A projected increase in stand volume of introduced provenances of Acacia mangium in seedling seed orchards in South Sumatra, Indonesia

 Increases in stand volume with some currently introduced provenances of Acacia mangium: Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Far North Queensland (FNQ), were projected based on their superiorities in 3-year height growth in seedling seed orchards using the growth model developed for unthinned plantation for pulp and paper production in South Sumatra, Indonesia. The height growth of these provenances was better than that of the local selections from Subanjeriji by 10%–15% at 3 years old and these percentage superiorities would be expected to remain at around 9%–14% until the 8-year rotation. This amount of increase would result in a 7%–10% increase in basal area and hence it would produce a 17%–26% increase in stand volume at rotation age when compared with the Subanjeriji seed source that was being widely used for the plantation establishment of A. mangium in Indonesia. Received: July 24, 2002 / Accepted: December 3, 2002 Acknowledgments The authors thank Mr. Hardjono, the director of plantation establishment at PT Musi Hutan Persada for his permission to use data of permanent plots for the growth modeling of A. mangium. The authors are grateful to the staff at PT Musi Hutan Persada, Research and Development Center for Biotechnology and Forest Tree Improvement, Japan International Cooperation Agency for their implementations of the study. Our thanks are also due to Dr. Yoshida, associate professor at Kyushu University, for his advice on developing the growth modeling work. Correspondence to:S. Kurinobu     

Species richness in sugi (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptomeria japonica</Emphasis> D. DON) plantations in southeastern Kyushu,Japan: the effects of stand type and age on understory trees and shrubs

 The species richness of trees, shrubs and climbing plants was investigated in 41 sugi (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) plantations of different stand age and area in southern Kyushu, southwestern Japan. Altogether 174 species were found, of which 145 infrequent species were selected for analysis. Two groups were extracted from the species list according to their occurrence in older (49 spp.) or younger (28 spp.) stands, the latter containing a higher percentage of climbing plants and species with wind-dispersed seeds. In contrast, the older stand group contained major tree components typical of seminatural, evergreen broadleaved forests in the region and was more heavily dependent on stand age, especially for species with gravity- and frugivore-dispersed seeds, showing a gradual increase up to 60 years old. The species richness was less correlated with edge perimeter facing seminatural forests and the years after latest thinning. The juxtaposition of plantation compartments with stands of seminatural forest or other plantations, as well as the compartment's origin as former plantation site or a seminatural stand, had relatively little influence on species richness. However, topographic variation was important in determining the species composition, with valley stands having higher species richness and containing many plants typical of the regional seminatural forests. These results suggest that (1) the major trend of species richness is determined by the presence of old stand type species, (2) topographic variation of species richness remains even after establishment of plantations, and (3) the normal rotation period of sugi plantations (35–40 years) may therefore be too short to conserve the maximum potential species diversity within the working forest. Received: June 4, 2001 / Accepted: August 26, 2002 Acknowledgments We wish to thank the staff of the Miyazaki University Forests for cooperation in the fieldwork. A part of this study was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Study from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan (no. 09041071 and no. 10460068). Correspondence to:S. Ito     

Effects of resource plant size on rooting of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dryobalanops lanceolata</Emphasis> cuttings

