• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.81-95
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• 2006

In order to investigate the possibility of waste logs after oak mushroom production as a source of an alternative energy and to obtain the fundamental data of supercritical water hydrolysis that has been paid attention as a new saccharification method of lignocellulosics, supercritical water hydrolysis of normal log woods (Quercus acutissima Carruth) and waste logs was carried out. With the increase of reaction time and temperature, the color of the degradation products has been dark and the degradation rate and the crystalline index increased. However the increase of reaction pressure affected the color of the degradation products and the degradation rate at only low reaction temperature. In the early stage of the reaction, the degradation of hemicellulose was progressed, while in the late stage, the cellulose was degraded. The increase of reaction time and reaction temperature (less than $415^{\circ}C$) improved the sugar yield, while at high temperature(more than $415^{\circ}C$), the sugar yield was decreased. Based on the result of the sugar yield, the optimal hydrolysis condition of Q. acutissima Carruth by supercritical water was determined to be $415^{\circ}C$, 60 seconds and 230 pressure bar with the sugar yield of 2.68% (w/w). At the optimal condition, the supercritical water hydrolysis of waste logs after the mushroom production was carried out and the sugar yield was increased to 358% (w/w). The major degradation products of waste logs by supercritical water hydrolysis were 1,1'-oxybis-benzene and 1,2-benzendicarboxylic acid by the GC-MS analysis. At the reaction condition with low degradation rate, the fatty acids such as pentadecanoic acid, 14-methyl-heptadecanoic acid were identified. With the increase of the reaction temperature and time, the amounts of phenol and benzene were increased, but the reaction pressure did not affect the kinds of degradation products. Holocellulose content was 60.6~79.2% in the water insoluble residue and the monosaccharide yield of the water insoluble residue was 49.2~675% by the acid hydrolysis. The monosaccharide yield of water-soluble portion was increased largely by the second hydrolysis using dilute acid.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.281-294
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• 2017

Tropical forests constitute almost half of the global forest cover, account for 35% of the global net primary productivity and thereby have potential to contribute substantially to sequester atmospheric $CO_2$ and offset climate change impact. However, deforestation and degradation lead by unsustainable management of tropical forests contribute to the unprecedented species losses and limit ecosystem services including carbon sequestration. Sustainable forest management (SFM) in the tropics may tackle and rectify such deleterious impacts of anthropogenic disturbances and climatic changes. However, the existing dilemma on the definition of SFM and lack of understanding of how tropical forest sustainability can be achieved lead to increasing debate on whether climate change mitigation initiatives would be successful. We reviewed the available literature with a view to clarify the concept of sustainability and provide with a framework towards the sustainability of tropical forests for enhanced carbon stock and climate change mitigation. We argue that along with securing forest tenure and thereby reducing deforestation, application of reduced impact logging (RIL) and appropriate silvicultural system can enhance tropical forest carbon stock and help mitigate climate change.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.600-612
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• 2015

We investigated the optimization of the organosolv pretreatment of yellow poplar for bioethanol production. Response surface methodology was used to determine the optimal conditions of three independent variables (reaction temperature, reaction time, and sulfuric acid (SA) concentration). Reaction temperature is the most significant variable in the degradation of xylan and lignin in the presence of an acid catalyst, and ethanol production increased with a decrease in the lignin content. The highest ethanol concentration ($42.80g/{\ell}$) and theoretical ethanol yield (98.76%) were obtained at $152^{\circ}C$ (2.5 bar) with 1.6% SA for 16 min. However, because of excessive degradation of the raw material, the overall ethanol yield was less than under other pretreatment conditions which has approximately 50% of WIS recovery rate after pretreatment. The optimal conditions for the maximum overall ethanol yield ($146^{\circ}C$ with 1.22% SA for 15.9 min) were determined with a predicted yield of 17.11%, and the experimental values were very close (17.15%). Therefore, the quadratic model is reliable.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.177-184
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• 2006

