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Two large tropical cyclones struck Taiwan in the summer of 2004 and landslides triggered by these events caused not only casualties and housing damage but also produced large volumes of sediment that entered rivers and reservoirs. For reservoir and watershed management it is important to quickly identify the location and areal extent of new landslides for coordinating mitigation efforts. In this study, two automated methods, supervised and unsupervised classification of 10 m multi-spectral SPOT-5 imagery, were tested for their ability to identify and map landslide areas before and after the two storm events. A slope map was applied to mask roads, riverbeds and agricultural fields erroneously commissioned as landslides. The automated classification results were compared with manually delineated landslides using SPOT-5 supermode satellite imagery with a resolution of 2.5 m. Statistical testing and spatial analysis of the mapping results were performed. Finally, the results from all three methods were validated by using 0.35 m orthophotographs. This paper reports the results and discusses the salient differences between the automated and manual methods.

Raman, X-ray diffraction and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements of x Ba(Ni 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 + (1 − x )Ba(Mg 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 samples with x = 0–0.03 were performed to reveal the nickel doping effect on the microwave properties. EXAFS result clearly shows that the nickel is located on the Mg lattice site. We also found that, as the nickel concentration increases, microwave dielectric constant decreases with the Ta O and Ni O bond distances. X-ray diffraction shows that the 1:2 ordered structure is degraded with the increasing of nickel concentration. The stretching phonon of the TaO 6 octahedra, that is A 1g (O) phonon near 800 cm −1 , are strongly correlated to the microwave properties of x Ba(Ni 1/3 Mg 2/3 )O 3 + (1 − x )Ba(Mg 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 samples. The large Raman shift and the large width of the A 1g (O) imply rigid but distorted oxygen octahedral structure, therefore, the effect of nickel doping lowers the dielectric constant and the Q × f value of Ba(Mg 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 ceramic.

Alginate bead containing calcium carbonate particle were prepared by dropping the suspension of alginate/calcium carbonate (4/1, w/w) into aqueous solution of CaCl(2) (0.1 M). The pH-dependent release property of the bead was observed for 12 h using blue dextran as a model drug. The release increased up to 4 h in a saturation manner. When no calcium carbonate was contained, the release exhibited no marked variation with pH and the values were 27-39%. On the other hand, in case calcium carbonate was included in the matrix of alginate beads, intensive release(40-50%) was achieved in acidic and neutral conditions and the degrees of release were suppressed in alkali conditions and the values were approximately 20%. The pH-sensitive release property is possibly because the particles of calcium carbonate embedded in the matrix of beads were leached out in acidic and neutral conditions, leaving cavities in the matrix. The cavities are likely to be main pathways for the release of blue dextran.

In order to understand the origin of leakage current, light emitting devices were grown on two different templates with apparently different dislocation density: one on thin GaN template (∼2 μm) with higher dislocation density (low × 109 cm–2) prepared by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy (sample A), and the other on thick GaN template (∼20 μm) with comparatively low dislocation density (high × 108 cm–2) by hydride vapor-phase epitaxy (sample B). Especially, the template B showed very low value of the dislocation density for a screw component, 2.2 × 107 cm–2 evaluated by transmission electron microscope and 2.3 × 107 cm–2 approximated by the Williamson-Hall plot which was evaluated by high resolution X-ray diffraction, respectively. On the other hand, sample A showed one order higher, low × 108 cm–2, than that of sample B for a screw component. Sample A showed the larger leakage current (more than two orders of magnitude) than sample B in a forward-biased region and a reverse-biased region also. It is expected that the screw dislocation were strongly contributed to the leakage current of forward and reverse I-V regions in LEDs. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Little is known about differences in levels of concerns or preparedness for an avian influenza (AI) pandemic among healthcare workers (HCWs) in different types of hospitals. We compared these concerns and preparedness between 326 HCWs of two community hospitals (CHs) and 908 HCWs from a tertiary hospital (TH) using a self-administered questionnaire between March-June 2006. Response rates were 84.2% and 80.0% from the CHs and TH. Most HCWs (71.6%) felt prepared for an AI outbreak and had significant concerns. They perceive an AI pandemic having adverse impacts on their personal life and work, such as people avoiding them (57.1%). A greater percentage of TH compared to CH HCWs expressed concerns such as feeling their jobs put them at great AI exposure (78.3% vs 67.5%, p=0.012). TH HCWs were more likely to report participating in readiness preparation activities, such as training for infection control (90.0% vs 82.2%, p=0.014) and feel that they (74.1% vs 64.7%, p=0.045) and their hospital (86.8% vs 71.8%, p=0.000) were prepared for an outbreak. Healthcare institutions need to include personal, psychological and family concerns on the agenda and increase participation in readiness preparation activities among HCWs to help prepare for such future crises.

