• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.122-131
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• 2016

Caesium radioisotopes, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs which come from the atmospheric nuclear tests and discharges from nuclear power plants, are very important to study artificial radioactivity. In this work, in order to lower the minimum detection activity (MDA) we investigated environmental radioactivity according to the Environment Measurement Laboratory procedure by ¹³⁷Cs and ¹³⁴Cs which is similar to chemical and environmental behaviors of ¹³⁷Cs. The environmental soils in high mountain areas near nuclear power plant were collected, and an Ammonium Molybdophosphate (AMP) precipitation method, which showed high selectivity toward Cs⁺ ions, was applied to chemically extract and concentrate Caesium radioisotopes. Radioactivity was estimated by a gamma-ray spectrometry. In gamma energy spectrum, with an increasing of ⁴⁰K radioactivity, it increased the MDA of ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs. Therefore, if the natural radionuclides were removed from the soil samples, the MDA of Caesium may be reduced, and the contents of ¹³⁷Cs of in the environmental soils can effectively be estimated. In the standard soil sample of Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, radioactivity of ⁴⁰K was removed more than 84% on average, and the MDA of ¹³⁴Cs was reduced 2 times. The content of ¹³⁷Cs was recovered over 84%. On the other hand, in environmental soils, AMP precipitation method showed removal ratio of ⁴⁰K up to 180 times, which reduced the MDA about 5 times smaller than those of Direct method. ¹³⁷Cs recovery ratio showed from 54.54% to 70.06%. When considering the MDA and recovery ratio, AMP precipitation method is effective for detection of Caesium radioisotopes in low concentration.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.50-61
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• 1994

From soil samples, 380 antagonistic microorgnisms were isolated. Among the isolates, 42 strains had mycelia growing inhibition ability against Fusariun solani, ginseng root rot causing pathogen. Isolates CHA 1 and S-PFHR 6 were proposed as antagonists for this study and they were identified as Promicromonospora sp. and Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes respectively. As an antagonism against hyphae of F. solani in dual culture test, CHA 1 and S-PFHR 6 inhibited linear growing, caused abnormal branching, and the membrane projection which formed by cell wall destruction. The secondary metabolites contained in the culture filtrates which prepared from PD broth and Nutrient broth inhibited the spore germination to 14.3%. The culture filtrate of S-PFHR 6 which prepared by a little amount of soil extract addition to nutrient rich medium had more strongly. inhibited the spore germination and spore germination decreased to less than 4.0% in it. The soil used in this study had fungistasis and the germination rate of macroconidia and chlamydospore of F.solani was 19.4% and 17.7% respectively. The steam sterilized soil lost fungistasis and germination rate of conidia increased to more than 97.9%. The soils amended with the propagule of CHA 1 and S-PFHR 6 increased fungistasis and the germination rate of macroconidia decreased to 14.7% and 11.7% respectively in each treatments. But the soil ammended with glucose and asparagine annulled fungistatic ability and the germination rate of macroconidia increased to more than 48.0%. As an antagonistic activity of the secondary metabolites of two antagonistic isolates in soil, the germination rate of macroconidia of F. solani was 9.3% in the soil amended with the culture filtrate of CHA 1 but the culture filtrate of S-PFHR 6 had no such activity. In the soil which treated with antagonist propagule or culture filtrate, the chlamydospore germination rate was lower than that in natural soil. The addition of glucose and asparagine to antagonist propagule treated soil did not enhanced the chlamydospore germination.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.143-150
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• 2003

Korea has plentiful precipitation but rainfall events concentrate on several months of rainy season in her weather condition. Korea, therefore, experiences drought for a given period every year. Moreover the soil has usually low water holding capacity, as it is composed coarse particles originated from the granite. Response of several oaks and the Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora) on water stress showed that water budget was significant factor determining vegetation distribution. In addition, dehydration level due to cold resistance mechanism of several evergreen plants during the winter season was closely related to their distribution in natural condition. Experimental result under water stress showed that the Korean red pine was very tolerant to desiccation but the seedlings showed high mortality during the dry season. The mortality tended to proportionate to soil moisture content of each site. A comparison between soil moisture content during June when it is severe dry season and moisture content of the culture soil when the pine seedlings reached the permanent wilting point due to water withheld proved that high mortality during the dry season was due to water deficit. Water potential of sample plants measured during the exposure experiment to the air pollutant showed a probability that water related factors would dominate the occurrence of visible damage and the tolerance level of sample plants. In both field survey and laboratory experiment, plants exposed to air pollution showed more rapid transpiration than those grown in the unpolluted condition. The result would due to injury of leaf surface by air pollutants. Aluminum (Al/sup 3+/) increased in the acid soil not only inhibits root growth but also leads to abnormal distribution of root system and thereby caused water stress. The water stresses due to air pollution and soil acidification showed a possibility that they play dominating roles in inducing forest decline additionally to the existing water deficit due to weather and soil conditions in Korea. Sludge, which can contribute to improve field capacity, as it is almost composed of organic matter, showed an effect ameliorating the retarded growth of plant in the acidified soil. The effect was not less than that of dolomite known in widely as such a soil ameliorator. Litter extract contributed also to mitigate the water stress due to toxic Al/sup 3+/. We prepared a model showing the potential interaction of multiple stresses, which can cause forest decline in Korea by synthesizing those results. Furthermore, we suggested restoration plans, which can mitigate such forest decline in terms of soil amelioration and vegetation restoration.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.287-297
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• 2021

Cornus officinalis Siebold & Zucc. is traditionally used as an edible and medicinal plant in many countries in East Asia. Previous studies have shown the pharmacological potential of extracts and components of C. officinalis, but comparative analysis of the composition of the leaf, stem, and fruit extracts has been insufficient to date. In the present study, the content of active antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients was verified in different C. officinalis parts (under-ripe sansuyu, ripe sansuyu, seed, leaf, stem, and dried sansuyu). One active component, morroniside, was high in fruit (under-ripe and ripe sansuyu), while loganin was high in fruit (under-ripe sansuyu) and cornin was high in seeds. Total polyphenol contents were highest in fruit (ripe sansuyu) and flavonoids were highest in leaves. DPPH radical scavenging activity was highest in leaves, followed by seeds and then ripe sansuyu extract. The anti-inflammatory efficacy of leaf extracts of C. officinalis (LCO) was further investigated by measuring their effects on levels of nitric oxide (NO) and the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Non-cytotoxic concentrations of LCO effectively decreased the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced expression of inducible NO synthase, resulting in decreased NO production. LCO also significantly suppressed LPS-induced production and expression of IL-1β and IL-6. Taken together, the present findings suggest that C. officinalis leaves have potential as natural materials for the development of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents.