• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.249-256
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• 2013

The aim of the study was to reveal the scope and benefits derives from establishing carbon forests in a country like Bangladesh. Carbon forestry is the modernized forestry practice that evolves no cutting of trees or vegetation rather conserves them in the wood. Trees might be the source of carbon sink at large scale by establishing carbon forests. To find out how and in what extent forests of Bangladesh could contribute to global emission reduction, tree species of economic importance were taken into account about their carbon sequestration potential. Data source was a secondary one. Bangladesh has subtropical evergreen and deciduous forest tree species. Here trees can sequester almost 45-55 percent organic carbon in their biomass. On an average, trees in different types of stands can sequester 150-300 tC/ha. Carbon value of these forests might be 7,500-15,000 USD per hactre (assuming 50 USD per equivalent $tCO_2$). Thus, accounting tree carbon credits of total forested lands of Bangladesh, there might be a lump sum value of $1.89{\times}10^{10}-3.79{\times}10^{10}$ USD. If soil carbon is added, this amount would jump. Alternatively, there are two times higher spaces as marginal lands than this for starting carbon forestry. However, carbon forestry concept is still a theoretical conception unless otherwise their challenges are addressed and solved. Despite of this, forests of Bangladesh might be the key showcase for conserving biodiversity in association with carbon capture. Protected areas in Bangladesh are of government wealth, however, degraded and denuded waste and marginal lands might be the best fit for establishing carbon forests.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2002

The channel improvement plan has contributed to the flood damage reduction studies and the plan has mainly performed by the levee construction which creates the cut river. The cut river has mainly used as the agricultural and housing purposes. Recently, however, it is considered as a natural wetland for the purposes of a flood control and preservation of nature. So, this study compares the economical benefits according to the purposes of the cut river utilizations such as an agricultural, levee construction for flood damage reduction, and wetland. The study area is the downstream part of Kok-Neung stream which is a main tributary of Han river. The agricultural and levee construction benefits are estimated based on the 'Agricultural and Forestry Statistical Year' (2000) and the 'Standard for River Design' (2001). The benefit or value for the wetland utilization of the cut river is estimated by the enquete using questionnaire. As a results, for the case of which the cut river is used as an agricultural land, the present net benefit is estimated as 195.81 million won, for the levee construction, as 20853.00 million won and for the wetland, as 24692.89 million won. Therefore, the wetland is the best choice for the cut river utilization.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.619-644
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to estimate the economic benefit of improving ground water quality in Jeju Island, where groundwater pollution has recently become a social issue and various water quality improvement projects are being promoted. By applying the contingent valuation method, an online survey was conducted on Jeju Island residents to analyze the response data of 542 respondents and estimate the mean willingness to pay using 16 models. The estimation of the double-bounded dichotomous choice model confirmed that each household was willing to pay 28,008 won per year, with the willingness to pay estimated at a minimum of 17,762 won and a maximum of 37,416 won based on different models. The total annual benefit for Jeju Island's ground water quality improvement was estimated to be about 8.66 billion won , and socioeconomic factors influencing willingness-to-pay were investigated. This study is expected to serve as a foundation for the development of environmental improvement policies by assisting in the understanding of Jeju Island's unique water resource environment.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.56-68
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the personal and social environmental factors affecting leisure time physical activity (LTPA) among adults living in rural communities. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of 282 adults living in three rural towns of Chungcheongbuk province. Leisure time physical activity was assessed through the Korean version of the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ), and social influence and social cohesion of social environment were assessed using reliable and validated measures. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore personal and social environmental factors associated with LTPA. Results: The overall prevalence of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) was 40.0%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that LTPA participation was associated with gender (OR=2.60, 95% CI=1.47-4.58), healthy eating (OR=1.15, 95% CI=1.01-1.31), unhealthy eating (OR=0.70, 95% CI=0.53-0.93) and social influence for physical activity (OR=1.11, 95% CI=1.03-1.20). However, social cohesion was not correlated with engaging in LTPA. Conclusion: Both personal and social environmental factors are associated with LPTA among rural adults living in Eup-Myen regions. Interventions to promote LTPA would likely benefit from considering healthy dietary intake and social influence for physical activity.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.136-142
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• 2018

The river water source of Saidabad Surface Water Treatment Plant at Dhaka, Bangladesh, is deteriorated too much to be treated by conventional treatment process due to excessive ammonia pollution. In order to improve the raw water quality before it enters into the main treatment chain, a pilot study was conducted for pre-treatment of the raw water. The objective is to investigate the rate of reduction of ammonia using the Meteor pilot, a biological pretreatment system, which is a laboratory scale Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor with a nominal volume of hundred liters, filled with 50 L of Meteor 660 media. The reduction of ammonia was quite significant on average 73%, while the reduction of COD was in a range from 20 to 60%. The Meteor pilot was able to treat and nitrify the raw water and produce an effluent that respects the guarantee of ammonia < $4.0mg\;NH_3-N/L$ when the raw water ammonia concentration was < $15mg\;NH_3-N/L$. The study identified operating parameters necessary to achieve the desired goal of adequate ammonia removal. The study results would benefit a range of systems across the country by providing guidance on the design and operation of a biological pre-treatment system for ammonia removal.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.73-86
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• 2004