Experiments on trace argon impurity transport in L-mode discharges were performed on Korea superconducting tokamak advanced research (KSTAR) with electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH). Ar emission was measured by soft x-ray (SXR) arrays and vacuum UV (VUV) diagnostics. A significant reduction in the core Ar emissivity was observed with core ECH. The reduction was the largest with on-axis heating and became smaller with outward heating positions. The diffusivity and convection velocity of Ar were obtained by analysis of the SXR data with the SANCO impurity transport code for the on-axis ECH and the non-ECH shots. In the on-axis ECH case, both diffusivity and convection velocity increased. Furthermore, the convection changed its direction from inward to outward in the plasma core (r/a < 0.3), resulting in a hollow profile of the total Ar density. Together with the reduction in the SXR signals, the hollow impurity profile in the core and the reversal of the convection velocity consistently confirm that ECH can reduce impurity accumulation in the core region. Neoclassical impurity transport and linear stability of micro-turbulence were calculated and discussed in relation to the possible transport mechanism.

Owing to NAND flash technology facing its scaling limit, resistive random access memory (RRAM) with simple film stack and no cross coupling issue between cells is a promising candidate for future high density memory application [1,2]. The 1TnR architecture with 3D vertical RRAM (VRRAM) structure realizes ultra-low bit cost for high compact density array [3,4]. However, this novel 1TnR structure and processes have not been proved yet. To meet requirements of VRRAM array operation, the nonlinear resistive memory with an excellent self-compliance and low current operation is indispensable [5,6]. A large voltage margin for the device operated with compliance current (ΔV COMP ) and high nonlinearity for the device at low resistance state (LRS) with reliable read voltage should be addressed.

