• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.966-975
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• 2017

Excessive salt disrupts intracellular ion homeostasis and inhibits plant growth, which poses a serious threat to global food security. Plants have adapted various strategies to survive in unfavorable saline soil conditions. Here, we show that humic acid (HA) is a good soil amendment that can be used to help overcome salinity stress because it markedly reduces the adverse effects of salinity on Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. To identify the molecular mechanisms of HA-induced salt stress tolerance in Arabidopsis, we examined possible roles of a sodium influx transporter HIGH-AFFINITY $K^+$ TRANSPORTER 1 (HKT1). Salt-induced root growth inhibition in HKT1 overexpressor transgenic plants (HKT1-OX) was rescued by application of HA, but not in wild-type and other plants. Moreover, salt-induced degradation of HKT1 protein was blocked by HA treatment. In addition, the application of HA to HKT1-OX seedlings led to increased distribution of $Na^+$ in roots up to the elongation zone and caused the reabsorption of $Na^+$ by xylem and parenchyma cells. Both the influx of the secondary messenger calcium and its cytosolic release appear to function in the destabilization of HKT1 protein under salt stress. Taken together, these results suggest that HA could be applied to the field to enhance plant growth and salt stress tolerance via post-transcriptional control of the HKT1 transporter gene under saline conditions.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.407-414
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• 2013

One of the most important challenges facing the Spirulina mass cultivation industry is to find a way to reduce the high production costs involved in production. Although the most commercial medium (Zarrouk's medium) for Spirulina cultivation is too expensive to use, it contains higher amount of $NaHCO_3$ (16.80 g $L^{-1}$), trace metals and vitamin solutions. The purpose of this study was to increase the efficiency of Spirulina platensis biomass production by developing a low-cost culture medium at an isolated tropical island such as Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). This study set out to formulate a lowcost medium for the culture of S. platensis, by substituting nutrients of Zarrouk's medium using fertilizer- grade urea and soil extract with a different concentration of carbon source under natural weather condition. In order to select a low-cost culture medium of S. platensis, 10 culture media were prepared with different concentrations of nitrogen (urea and $NaNO_3$) and $NaHCO_3$. The highest maximum specific growth rate (${\mu}max$) and mass production were 0.50 $day^{-1}$ and 1.05 g $L^{-1}$ in modified medium ($NaHCO_3$ 7.50 g $L^{-1}$, urea 2.00 g $L^{-1}$ without $NaNO_3$) among all the synthesized media. Protein (56.14%) and carbohydrate (16.21%) concentrations of the lyophilized standard samples were estimated with highest concentration of glutamic acid (14.93%). This study revealed that the use of a low concentration of urea and $NaHCO_3$ with soil extract was an affordable medium for natural mass cultivation in the FSM.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1619-1629
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• 2013

It turned out that there was a direct or an indirect relationship among global warming, urban heat island effects, urban and traffic environments, and public's health. In particular, unusual climate phenomena such as frequent heavy rainfall and scorching heat in a row that had rarely happened before have a negative effect on quality of life for people living in urban areas. This study focuses on the effects of roadway geometric design and traffic conditions on air temperature of roadside in Seoul Metropolitan Areas, controlling of roadway micro-climate environment. Five roadway segments containing different roadway and traffic conditions in terms of traffic median with trees, street trees, traffic volume and average travel speeds were surveyed. According to statistical results(t-test) from three roadway air temperature regression model estimations, air temperature is found to be different from one another in three periods-morning, afternoon and evening. Regarding roadway geometric design, air temperature of urban roads with vegetated median strips is lower about 1.3~2.2 degrees in celcius. Higher traffic volumes per lane and lower average travel speeds will tend to increase roadside air temperature, and efficient traffic operation policies can protect from increasing roadside air temperature in urban areas.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7653-7664
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• 2014

