• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.155-163
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• 2019

Mixture electrodes of a graphite having a good cycle performance and a silicon monoxide (SiO) having a high capacity are fabricated and their cycle performances are evaluated as negative electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. The electrode prepared by mixing the natural graphite and carbon-coated SiO in a mass ratio of 9:1 shows a reversible capacity of $480mAh\;g^{-1}$, 33% higher than that of graphite. However, the capacity deteriorates continuously upon cycling due to the volume change of silicon monoxide. In this study, the factors that can improve the cycle performance have been discussed through the change in the configurations of the electrode and the electrolyte. The electrode using the carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) binder shows the best cycle performance compared to the conventional binders. The electrode sing the CMC and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) binder not only has almost the similar cycle characteristics with the electrode using the CMC binder but also has the better rate capability. When the fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) is used as an electrolyte additive, the cycle life is improved. However, the electrolyte with 5 wt% of FEC is appropriate because the rate capability decreases when the content of FEC is increased to 10 wt%. In addition, when the mass loading of the electrode is lowered, the cycle performance is greatly improved. Also, enhanced cycle performance is achieved using the roughened Cu current collector polished by abrasive paper.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.74-83
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• 2022

The entire process, from the raw material to the final system qualification test, has been developed to fabricate a large-diameter, lightweight reflective-telescope system for a satellite observation. The telescope with 3 anastigmatic mirrors has an aperture of 700 mm and a total mass of 66 kg. We baked a silicon carbide substrate body from a carbon preform using a reaction sintering method, and tested the structural and chemical properties, surface conditions, and crystal structure of the body. We developed the polishing and coating methods considering the mechanical and chemical properties of the silicon carbide (SiC) body, and we utilized a chemical-vapor-deposition method to deposit a dense SiC thin film more than 170 ㎛ thick on the mirror's surface, to preserve a highly reflective surface with excellent optical performance. After we made the SiC mirrors, we measured the wave-front error for various optical fields by assembling and aligning three mirrors and support structures. We conducted major space-environment tests for the components and final assembly by temperature-cycling tests and vibration-shock tests, in accordance with the qualifications for the space and launch environment. We confirmed that the final telescope achieves all of the target performance criteria.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.112-122
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• 2023

To restore the ecological function of contaminated soil and maximize the ecological services provided by the soil, besides the toxicity orrisk caused by pollutants, the functional aspects of the soil ecosystem should be considered. In this study, a method for evaluating the health of cleaned soil was presented, and the applicability of the proposed evaluation method was examined by applying it to soil treated with washing and landfarming. Productivity, habitat, water retention capacity, nutrient cycling, carbon retention capacity, and buffering capacity were used as soil health evaluation indicators. The results showed that the soil health was not completely recovered after remediation, and even in the case of the washed soil, the health was lower than before remediation. On the other hand, there was no significant change in soil quality due to oil pollution, but soil health deteriorated. Unlike the slightly improved soil quality after landfarming treatment, soil health was not completely restored. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that it is desirable to consider both soil quality and health when evaluating the remediation effect. The soil health evaluation method proposed in this study can be usefully utilized for the sustainable use of cleaned soil and to promote ecosystem services.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.86-96
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• 2010

The oxygen utilization rate (OUR) is one of the crucial parameters for ocean carbon cycling and climate models. However, parameterization of OUR in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) is yet to be established. We estimated the basin-specific OURs in the East Sea and fitted them with exponential functions with depth by using pCFC- 12 age and apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) measured in summer 1999. The estimated OURs are higher in the upper water column and decrease with depth, in general. The vertical distributions of the estimated OURs in the Western and Eastern Japan Basins (WJB & EJB) are very similar. The OURs in the Ulleung Basin (UB) varied greatly depending on whether the surface layer (0~200 m) data are included in the OUR estimate or not. Apparently, weaker oxygen consumption occurs in the deep layer of Yamato Basin (YB). The ranges of the OURs between 200 m and 2000 m at WJB, EJB, UB, and YB are 8.15~0.83, 8.11~0.68, 5.29~0.73, and 7.31~0.06 ${\mu}mol$ $kg^{-1}$ $yr^{-1}$, respectively. Consideration of the wintertime surface water oxygen disequilibrium condition in estimating the OUR will be necessary in the future study.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.567-579
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• 2004

