Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is an important medicinal herb and has long been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases worldwide. Understanding the genetic diversity within Glycyrrhiza species is important for the efficient conservation of these medicinal herbs. In this study, we have developed 20 polymorphic chloroplast microsatellite (cpSSR) markers using the chloroplast genome of G. lepidota. The cpSSR markers were tested on a total of 27 Glycyrrhiza individual plants. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to eight among the Glycyrrhiza accessions. Overall, the Shannon index (I) for each cpSSR ranged from 0.315 to 1.694, the diversity indices (h) were 0.140–0.793 and the unbiased diversity indices (uh) were 0.145–0.825. In addition, the cpSSR markers were successfully divided and classified the 27 Glycyrrhiza individuals into four groups. The cpSSR markers developed in this study could be used in the assessment of genetic diversity and rapid identification of Glycyrrhiza species.

The genus Vicia L., one of the earliest domesticated plant genera, is a member of the legume tribe Fabeae of the subfamily Papilionoideae (Fabaceae). The taxonomic history of this genus is extensive and controversial, which has hindered the development of taxonomic procedures and made it difficult to identify and share these economically important crop resources. Species identification through DNA barcoding is a valuable taxonomic classification tool. In this study, four DNA barcodes (ITS2, matK, rbcL and psbA-trnH) were evaluated on 110 samples that represented 34 taxonomically best-known species in the Vicia genus. Topologies of the phylogenetic trees based on an individual locus were similar. Individual locus-based analyses could not discriminate closely related Vicia species. We proposed a concatenated data approach to increase the resolving power of ITS2. The DNA barcodes matK, psbA-trnH and rbcL were used as an additional tool for phylogenetic analysis. Among the four barcodes, three-barcode combinations that included psbA-trnH with any two of the other barcodes (ITS2, matK or rbcL) provided the best discrimination among Vicia species. Species discrimination was assessed with bootstrap values and considered successful only when all the conspecific individuals formed a single clade. Through sequencing of these barcodes from additional Vicia accessions, 17 of the 34 known Vicia species could be identified with varying levels of confidence. From our analyses, the combined barcoding markers are useful in the early diagnosis of targeted Vicia species and can provide essential baseline data for conservation strategies, as well as guidance in assembling germplasm collections.

A total of 27 accessions from ten Vicia species were investigated for flavonoid contents, total polyphenol contents, and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS [2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline 6-sulfonic acid)] free radical-scavenging activities. The results revealed that NAC17 (V. monantha) and NAC14 (V. hyrcanica) had the highest total flavonoid content (1.42 ± 0.09 mg/g) and total polyphenol content [124.2 ± 0.5 μg/gallic acid equivalents (GAE) mg], respectively. Among four flavonoids, naringenin was detected at high concentrations in Vicia species. The DPPH and ABTS assays showed values in the range of 57.2 (IC50) (NAC13, V. faba) to 6530.0 (IC50) (NAC24, V. sativa subsp. nigra) and 19.1 μg/Trolox mg (NAC7, V. cracca) to 253.4 μg/Trolox mg (NAC13, V. faba), respectively. Among ten Vicia species, V. monantha and V. hyrcanica had the highest flavonoid content (1.31 ± 0.09 mg/g) and total polyphenol content (116.5 ± 2.0 μg/GAE mg), respectively. The highest antioxidant activity was detected in V. faba. These results will expand the flavonoid database and provide valuable information on Vicia species for the development of functional foods or feed-additive resources.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the oldest oil crops and is widely cultivated in Asia and Africa. The aim of this study was to assess the genetic diversity, phylogenetic relationships and population structure of 277 sesame core collection accessions collected from 15 countries in four different continents. A total of 158 alleles were detected among the sesame accessions, with the number varying from 3 to 25 alleles per locus and an average of 11.3. Polymorphism information content values ranged from 0.34 to 0.84, with an average of 0.568. These values indicated a high genetic diversity at 14 loci both among and within the populations. Of these, 44 genotype-specific alleles were identified in 12 of the 14 polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers. The core collection preserved a much higher level of genetic variation. Therefore, 10.1% was selected as the best sampling percentage from the whole collection when constructing the core collection. The 277 core collection accessions formed four robust clusters in the unweighted pair group method and the arithmetic averages (UPGMA) dendrogram, although the clustering did not indicate any clear division among the sesame accessions based on their geographical locations. Similar patterns were obtained using model-based structure analysis and country-based dendrograms, as some accessions situated geographically far apart were grouped together in the same cluster. The results of these analyses will increase our understanding of the genotype-specific alleles, genetic diversity and population structure of core collections, and the information can be used for the development of a future breeding strategy to improve sesame yield.