 Cuttings from older trees of the Dipterocarpaceae generally lose their ability to root. However, branches in a canopy of adult dipterocarps are a possible source of cuttings because they show juvenile characteristics in architecture due to “adaptive reiteration”, suggesting physiological rejuvenation. Effects of resource plant size on the rooting of cuttings and the possibility of using cuttings from reiterated branches of adult trees were studied for Dryobalanops lanceolata, an emergent dipterocarp species. A cutting experiment with non-mist propagators was conducted for cuttings collected from resource plants of four different size classes: <2 m, 2–5 m, 8–15 m, and 70 m in height. The smallest size class included two different age classes: <2 and >2 years old. Cuttings from the tallest resource plant were collected from reiterated branches. Rooting percentage was negatively correlated with resource plant size: 77–78% for resource plants <2 m, 63% for 2–5 m, 36% for 8–15 m, and 0% for 70 m. Rooting percentages of cuttings collected from different individuals were not different for the 2–5 m tall class, while they were significantly different for the 8–15 m tall class. Resource plant size was negatively correlated with the number of roots for rooted cuttings. No significant relationship was observed between resource plant size and mean length of each root, total root length or total root dry weight for rooted cuttings. The results suggest the possibility of collecting cuttings from relatively large resource plants up to 15 m tall and >20 years old if we chose good individuals for resource plants. The results, however, show the difficulty in using reiterated branches of adult trees as a source of cuttings for D. lanceolata. Received: October 15, 2001 / Accepted: November 11, 2002 Acknowledgments We express our sincere thanks to Dr. S. Tamura, Dr. K. Ogino, and Mr. A.A. Hamid for their kind support. The tree tower was constructed in a cooperative project between Japan and Sarawak supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (Grant NP0201). The cutting experiment was partly funded by the Nippon Life Insurance Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS-RFTF96R16001). Correspondence to:A. Itoh     

Somatic embryogenesis in sawara cypress (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Chamaecyparis pisifera</Emphasis> Sieb. et Zucc.) for stable and efficient plant regeneration,propagation and protoplast culture

Somatic embryogenesis inChamaecyparis pisifera was initiated from immature seeds collected from the end of June to early July. We obtained initiation frequencies ranging from 12.5 to 33.3% using whole seed explants in liquid media. Embryogenic cultures were maintained and proliferated for more than a year in solid and liquid media. High maturation frequencies of ‘high quality’ embryos were obtained on maturation media containing abscisic acid (ABA), activated charcoal (AC), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as osmotic agent. More than one thousand cotyledonary embryos on average per 100 mg initial fresh weight of embryogenic cells were attained on medium containing 100μM ABA, 2 gL⁻¹ AC, and 150 gL⁻¹ PEG. About 97% germination frequencies and 92% plant conversion rates were achieved without any pretreatment. Growing of plants regenerated from somatic embryos has been monitored in the field. Furthermore, a procedure for culture of protoplasts isolated from embryonal masses was also described. This work was supported in part by the Japan Science and Technology Corporation and in part by a Grant for Research for the Future Program from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science.     

Cell growth and nutrient uptake by cell suspensions of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cupressus lusitanica</Emphasis>

 Conditions for cell growth of suspension cultures of Cupressus lusitanica, which has high β-thujaplicin productivity, were studied. The medium that provided the highest growth rate was IS-1 medium (pH 5.5), modified from Gamborg B5 medium containing 32 mM of total nitrogen. Its NO₃-N/NH₄-N ratio was 30 : 2. The maximum growth represented a 25-fold increase over the initial biomass on a fresh weight basis after 30 days of culture in this medium. The highest cell growth was obtained with an initial pH of 3.5–5.5, but the pH of the medium settled to about pH 4.0 from any of the initial pH values in this report. The cells cultured under this condition were able to produce a high level of β-thujaplicin. Received: September 7, 2001 / Accepted: May 7, 2002 Present address: Teijin Ltd., Ehime 791-8530, Japan Present address: Q'SAI Co. Ltd., Fukuoka 811-3422, Japan Part of this report was presented at the 10th international symposium on wood and pulp chemistry, Yokohama, Japan, June 1999 Correspondence to:K. Fujita     

Comparison of the decomposition behaviors of hardwood and softwood in supercritical methanol