The characteristic biodegradation of monomeric styrene by Phanerochaete chrysosporium KFRI 20742, Trametes versicolor KFRI 20251 and Daldinia concentrica KFRI 40-1 was carried out to examine the resistance, its degradation efficiency and metabolites analysis. The estrogenic reduction effect of styrene by the fungi was also evaluated. The mycelium growth of fungi differentiated depending on the concentration levels of styrene. Additionally P. chrysosporium KFRI 20742 showed superior mycelium growth at less than 200 mg/l, while D. concentrica KFRI 40-1 was more than 200 mg/l. The degradation efficiency reached 99 % during one day of incubation for all the fungi. Both manganese-dependent peroxidase and laccase activities in liquid medium were the highest at the initial stage of incubation, whereas the lowest was after the addition of styrene. However, both activities were gradually recovered after. The major metabolites of styrene by P. chrysosporium KFRI 20742 were 2-phenyl ethanol, benzoic acid, cyclohexadiene-1,4-dione, butanol and succinic acid. From one to seven days of incubating the fungi, the expression of pS2 mRNA widely known as an estrogen response gene was decreased down to the level of baseline after one day. Also, the estrogenic effect of styrene completely disappeared after treatment with supernatant of P. chrysosporium KFRI 20742 from one week of culture down to the levels of vehicle.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.633-638
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• 2018

We are constantly hearing about the seriousness of food shortages in North Korea through various media reports. Recently, the severity of the problem has increased, and international organizations and relief organizations have become increasingly concerned. Due to the shortage of food and firewood, residents illegally cut trees in the mountains and, as a result, North Korea has become the third fastest-growing area of forest degradation in Asia. However, since North Korea cannot directly measure the extent of forest degradation, remote sensing techniques using satellite imagery have to be applied. The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of forest change in North Korea, in order to understand the severity of the forest degradation problem. For this purpose, Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI TIRS satellite images were acquired and classified. As a result, it was found that the forests have turned into wilderness in the Nampo City and Pyongyang municipalities, while the wasteland has changed into forests in the north of Yanggangdo. In addition, the total forested area of the whole region decreased by $4,166.22km^2$, the residential area decreased by $2,017.03km^2$, and the amount of agricultural land increased by $6,625.74km^2$, which is similar to the amount of forested area lost, although the difference in the overall area of the forests between 2017 and 2006 was small.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.328-334
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• 2017

Background: In this study, we evaluated the anti-cancer activity and potential molecular mechanism of 70% ethanol extracts of the root of Aralia cordata var. continentalis (Kitagawa) Y. C. Chu (RAc-E70) against human colorectal cancer cells. Methods and Results: RAc-E70 suppressed the proliferation of the human colorectal cancer cell lines, HCT116 and SW480. Although RAc-E70 reduction cyclin D1 expression at the protein and mRNA levels, RAc-E70-induced reduction in cyclin D1 protein level occurred more dramatically than that of cyclin D1 mRNA. The RAc-E70-induced downregulation of cyclin D1 expression was attenuated in the presence of MG132. Additionally, RAc-E70 reduced HA-cyclin D1 levels in HCT116 cells transfected with HA-tagged wild type-cyclin D1 expression vector. RAc-E70-mediated cyclin D1 degradation was blocked in the presence of LiCl, a $GSK3{\beta}$ inhibitorbut, but not PD98059, an ERK1/2 inhibitor and SB203580, a p38 inhibitor. Furthermore, RAc-E70 phosphorylated cyclin D1 at threonine-286 (T286), and LiCl-induced $GSK3{\beta}$ inhibition reduced the RAc-E70-mediated phosphorylation of cyclin D1 at T286. Conclusions: Our results suggested that RAc-E70 may downregulate cyclin D1 expression as a potential anti-cancer target through $GSK3{\beta}$-dependent cyclin D1 degradation. Based on these findings, RAc-E70 maybe a potential candidate for the development of chemopreventive or therapeutic agents for human colorectal cancer.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.698-704
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• 2019