We present experimental evidence of enhancement of thermoelectric properties in tellurium (Te) nanoparticle-embedded bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) alloys. Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 films with a high density of Te particles of 10–20 nm size were prepared by growth of alternating multilayers of ultrathin Te and Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3. As the amount of Te nanoinclusions increased up to ∼15%, the Seebeck coefficient and thermoelectric power factor were increased. Based on the concept of band bending at heterointerfaces as a carrier energy filter, the energy relaxation calculation was made to confirm that the Te nanoinclusions result in a carrier energy filtering effect in p-type bismuth antimony telluride. In addition, thermal conductivities were reduced in the Te-embedded samples, permitting possible further enhancement of the thermoelectric figure of merit. The advantages of Te nanoinclusions in p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3alloys on thermoelectric performance are experimentally realized by both electron- and phonon scattering.

The Korean species of the genus Latibulus Gistel (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) are reviewed. Two new species and a key to nine species are presented: Latibulus argiolus (Rossi), Latibulus bilacunitus Sheng and Xu, Latibulus flavopetiolus Oh and Lee new species, Latibulus fulvus Oh and Lee new species, Latibulus hokkaidensis Lee and Oh, Latibulus lautus (Tosquinet), Latibulus liaoningensis Sheng et al., Latibulus nigrinotum (Uchida), and Latibulus orientalis Horstmann. The genus is reported from Mongolia for the first time, based on the cocoon of an unidentified species. Polistes chinensis antennalis Pérez and Polistes jadwigae jadwigae Dalla Torre (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) are reported as new host species for the genus and L. nigrinotum, respectively.

A new species, Arthula biformis Oh and Lee sp. nov., belonging to the cryptine ichneumonid subtribe Sphecophagina Beirne is described from Korea. The new species is composed of two seasonal forms, overwintering and summer, distinguished by color and some morphological features. The overwintering form is much darker than the summer form. Keys to the genera of Sphecophagina and the known species of Arthula Cameron and photographs of diagnostic characters of both color forms of the new species are provided.

Two new ichneumonid species in the genus Jezarotes Uchida are described from Korea: J. dentatusn. sp. and J. tetragonisn. sp. Photographs of diagnostic characters of the two new species, a key to the six known species, and a diagnosis of the genus are provided.

We investigated the pressure dependence of the inductive coupled plasma (ICP) oxidation on the electrical characteristics of the thin oxide films. Activation energies and electron temperatures with different pressures were estimated. To demonstrate the pressure effect on the plasma oxide quality, simple N type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistors were fabricated and investigated in a few electrical properties. At higher pressure than 200mTorr, plasma oxide has a slightly higher on-current and a lower interfacial trap density. The on-current gain seems to be related to the field mobility increase and the lower defective interface to the electron temperature during oxidation.