 The chemical conversion of Japanese beech (Fagus crenata Blume) and Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) woods in supercritical methanol was studied using the supercritical fluid biomass conversion system with a batch-type reaction vessel. Under conditions of 270°C/27 MPa, beech wood was decomposed and liquefied to a greater extent than cedar wood, and the difference observed was thought to originate mainly from differences in the intrinsic properties of the lignin structures of hardwood and softwood. However, such a difference was not observed at 350°C/43 MPa, and more than 90% of both beech and cedar woods were effectively decomposed and liquefied after 30 min of treatment. This result indicates that the supercritical methanol treatment is expected to be an efficient tool for converting the woody biomass to lower-molecular-weight products, such as liquid fuels and useful chemicals. Received: December 19, 2001 / Accepted: March 15, 2002 Acknowledgments This research has been done under the research program for the development of technologies for establishing an eco-system based on recycling in rural villages for the twenty-first century from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan and by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)(2) (no.12460144, 2001.4–2003.3) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. This study was presented in part at the 45th Lignin Symposium, Ehime, Japan, October 2000 and the 51st Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Tokyo, Japan, April 2001. Correspondence to:S. Saka     

Extractives relating to heartwood color changes in sugi (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptomeria japonica</Emphasis>) by a combination of smoke-heating and UV radiation exposure

 Sugi green logs with red or black heartwood were smoke-heated, and the changes in the color of the heartwood after ultraviolet (UV) (λ = 365 nm) radiation exposure were then observed. After UV radiation exposure, the redness and yellowness increased in both the red and black heartwoods, whereas the brightness decreased. In the black heartwood, the resulting color turned from yellowish white to reddish brown. Reddening in black heartwood after exposure to a combination of smoke heating and UV radiation is thought to be due to a decrease in brightness and an increase in both redness and yellowness. However, the degree of change in heartwood color by UV radiation exposure was not greatly affected by smoke-heating treatments of various lengths. When methanol extracts were fractionated and exposed to UV radiation, the yellowness increased in the n-hexane-soluble portion and the redness increased in the acetone-soluble fractions from the n-hexane-insoluble portion. These results suggest that the n-hexane-soluble fraction contains the substances that allow heartwood color to change to yellow after UV radiation exposure, and the acetone-soluble-fraction from the n-hexane-insoluble portion contains the substances that allow it to change to red. Received: November 14, 2001 / Accepted: June 3, 2002 Acknowledgment This research was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This study was presented in part at the 51st Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Tokyo, April 2001 Correspondence to:N. Yoshizawa     

Structural characteristics of cell walls of kenaf (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Hibiscus cannabinus </Emphasis>L.) and fixation of carbon dioxide

 Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) plants are widely known for their contribution to the global and regional environment because of their ability to fix CO₂. On the other hand, some scientists have doubts about CO₂ fixation by kenaf and have misgivings about the effect of kenaf on the ecosystem. We have characterized the structural characteristics of cell walls of bast fibers, cores, roots, and leaves of kenaf during the maturation of plants and investigated the rate of photosynthesis. During maturation of the kenaf plant the cellulose (bast fiber 52–59%, core 44–46%) and lignin (bast fiber 9.3–13.2%, core 18.3–23.2%) contents increased significantly. The aromatic composition of the lignin of bast fiber was significantly different from that of the core lignin and of other plants. The lignin of bast fiber appears similar to pure syringyl lignin. Fixation of CO₂ by kenaf plants and their contribution to the global environment are discussed. A significatly high rate of photosynthesis of kenaf plants was observed compared to that of woody plants in Japan, but the amount of CO₂ fixation depends on the characteristics of the plantation. If the kenaf was planted in high density, about twice as much CO₂ was fixed as was fixed by trees in a tropical rain forest. Received: April 22, 2002 / Accepted: July 24, 2002 Acknowledgments This project was supported by the Science and Technology Agency (STA) fellowship of the Japan International Science and Technology Exchange Center (JISTEC), which has been successfully applied by Dr. Shuji Hosoya, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute. We thank Dr. Toshio Sumizono and Mr. Masao Sakurai, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, for their kind help in determining the rate of photosynthesis and cultivating the kenaf plants, respectively. We also express our appreciation to Dr. Quang Hung Le, College of Agriculture and Forestry, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for offering information about the cultivation of kenaf at Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City.     

