• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.200-209
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• 1996

It is assumed to be an efficient method for keeping a germinability of weed seeds as long as possible, if a secondary dormancy is not induced by transferring the seeds of which dormancy was broken in wetting condition into drying condition. To investigate its validity, two experiments were carried out on seeds of 9 weed species ; to find out the most effective storage condition in breaking the dormancy of each weed species and to know whether there is a decrease in the germinability by transferring into drying storage condition. The dormancy of Chenopodium album and Stellaria aquatica was released well under the drying condition, but that of Echinochloa crus-galli var. oryzicola by soaking in water. Other weed species were released from dormancy by storage in wetting condition. When the seeds stored in the wetting or soaking condition, are air-dried and then restored at room or low temperature, a decreasing tendency of germinability which might cause a trouble in using them practically, was not observed except on the seeds of Persicaria vulgaris. In the case of Persicaria vulgaris, the low germination since 3 month-storage seemed not to be caused by drying, because a decrease of its germinability was observed with increasing storage period in all of the storage conditions. In contrast, high germination was induced as the seeds of Echinochloa crusgalli var. oryzicola, which were not germinated during the storage in low temperature and wetting condition, were transferred into the room temperature and drying condition. These results suggest that this approach can be one of the efficient methods for keeping a good germinability as long as possible in most weed seeds.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.20-34
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• 2006

This study was undertaken to assess the anthropogenic impact on trace metal concentrations (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Ni, and Cd) of roadside sediments (N = 70) from No.7 national road within the watershed of Hoidong Reservoir in Pusan City and to estimate the potential mobility of selected metals using sequential extraction. We generally found high concentrations of metals, especially Zn, Cu and Pb, affected by anthropogenic inputs. Compared to the trace metal concentrations of uncontaminated stream sediments, arithmetic mean concentrations of roadside sediments were about 7 times higher for Cu, 4 times higher for Zn, 3 times higher for Pb and Cr and, 2 times higher for Ni and As. Speciation data on the basis of sequential extraction indicate that most of the trace metals considered do not occur in significant quantities in the exchangeable fraction, except for Cd and Ni whose exchangeable fractions are appreciable (average 29.3 and 25.8%, respectively). Other metals such as Zn (51.4%) and Pb (45.2%) are preferentially bound to the reducible fraction, and therefore they can be potentially released by a pH decrease and/or redox change. Copper is mainly found in the organic fraction, while Cd is highest in the exchangeable fraction, and Cr and Ni in the residual fraction. Considering the proportion of metals bound to the exchangeable and carbonate fractions, the comparative mobility of metals probably decreases in the order of Cd>Ni>Pb>Zn>Cr>Cu. Although the total concentration data showed that Zn was typically present in potentially harmful concentration levels, the data on metal partitioning indicated that Cd, Ni and Pb pose the highest potential hazard for runoff water. As potential changes of redox state and pH may remobilize the metals bound to carbonates, amorphous oxides, and/or organic matter, and may release and flush them through drain networks into the watershed of Hoidong Reservoir, careful monitoring of environmental conditions appears to be very important.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.4-23
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to explore the diversity of Korea's iron casting technology and to examine various casting methods. The study involved a literature review, analysis of artifacts, local investigation of production tools and technology, and scientific analysis of casting and cast materials. Bellows technology, or Bulmi technology, is a form of iron casting technology that uses bellows to melt cast iron before the molten iron is poured into a clay cast. This technology, handed down only in Jeju Island, relies on use of a clay cast instead of the sand cast that is more common in mainland Korea. Casting methods for cast iron pots can be broadly divided into two: sand mold casting and porcelain casting. The former uses a sand cast made from mixing seokbire (clay mixed with soft stones), sand and clay, while the latter uses a clay cast, formed by mixing clay with rice straw and reed. The five steps in the sand mold casting method for iron pot are cast making, filling, melting iron into molten iron, pouring the molten iron into the cast mold, and refining the final product. The six steps in the porcelain clay casting method are cast making, cast firing, spreading jilmeok, melting iron into molten iron, pouring the molten iron, and refining the final product. The two casting methods differ in terms of materials, cast firing, and spreading of jilmeok. This study provided insight into Korea's unique iron casting technology by examining the scientific principles behind the materials and tools used in each stage of iron pot casting: collecting and kneading mud, producing a cast, biscuit firing, hwajeokmosal (building sand on the heated cast) and spreading jilmeok, drying and biyaljil (spreading jilmeok evenly on the cast), hapjang (combining two half-sized casts to make one complete cast), producing a smelting furnace, roasting twice, smelting, pouring molten iron into a cast, and refining the final product. Scientific analysis of the final product and materials involved in porcelain clay casting showed that the main components were mud and sand (SiO₂, Al₂O₃, and Fe₂O₃). The release agent was found to be graphite, containing SiO₂, Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, and K₂O. The completed cast iron pot had the structure of white cast iron, comprised of cementite (Fe₃C) and pearlite (a layered structure of ferrite and cementite).