To investigate the spatial distribution and community structure of heterotrophic protists, we collected water samples at 23 stations of central Barents Sea in August, 2003. This study area was divided into three area with physico-chemical and chi-a distribution characteristics: Area I of warm Atlantic water mass, Area III of cold Arctic water mass and Area II of mixed water mass. Chl-a concentration ranged from 0.18 to $1.04{\mu}g\;l^{-1}$ and was highest in Area I. The nano-sized chi-a accounted fur more than 80% of the total chi-a biomass in this study area. The contribution of nano-sized chi-a to total chi-a was higher in Area I than in Area II. Communities of heterotrophic protists were classified into three groups such as heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF), ciliates and heterotrophic dinoflagellates (HDF). During the study periods, carbon biomass of heterotrophic protists range from 11.3 to $38.7{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$ (average $21.0{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$), and were highest in Area I and were lowest in Area III. The biomass of ciliates ranged from 4.2 to $19.3{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$ and contributed 31.5-66.9% (average 48.1%) to the biomass of heterotrophic protists. Ciliates to heterotrophic protists biomass accounted fur more than 50% in Area I. Heterotrophic dinoflagellates biomass ranged from 5.7 to $18.4{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$ and contributed 27.1 to 56.3% (average 42.8%) of heterotrophic protists. Heterotrophic dinoflakellates to heterotrophic protists biomass accounted fur about 50% in Area III. Heterotrophic nanoflageltate biomass ranged from 0.5 to $3.4{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$ and contributed 3.2 to 19.6% (average 9.2%) of heterotrophic protists. Heterotrophic nanoflagellates to heterotrophic protists biomass accounted fur more than 10% in Area III. These results indicate that the relative importance and structure of heterotrophic protists may vary according to water mass. Heterotrophic protists and phytoplankton biomass showed strong positive correlation in the study area The results suggest that heterotrophic protists are important consumers of phytoplankton, and protists might play a pivotal role in organic carbon cycling In the pelagic ecosystem of this study area during the study period.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 2010

The capacity of natural purification was limited by the interruption of natural flow and the problems such as eutrophication were occurred by nutritive salts accumulation in stagnant stream. Moreover, the inflow of non-point sources causes non-degradable materials to increase in stagnant stream. In this study, an upflow biological activated carbon (BAC) biofilm process comprised of anoxic, aerobic 1, and aerobic 2 reactors were introduced for treatment of stagnant stream and SS, $BOD_5$, $COD_{Mn}$, $COD_{Cr}$, TN, and TP were monitored in the upflow BAC biofilm reactors with continuous cycling. In order to simulate stagnant stream, the lake water of amusement park and golf course were stored as influent in a tank of $2m^3$ and hydraulic retention time (HRT) was changed into 6, 4, and 2 hours. At HRT 4hr and the lake water of amusement park as influent, the removal efficiencies of SS, $BOD_5$, $COD_{Mn}$, $COD_{Cr}$, TN, and TP showed the best water quality improvement and were 69.8, 83.0, 91.3, 74.1, 74.7, and 88.9%, respectively. At HRT 4hr and the lake water of golf course as influent, the removal efficiencies of SS, $BOD_5$, $COD_{Mn}$, $COD_{Cr}$, TN and TP were 78.5, 78.0, 80.2, 74.9, 55.6 and 97.5%, respectively. As the results of polymerase chain reaction - denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE), microbial community was different depending on influent type. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) showed that nitrifying bacteria was dominant at HRT 4 hr. The biomass amount and microbial activities by INT-DHA test were not decrease even at lower HRT condition. In this study, the upflow BAC biofilm process would be considered to the water quality improvement of stagnant stream.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_3
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• pp.1009-1029
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• 2023

Urban trees play a vital role in urban ecosystems,significantly reducing impervious surfaces and impacting carbon cycling within the city. Although previous research has demonstrated the efficacy of employing artificial intelligence in conjunction with airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to generate urban tree information, the availability and cost constraints associated with LiDAR data pose limitations. Consequently, this study employed freely accessible, high-resolution multispectral satellite imagery (i.e., Sentinel-2 data) to estimate fractional tree canopy cover (FTC) within the urban confines of Suwon, South Korea, employing machine learning techniques. This study leveraged a median composite image derived from a time series of Sentinel-2 images. In order to account for the diverse land cover found in urban areas, the model incorporated three types of input variables: average (mean) and standard deviation (std) values within a 30-meter grid from 10 m resolution of optical indices from Sentinel-2, and fractional coverage for distinct land cover classes within 30 m grids from the existing level 3 land cover map. Four schemes with different combinations of input variables were compared. Notably, when all three factors (i.e., mean, std, and fractional cover) were used to consider the variation of landcover in urban areas(Scheme 4, S4), the machine learning model exhibited improved performance compared to using only the mean of optical indices (Scheme 1). Of the various models proposed, the random forest (RF) model with S4 demonstrated the most remarkable performance, achieving R² of 0.8196, and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.0749, and a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.1022. The std variable exhibited the highest impact on model outputs within the heterogeneous land covers based on the variable importance analysis. This trained RF model with S4 was then applied to the entire Suwon region, consistently delivering robust results with an R² of 0.8702, MAE of 0.0873, and RMSE of 0.1335. The FTC estimation method developed in this study is expected to offer advantages for application in various regions, providing fundamental data for a better understanding of carbon dynamics in urban ecosystems in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1353-1357
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• 2010