Sampling procedure for density estimation of bamboo galls induced by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aiolomorphus rhopaloides</Emphasis> (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) in a bamboo stand

 To establish a sampling procedure for estimating the density of bamboo galls induced by Aiolomorphus rhopaloides Walker (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) in a stand of bamboo Phyllostachys heterocycla (Carr. Mitf.) (Monocotyledoneae: Gramineae), 5–12 bamboo culms were cut at random in late March of each year during 1998–2001 just before gall-maker emergence. The number of galls on the branches of each bamboo culm was counted. The spatial patterns of the galls on the culms in the stand and on the branches within each culm were measured by Iwao's patchiness regression. Galls were distributed contagiously both on culms and on branches. Current bamboo culms that emerged the previous summer did not require sampling because no galls were observed on them. Except for this, there was no difference in gall density on young and old culms, suggesting that it is not necessary to distinguish them. There were few (<4%) galls above 6 m height during the 4 years. There was no significant difference in gall density up to 4 m and above 4 m, suggesting that branches up to 4 m can be sampled with confidence. Kuno's two-stage sampling method at different precision levels showed that the number of culms to be sampled varied with gall density. For example, at mean density m = 1.0 per branch when the number of sampled branches per culm is 10, a total of 24 culms is required to estimate gall number at a precision level of D = 0.2, where D is the ratio of standard error to mean. Received: July 10, 2002 / Accepted: November 25, 2002 Acknowledgments I thank Dr. K. Kamijo for insect identification. Thanks are also due to the members of the Laboratory of Forest Protection for their kind help with the fieldwork. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 11460068) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.     

Micropropagation and callus culture of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saussurea laniceps</Emphasis>, an alpine medicinal plant

Cottonhead windhairdaisy (Saussurea laniceps Hand.-Mazz.) is one of the most famous and important medicinal herbs in China. Illegal collection from wild populations is increasingly threatening the present environment of S. laniceps. Establishment of an efficient method for micropropagation is the best way to change its endangered situation. When mature seeds of S. laniceps were cultured on hormone-free MS medium, plantlets were formed from germinated seeds in 7–10 d. Then 0.5 cm × 0.5 cm leaf explants were transplanted to MS medium supplemented with 1-naphthalene-acetic acid (NAA)/2,4-D and benzyladenine (BA)/KT and callus was achieved 10 d after transfer. Shoot bud regeneration occurred from callus cultured on MS medium supplemented with different growth regulators 20 d after culturing. The regeneration percentages varied with the different components of plant growth regulators. The percent regeneration from callus pretreated at low temperature of 5°C increased significantly compared with those incubated at 23/20°C directly. Optimal regeneration was observed with explants on media supplemented with 1.5 mg&#8226;L^–1 BA plus 0.2 mg&#8226;L^-1 NAA. In the presence of 0.2 mg&#8226;L^–1 NAA in half-strength MS, 78% of the shoots formed roots. Plantlets from explants showed 63% survival after acclimatization.     

Regeneration of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Melia volkensii</Emphasis> Gürke (Meliaceae) through direct somatic embryogenesis

Experiments were conducted to study plant regeneration through direct somatic embryogenesis using mature zygotic embryo and cotyledonary explants from seeds of Melia volkensii stored for <3 and >12 months. Explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with BAP, NAA and 2,4-D (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg l⁻¹) alone, and BAP (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 mg l⁻¹) in combination with 2,4-D or NAA (0.2 and 0.5 mg l⁻¹). After 4 weeks in culture, up to 60% of cotyledonary explants from the seeds stored for <3 months produced direct somatic embryos on BAP (0.5–4.0 mg l⁻¹) in combination with 2,4-D (0.2 mg l⁻¹). The number of somatic embryos ranged from 5 to 14 per explant in BAP (0.5 mg l⁻¹) and 2,4-D (0.2 mg l⁻¹) combination. Only 20% of cotyledonary explants from seeds stored for >12 months produced somatic embryos. Mature zygotic embryos failed to produce any somatic embryos. Subcultures of somatic embryos from cotyledonary explants of seeds stored for <3 months formed clusters of shootlets on semi solid MS and 1/2 MS media. After 6 weeks of subculture on multiplication MS media augmented with BAP (0.5 mg l⁻¹) and IAA (0.2 mg l⁻¹), 70% of the shoot tips formed 4–7 shoots per explant. Up to 33% of the multiplied shoots were rooted in MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg l⁻¹ IBA. Plantlets developed normally into seedlings in the greenhouse.     