Background: Colorectal ranked first among cancers reported in males and ranked second amongst females in Jordan, accounting for 12.7% and 10.5% of cancers in males and females, respectively. Colorectal cancer patients can suffer several consequences after treatment that include pain and fatigue, constipation, stoma complications, sexual problems, appearance and body-image concerns as well as psychological dysfunction. There is no published quantitative data on the health-related quality of life and psychological wellbeing of Jordanian colorectal cancer survivors. Method: This project was a cross-sectional study of colorectal cancer survivors diagnosed in 2009 and 2010. Assessment was performed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), the colorectal cancer specific module (EORTC QLQ-CR 29) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Data on potential predictors of scores were also collected. Results: A total of 241 subjects completed the study with mean age of $56.7{\pm}13.6$. Males represented 52.3% of study participants. A majority of participants reported good to high overall health; the mean Global health score was $79.74{\pm}23.31$ with only 6.64% of study participants scoring less than 33.3%. The striking result in this study was that none of the study participants participated in a psychosocial support group; only 4 of them (1.7%) were even offered such support. The mean scores for HADS, depression score, and anxiety score were $8.25{\pm}9$, $4.35{\pm}4.9$ and $3.9{\pm}4.6$, respectively. However, 77.1% of study participants were within the normal category for the depression score and 81.7% were within this category for anxiety score; 5.4% of participants had severe anxiety and 5.4% of them had severe depression. Discussion: Patients with colorectal cancer in Jordan have a good quality of life and psychological wellbeing scores when compared with patients from western countries. None of the colorectal cancer patients managed at the Ministry of Health received any formal counselling, or participated in psychological or social support programmes. This highlights the urgent need for a psychosocial support programme, psychological screening and consultations for patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer at the Ministry of Health Hospitals.

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2014

Recently, ICT environments have been increasingly developed and the pattern of the war also has been changed to NCW. The development of communication and network technology, for example, C4I and TDL(Tactical Data Link), has been prosperous and rapid. But the geospatial intelligence field which is the basis of the network frames relatively has not been developed. The purpose of this paper is to foster the geospatial governance in terms of the defense perspective. In order to do that, this paper deals with the U.S. Intelligence Community(IC) and the U.S. Army Global Information Grid(GIG), LandWarNet and those could be good examples of roles and statuses of geospatial intelligence. IC has been produced essential intelligence which is required for policymakers and military leaders. IC has several stove-piped intelligence process systems which have been separately developed and competed. And so as to complete GIG, the U.S. Army adopted LandWarNet. The U.S. Corps of Engineers organized the Army Geospatial Center(AGC) on 1 October 2009 to support LandWarNet. In order to develop NCW, we should recognize geospatial intelligence as the basis of network framework and make a central leading organization of defense geospatial intelligence. The mission of Korea Defense Geospatial-Intelligence Agency should be changed from producing GEOINT to a strategic GEOINT agency. The Army should organize a laboratory of geospatial intelligence field. The mission of producing GEOINT should be transferred to a geospatial intelligence battalion which is newly organized.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.4 s.96
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• pp.261-266
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• 2001

Effects of elevated carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) on soil microbial processes were studied in a northern peatland. Intact peat cores with surface vegetation were collected from a northern Welsh fen, and incubated either under elevated carbon dioxide (700 ppm) or ambient carbon dioxide (350 ppm) conditions for 4 months. Higher algal biomass was found under the elevated $CO_2$ condition, suggesting $CO_2$ fertilization effect on primary production, At the end of the incubation, trace gas production and consumption were analyzed using chemical inhibitors. For methane ($CH_4$ ), methyl fluoride ($CH_3F$) was applied to determine methane oxidation rates, while acetylene ($C_2H_2$) blocking method were applied to determine nitrification and denitrification rates. First, we have adopted those methods to optimize the reaction conditions for the wetland samples. Secondly, the methods were applied to the samples incubated under two levels of $CO_2$. The results exhibited that elevated carbon dioxide increased both methane production (210 vs. $100\;ng\;CH_4 g^{-1}\;hr^{-1}$) and oxidation (128 vs. $15\;ng\;CH_4 g^{-1}\;hr^{-1}$), resulting in no net increase in methane flux. For nitrous oxide ($N_2O$) , elevated carbon dioxide enhanced nitrous oxide emission probably from activation of nitrification process rather than denitrification rates. All of these changes seemed to be substantially influenced by higher oxygen diffusion from enhanced algal productivity under elevated $CO_2$.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2016

Currently, there are 442 operating nuclear power plants in the world, and 62 more are under construction. According to this reasoning, the treatment of radioactive waste is important to prevent the environmental ecosystem including humans, animals, and plants. Especially, a leakage of radioactive waste causes not only regional problem but also serious global one. In this study, we demonstrate the effect of radioisotopes (e.g., cesium, strontium, and cobalt) on a 3D culture cell. To develop the 3D cell culture system, we used a 96-well-culture plate with biocompatible agarose hydrogel. Using this method, we can perform the 3D cell culture system with three different cell lines such as HeLa, HepG2, and COS-7. In addition, we conducted a cell viability test in the presence of radioisotopes. Interestingly, the 3D morphological cells showed 42% higher cell viability than those on the 2D against cesium. This result indicates that the 3D platform provides cells morphological and physiological characteristic similar to in vivo grown tissues. Moreover, it overcomes the limitation of conventional cell culture system that can't reflect in vivo systems. Finally, we believe that the proposed approach can be applied a new strategy for simple high-throughput screening and accurate evaluation of metal toxicity assay.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.132-135
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• 2009

