This study investigated several anatomical characteristics of Paulownia tomentosa roots. The root wood was separated into three parts from stem base (top, middle, and base) at different positions below ground. Qualitative anatomical data suggested that the growth rings in earlywood and latewood were structurally different. Furthermore, the root wood vessels were found having 2 to 3 radial multiples and they were appeared in the form of clusters. In addition, some sheath cells and septate axial parenchyma were observed. Regarding the quantitative anatomical characteristics, vessel and ray numbers per $mm^2$, as well as ray width and height differed significantly among the top, middle, and base rood wood parts. However, there were no significant differences in vessel diameters, cell wall thickness, and width and length of wood fibers among those parts. The crystallinity of the root top part was slightly higher than that of the middle and base parts. Furthermore, the vessel numbers, ray numbers, and ray width and height in the near pith (NP) area were higher compared to those in the near bark (NB) area. However, the fiber width and fiber length at NP were lower than those at NB. Overall, this study demonstrated some significant differences in the anatomical characteristics of the top, middle, and base parts of root wood from Paulownia tomentosa.

Size reduction is one of the major pre-processing operations in using biomass as a source of energy or raw materials for forest products industry. The grinding characteristics of dried yellow poplar wood chips were investigated using laboratory knife mill with three different screen aperture diameters to provide the basic information for the optimizing of size reduction processes in biomass industry. Average specific energy consumptions were 0.157, 0.137, and 0.093 Wh/g for the screen aperture diameters of 5.0, 7.5, and 9.0 mm, respectively. According to the results of size distribution analysis of ground particles, the sizes of the most of ground particles were much smaller than the aperture diameters of the screens installed on knife mill used in this study.

Densification of the inner part of oil palm trunk (OPT) by the close system compression (CSC) method was performed in this study. The effects of the compression temperature and time on the anatomical, physical and mechanical properties of OPT were evaluated. The inner part of OPT with an initial average density of $0.3g/cm^3$ was used as samples. Oven-dried samples were immersed in water and vacuumed until fully saturated and then compressed by CSC at 120, 140, 160 or $180^{\circ}C$ for 10, 20, 30 or 40 min. The anatomical characteristics of transverse and radial sections before and after compression were compared by optical microscopy. The physical and mechanical properties, including the density, recovery of set (RS), modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), and compression parallel to grain were examined. It was observed that the anatomical characteristic of the inner part of OPT (i.e., vascular bundles, vessels, and parenchyma tissue) became flattened, fractured, and collapsed after compression by CSC. The RS decreased with increasing compression temperature and time. The lower RS indicated high dimensional stability. The physical and mechanical properties (i.e., density, MOR, MOE, and compressive strength) of the inner part of OPT increased with increasing compression temperature and time. Compression by the CSC method at $160^{\circ}C$ for 40 min was the optimum treatment.

Recently, wood is attracting attention as green building interior decoration material. When wood is used as building interior decoration material, excellent dimensional stability and thermal performance is required. In this study, superheated steam treatment process and thermal compression process were applied to flat sawn Pinus koraiensis wood panel in order to improve dimensional stability and thermal performance. According to results of this study, superheated steam treatment process and thermal compression process improve thermal performance and dimensional stability of wood, especially in tangential direction. The spring back in radial direction reduces the effect of thermal compression on dimensional stability of wood in radial direction.

To investigate the dynamic sorptive and hygroexpansive behaviors of wood by different cyclic hygrothermal changing effects, poplar (populus euramericana Cv.) specimens, were exposed to dynamic sorption processes where relative humidity (RH) and temperature changed simultaneously in sinusoidal waves at 75-45% and $5-35^{\circ}C$ (condition A) and where RH changed sinusoidally at 75-45% but temperature was controlled at $20^{\circ}C$ (condition B), both for three cyclic periods of 1, 6, and 24 h. Moisture and dimensional changes measured during the cycling gave the following results: Moisture and transverse dimensional changes were generally sinusoidal. Moisture and dimensional amplitude increased with increasing cyclic period but all were lower for thicker specimens. The amplitude ratio of condition A to condition B ranged from 1.0 to 1.6 with the maximum value of 1.57 occurring at the shortest cyclic period, not as much as expected. T/R increased as cyclic period increased or specimen thickness decreased. T/R from condition B was weaker than that from condition A. Sorption and swelling hysteresis existed in both conditions. Sorption hysteresis was negatively related to cyclic period but in positive correlation with specimen thickness. Sorption hysteresis was found more obvious in condition B, while moisture sorption coefficient and humidity expansion coefficient showed the opposite results.