Reaction behavior of lignin in supercritical methanol as studied with lignin model compounds

 The reaction behavior and kinetics of lignin model compounds were studied in supercritical methanol with a batch-type supercritical biomass conversion system. Guaiacol, veratrole, 2,6-dimethoxyphenol, and 1,2,3-trimethoxybenzene were used as model compounds for aromatic rings in lignin. In addition, 5-5, β-1, β-O-4, and α-O-4 types of dimeric lignin model compounds were used as representatives of linkages in lignin. As a result, aromatic rings and 5-5 (biphenyl)-type structures were stable in supercritical methanol, and the β-1 linkage was not cleaved in the β-1-type structure but converted rapidly to stilbene. On the other hand, β-ether and α-ether linkages of β-O-4 and α-O-4 lignin model compounds were cleaved rapidly, and these compounds decomposed to some monomeric compounds. Phenolic compounds were found to be more reactive than nonphenolic compounds. These results indicate that cleavages of ether linkages mainly contribute to the depolymerization of lignin, whereas condensed linkages such as the 5-5 and β-1 types are not cleaved in supercritical methanol. Therefore, it is suggested that the supercritical methanol treatment effectively depolymerizes lignin into the lower-molecular-weight products as a methanol-soluble portion mainly by cleavage of the β-ether structure, which is the dominant linkage in lignin. Received: December 19, 2001 / Accepted: April 30, 2002 Acknowledgments This research has been done under the research program for the development of technologies for establishing an ecosystem based on recycling in rural villages for the twenty-first century from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan; by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)(2) (no.12460144, 2001.4–2003.3) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan; and under the research program from Kansai Research Foundation for Technology Promotion, Japan. The authors thank them for their financial support. This study was presented in part at the 45th Lignin Symposium, Ehime, Japan, October 2000 and the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Gifu, Japan, April 2002 Correspondence to:S. Saka     

Differences in chemical constituents between vascular bundles and nonvascular bundles of cacao (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Theobroma cacao</Emphasis> L.) hull

 Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) hulls were physically separated into vascular bundles (VBs) and nonvascular bundles (NVBs) to investigate their chemical compositions and the structural features of abundant polyphenolic compounds. Glucose content was determined to be 21.4% for VBs and 17.5% for NVBs, together with xylose content as 13.1% for VBs and 2.8% for NVBs. In addition, uronic acid in NVBs (12.9%) was much higher than that in VBs (5.2%). The content of total (poly)phenolic compounds (35.9%–39.1%) quantified as Klason residues (KRs) and acid-soluble phenolic compounds (ASPs) were similar in both cell types, although there were great differences in the structural characteris-tics of polyphenolic compounds. The pyrogram of VBs clearly showed high intensities of guaiacol and 4-vinylguaiacol together with low intensities of catechol and 4-methylcatechol. On the other hand, that of the NVBs showed opposite trends. These results were confirmed by alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation based on total yields of vanillin and syringaldehyde. Therefore, the accumulation of various polyphenolic compounds in cacao hulls relies strongly on the cell type and is correlated with the development of a secondary wall. Received: October 9, 2001 / Accepted: April 15, 2002 Present address: Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6340, USA Acknowledgments This project was partially supported financially by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (no. 13375007). We thank Dr. Hadi S. Arifin, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia, for collecting cacao fruits at the Rajamandala Cacao Plantation at Rajamandala in West Java. Correspondence to:K. Iiyama     