Quercus mongolica (QM), which belongs to fagaceae, is one of the oak native to Korea. We evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of branches extracted with 70% ethanol of QM (QM-B) and elucidated the potential signaling pathway in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. The QM-B showed anti-inflammatory activity through inhibition of NO production. The QM-B dose-dependently suppressed NO production by inhibiting iNOS, COX-2 and IL-6 expression in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. The QM-B inhibited the degradation and phosphorylation of IκB-α and NF-κB activation. The QM-B suppressed the phosphorylation of p38 and ERK1/2. Also, the QM-B increased HO-1 expression. These results suggested that QM-B may utilize anti-inflammatory activity by suppressing NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathway and inducing HO-1 expression indicated that the QM-B can be used as a natural anti-inflammatory drugs.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.416-426
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• 2007

Polypropylene (PP) composites with wood flour/wax/coupling agent were manufactured by melt compounding and injection molding. The influence of wood flour(WF), wax, and coupling agent on the mechanical and thermal properties of the composites was investigated. The addition of wood flour to neat PP has the higher tensile modulus and strength compared with neat PP. The presence of wax also improved the tensile modulus. At the same loading of PP and WF, the addition of coupling agent highly decreased the tensile modulus, and increased the tensile strength. From thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the addition of wax improved the thermal stability of the composites in the later stages of degradation. The presence of MAPP and wood flour in turn decreased thermal stabilities of composites. From differential scanning calorimetry analysis (DSC), neither the loading of wax. nor the presence of MAPP has shown significant effect on the thermal transition of composites.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.77-87
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• 2019

The first grade zones in Ecology and Nature Map are important regions for the conservation of the ecosystem, but it would be degraded by various anthropogenic factors. This study analyzes the relationship between potential land cover change and degradation of the first grade zones using land cover transition probability. As a result, it was shown that most of the first grade zones with degraded were converted from forest to urban(5.1%), cropland(27.2%), barren(11.0%) and grass(27.5%) in Gangwon and forest to urban(18.0%), cropland(15.3%), grass(28.4%), barren(12.3%) in Gyeonggi. The result of the logistic regression analysis showed that the probability of degradation of first grade zone was higher in area where was expected the higher probability of urban, cropland, barren, grass transition. The barren transition probability was the most influential and grass was the next highest. There were regional differences in the probability of urban transition and cropland transition, and the urban transition probability was more influential in Gyeonggi-do. This is because development pressure such as housing site development is high in Gyeonggi-do. Due to the limitations of the Act on Mountain Districts Management, even in the first grade zones, the grade may be degraded. Therefore, if Ecology and Nature Map are used to prevent deforestation or conversion of mountainous districts, it may contribute to the preservation of the ecosystem.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.302-310
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• 2016

The loss and degradation in tropical forest region are some of the current global concern. Hence, these issues elevated the role of rehabilitated forests in providing ecological products and services. The information on the carbon stock is important in relation to global carbon and biomass use, but lacking from the tropical region. This paper reports the assessment of tree and soil carbon stock in a chronosequence rehabilitated tropical forest stands in Malaysia. The study site was at the UPM-Mitsubishi Forest Rehabilitation Project, UPMKB. $20{\times}20m$ plot was established each and assessed in 2009 at 1-, 10- and 19-year-old sites while an adjacent ${\pm}23-year-old$ natural regenerating secondary forest plot was established for comparison. The overall total carbon stock was in the order of 19-year-old>${\pm}23-year-old$>10-year-old>1-year-old. When forest carbon stock is low, the soil component plays an important role in the carbon storage. The forest carbon recovery is crucial to increase soil carbon stock. The variations in the carbon stock showed the different stages of the forest recovery. Species survived after 19-years of planting are potential species for carbon sequestration activities in rehabilitated forest. Human intervention in rehabilitating degraded forest areas through tree planting initiatives is crucial towards recovering the forest ecological role especially in forest carbon stock capacity.