Modified poplar has emerged as a potential raw material for furniture production. Lack of specific modified poplar strength information; however, restricts applications in the furniture industry especially as related to strength in corner-joints. Optimization of strength in L-shaped corner dowel modified poplar joints under compression loads utilizing finite element analysis (FEA) by Taguchi method with the focus of this study. Four experiment factors (i.e., Structure Style, Tenon Length, Tenon Diameter, and Tenon Gap), each at three levels, were conducted by adopting a $L_9-3^4$ Taguchi orthodoxy array (OA) to determine the optimal combination of factors and levels for the von Mises stress utilizing ANSYS software. Results of Signal-to-Noise ratio (S/N) analysis and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed the optimal L-shaped corner dowel joint in modified poplar is $45^{\circ}$ Bevel Butt in structure style, 24 mm in tenon length, 6 mm in tenon diameter, and 20 mm in tenon gap. Tenon length and tenon gap are determined to be significant design factors for affecting von Mises Stress. Confirmation tests with optimal levels and experimental test indicated the predicted optimal condition is comparable to the actual experimental optimal condition.

The effect of steam explosion coupled with alkali (1% sodium hydroxide, 1% potassium hydroxide and 15% sodium carbonate) or organosolv solvent (85% methanol, 70% ethanol and dioxane) on the production of sugar, changes in the chemical composition of M. sinensis were evaluated. The steam explosion coupled with 1% potassium hydroxide and dioxane were better as compared with other treatments based on the removals of acid insoluble lignin, and about 89.0% and 85.4%. Enzymatic hydrolysis of steam explosion with 1% potassium hydroxide and dioxane treated M. sinensis, gave a 98.0% and 96.5% of glucose conversion, respectively. These results suggested that pretreatment of M. sinensis with either potassium hydroxide or dioxane could be a promising pretreatment method for glucose production.

The change in chemical compositions of leachate and medium density fiberboard (MDF) from a laboratory-scale simulated landfill which constructed in a plastic container containing alternating layers of soil and MDF was investigated to evaluate decomposing of MDF in soil. Four treatments were conducted: 1) MDF in soil, 2) MDF only, 3) cured UF resin in soil, and 4) soil only. Molecular weight (MW) distribution of compounds in leachate from soil only treatment did not change over time. In UF resin in soil treatment, the MW distribution shifted to a lower MW distribution over time, while the peak shifted to the left indicated changing to higher MW distribution in leachate from treatment 1 and 2 contained MDF. Higher percent nitrogen in leachate was observed in MDF containing treatments due to the UF resin in the MDF. The percent carbon slightly increased in MDF only while that greatly decreased in MDF in soil treatment maybe due to bacterial activity. The percent of extractable materials from the MDF decreased greatly on day 35 compare to day 0, and subsequently did not change much on day 77. In contrast, percent holocellulose and lignin did not change much over time. No structural change of the wood fiber in MDF occurs during the study. Water-soluble materials from MDF in soil contributed the change in chemical composition of leachate.

Cellulose acetate is one of well-known industrial materials which have various commercial uses. We treated the lignocellulosic biomass using two-step (steam explosion-chemical) reaction followed by acetylation to get the cellulose acetate in this study. The two-step treatment was done to improve the yields of acetylation of the substrates. The yields of the cellulose acetate were about 88.4, 88.1, and 151.7% in barley straw, rice straw, and oak tree, respectively. Also the degree of substitution (DS) of the acetates was 2.1 to 2.5 in the biomass. We found that the biomass were valuable cellulosic sources, including their derivatives, in this study. This means that the biomass can be converted into the high-valued cellulosic stuff.