Plant growth regulation effects of triterpenoid saponins

 To investigate structure–activity relations between the sugar chain structures of triterpenoid saponins and their plant growth regulation effects, several monodesmosidic saponins with betulin as an aglycon were synthesized by chemical and enzymic reactions. Three triterpenoids (betulin, betulinic acid, oleanolic acid) and synthesized betulin glycosides were submitted to germination and growth regulation tests on alfalfa seeds. We concluded the following. Betulin had a slight growth inhibitory effect on alfalfa radicles. Betulin glycosides exhibited stronger effects than betulin, and betulin glycosides with two to four glucose residues as a sugar moiety had the greatest inhibitory activity. These characteristics of growth inhibitory effects were considerably different from those of phenolic compounds so far reported. Some betulin glycosides also showed a significant growth regulation effect on alfalfa hypocotyls. However, hypocotyl growth was less affected than radicle growth for all betulin glycosides. Among the triterpenoids, betulinic acid had stronger growth inhibitory effects on alfalfa radicles than betulin, suggesting the importance of the carboxyl group at the C-28 position for the inhibitory effects of lupane-type triterpenoids. On the other hand, no germination regulation effects on alfalfa seeds were observed for any of the betulin glycosides or triterpenoids examined. Received: October 9, 2001 / Accepted: February 15, 2002 Acknowledgments This work was supported in part by a research grant (Development of Highly Functional Materials by Structural Modification of Carbohydrates) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan. We thank Saori Kudo for her assistance in isolating compounds by chromatography. Correspondence to:S. Ohara     

Morphological features and dietary functional components in fruit bodies of two strains of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pholiota adiposa</Emphasis> grown on artificial beds

 The morphological features and dietary functional components of two strains (FPF-13 and Oninome-B) of Pholiota adiposa (numerisugitake mushroom) grown on artificial bed blocks were examined. The components examined were chitin, mannitol, trehalose, guanosine 5′-monophosphate, ergosterol, and β-glucan. There was a significant difference in the external shape of the two strains. However, the differences in the contents of functional components between the two strains, as well as between the pilei and stipes of the strains, were small. In both strains the trehalose content was much higher than the mannitol content, in contrast to those of Lentinula edodes. From a commercial point of view, Oninome-B has a clear advantage over other strains of P. adiposa owing to its less removable scale. Received: May 15, 2002 / Accepted: June 10, 2002 Acknowledgment The authors thank Dr. F. Eguchi (Takasaki University of Health and Welfare) for his technical advice on the β-glucan analysis. Part of this report was presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Tokyo, April 2001 Correspondence to:K. Shimizu     

Changes in water distribution in heartwood along stem axes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptomeria japonica</Emphasis>

 Three-dimensional distribution of water in the heartwood of Cryptomeria japonica D. Don was observed by soft X-ray photography. The within-tree variation in the distribution of “wet areas” (water-accumulated areas in heartwood) was enormous, as was the variation among trees. Although we found no universal pattern of changes in wet area distributions along the stem axes of all trees, similarities among individual trees within each cultivar and clone were observed. The difference between the two kinds of wetwood in C. japonica – genetically defined wetwood and secondarily induced wetwood – is discussed, as is the use of soft X-ray photography in Japanese tree breeding programs. Received: December 21, 2001 / Accepted: May 1, 2002 Part of this paper was presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Kumamoto, Japan, April 1996 Correspondence to:R. Nakada     

In-plane shear properties of the wood-based sandwich panel as a small shear wall evaluated by the shear test method using tie-rods

