Carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers were synthesized in this study under a hydrogen atmosphere using the floating-catalyst chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. Acetone, ferrocene, and thiophene served as the sources of carbon, catalyst, and promoter, respectively. By adjusting the amount of thiophene, the sulfur molar ratio in the CVD reactor was varied to study its impact on the morphology and composition of the CNT fibers. Raman and TEM analyses showed that the structural properties of the CNTs, especially the production of single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) with a high Raman IG/ ID ratio of approximately 23.8, can be finely tuned by altering the sulfur content, which also affects the accumulation of spherical carbonaceous particles. Moreover, it was established that the electrical conductivity of the CNT fibers is significantly influenced by their specific components—SWCNTs, multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs), and spherical carbonaceous particles. The ratios of these components can be adjusted by modifying the molar ratios of catalyst and promoter in the precursor mixture. Remarkably, SWCNTs with enhanced crystallinity were found to substantially improve the electrical conductivity of the CNT fibers, despite the presence of numerous spherical carbon impurities.

Lentinus lepideus is an edible mushroom, belongs to the family Tricholomaceteae and order Agaricales. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activities, tyrosinase inhibitory effects on the fruiting bodies of L. lepideus extracted with acetone, methanol and hot water. The antioxidant activities were performed on β-carotene-linoleic acid, reducing power, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging, and ferrous chelating abilities. In addition to this, phenolic acid and flavonoids contents were also analyzed. Hot water extract of L. lepideus showed the strongest β-carotene-linoleic acid inhibition as compare to others extracts. At 8 mg/ml, methanolic extract showed a high reducing power of 1.21. The scavenging effects on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals, acetonic and methanolic extracts were effective than hot water extract. The strongest chelating effect (87.50%) was obtained from the methanolic extract at 1.0 mg/ml concentration. Antioxidant activities of the extracts from the fruiting bodies of L. lepideus were increased with the increasing concentration. After application of reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography, coupled to a diode array detector and electrospray ionisation mass spectra, six phenolic compounds namely, chlorogenic acid, vanillin, naringin, naringenin, formononetin and biochanin were identified from acetonic extract. Tyrosinase inhibition of acetonic, methanolic, and hot water extracts of L. lepideus were increased with the increasing of concentration. Results revealed that acetonic and methanolic extract showed good, while hot water showed moderate activities of the tyrosinase inhibition at the concentration tested. This study suggests that fruiting bodies of L. lepideus can potentially be used as a readily accessible source of natural antioxidants.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are promising cell source because of their unique self-renewal and pluripotency. Although hESC-derived cardiac cells are currently generated worldwide, cryopreservation of these cells is still limited due to low rate of post-thaw survival. Cryopreservation of hESC-derived cardiac cells is critical in that their long-term storage can accelerate their use in regenerative medicine. However, to date, there are few reports on efficient cryopreservation and post-thaw survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells. In this study, we evaluated the effects of ginsenoside, which is known to improve survival of rat embryonic cardiomyocytes against myocardial ischemia injury in diabetic rats (Wu et al., 2011), on the survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells after thawing. We induced differentiation into cardiac cells using our previously reported method (Kim et al., 2011). Differentiated, pre-beating stage cardiac cells were cryopreserved using either mass cryopreservation or vitrification. To evaluate the effects of ginsenoside (Re, Rb), we compared three sets: pre- and post-thaw treatment, pre- or post-thaw treatment only. The survival of post-thaw cardiac cells were evaluated using Trypan-blue and Annexin V staining. In addition, the three groups were treated with ROCK inhibitor Y-27632, and compared with non-treatment groups. The effect of ginsenoside was significant in post-thaw treatment group, i.e, thawed cells expressed cardiac specific genes and showed specific functionality such as spontaneous beating. Taken together, we demonstrated favorable effects of ginsenoside on the survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells after cryopreservation and thawing. These results suggest a possible application of well-known cardioprotectant ginsenoside in cell-based tissue engineering using hESC-derived cardiac cells.

“Undoobyeo” is a japonica rice cultivar (Oryza sativa L.) developed by the rice breeding team in the National Crop Experiment Station, RDA, Suwon, Korea in 1998. Undoobyeo was derived from a cross between Odaebyeo and Jinbu 13 made during 1989/'90 winter

Korean Rice Breeding Information Management System (KRBIMS) is a database and its management system that provides integrated management of the information on rice breeding generation from the crossing parents to the released varieties. It is also a decisi