Development of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel for commercial uses is a recent phenomenon. However, the growth of ethanol and biodiesel has been impressive during the period 2000-2007yr. Globally, production of biodiesel stands around 8.3 billion liters. Europe leads the world in biodiesel production with 80% share of the global biodiesel production total. Today biodiesel fuels have been in commercial use in many countries and recently the world-wide biodiesel market has experienced considerable growth, which is partly due to various tax concession programs and other financial incentives. In Korea, biodiesel has already been used for transportation fuel, but not used for power generation fuel yet. Korean government has a strategy for renewable energy propagation, especially the goal of power generation amount by renewable energy is 3% of total power production by 2012. This paper focuses on the estimation study for effect of using biodiesel as power generation fuel. The study also has the plan to replace the fuel of thermal power plant, gas turbine and distributed power generation system. As the increase of biodiesel fuel, I look forward to environment-friendly power generation and the strategy of Renewable Portfolio Standards(RPS).

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.44-52
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• 2002

Low temperature thermal desorption (LTTD) has become one of the cornerstone technologies used for the treatment of contaminated soils and sediments in the United States. LTTD technology was first used in the mid-1980s for soil treatment on sites managed under the Comprehensive Environmental Respones, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or Superfund. Implementation was facilitated by CERCLA regulations that require only that spplicable regulations shall be met thus avoiding the need for protracted and expensive permit applications for thermal treatment equipment. The initial equipment designs used typically came from technology transfer sources. Asphalt manufacturing plants were converted to direct-fired LTTD systems, and conventional calciners were adapted for use as indirect-fired LTTD systems. Other innovative designs included hot sand recycle technology (initially developed for synfuels production from tar sand and oil shale), recycle sweep gas, travelling belts and batch-charged vacuum chambers, among others. These systems were used to treat soil contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxin with varying degrees of success. Ultimately, performance and cost considerations established the suite of systems that are used for LTTD soil treatment applications today. This paper briefly reviews the develpoment of LTTD systems and summarizes the design, performance and cost characteristics of the equipment in use today. Designs reviewed include continuous feed direct-fired and indirect-fired equipment, batch feed systems and in-situ equipment. Performance is compared in terms of before-and-after contaminant levels in the soil and permissible emissions levels in the stack gas vented to the atmosphere. The review of air emissions standards includes a review of regulations in the U.S. and the European Union (EU). Key cost centers for the mobilization and operation of LTTD equipment are identified and compared for the different types of LTTD systems in use today. A work chart is provided for the selection of the optmum LTTD system for site-specific applications. LTTD technology continues to be a cornerstone technology for soil treatment in the U.S. and elsewhere. Examples of leading-edge LTTD technologies developed in the U.S. that are now being delivered locally in global projects are described.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.89-102
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• 1996

An integrated model is presented to describe underground flow and mass transport, using a multicomponent multiphase approach. The comprehensive governing equation is derived considering mass and force balances of chemical species over four phases(water, oil, air, and soil) in a schematic elementary volume. Compact and systemati notations of relevant variables and equations are introduced to facilitate the inclusion of complex migration and transformation processes, and variable spatial dimensions. The resulting nonlinear system is solved by a multidimensional finite element code. The developed code with dynamic array allocation, is sufficiently flexible to work across a wide spectrum of computers, including an IBM ES 9000/900 vector facility, SP2 cluster machine, Unix workstations and PCs, for one-, two and three-dimensional problems. To reduce the computation time and storage requirements, the system equations are decoupled and solved using a banded global matrix solver, with the vector and parallel processing on the IBM 9000. To avoide the numerical oscillations of the nonlinear problems in the case of convective dominant transport, the techniques of upstream weighting, mass lumping, and elementary-wise parameter evaluation are applied. The instability and convergence criteria of the nonlinear problems are studied for the one-dimensional analogue of FEM and FDM. Modeling capacity is presented in the simulation of three dimensional composite multiphase TCE migration. Comprehesive simulation feature of the code is presented in a companion paper of this issue for the specific groundwater or flow and contamination problems.