Fungi, such as the wood-rotting Polyporus brumalis, are excellent sources of pharmaceutically interesting natural products such as sesquiterpenoids. In this study, we investigated the biosynthesis of P. brumalis sesquiterpenoids on modified medium. Ten additional species of white rot fungi were inoculated in medium containing nutrients such as $C_6H_{12}O_6$, $C_4H_{12}N_2O_6$, $KH_2PO_4$, $MgSO_4$, and $CaCl_2$ at $28^{\circ}C$ for 25 days. After 10 days of incubation, eudesmane-type sesquiterpenes, ${\beta}$-eudesmane and ${\beta}$-eudesmol, were only synthesized during the growth phase of P. brumalis. Experiments excluding one nutrient at a time were conducted to determine the effects of inorganic nutrients on sesquiterpene biosynthesis. In conclusion, GC-MS analysis showed that biosynthesis of sesquiterpenes was differentially regulated by inorganic nutrients such as $MgSO_4$, $C_4H_{12}N_2O_6$, and $KH_2PO_4$. We found $MgSO_4$ supplementation to be vital for eudesmane-type sesquiterpene biosynthesis in P. brumalis; nitrogen ($C_4H_{12}N_2O_6$) and phosphate ($KH_2PO_4$) inhibited the synthesis of P. brumalis metabolites. Magnesium is a known cofactor of sesquiterpene synthase, which promotes ${\beta}$-eudesmol synthesis. To mechanistically understand eudesmane-type sesquiterpene biosynthesis in P. brumalis, further research into the genes regulating the dynamics of such biosynthesis is warranted.

The insulation of a building envelope influences the hygrothermal performance as well as the thermal performance of the building. While most of Korean wood frame houses have an interior insulation system, the exterior insulation system with high thermal performance has recently been applied. While it can be effective in energy savings for better insulation performance, without consideration of the moisture, condensation and mould growth can occur. Therefore, in this study, hygrothermal behaviour, water content, and mould growth were analyzed using hygrothermal simulation of an exterior wall of a wood frame house with which the interior insulation and exterior insulation systems were applied. The wall layer included Wall A (Interior insulation) and Wall B (Exterior insulation). The U-values were identified as 0.173 and $0.157W/m^2K$, respectively. The total water content and OSB absolute water content of Wall A were confirmed to be higher than those of Wall B, but the absolute water content did not exceed the reference value of 20%. The moisture content of the two walls was determined to be stable in the selected areas. However, mould growth risk analysis confirmed that both Wall A and Wall B were at risk of mould growth. It was confirmed that as the indoor setting temperature decreased, the mould index and growth rate in the same area increased. Therefore, the mould growth risk was affected more by indoor and outdoor climate conditions than by the position of the insulation. Consequently, the thermal performance of Wall B was superior to that of Wall A but the hygrothermal performances were confirmed to be similar.

This aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and actual bending properties of particleboard, and to predict the bending properties of three-layer particleboard. Three kinds of raw materials, i.e. Hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa Endl.) strand, knife-milled Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga manziesii (Mirb) Franco), and hammer-milled matoa (Pometia spp.) obtained from wooden industry, were utilized as furnish for experimental panel with methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) resin as binder. The NDE test was conducted by hit sounds using an FFT analyzer according to the spectrum peak of wave frequency, while the static bending test was conducted according to JIS A-5908. The results reveal that the dynamic Young's modulus as an NDE test has a potential for being used to predict the elastic bending of particleboards by a specific equation for adjusting its proper values. The values of NDE and static test are significantly different with a deviation range at 3-20%. The bending stiffness of three-layer particleboards manufactured from different wood species is predictable by observing the bending stiffness of two elements based on the thickness of its layers. The predicted values of bending stiffness and static test are significantly different with a deviation range at 5-24%.

Owing to an increase in the air tightness of recent buildings, the natural ventilation rate was significantly lowered and the removal of accumulated moisture became difficult in these buildings. The hygrothermal performance of these buildings should be carefully considered to provide comfortable indoor environment by removing the moisture condensation risk and the mold growth potential. In this study, hygrothermal performance of two selected wall structures was investigated based on WUFI simulation program. The results displayed that the indoor temperature had impact on the moisture accumulation in the insulation layer for both modeled walls, showing that lower indoor temperature resulted in higher moisture accumulation, especially in the wood frame structure. Also, the yearly moisture accumulation profile exhibited a downward shift throughout the year by adding a vapour retarder with a lower sd-value. In addition, both of the two walls have condensation risk in winter, due to low temperature level. The wood frame structure has a bigger fluctuation and higher condensation risk than the concrete structure.