 The fundamental in-plane shear properties were investigated for the wood-based sandwich panel of plywood-overlaid low-density fiberboard (SW) manufactured at a pilot scale to develop it as a shear wall. The shear test method using tie-rods standardized for shear walls was applied to SW with dimensions of 260 mm square and 96 mm thick as a small shear wall and to plywood (PW) and thick low-density fiberboard (FB). The shear modulus and shear strength of PW, FB, and SW were determined. To measure the shear deformation angle, a displacement meter and strain-gauge were used. The shear moduli of PW (0.68 g/cm³) and FB (0.25–0.35 g/cm³) were 460 and 21–58 MPa/rad, respectively. The shear modulus of SW as a composite was analyzed. Some experimental models of SW were proposed (i.e., rigid-α, rigid-β, flexible, and semirigid models). The shear modulus of SW (0.35–0.40 g/cm³) evaluated based on the rigid-α and semirigid models were 73–89 and 109–125 MPa/rad, respectively. The theoretical shear modulus of SW was calculated to be 110–129 MPa/rad. Received: May 9, 2001 / Accepted: June 26, 2002 RID="*" ID="*" Part of this report was presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Kyoto, Japan, April 2000; and the 5th Pacific Rim Bio-Based Composite Symposium, Canberra, Australia, December 2000 Acknowledgments The authors express our deep gratitude to Mr. Noritoshi Sawada (Hokushin Co.), Dr. Wong Cheng, and their cooperative members for their expert technical support for the preparation of manufacturing the thick fiberboard and sandwich panel. We are grateful also to Drs. Min Zhang, Kenji Umemura, Wong Ee Ding, and Guangping Han for their great help and advice in manufacturing the thick panels. The authors are grateful to Hokushin Co. for the fiber and resin and to Ishinomaki Gouhan Co. for the plywood. We thank Mr. Makoto Nakatani for his expert assistance when preparing the specimens for the shear test. Funding provided by the Research Fellowship of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists as a JSPS Research Fellow is also gratefully acknowledged.     

Photocatalytic activity of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> crystallite-activated carbon composites prepared in supercritical isopropanol for the decomposition of formaldehyde

 An effort was made to develop photocatalytic TiO₂ crystallite–activated carbon (TiO₂-AC) composites from tetraisopropyl titanate (TPT)-soaked activated carbon in supercritical isopropanol. It was subsequently found that TPT in supercritical isopropanol could be effectively converted to the anatase form of the TiO₂ crystallites. The prepared composites, composed of activated carbon as an adsorbent and the anatase form of TiO₂ as a photocatalyst, were evaluated for their adsorption capacity and subsequent photocatalytic activity against formaldehyde, one of the harmful air pollutants in the environment. As a result, the supercritically treated TiO₂–AC composites, particularly at 300°C and 350°C, had much higher formaldehyde-decomposing ability compared to a noncomposite comprising a simple mixture of activated carbon and TiO₂ granules. This indicates that the supercritical treatment can be effective for preparing the photocatalytic composites that have a high synergetic effect of adsorption and photocatalytic decomposition of formaldehyde for environmental cleaning. Received: May 18, 2001 / Accepted: March 8, 2002 On leave from Fujian Forestry College, Fujian 353001, P.R. China Acknowledgments The authors express their sincere thanks to Miss H. Tokoro and Mr. D. Kusdiana for their kind, valuable help and cooperation and to Dr. H. Miyafuji for SEM observations of samples, all at the Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University. Correspondence to:S. Saka     

Resources and bioactive substances from Taiwania (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Taiwania cryptomerioides</Emphasis>)

 Taiwania (Taiwania cryptomerioides Hayata), native to Taiwan, is one of the most economically important tree species grown there. In this article we summarize the current results of phytochemistry and bioactivity of Taiwania extracts, including antifungal, antitermite, antibacterial, and antimite activities as well as cytotoxicity against three tumor cells. The resources of Taiwania are also addressed. Received: January 23, 2002 / Accepted: March 8, 2002 Acknowledgment The authors thank the National Science Council of R.O.C. for financial support (NSC-90-2313-B-002-344). Correspondence to:S.-T. Chang