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.90 no.1
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• pp.64-73
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• 2001

Generally potassium in the soil can be remained as water soluble, exchangeable, and available types, respectively. Theses types of potassiums are also known to keep their kinetic relationships to each other. The Purpose on this research was to investigate types and relationships of potassium in the soil, and the characteristics of potassium supply in different forest soils. The results could be summarized as follows; 1. The amounts of available potassium in A and B horizon soils by continuous leaching with 0.01N-HCl were as follows : for A Horizon soils, pohang(Gray brown forest soils), Changsung (Brown forest soils), and Youngwol(Dark red forest soils) were ranged from 0.2me/l00g to 0.8me/100g, Taean(Red and Yellow forest soils) was 0.1-0.6me/100g, Kapyung(Brown forest soils) was 0.2-0.4me/100g. For the B layer, Youngwol was 0.1-0.5me/100g, Pohang, Taean, Kapyung were 0.1-0.4me/100g, Changsung was 0.1-0.3me/100g, respectivly. 2. Of ten times-pulse leaching with 0.01N-HCl for A layer soil, more 80% of total available potassium leaching were recovered by the second pulse as leachate for Pohang, Changsung, Youngwol, while similar amounts of potassium in the leachate were obtained with the third pulse leaching for Kapyung, Taean, respectively, On the other hand, the 80 % release of available potassium from the B layer soil was obtained by the second pulse leaching for all areas investigated. 3. For the relationships between soluble potassium and exchangeable potassium, the exchangeable potassium was increased while the soluble potassium was not changed significantly in B layer. And both soluble potassium and exchangeable potassium in A layer were similar. For the relationship between exchangeable potassium and available potassium in both A and B layers, the amounts of available potassium increased by 1.2 to 1.5 times as the exchangeable potassium increased. 4. For distribution of all types of potassium throughout locations investigated, the types of potassium were in the decreasing orders of available, exchangeable, and soluble. 5. The simplified method for an analysis of all types of potassium by sequential leaching with 0.01N-HCl should be developed not only with respect to time-saving and efficiency but also verification of the relationship between available potassium and tree growth.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.248-256
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• 2021

A total of 120 samples corresponding to 12 categories of dried processed fishery products distributed in Gyeonggi-do were examined for radioactivity contamination (¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs) and heavy metals (lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury). One natural radioactive material, ⁴⁰K, was detected in all products, while the artificial radioactive materials ¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs were not detected at above MDA (minimum detectable activity) values. The detection ranges of heavy metals converted by biological basis were found as follows: Pb (N.D.-0.332 mg/kg), Cd (N.D.-2.941 mg/kg), As (0.371-15.007 mg/kg), Hg (0.0005-0.0621 mg/kg). Heavy metals were detected within standard levels when there was an acceptable standard, but the arsenic content was high in most products, although none of the products had a permitted level of arsenic. In the case of dried processed fishery products, there are products that are consumed by restoring moisture to its original state, but there are also many products that are consumed directly in the dry state, so it will be necessary to set permitted levels for heavy metals considering this situation in the future. In addition, Japan has decided to release contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, so there is high public concern about radioactivity contamination of food, including fishery products. Therefore, continuous monitoring of various food items will be necessary to ease consumers' anxiety.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.865-871
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• 2022

Tenebrio molitor larvae is well known as edible insect. Then, although it has been widely studied that Tenebrio molitor larvae has various bioactive functions such as antioxidant, anti-wrinkle, and anticancer. Nevertheless, antioxidant effects of Tenebrio molitor larvae water extract (TMH) has not been well described in Adult Retina Pigment Epithelial cell line (ARPE-19). In this study, we demonstrated that antioxidant effects of TMH against H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress in ARPE-19. Thus, we selected for our studies and performed a series of dose-response assay to determine the working concentration that lead to a consistent and high degree of cytotoxicity, which we defined as the level of H₂O₂ that killed 40% of the ARPE-19 cells. ARPE-19 cells were pre-treated with various concentrations of TMH (0.1 up to 2 mg/ml) before exposure to 300 µM H₂O₂. As we expected, TMH effectively prevented ARPE-19 cells from 300 µM H₂O₂-induced cell death in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, TMH inhibited the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) such as extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38. Overall, the inhibitory effects of TMH on H₂O₂-induced apoptosis and oxidative stress were associated with the protection cleaved caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2, and HO-1. The TMH suppressed H₂O₂-induced cell membrane leakage and oxidative stress in ARPE-19 cells. Thus, these results suggest that the TMH plays an important role in antioxidant effect in ARPE-19.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.15-24
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• 2023

To examine the antitumor effect of proso millet grains, whether proso millet grains exert apoptotic activity against human cancer cells was investigated. When the cytotoxicity of 80% ethanol (EtOH) extract of proso millet grains was tested against various cancer cells using MTT assay, more potent cytotoxicity was observed against human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells than against other cancer cells. When the EtOH extract was evaporated to dryness, dissolved in water, and then further fractionated by sequential extraction using four organic solvents (n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol), the BuOH fraction exhibited the highest cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 cells. Along with the cytotoxicity, TUNEL-positive apoptotic nucleosomal DNA fragmentation and several apoptotic responses including BAK/BAX activation, mitochondria membrane potential (Δψm) loss, mitochondrial cytochrome c release into the cytosol, activation of caspase-8/-9/-3, and degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) were detected. However, human normal mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells exhibited a significantly lesser extent of sensitivity compared to malignant MDA-MB-231 cells. Irrespective of Fas-associated death domain (FADD)-deficiency or caspase-8-deficiency, human T acute lymphoblastic leukemia Jurkat cells displayed similar sensitivities to the cytotoxicity of BuOH fraction, excluding an involvement of extrinsic apoptotic mechanism in the apoptosis induction. These results demonstrate that the cytotoxicity of BuOH fraction from proso millet grains against human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells is attributable to intrinsic apoptotic cell death resulting from BAK/BAX activation, and subsequent mediation of mitochondrial damage-dependent activation of caspase cascade.