Quantification of the ecosystem respiration is essential in understanding the carbon cycling of natural and disturbed landscapes. Soil respiration and some environmental factors which affect soil respiration were investigated in a Larix leptolepis plantation inKongju, Korea. Soil respiration was measured at midday of the $15^{th}$ and $30^{th}$ day of every month from May to December in a non-cutting area (Control) and a cutting area (Treatment) with IRGA Soil Respiration Analyzer. Throughout the study period, average soil temperature and water content were $23.3{\pm}0.5^{\circ}C$ and $27.76{\pm}7.12%$ for control, and $25.9{\pm}3.1^{\circ}C$ and $24.55{\pm}5.12%$ for treatment, respectively. There was a positive correlation ($R^2$=0.8905) between soil respiration and soil temperature in the study area. However, there was no significant correlation between soil respiration and soil moisture ($R^2$=0.4437). The seasonal soil respiration increased in the summer and decreased in the winter. In August, maximum soil respirations in the control and treatment areas were $0.82{\pm}0.13$ and $1.32{\pm}0.10$ $gCO_2{\cdot}^{-2}{\cdot}r^{-1}$, respectively. Total amounts of $CO_2$ evolution in the control and treatment areas from May to December in 2008 were 2,419.2 and 3,610.8 $CO_2g{\cdot}m^{-2}$, respectively. The amount of soil respiration in the treatment area was 49.3% greater than in the control. Increased soil respiration in the treatment area may be due to increased soil temperature, which drives increased microbial decomposition. According to our present investigation, forest cutting will increase the atmospheric $CO_2$ by increasing soil respiration.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.97-107
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• 2015

Wetlands constitute a transitional zone between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and have unique characteristics such as frequent inundation, inflow of nutrients from terrestrial ecosystems, presence of plants adapted to grow in water, and soil that is occasionally oxygen deficient due to saturation. These characteristics and the presence of vegetation determine physical and chemical properties that affect decomposition rates of organic matter (OM). Decomposition of OM is associated with activities of various extracellular enzymes (EE) produced by bacteria and fungi. Extracellular enzymes convert macromolecules to simple compounds such as labile organic carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S) that can be easily taken up by microbes and plants. Therefore, the enzymatic approach is helpful to understand the decomposition rates of OM and nutrient cycling in wetland soils. This paper reviews the physical and biogeochemical factors that regulate extracellular enzyme activities (EEa) in wetland soils, including those of ${\beta}$-glucosidase, ${\beta}$-N-acetylglucosaminidase, phosphatase, arylsulfatase, and phenol oxidase that decompose organic matter and release C, N, P, and S nutrients for microbial and plant growths. Effects of pH, water table, and particle size of OM on EEa were not significantly different among sites, whereas the influence of temperature on EEa varied depending on microbial acclimation to extreme temperatures. Addition of C, N, or P affected EEa differently depending on the nutrient state, C:N ratio, limiting factors, and types of enzymes of wetland soils. Substrate quality influenced EEa more significantly than did other factors. Also, drainage of wetland and increased temperature due to global climate change can stimulate phenol oxidase activity, and anthropogenic N deposition can enhance the hydrolytic EEa; these effects increase OM decomposition rates and emissions of $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ from wetland systems. The researches on the relationship between microbial structures and EE functions, and environmental factors controlling EEa can be helpful to manipulate wetland ecosystems for treating pollutants and to monitor wetland ecosystem services.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.102 no.2
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• pp.210-215
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• 2013

Litterfall production represents a major contribution of carbon and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. This study was carried out to determine the litterfall production in a broadleaved deciduous forest at the Mt. Keumsan Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, Southern Korea. Littefall was collected monthly or bimonthly from the site for 7 years from 2004 to2010. Leaf and reproductive (catkins) litters showed a seasonal variation, but litters of needle, branch, and barks were not changed across the seasons. Annual leaf litter of Quercus serrata and Carpinus laxiflora were significantly different (p<0.05) but that of C. cordata, Chamaecyparis obtusa, and Pinus thunbergii was not significantly changed for 7 years (p>0.05). Annual average litterfall production was 5,223 kg/ha, but annual variations were very large with minimum of 4,110 kg/ha/yr in 2004 and maximum of 6,002 kg/ha/yr in 2007. Total litterfall comprised of 2,323 kg/ha/yr in Q. serrata, 442 kg/ha/yr in C. laxiflora, 157 kg/ha/yr in C. cordata, 131 kg/ha/yr in Acer pseudosieboldianum, 390 kg/ha/yr in other deciduous tree species, 74 kg/ha/yr in P. thunbergii, 37 kg/ha/yr in C. obtusa, 672 kg/ha/yr in branches, 515 kg/ha/yr in miscellaneous, 448 kg/ha/yr in reproductive parts, and 54 kg/ha/yr in barks. respectively. The results indicate that litterfall production of the Mt. Keumsan LTER site was yearly fructurated with the positive linear relationship between leaf or total litterfall and annual mean temperature if no disturbance such as a typoon, and was lower than that of other Korean LTER sites.