Objectives To explore pregnant women's views on the impact of nuchal cord on fetal outcomes, mode of delivery, and management. Design Questionnaire survey. Setting Antenatal clinic of two regional hospitals in Hong Kong. Participants A questionnaire survey of all pregnant women at their first visit to the antenatal clinic of United Christian Hospital and Tseung Kwan O Hospital in Hong Kong was conducted between August and October 2012. Results Most participants (71.8%) were worried about nuchal cord, and 78.3% and 87.7% of them thought that nuchal cord could cause intrauterine death and fetal death during labour, respectively. Approximately 87.5% of participants thought that nuchal cord would reduce the chance of successful vaginal delivery and 56.4% thought that it would increase the chance of assisted vaginal delivery. Most (94.1%) participants thought that it was necessary to have an ultrasound scan at term to detect nuchal cord. In addition, 68.8% thought that it was necessary to deliver the fetus early and 72.8% thought that caesarean section must be performed in the presence of nuchal cord. Participants born in Mainland China were significantly more worried about the presence of nuchal cord than those born in Hong Kong. However, there was no difference between participants with different levels of education. Conclusion Most participants were worried about the presence of nuchal cord. Many thought that nuchal cord would lead to adverse fetal outcomes, affect the mode of delivery, and require special management. These misconceptions should be addressed and proper education of women is needed.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is closely associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and can be detected in early premalignant lesions of nasopharyngeal epithelium. The latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is an oncoprotein encoded by the EBV and is believed to play a role in transforming premalignant nasopharyngeal epithelial cells into cancer cells. RASSF1A is a tumor-suppressor gene commonly inactivated in many types of human cancer including NPC. In this study, we report a novel function of LMP1, in down-regulating RASSF1A expression in human epithelial cells. Downregulation of RASSF1A expression by LMP1 is dependent on the activation of intracellular signaling of NF-kappaB involving the C-terminal activating regions (CTARs) of LMP1. LMP1 expression also suppresses the transcriptional activity of the RASSF1A core promoter. RASSF1A stabilizes microtubules and regulates mitotic events. Aberrant mitotic spindles and chromosome aberrations are reported phenotypes in RASSF1A inactivated cells. In this study, we observed that LMP1 expression in human epithelial cells could induce aberrant mitotic spindles, disorganized interphase microtubules and aneuploidy. LMP1 expression could also suppress microtubule dynamics as exemplified by tracking movements of the growing tips of microtubules in live cells by transfecting EGFP-tagged EB1 into cells. The aberrant mitotic spindles and interphase microtubule organization induced by LMP1 could be rescued by transfecting RASSF1A expression plasmid into cells. Downregulation of RASSF1A expression by LMP1 may facilitate its role in transformation of premalignant nasopharyngeal epithelial cells into cancer cells.

Phase transfer experiments were performed, involving contact between an aqueous 1:1 solution of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin and an AOT-in-isooctane reversed micellar phase. The resulting extraction and separation of the two proteins were analyzed as functions of pH, ionic strength and total protein concentration using SDS-PAGE, and compared with extractions from pure solutions. At low protein concentrations, the extent of reversed micellar solubilization of the two pure proteins predicted well the extraction from mixtures. However, at higher protein concentrations β-lactoglobulin appeared to be excluded from the micellar droplets. Because of the significantly different partitioning behavior of the two proteins, reversed micellar extraction from an initially equal weight mixture led to an effective separation of the proteins.

Repressor element 1 (RE-1) is a negative, cis-acting regulatory element that interacts with the transcription factor RE-1-silencing transcription factor (REST). REST represses gene expression by two repressor domains that recruit other factors including mSin3 and CoREST. RE-1 has been identified in an increasing number of neuronal-specific genes, and recently, functional REST sites have also been discovered in VIP and PACAP genes. In the present article, we demonstrated for the first time that RE-1 sites are present in the 5' flanking regions of several secretin/PACAP/VIP genes by in silico analysis. This observation suggests that RE-1/REST is a common negative regulatory pathway of this peptide family.

This paper is concerned with the analysis of material flow characteristics of combined tube extrusion using pipe. The analysis in this paper concentrated on the evaluation of the design parameters for deformation patterns of tube forming, load characteristics, extruded length, and die pressure. The design factors such as punch nose radius, die corner radius, friction factor, and punch face angle are involved in the simulation. The combined tube extrusion is analyzed by using a commercial finite element code. This simulation makes use of pipe material and punch geometry on the basis of punch geometry recommended by International Cold Forging Group. Deformation patterns and its characteristics in combined forward and backward tube extrusion process were analyzed for forming loads with primary parameters, which are various punch nose radius relative to backward tube thickness. The results from the simulation show the flow modes of pipe workpiece and the die pressure at the contact surface between pipe workpiece and punch. The specific backward tube thickness and punch nose radius have an effect on extruded length in combined extrusion. The combined one step forward and backward extrusion is compared with the two step extrusion fer forming load and die pressure.

