The trichomes on leaves of three species of Mentha such as M. spicata, M. suaveolens, and M. piperita var were examined by scanning electron microscopy. Simple non-glandular trichomes and peltate glandular trichomes were distinctively occurred on these leaves. In M. spicata, short and sharp non-glandular trichomes were dominantly appeared on adaxial surface, whereas capitate glandular trichomes were commonly localized on abaxial surface. In M. suaveolens, non-glandular trichomes were identified with simple unbranched and branched. Unbranched trichomes which were sharp and pointed in shape occurred on adaxial surface, however, branched and v-shaped trichomes appeared abundantly on abaxial surface. Peltate trichomes consisted of a large eight-celled head. Small capitates trichomes consisted of a cylindrical head with an one-celled uniseriate stalk. In M. piperita var, single non-glandular trichomes and peltate trichomes were present on adaxial surface. Small capitate trichomes consisted of a globose unicellular head with a two- or three-celled uniseriate stalk. Peltate trichomes were distinctly present on abaxial surface, whereas they were not observed on adaxial surface. The trichomes were less dense in this species. Peltate trichomes consisted of a large eight-celled head, with an enlarged secretory cavity, attached to an one-celled short stalk.

The study examined the antioxidant activities and anti-inflammatory effects of rutin from the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Results revealed that the levels of plasma glucose and serum glucose were remarkably higher in the STZ-treated group compared to other groups and were significantly reduced in the STZ+rutin treated group compared to the STZ-treated group. In terms of weight, it significantly increased in all experimental groups during the experiment period except for STZ-induced diabetic group. The weight of the STZ-treated group was remarkably reduced compared to other groups. Regarding the weight of each body organ, the STZ-treated group showed higher organ weight compared to the other groups while STZ+rutin-treated group showed significantly reduced kidney and liver weights compared to those of STZ-treated group. In the pancreas tissue of the STZ-treated group, ${\beta}$-cell destruction and vacuolization were observed. Inflammation in the heart, liver, kidney, and retina tissues were also vividly recorded. In the STZ+rutin administered group, the heart and retina tissues were shown to be preserved normally while the liver and kidney tissues showed reduced histopathology in general compared to the STZ-treated group. Conclusionally, the rutin has the effect on the antioxidant activities and anti-inflammation in the STZ-induced diabetic rats.

Although the geometrical difference in body position between web-building and wandering spiders could affect the organization of their central nervous system (CNS), however most of our informations about spider's CNS are dependent on those revealed from the wandering spiders. Therefore, this paper describes microstructural organizations of the CNS in the geometric orb-web spider Araneus ventricosus. Similarly to other wandering spiders, the CNS of A. ventricosus is also consisted of a dorsal supraesophageal ganglion and a ventral subesophageal mass. The supraesophageal ganglia are fused together and made up of a large sized nerve cell clusters, whereas the subesophageal ganglia are made up of the foremost part of the ventral nerve cord. It has been revealed that the only nerve arising from the supraesophageal mass was the optic nerve which connected with four pairs of eyes, whereas a pair of pedipalpal and four pairs of appendage nerves including abdominal nerve pairs were arisen from the subesophageal nerve mass. Fibrous masses are highly organized into longitudinal and transverse tracts, and are only consisted of processes of neurons and the terminal ramnifications of peripheral sensory neurons. In addition, central fibrous mass of both the brain and the subesophageal mass are totally devoid of nerve cell bodies.

The morphological features of pollen grains collected from the broad-leaved and cylindrical-leaved Portulaca species of the Hawaiian Islands were investigated. The variation in size and surface pattern were examined using scanning electron microscopy and statistical analysis. Pollens of the Portulaca were apolar grains of monads exhibiting apertures, colpi, and relatively thin echini. Of particular interest was the differing size of pollen grains among the species studied. Pollens of the broad-leaved Portulaca were considerable in size with a length of about $73{\sim}86{\mu}m$, while the cylindrical-leaved Portulaca tended to have smaller pollen grains ranging from 50~65 in diameter. The smallest pollens were found in cultivar 2 having an average of $43{\mu}m$. The pollen was intectate, and the exine surface appeared granulous, having sculptured elements of spinules and puncta. Two types of puncta were discerned; one forming an operculum, and the other, a simple perforation. Numerous spinules and small puncta were found throughout the cylindrical-leaved Portulaca. In the present study, morphological features of pollen grains from ten Hawaiian Portulaca species, including endemic and unknown taxa, revealed the aforementioned pattern of variation. This paper aim to provide morphological information that could be of phylogenetic value within the Hawaiian Portulaca.

The influence of carbide formation on mechanical properties has been investigated in carburized steels. Through controlled diffusion and precipitation processes, the morphologies of carbides could be changed and then fine, networked, and spherical shapes at carburized layers were obtained. These morphological changes affected tensile and bending fatigue properties of the steel. The fine and the spherical carbides acted as resistance sites against crack propagation, which improved the mechanical properties. However, the networked carbides deteriorated the properties because the cracks propagated along the boundaries of them. These results indicate that the morphological control of carbides is one of important keys to improve the mechanical properties.

Technical investigation to figure out the problems arising during in-situ heating electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis inside scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was carried out. EBSD patterns were successfully acquired up to $830^{\circ}C$ without degradation of EBSD pattern quality in steels. Several technical problems such as image drift and surface microstructure pinning were taking place during in-situ experiments. Image drift problem was successfully prevented in constant current supplying mode. It was revealed that the surface pinning problem was resulted from the $TiO_2$ oxide particle formation during heating inside SEM chamber. Surface pinning phenomenon was fairly reduced by additional platinum and carbon multi-layer coating before in-situ heating experiment, furthermore was perfectly prevented by improvement of vacuum level of SEM chamber via leakage control. Plane view in-situ observation provides better understanding on the overall feature of recrystallization phenomena and cross sectional in-situ observation provides clearer understanding on the recrystallization mechanism.

In the present study, formation of yard and shell has been investigated in as-melt-spun $Gd_{30}Ti_{25}Al_{25}Co_{20}$ alloy using a variety of transmission electron microscopy techniques. The phase separation during cooling leads to the formation of the microstructure consisting of amorphous droplets with different size scales embedded in the amorphous matrix. Due to the interdiffusion at the interface after the first-step phase separation, ~50 nm-thick yard develops on the surface of the primary droplet particle. Due to the critical wetting phenomenon, ~5 nm thickness shell enveloping the droplet forms. The sell is enriched in Co and Ti, implying that the composition is close to that of the droplet.