Background : Corrosion is one of the most devastating problems faced by most industries. Mild steel has played a vital role in various fields due to the excellent mechanical properties of mild steel such as low density, high strength-to-weight ratios, good environmental stability, high thermal conductivity, and corrosion resistance. Methods and Results : The total phenolic contents (TPC) and total flavonoid contents (TFC) of the methanolic extract of C. grandiflora and R. verniciflua leaf have been examined, and its corrosion inhibition performance was investigated by weight loss and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization measurements. The surface morphology of mild steel was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The percentage composition of polyphenolic compounds was found to be higher in C. grandiflora and R. verniciflua plant extracts, and it was proved to be a superior, eco-friendly, and anti-corrosive inhibitor for mild steel in 1M of H2SO4. The Tafel polarization studies indicate that the plant extract is a mixed-type inhibitor. Scanning electron microscopy/energy -dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies confirmed the formation of a protective film on the metal surface. The corrosion inhibition of the C. grandiflora and R. verniciflua plant extracts was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), UV-visible spectra, and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies; these show the strong interaction between the metal surface and the inhibitor. Conclusion : The methanolic extract was prepared the two different plants like C. grandiflora, and R. verniciflua was studied the corrosion inhibition on the mild steel specimen in acidic medium through various methods involving weight loss measurements, EIS, and potentiodynamic polarization. The results shows that the C. grandiflora, and R. verniciflua plant extracts illustrate an effective corrosion inhibitor for mild steel with good anticorrosion properties in acidic environmen

Background : Despite the presence of various bioactive compounds in ginseng, there is lack of study on the variations of bioactive compounds in ginseng according to the cultivation of soil and the applied fertilizer types (or amount). Therefore, this study aims to examine the variations of 37 fatty acids (FA) and 8 vitamin E (Vit-E) vitamers in 6-year-old ginseng root cultivated in different soil types with different fertilizers regimes. Methods and Results : The profiling of 37 FAs and 8 Vit-E vitamers in 6-year-old ginseng roots was measured by gas chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector, and then these results were statistically analyzed with chemometrics. The FA and Vit-E content in ginseng roots varied significantly with respect to soil cultivation conditions due to organic fertilizer types and amounts used. Unsaturated FA in ginseng is approximately 2.7 fold higher than the saturated FA. Linoleic, palmitic, and oleic acids were the most abundant FAs found in the ginseng roots. Also, the major Vit-E vitamer found in ginseng root is α -tocopherol. In particular, the application of rice straw compost or food waste fertilizer was increased to create nutritionally-desirable FAs and bioactive Vit-E in ginseng root. In addition, phytonutrient profiling coupled with chemometrics can be used to discriminate the cultivation conditions of ginseng. Conclusion : This preliminary study extends our understanding about the variations of FA and Vit-E in ginseng root depending on cultivation conditions. Hence, these results can be useful as basic information for reliable ginseng production containing high amounts of phytonutrients in a paddy-converted field.

Background : Despite the presence of various bioactive compounds in ginseng, there is lack of study about the phenolic metabolites in ginseng especially depending on the cultivation soil and the fertilizer types. Therefore, this study aims to develop an (-)ESI-LC-MS/MS analytical method for the measurement of selected phenolic compounds in the ginseng root. Methods and Results : Total phenol content in ginseng root was measured with the Folin-Ciocalteau method using UV/Vis spectrophotometer. Then, the 56 selected phenolic metabolites in ginseng root were measured with the (-)ESI-LC-MS/MS. The brief LC-MS/MS analytical conditions were as follows; Thermo Scientific Syncronis C18 HPLC Column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) was used. Optimized instrument settings were as follows: Curtain gas 20 psi, collision gas 2 psi, ion spray voltage –4500 V, nebulizer gas 40 psi, heating gas 70 psi, and its temperature 350℃. Total phenol content was higher in the ginseng cultivated in the paddy-converted field than that in upland. In particular, the total phenol content was about 6% decreased in the ginseng root cultivated with the food waste fertilizer compared to the control (p < 0.05). Six phenolic constituents including caffeic, chlorogenic, p-coumaric, ferulic, gentisic, and salicylic acids were found in the ginseng root by using the LC-MS/MS in MRM (multiple reaction monitoring) Mode. These six phenolic compounds occupied approximately 20% of the total phenol content measured in the corresponding ginseng root. The chlorogenic acid was the most abundant phenolic metabolite found in the ginseng root, accounting for ≥ 95% of the sum of six phenolic compounds, in this study. Conclusion : This preliminary study can be useful for the study on content and composition of phenolic metabolites in ginseng root with the aspect of metabolomics. We plan to further optimize the LC-MS/MS analytical method and then provide the extended understanding on the phenolic metabolism in the ginseng root with respect to the ginseng cultivation conditions.