Ti-indiffused LiNbO3 waveguides have been used for various high speed optical devices, such as modulators, switches and sensors, because of their electro-optic effect. In order to broaden the modulation bandwidth of an optical modulator above 10 GHz, both impedance matching and optical and RF phase velocity matching should be obtained at the high frequency range. This can be obtained by increasing the effective contact area of the CPW (co-planar waveguide) electrodes with air by means of LiNbO3 substrate etching. We studied the properties of LiNbO3 dry etching, in terms of the etching rate, etching angle and surface roughness, using a neutral loop discharge (NLD) plasma.

Although the globe is the most typical valve to control high pressure drop in piping system, it is very hard to figure out the characteristics of flow field in the globe valve caused by its complex geometry, So there is very few studies to find out flow characteristics of globe valve. In this study numerical analysis for flow field in the globe valve is carried out using the FLUENT code which is commercial CFD program. Pressure drop through the globe valve is also measured to verify the results come from numerical analysis. Comparing experiment with numerical analysis, two results are very close to each other.

The purpose of this study was to compare the proportion of therapeutic interventions that is supported by scientific evidence between hospital-based and community-based primary care clinics. The study setting is a primary care clinic in university-affiliated tertiary hospital and community-based primary care clinic in a region in Seoul. A retrospective review of patients' medical records was done according to the primary diagnosis and treatment for 890 patients in community-based clinic and 307 in hospital-based clinic. The evidence for the intervention was searched for in Medline (1966-2001) and other evidence-based databases. The evidence was then classified as one of the three categories (i) evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs); (ii) convincing non-experimental evidence; and (iii) interventions without substantial evidence. In the hospital-based clinics, out of 356 primary diagnosis and treatment pairs, 59.6% were supported by evidence from at least one RCTs, and 19.4% were supported by convincing non-experimental evidence. In the community-based clinics, 47.1% out of 893 pairs and 10.5% fell into each category. As a result, the proportion of interventions in community settings that were based on evidence meeting our criteria was significantly lower than that of the hospital-based settings. To facilitate evidence-based practice, supportive activity should be focused on the primary care settings based on community where medical practices are less evidence-based.

Single-crystal single-domain Sc 2 O 3 films have been epitaxially grown on Si (1 1 1) using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) techniques. The Sc 2 O 3 films have the bulk bixbyite cubic phase with a very uniform thickness, a structural perfection, and a sharp interface with Si. The thin oxide films exhibit bright, streaky, and reconstructed RHEED patterns. The high-intensity oscillation in the reflectivity, the strong Pendollusung fringes around the Sc 2 O 3 (2 2 2) diffraction peak, and their narrow rocking curves are observed using the high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD). The (1 1 1) axis of the oxide films is parallel to the (1 1 1) axis of the Si substrate. The cone scans of the Sc 2 O 3 {4 4 0} and Si {2 2 0} diffraction peaks about the surface normal find a 60° symmetry rotation of the film with the respect to the substrate. The Sc 2 O 3 films exhibit low electrical leakage currents and a breakdown field of more than 5 MV/cm.

Amorphous chalcogenides in the form of bulk or thin films are known as photosensitive materials that undergo changes in optical or structural properties upon irradiation. Here we study the optical properties of nanocomposite films of ZnS–SiO2 illuminated with ultraviolet (UV) light and relate them to the photo-induced evolution of roughness, as well as photo-crystallization effects in these films. We observe that upon UV irradiation a new crystalline phase of ZnSiO3 is formed in the nanocomposite film. This is accompanied by the evolution of surface roughness on the film.

The purpose of this paper is to perform a thermal analysis of a spent fuel storage cask in order to predict the maximum concrete and fuel cladding temperatures. Thermal analyses have been carried out for a storage cask under normal, off-normal and accident conditions. The environmental temperature is assumed to be 27°C under the normal condition. The off-normal condition has an environmental temperature of 40°C. An additional off-normal condition is considered as a partial blockage of the air inlet ducts. Four of the eight inlet ducts are assumed to be completely blocked. The accident condition is defined as a 100% blockage of air inlet ducts. The storage cask is designed to store 24 PWR spent fuel assemblies with a burn-up of 55,000 MWD/MTU and a cooling time of 7 years. The decay heat load from the 24 PWR assemblies is 25.2 kW. Thermal analyses of the ventilation system have been carried out for the determination of the optimum duct size and shape. The finite-volume computational fluid dynamics...

