• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.83-90
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• 2023

To our knowledge, this is the first study aiming to optimize the extraction conditions of total phenolic compounds (TPC) and total flavonoids contents (TFC) from Argania spinosa leaves using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with a Box-Behnken design (BBD). The optimal conditions obtained were 5% (w/v) solvent-to-solid ratio, 72.33% ethanol concentration, and 10h ours as an extraction time, which resulted in an extract with maximum TPC (131.63 mg GAE/g dw) and TFC (10.66 mg QE/g dw). Under the optimal extraction conditions, the antioxidant activity of the extracts of leaves of argan tree showed a moderate antiradical capacity of DPPH (IC₅₀ = 0,130 mg/mL) and ABTS (IC₅₀ = 0.198 mg/mL). However, the leaves of argan tree showed a very interesting reducing power of Iron (IC₅₀ = 0.448 mg/ml) which is similar to that of the ascorbic acid (IC₅₀ = 0.371 mg/mL).

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.88 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 1999

Morphological variations in leaves and leaf trichomes according to tree age were investigated for the identification of Quercus taxa at the different stages of development. The sizes of leaves from one-year-old seedlings of Q. serrata, Q. dentata, and Q. aliena were the smallest and increased with tree age. Blade length, blade width, petiole length, number of serration, and serration depth war also varied with tree age. Therefore, the examined taxa by the size and form of leaves were hardly identified at juvenile stages. The type, structure, and density of leaf trichomes of each species varied remarkably along with tree age. Three types of trichomes such as small stellate hairs, large stellate hairs, and long single hairs were observed on the abaxial side of leaves of Quercus taxa. In matured trees of Q. serrata both small stellate and long single hairs on leaves were observed. On the other hand large stellate hairs were found in leaves of Q. dentata. There were small stellate hairs in Q. aliens. In Q. mongolica var. crispula, no hair or small stellate hairs were occasionally found. It is possible to identify Q. serrata and Q. dentata by the characteristics of trichome even at two to three year old seedlings, while, it is difficult to tell Q. aliens and Q. mongolica var. crispula of seedlings from other taxa only by those of trichome.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.603-605
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• 2006

Our previous study demonstrated that aqueous ethanolic extract of hardy rubber tree (HRT; Eucommia ulmoides Oliver) leaves potently inhibited glycation, and that two known flavonols and one new flavonol were the active compounds in protein glycation in vitro using the model system of bovine serum albumin and fructose. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of HRT extract and its flavonols against the glycation of hemoglobin (Hb) in primary cultured rat erythrocytes. The extract at $40-400\;{\mu}g/mL$ and the flavonols at $0.2-20\;{\mu}g/mL$ significantly inhibited Hb glycation in a concentration-dependent manner. They were more effective than aminoguanidine, a well-known inhibitor of glycation. Three flavonols seemed to be responsible for the inhibitory activity of the extract, furthermore, the extract of HRT leaves showed advantages over single isolated flavonols in the inhibition of Hb glycation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.143-151
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• 2022

Background: After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, biological alterations in the natural biota, including morphological changes of fir trees in forests surrounding the power plant, have been reported. Focusing on the terminal buds involved in the morphological formation of fir trees, this study developed a method for estimating the absorbed radiation dose rate using radionuclide distribution measurements from tree organs. Materials and Methods: A phantom composed of three-dimensional (3D) tree organs was constructed for the three upper whorls of the fir tree. A terminal bud was evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations for the absorbed dose rate of radionuclides in the tree organs of the whorls. Evaluation of the absorbed dose targeted ¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs, and ¹³⁷Cs, the main radionuclides subsequent to the FDNPP accident. The dose contribution from each tree organ was calculated separately using dose coefficients (DC), which express the ratio between the average activity concentration of a radionuclide in each tree organ and the dose rate at the terminal bud. Results and Discussion: The dose estimation indicated that the radionuclides in the terminal bud and bud scale contributed to the absorbed dose rate mainly by beta rays, whereas those in 1-year-old trunk/branches and leaves were contributed by gamma rays. However, the dose contribution from radionuclides in the lower trunk/branches and leaves was negligible. Conclusion: The fir tree model provides organ-specific DC values, which are satisfactory for the practical calculation of the absorbed dose rate of radiation from inside the tree. These calculations are based on the measurement of radionuclide concentrations in tree organs on the 1-year-old leader shoots of fir trees. With the addition of direct gamma ray measurements of the absorbed dose rate from the tree environment, the total absorbed dose rate was estimated in the terminal bud of fir trees in contaminated forests.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.853-860
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• 2003

Plants sequester atmospheric CO$_2$, a major agent of climate change, during the growing periods and mitigate its rising accumulation in the atmosphere. Pinus densiflora and Quercus mongolica are the native tree species dominant in the temperate forests of Korea. This study quantified the annual CO$_2$ uptake by the two species at forest sites in Chuncheon in the middle of the country. The quantification was based on seasonal measurements of CO$_2$ exchange rates under natural conditions by an infrared gas analyzer over the growing season (1999). The monthly CO$_2$ uptake per unit leaf area ranged from 1.6-6.7 mg/d㎡/h for P. densiflora and from 3.7-8.9 mg/d㎡/h for Q. mongolica, with a maximum in mid-summer. An equation for each species was generated to estimate easily the annual CO$_2$ uptake by total leaf area per tree, which subtracted the CO$_2$ release (i.e. respiration) by leaves and woody organs from the gross CO$_2$ uptake (diurnal uptake and release by leaves). Annual CO$_2$ release by leaves and woody organs accounted for 58-73％ of the gross CO$_2$ uptake across tree specimens. Annual CO$_2$ uptake per tree increased with increasing dbh (stem diameter at breast height) for the study diameter range, and was greater for Q. mongolica than for P. densiflora in the same dbh sizes. This was mainly associated with a greater total leaf area in the former. For example, the annual CO$_2$ uptake by one tree with dbh of 25 cm was 35.6 kg/yr for P. densiflora and 47.9 kg/yr for Q. mongolica. The results from this study can be applied to evaluate an atmospheric CO$_2$ reduction of woody plants by forest type and age class.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.450-459
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• 2014