Background : The natural stable isotope ratio of common bio-elements like carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), or sulfur (S) varies with diverse isotope fractionation processes in nature. Therefore, measuring the variation of these stable isotope ratios in ginseng roots can be a feasible tool to discriminate the geographical origins of ginseng in Korea. Methods and Results : The 3-year-old six Korean ginseng cultivars were cultivated at the five regions in Korea, and then used for measuring the stable isotope ratios of C, N, O, and S by isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). The mean C, N, O, and S stable isotope ratio values in the ginseng roots significantly differed according to the cultivation regions (p < 0.05). However, these isotope ratios in ginseng roots had relatively weak discriminative power against to the ginseng cultivars at each cultivation region. The interaction of the cultivation region and ginseng cultivar type also significantly affected to the C, N, O, and S stable isotope ratio in ginseng roots (p < 0.0001). The two-dimensional plots associated with the N stable isotope ratio can effectively separate the ginseng roots in Jinan compared to those in the other regions. The partial least squares-discriminant analysis showed more significant separation between ginseng geographical origins compared to the principal component analysis. Conclusion : Our findings improve our understanding of how the isotope composition of ginseng roots varies with respect to cultivation regions and cultivars, and suggest that the analysis of the stable isotope ratios combined with chemometrics can be used as a feasible tool to discriminate geographical origin of ginseng in Korea.

Hepatocytes and hepatic progenitors derived from human ES cells may be a useful source for clinical application. Therefore, identification and purification of these cell types would be following important issues. There are very few candidate surface markers that can be used to identify and purify hepatic progenitor cells. In addition, indocyanine-green can be uptaken by mature hepatocytes, but cannot be applied for fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) due to its long emission wavelength. In the present study, we tested EpCAM as a potential marker for magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) of hepatic progenitors and also modified indocyanine-green into fluorescent indomonocarbocyanine for FACS-mediated sorting of mature hepatocytes after differentiation of human ES cells. Hepatic progenitor cells were sorted by MACS after incubation with anti-human EpCAM antibodies. After the final differentiation, the differentiated cells and mouse primary hepatocytes (control group) were incubated with indomonocarbocyanine and were sorted by FACS. MACS and immunocytochemistry data showed that approximately 45% of differentiated cells were EpCAM-positive cells. EpCAM-positive cells expressed α-fetoprotein, FOXa2, HnF4a, and CK18. Differentiation efficiency into albumin-positive cells was significantly higher in EpCAM-positive cells, compared to EpCAM-negative cells. Importantly, indomonocarbocyanine successfully stained cells that expressed ALB. Furthermore, FACS analysis data showed that the purity of hepatocytes that expressed albumin was significantly increased after purification of indomonocarbocyanine-positive cells. Our data demonstrated that human ES cell-derived hepatic progenitors can be efficiently isolated by MACS using EpCAM antibody. In addition, we also showed that indomonocarbocyanine can be successfully used to identify and purify mature hepatocytes using FACS.