The objective of this research was to estimate residents' willingness-to-pay using contingent valuation method and to investigate their environmental sensibilities prior to conduct the costbenefit analysis on the watershed management program of integrated sewerage construction and operation in the catchment of Dam Chung-Ju. A set of questionnaire was prepared and asked to 1,200 residents at downstream area as well as upstream area of Dam Chung-Ju. As a result, environmental sensibility of the residents living in the catchment of upstream of Lake Chung-Ju seemed very high. However, the substantial practice in their own life for conserving their environment was inactive, although residents' efforts trying to collect and dispose garbages in separate containers and to minimize the waste discharge load were actually made. The willingness-to-pay on each month for 20 years was estimated as 4,841 wons for the openended question and 3,411 wons for the close-ended question. Factorial analysis was also performed to obtain correlation among the questions asked. Seven groups of the correlated questions were identified and their contribution to the estimated willingness-to-pay was analyzed.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.349-362
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• 2010

Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGWs) are a useful tool in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications that can benefit from built-in transduction, moderately large inspection ranges and high sensitivity to small flaws. This paper describes a SHM method based on UGWs, discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and principal component analysis (PCA) able to detect and quantify the onset and propagation of fatigue cracks in structural waveguides. The method combines the advantages of guided wave signals processed through the DWT with the outcomes of selecting defect-sensitive features to perform a multivariate diagnosis of damage. This diagnosis is based on the PCA. The framework presented in this paper is applied to the detection of fatigue cracks in a steel beam. The probing hardware consists of a PXI platform that controls the generation and measurement of the ultrasonic signals by means of piezoelectric transducers made of Lead Zirconate Titanate. Although the approach is demonstrated in a beam test, it is argued that the proposed method is general and applicable to any structure that can sustain the propagation of UGWs.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of pre-aeration on sludge solubilization and the behaviors of nitrogen, dissolved sulfide, sulfate, and siloxane. The results of this study showed that soluble chemical oxygen demand in sewage sludge could be increased through pre-aeration. The pre-aeration process resulted in a higher methane yield compared to the anaerobic condition (blank). The pre-aeration of sewage sludge, therefore, was shown to be an effective method for enhancing the digestibility of the sewage sludge. In addition, this result confirms that the pre-aeration of sewage sludge prior to its anaerobic digestion accelerates the growth of methanogenic bacteria. Removal rates for $NH_3$-N and T-N increased simultaneously during pre-aeration, indicating simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. The siloxane concentration in sewage sludge decreased by 40% after 96 hr of pre-aeration; in contrast, the sulfide concentration in sewage sludge did not change. Therefore, pre-aeration can be employed as an efficient treatment option to achieve higher methane yield and lower siloxane concentration in sewage sludge. In addition, reduction of nitrogen loading by pre-aeration can reduce operating costs to achieve better effluent water quality in wastewater treatment plant and benefit the anaerobic process by minimizing the toxic effect of ammonia.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.75-83
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• 2012

An explanatory survey was conducted to assess preference and consumption pattern of horticultural species, their sources, location-wise planting preferences and diversity of these species in the rural homestead forest of the offshore island of Bangladesh. Assessment was done through multistage random sampling. Based on homestead size respondents were categorized into small (<0.05 ha), medium (0.05-0.25 ha) and large (>0.25 ha) and twenty from each category were selected randomly for the study. The study revealed that most of the farmer (75.5%) preferred to plant fruit tree species for future plantation followed by timber species (62.2%). But fruit-bearing plants were being gradually replaced by some exotic timber species such as Swietenia mahagoni, Acacia auriculiformis, Tectona grandis, Eucalyptus spp., etc. Diversity and abundance of fruit species was found higher in almost all homestead. A total of 41 horticultural species were identified and seven horticultural species among them were recognized as the most preferred ones in the study area. Consumption pattern was chiefly to meet the nutritional demand and to gain a quick monetary benefit. Average annual income from horticultural species was 7,183.33 Taka (US$102).

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2009

Agroforestry combines agriculture and forestry technologies to create more integrated, diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use systems. This study was performed in three union of Chhagalnaiya Upazila (Sub-district; administrative entity) under Feni district, Southern Bangladesh with a view to identify the tree resources, utilization pattern and economic return of major fruit and timber tree species. Information collected from a total of 45 households ranging from marginal, small, medium and large categories. Number of plant species increased with the increase of homestead area. A total of 39 plant species were recorded from the homegarden, of which 23 were fruit and 16 were timber tree species. Considerable number of vegetables was also planted under the shade of the homestead trees. The investment analysis showed that average benefit-cost ratios were greater than one, net present values were positive and internal rate of returns were more than 10%. Long term investment on horticulture and timber tree species is highly profitable if species like Swietenia mahagoni and Tectona grandis, Spondias pinnata, Syzygium cumini and Areca catechu were planted.