Sixteen clinically healthy New Zealand white rabbits of either sex were divided into two equal groups I and II of 8 animals each. Under thiopental sodium (2.5%) anaesthesia a linear full thickness abdominal wall defect of 3 cm in length was created and repaired with continuous suture pattern using 3000 filaments of carbon fibres and 1~0 black braided nylon suture, ingroup I and II respectively. Increased vascularity was observed in carbon fibres (group I) and on day 30 the carbon fibres were covered by white fibrous tissue. Significantly higher (P < 0.05) values of glucose was seen on day 14 in group I, whereas, decrease in glucose value was observed in group II. Histopathologically, the carbon fiber implant induced extensive fibrous tissue (collagen fiber) reaction. Negligible inflammatory cells in the stroma indicate the host tissue tolerance to carbon fibers. Histochemically, gradually increased alkaline phosphatase activity up to day 14 in group I, suggested the proliferation of fibroblasts in early stages.

The polymer-ceramic hybrid, known as 'ceramer', was synthesized by a sol-gel process by incorporating different amount of alkoxide as source of silicon in resorcinol-formaldehyde in presence of basic catalyst to get different percentage of silicon in ultimate carbonized composites. FTIR of the ceramer confirms that it is a network of Si-O-Si, Si-O-CH2 and Si-OH type groups linked with benzene ring. Different amount of silicon in the ceramer exhibits varying temperature of thermal stability and lower coefficient of thermal expansion as compared to pure resorcinol-formaldehyde resin. The lower value of CTE in ceramer is due to existence of silica and resorcinol -formaldehyde in co-continuous phase. Unidirectional composites prepared with ceramer matrix and high-strength carbon fibers show lower value of flexural strength at polymer stage as compared to those prepared with resorcinol-formaldehyde resin. However, after heat treatment to 1450℃, the ceramer matrix composites show large improvement in the mechanical properties, i.e. with 7% silicon in the ceramer, the flexural strength is enhanced by 100% and flexural modulus value by 40% as compared to that of pure resorcinol-formaldehyde resin matrix composites.

The present study was conducted to assess sperm characteristics in miniature-pig. The semen samples were transported to the laboratory at 17℃ within 3 hours after collection. The extended semen was stored at 17℃, and sperm quality was evaluated at 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 days after storage. The semen volume of miniature-pig (62±22㎖) was significantly (p<0.05) lower than that of Duroc (155±25㎖) and Yorkshire (154±23㎖). Significant differences were also observed in sperm concentrations. During 3 days of storage, sperm viability did not differ among miniature-pig, Duroc and Yorkshire. However, the viability was significantly (p<0.05) lower in miniature-pig than in Duroc and Yorkshire semen after Day 3 of storage. In abnormality, acrosome intactness and intensity, there were no differences among miniature-pig, Duroc and Yorkshire semen. On the other hand, the viability of frozen-thawed sperm in miniature-pig was significantly (p<0.05) lower than in that of Duroc and Yorkshire. This study also examined CTC patterns in frozen-thawed spermatozoa. The rates of AR pattern were higher in miniature-pig than in Duroc and Yorkshire. However, no difference was found in F, B and AR patterns. The results of present study suggest that further research is necessary to develop of semen extender and freezing methods to improve sperm quality in miniature-pig.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of various addition and exclusion time of glucose (Control: no addition, A: 24～72 h, B: 24～48 h, C: 48～72 h, D: 0～72 h, E: 0～48 h, F: 0～24 h and 48～72 h, G: 0～24 h) on embryonic developmental capacity of 2-cell embryos in mice. Developed blastocysts were assessed for mean cell number by differential staining. The zona-intact blastocyst (ZiB) rates were higher (p<0.05) in group B than control. However, the zona-escape blastocyst (ZeB) rates were not significantly different in all groups. At 72 h, total blastocyst (ZiB + ZeB) formation rates were not significantly different in all groups. The mean cell number was not significantly different among all groups. The inner cell mass (ICM) cell number was higher (p<0.05) in group F than control, group A, B and G. The trophectoderm (TE) cell number was higher (p<0.05) in control than group A and D. The %ICM was higher (p<0.05) in group C, D and F than control. The ICM : TE ratio was not significantly different in all groups. Between control and glucose group, no significant difference was observed in the total blastocysts (ZiB + ZeB) formation rates. Also, no significant difference was observed in the mean cell number, ICM cell number and ICM : TE ratio. However the TE cell number was higher (p<0.05) in control than glucose group and %ICM was higher (p<0.05) in glucose group than control. In conclusion, glucose added in culture medium was not inhibitory on blastocyst formation but glucose added for 48 ～72 h in culture medium increases %ICM of blastocysts in mice.