs with eye disease, one with eczema, and two with allergy showed improvements while others showed no improvement. After the experience, 50% of dogs became quieter. 87.5% of dogs showed more mild temperament. Conclusions: The functional ocher cushions showed preferences by dogs as well as brought positive improvements with the temperament and health conditions. This study proves to be a valuable fundamental research in this field of functional ocher cushions.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.434-444
• /
• 2022

Corrosion inhibitors based on Zn-Al hydrotalcites containing benzoate (ZnAlHB) with different molar ratios of Zn/Al were prepared with a co-precipitation process. Compositions and structures of the resulting hydrotalcites were studied with suitable spectroscopic methods such as inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and surface zeta potential measurements, respectively. Results of physico-chemical studies showed that crystallite sizes, compositions of products, and surface electrical properties were significantly changed when the molar ratio of Zn/Al was increased. The release of benzoate from hydrotalcites also differed slightly among samples. Anticorrosion abilities of hydrotalcites intercalated with benzoate at a concentration of 3 g/L on carbon steel were analyzed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), polarization curve, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and SEM. Corrosion inhibition abilities of benzoate modified hydrotalcites in 0.1 M NaCl showed an upward trend with increasing Zn/Al ratio. The reason for the dependence of corrosion resistance on the Zn/Al ratio was discussed, including changes in the microstructure of hydrotalcites such as crystal size, density, uniformity, and formation of ZnO.