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Smilax glabra Roxb. has been used for a long time as both food and folk medicine. In the present study, phenolic-enriched extract of S. glabra (PEESG) was extracted with 70% ethanol and purified by HP-20 column chromatography. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated by radical scavenging assay, reducing power determination, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells assays, respectively. PEESG exhibited obviously scavenging capacity for DPPH and ABTS radicals, as well as significant reducing power for ferric ion. Particularly, PEESG (12.5–50 μg/mL) showed a significantly higher efficiency for scavenging ABTS than that of ascorbic acid and no significant difference with ascorbic acid for DPPH scavenging. PEESG also possessed a significant suppression effect on proinflammatory mediators production, such as nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. In addition, the main ingredients of PEESG were identified using ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray mass spectrometry (U-HPLC-ESI-MS). Seventeen components, including 5-O-caffeoylshikimic acid, neoastilbin, astilbin, neoisoastilbin, isoastilbin, engetin and isoengeletin were identified. These findings strongly suggest the potential of PEESG as a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.

Natural Cordyceps sinensis, which is a valuable anti-tumor, immunomodulatory, and antiviral agent in Asia, has been overexploited in recent years. Therefore, it is important for cultivated C. sinensis to be recognized in the market. In this research, the main components of entirely cultivated, naturally grown C. sinensis, and stiff worms across different sampling years were detected and compared by HPLC-MS and UV spectrometry. The results indicated that the mean levels of adenosine and cordycepin were significantly higher, whereas the mean levels of mannitol and polysaccharides were remarkably lower in the cultivated type than in the natural type. No distinct difference in the average soluble protein content was observed. The composition of the stiff worms was similar to that of the natural herb, except that the total soluble protein content was higher, and that of mannitol was lower. In addition, the ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy of the three types showed high similarity at 260 nm. This research indicates that the main nutritional composition of cultivated and natural C. sinensis is identical and that cultivated type can be used as an effective substitute.

Here, the cobalt ferrite/carbon nanotubes nanocomposites were directly synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method at 200 C using benzyl alcohol as the solvent. The crystal and morphological structures as well as electromagnetic shielding performance at Ku band (12-18 GHz) were thoroughly investigated. Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles with a diameter around 6-10 nm were anchored on the surface of carbon nanotubes with some aggregation. It is found that the as-prepared nanocomposites exhibit excellent electromagnetic shielding performance with values 22-25 dB in the Ku frequency range with a thickness of 2 mm. The small cobalt ferrite nanoparticles offer a large number of polarization and magnetization active sites to improve the electromagnetic performance by the incorporation of carbon nanotubes.