In this paper, we present a new, easy-to-generate system that is capable of creating virtual 3D tree models and simulating a variety of growth processes of a tree from a single, real tree image. We not only construct various tree models with the same trunk through our proposed digital image matting method and skeleton-based abstraction of branches, but we also animate the visual growth of the constructed 3D tree model through usage of the branch age information combined with a scaling factor. To control the simulation of a tree growth process, we consider tree-growing attributes, such as branching orders, branch width, tree size, and branch self-bending effect, at the same time. Other invisible branches and leaves are automatically attached to the tree by employing parametric branch libraries under the conventional procedural assumption of structure having a local self-similarity. Simulations with a real image confirm that our system makes it possible to achieve realistic tree models and growth processes with ease.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.201-208
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• 1986

The water status of the leaves of several evergreen plants was investigated in order to discuss the geopgraphical distribution of them. Relastionship between relative water content and water potential of the leaves showed linear decrease for evergreen conifers but exponential decrease for Korean box tree (Buxus microphylla var. koreana). On the basis of the leaf water potential, the water status of the conifers during wintering was distinctly divided into three periods; hardening, cold resistance and dehardening, but lacking in those periods for the Korean box tree, where the status continously decreased. In the cold resistance the leaf water potentials were -23 bar for both spruce (Picea jezoensis) and yew (Taxus cuspidata). From these results and threshold temperature at beginning of hardening, distribution of the conifers was explained that in order of the red pine, the Korean white pine, the yew and the spruce the distribution could be extended at higher altitudes and in more northward areas, whereas the distribution of the Korean box tree was restricted to the lowland of temperate zone.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.77 no.4
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• pp.371-381
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• 1988

The purpose of this study was to investigate the physiological response to salt treatments in the leaves of several tree species. The results obtained were as follows : 1. The water potential of tree leaves damaged with various salt concentrations did not change nearly for 10 hours after treatment. As time elapsed after treatment, however, the higher salt concentration in soils, the higher leaf water potential was observed. 2. Leaf water potential of species intolerant to salt was higher than tolerant species due to the severe dehydration from cells. 3. According to the water relation parameters obtained from P-V curves, the values of ${\pi}_{\sigma}$ and ${\pi}_{\rho}$ in the damaged leaves were higher, but those of $V_{\rho}/V_{\sigma}$ and Emax were lower than those of the intact leaves. 4. The photosynthesis rate of tree leaves decreased remarkably with increasing the salt concentrations in soils, and it decreased faster for species intolerant cintolerant to salt.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 2012

To understand the effect of aerosols on the growth and physiological conditions of trees in forests, it is important to know the state of aerosols that are deposited on the surface of the leaves or needles. In this study, we developed methods of visualization of submicron-sized aerosols that were artificially deposited from the gas-phase or liquid phase onto tree leaves or needles in trees. Firstly, we used field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) to observe black carbon (BC) particles that were artificially sprayed onto the leaves or needles. The distribution of BC particles deposited on the leaves and needles were distinguished based on the size and morphological features of the particles. The distribution and agglomerates size of BC particles differed between two spraying methods of BC particles employed. Secondly, we tried to visualize gold (Au) particles that were artificially sprayed onto the leaves using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) coupled to FE-SEM. We detected the Au particles based on the characteristic X-ray spectrum, which was secondarily generated from the Au particles. In contrast to the case of BC particles, the Au particles did not form agglomerates and were uniformly distributed on the leaf surfaces. The present results show that our methods provide useful information of adsorption and/or behavior of fine particles at the submicron level on the surface of the leaves.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.9-11
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• 1961

A comparative investigation of free amino acids content in healthy check and virus diseased leaves of Chinese date tree, Zyzyphus jujuqa Mill var. inermis Rhed, was carried out by authors throughout the growing season of 1959 and 1960 from June to October. The methods of qualitative analysis of free amino acids aplied in this experiment is followed by Moore and Stein. Free amino acids determined in this experiment are shown in Fig. 1 and Table 1. As the figure and the table are shown, three more amino acids such as glutamine, asparagine and histidine are detected in the diseased material. The additional amino acids which are known as diamines in diseased leaves are conspicuous. It is presumed that the diamine might be incresed by the self-reproduction of the virus in cooporation with certain enzymes which are carrying out the protein metabolism in the host protoplast in contrast with the healthy checks which is carrying out normal protein metabolism. From the histological poing of view, the facts of phloem degeneration or necrosis in diseased leaves, it seems to interrupt to move free amino acids from roots to leaves and it possibly takes place an excessive production of NH3 which is diaminated by the metabolism of nitrogen compounds in such conditioned leaves. Therefore, it is also presumed that additional diamino acids are accumulated in diseased leaves. There are no change of amino acids are accumulated in diseased leaves. There are no change of amino acids in both materials of this plant throughout the growing season qualitatively, and this result agress with the paper of Knight.