Decision making in an emotionally conflicting situation is important in social life. We aimed to address the similarity and disparity of neural correlates involved in processing ambivalent stimuli in patients with schizophrenia and patients with depression. Behavioral task-related hemodynamic responses were measured using [15O]H2O positron emission tomography (PET) in 12 patients with schizophrenia and 12 patients with depression. The task was a modified word-stem completion task, which was designed to evoke ambivalence in forced and non-forced choice conditions. The prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum were found to show increased activity in the healthy control group. In the schizophrenia group, activity in these two regions was negligible. In the depression group, the pattern of activity was altered and a functional compensatory recruitment of the inferior parietal regions was suggested. The prefrontal cortex seems to be associated with the cognitive control to resolve the conflict toward the ambivalent stimuli, whereas the cerebellum reflects the sustained working memory to search for compromise alternatives. The deficit of cerebellar activation in the schizophrenia group might underlie the inability to search and consider compromising responses for conflict resolution. (JINS, 2009, 15, 990–1001.)

TbMnO3 exists in an orthorhombic phase in nature. Recently, we successfully grew TbMnO3 thin films in the hexagonal phase using epitaxial stabilization techniques. In this article, we will show the details of the deposition conditions that allow us to fabricate the hexagonal TbMnO3 films on Pt–Al2O3(0001) substrates. The artificial hexagonal phase can be easily formed above 850 °C, irrespective of the oxygen partial pressure. The hexagonal TbMnO3 films showed ferroelectric properties, which are significantly enhanced compared to those of the orthorhombic TbMnO3 bulk phase. We find interesting anomalies in the magnetic and magnetodielectric properties of the TbMnO3 films at around 45 K, which should be related with the Mn3+ spin reorientation. We also find spin-glass-like behaviors in the magnetic susceptibility, which could be attributed to the geometric frustration of antiferromagnetically coupled Mn spins with an edge-sharing triangular lattice. This work shows details of the growth and properties of hexagonal TbMnO3 films.

We designed and synthesized a dendritic architecture in which three branches of the NLO-active component consisting of push-pull type conjugated structure were linked onto its core. Chemical structure of the dendritic nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophore was verified by NMR spectroscopy, which clearly showed that the conjugated bridge had a trans-conformation. The dendrimer exhibited that the broad absorption band centered at around 608 nm extending to 760 nm. It was thermally stable up to 275 °C in the nitrogen atmosphere. Polymer film was prepared by spincoating the solution of mixture of amorphous polycarbonate (APC) and the dendritic chromophore, which exhibited an electro-optic coefficient of 19 pm/V at 1.55 μm wavelength.

We report the discovery of three new star clusters in the halo of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822. These clusters were found in the deep images taken with the MegaPrime at the CFHT covering a total field of 2 deg $\times$ 2 deg. The most remote cluster is found to be located as far as 79 arcmin away from the center of NGC 6822. This distance is several times larger than the size of the region in NGC 6822 where star clusters were previously found. Morphological structures of the clusters and color-magnitude diagrams of the resolved stars in the clusters show that at least two of these clusters are proabably old globular clusters.

We analyze CO and H2 absorption lines of the foreground molecular cloud in the Carina nebula. We use HST-STIS (Hubble Space Telescope - Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph) & IUE (International Ultraviolet Explorer) INES data to analyze the A-X (v=0→2) absorption band of CO for several hot stars toward the Carina nebula, while 9 stars of them have FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer) spectra to analyze the (v=0→4) vibrational band in the Lyman series of H2. The column densities of CO and H2 varies in the vicinity of N(CO) ~ 1013cm−2 and N(H2) ~ 1019cm−2, respectively. The resultant CO-to-H2 abundance ratio is about 10−6. We investigate the variation of the abundance ratio according to the relative position of the target stars to morphology the molecular cloud in the Carina nebula.

The grain morphology of the intermetallic compound (IMC) that forms at the interface between liquid solders and solid-metal substrates was observed at solder joints. Cu6Sn5 grains on Cu substrates were rough or rounded, and Ni3Sn4 grains on Ni substrates were faceted. Through the energy-based calculations, the relationship between the IMC grain morphology and Jackson's parameter α was explained. The Jackson's parameter of the IMC grain with a rough surface is smaller than 2 while it is larger than 2 for faceted grains.

The Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph (FIMS) is a small spectrograph optimized for the observations of diffuse hot interstellar medium in far-ultraviolet wavebands (900–1150Å and 1335–1750Å). The instrument is expected to be sensitive to emission line fluxes an order of magnitude fainter than any previous missions. FIMS is currently under development and is scheduled for launch in 2002.

We have fabricated the a-Si:H film for pixel region and poly-Si film for driver region on the same glass substrate by a rapid thermal process successfully. By employing the halogen lamp, the considerable amount of hydrogen in the PECVD a-Si:H film, which causes the undesirable film ablation due to hydrogen evolution during excimer laser annealing, could be reduced selectively in the peripheral driver area where the a-Si:H film is recrystallized into poly-Si film in order to obtain the high mobility. After rapid thermal annealing, the hydrogen content in a-Si:H films, of which the inherent hydrogen content was found to be about 10–12 at. %, is successfully reduced to less than 5 at. %. The annealing conditions for dehydrogenation are 500, 550, 600 and 650 °C with various halogen lamp irradiation period which are below the point of the glass shrinkage. It should be noted that after rapid thermal annealing, any physical damage in the glass substrate has not been observed.

Ba(TMHD)2, Sr(TMHD)2 and Ti-isopropoxide were used to fabricate the (SrxTi1 x)O3 and (Ba1 x Srx)TiO3 thin films. The decomposition and degradation characteristics of Ba(TMHD)2 and Sr(TMHD)2 with storage time were analyzed using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The thin films were fabricated on Si(p-type 100) and Pt/SiO2/Si substrates with Ar carrier gas using ECR plasma (or without ECR plasma) assisted MOCVD. Experimental results showed that the ECR oxygen plasma increased the deposition rate, the ratio of Sr/Ti, the dielectric constant and the leakage current density of the film. The dependency of the crystallinity and the electrical properties on the Sr/Ti ratio of films were investigated. However, almost of the films deposited with Ar carrier gas had slightly high dielectric loss and high leakage current density and showed non-uniform compositional depth profiles. NH3 gas was also used to decrease the degradation of the MO-sources. Mass spectra in-situ monitoring of source vapors in ECR-PAMOCVD system were obtained. By introducing NH3 as a carrier gas, a significant improvement was achieved in the volatility and the thermal stability of the precursors, and the vaporization temperatures of the precursors were reduced compared to Ar carrier gas. The uniform compositional depth profile, less hydrogen and carbon content and the good electrical properties of (SrxTi1−x)O3 thin films were obtained with NH3 carrier gas. The (Ba1−xSrx)TiO3 thin film were fabricated to have very fine and uniform microstructure, the dielectric constant of 456, the dielectric loss of 0.0128, the leakage current density of 5.01 × 10−8A/cm2 at 1V and the breakdown field of 3.65MV/cm.

SrTiO3 thin films were prepared on Si(p-type 100) and Pt/SiO2/Si substrates using ECR plasma (or without ECR plasma) assisted MOCVD. Sr(TMI-D)2 and Ti-isopropoxide were used as Sr and Ti metal organic sources, respectively. Perovskite SrTiO3 films were obtained at relatively low temperature of 500°C (using ECR oxygen plasma. Experimental results indicated that higher deposition temperature and ECR oxygen plasma increase the crystallinity, the dielectric constant and the leakage current density. The dielectric constant and the dielectric loss were 222 and 0.04, respectively, for 1234 Å thin SrTiO3 film (Sr/(Sr+Ti)=0.5). The leakage current density was 3.78 × 10−7 A/cm2 at 1.0V, and the dielectric breakdown field was 0.57MV/cm. SEM analyses showed that SrTiO3 films have a uniform and fine grain structure. In terms of step coverage, a lateral step coverage of 50% at 0.8 μm step (the aspect ratio was 1) was obtained with the thickness uniformity of ± 0.5% and the composition uniformity of ±1.2% at 4′′ wafer.