The formation characteristics of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) were investigated in chlorination of raw water of different organic mallet characteristics. The samples used in this study were hydrophobic (N-HPO) and hydrophilic fraction (N-HPI) (which were concentrated and separated from Nakdong river water), and humic acid (HA) (which is known as a strong hydrophobic acid) as a reference organic matter, the specific UV absorbance (SUVA) of which was 2.19, 1.15 and 7.92, respectively. With increasing chlorine contact time, THMFP and HAAFP (the formation potential of THMs and HAAs) increased, but their increase was different depending on the organic mallet characteristics (i.e., for N-HPI, THMFP was higher than HAAFP, but the inverse result was obtained for N-HPO and HA and the ratio between them was greater for HA), and the mainly formed chemical species were CHCI3 in case of THMs and dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) and trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) in case of HAAs for N-HPO and HA (and the ratios of CHCI3 to total THMs and DCAA and TCAA to total HAAs for HA were higher than those for N-HPO), but for N-HPI, the ratio of brominated THMs was a little higher than that of CHCI3 and the ratio of DCAA and TCAA to total HAAs was lower than that of N-HPO, although they are main chemical species in case of HAAs. Comparing THMFP and HAAFP with the increase in bromide concentration added with those in not adding it, the former increased greatly and its increase was higher for the organic mallet with stronger hydrophobicity, but the latter was lower for N-HPO and N-HPI and was similar for HA. The main chemical species with increasing bromide concentration were CHBt3 in case of THMs regardless of organic matter characteristics, and dibromoacetic acid (DBAA) for N-HPO and N-HPI, DBAA and tribromoacetic acid (TBAA) for HA in case of HAAs. With increasing reaction temperature and pH, THMFP and HAAFP increased for the former, but for the latter, THMFP increased and HAAFP decreased, although the rate of increase or decrease was different with organic mallet characteristics.

The objective of this study was to determine the role of storing years with the variation of total phenol and individual phenolic compounds in soybean (Glycine max L.) seeds. The total phenol content varied from 0.36 to 0.42% over four years, with the highest value (0.42%) found at storage for two and three years. Among the nine soybean varieties examined, Daweonkong had the highest total average phenol content (0.58%). The total content of 11 phenolics varied from 730.0 to 1812.8 ~mu~textrmg~;~textrmg-1 over storage for four years, and the highest concentration (1812.8 ~mu~textrmg~;~textrmg-1 ) was found at storage for two years. Myeongjunamulkong (1465.4 ~mu~textrmg~;~textrmg-1 ) had the highest mean content among the nine soybean varieties. The total content of 11 phenolic compounds measured in this study occupied from 20.96 to 47.73% of the total phenol contents. The highest total phenol contents were in seeds with black coats (5279.4 ~mu~textrmg~;~textrmg-1 ), while the highest concentration of individual phenolic compounds were in seeds with green coats (1419.5 ~mu~textrmg~;~textrmg-1 ). Our study suggests that it may be feasible to improve soybean varieties with high functional substances such as phenolic compounds.

Effects of ambient and elevated ~textrmCO2 and high temperature, and their interactions with zero and applied nitrogen supply (NN-no nitrogen and AN-applied nitrogen) were studied on soybean (Glycine max L.) in 2001. In this experiment, elevated ~textrmCO2 (650 ~mu~textrmmol.~textrmmol-1 ) and temperature (+5~circ ) increased total dry mass at final harvest by 125% and 119% and seed weight per plant by 57% and 105% for NN and AN plants, respectively. Although the influence of temperature and temperature x ~textrmCO2 were not significant, the influences of ~textrmCO2 concentration and temperature x ~textrmCO2 concentration were significant on total dry weight and seed weight, respectively. In particular, seed weight per plant was increased, while weight per one hundred seed weight was decreased with elevated ~textrmCO2 and temperature. The N supply increased biomass and seed weight per soybean plants. The results of this study suggest that the long-term adaptation of soybean growth at an elevated ~textrmCO2 concentration and high temperature might potentially result in a increase in dry matter production and yield.