Electroforming is a process that employs technology similar to that used for electroplating but which is used for manufacturing metallic articles, rather than as a means of producing surface coatings. Electroforming provides a cost-effective means of producing alloys and fully dense nanocrystalline metals as foils, sheets and complex shapes. Fe-Ni nanocrystalline alloy foils with composition in the Ni range were fabricated by electroforming. The thickness of electroformed foils was in the range of . TEM and XRD analysis was applied for measuring the grain size. Very fine grain size was obtained in alloy foils. The yield and tensile strength of electroformed Fe-Ni alloy were 2000-2800 MPa and 2500-3300 MPa respectively. The magnetic permeability at high frequency of electroformed Fe-Ni foil was higher than that of thicker foils.

This investigation examines the magnetorheological (MR) characteristics of Fe3O4 aqueous suspensions. Magnetite particles (Fe3O4) were synthesized using a colloidal process and their sizes were determined to be normally distributed with an average of 10 nm by TEM. Experimental results reveal that the MR effect increases with the magnetic field and suspension concentration. The yield stress increases by up to two orders of magnitude when the sample is subjected to a magnetic field of 146 Oe/mm. In comparison with other published results, concerning a concentration of approximately 10–15% v/v, this study demonstrates that the same increase can be obtained with a concentration of nano-scale particles as low as 0.04% by volume. The viscosity was increased by an order of magnitude while the shear rate remained low; however, the increase decayed rapidly as the shear rate was raised. Finally, the MR effect caused by DC outperformed that caused by AC at the same current.

A nationwide survey for radon (222Rn), thoron (220Rn), and thoron daughters has been conducted. The arithmetic mean of annual radon concentration in Korean dwellings was 53.4±57.5 Bq/m3. The indoor radon concentration showed a lognormal distribution with a geometric mean and its standard deviation of 43.3±1.8 Bq/m3. The arithmetic mean of annual thoron and its progeny concentrations in Korean dwellings were 45.2±110.1 and 0.99±1.00 Bq/m3, respectively. The equilibrium factor between thoron and its progeny was 0.022. The arithmetic mean indoor gamma dose rate was 212±52 nGy/h. The radon concentrations in the traditional and modern style houses were about two times higher than those in apartments. The average annual effective doses to the general public from radon, thoron, and gamma dose rate were 1.35, 0.23, and 1.03 mSv/y, respectively.

For the past few years, integrated machines (i.e. cluster tools) in wafer fabrication have been widely used to achieve reductions in cycle time, contamination, operator handling, capital costs and required floor space. The integration among several processing steps can lead to savings in cycle time, labour costs and inventory, and often provides a dramatic opportunity for yield improvement by preventing contamination. However, because of its complex configurations, modelling and analysis on the activities of an integrated machine is not an easy task. In this paper, a hybrid approach is introduced in order to model and to analyse the activities of the integrated machine.

The short heterodimer partner (SHP) (NR0B2) is an orphan nuclear receptor whose function in pancreatic β-cells is unclear. Mitochondrial uncoupling protein (UCP2) in β-cells is upregulated in obesity-related diabetes, causing impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). We investigated whether SHP plays a role in UCP2-induced GSIS impairment. We overexpressed SHP in normal islet cells and in islet cells overexpressing UCP2 by an adenovirus-mediated infection technique. We found that SHP overexpression enhanced GSIS in normal islets, and restored GSIS in UCP2-overexpressing islets. SHP overexpression increased the glucose sensitivity of ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels and enhanced theATP/ADP ratio. A peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) antagonist, GW9662, did not block the SHP effect on GSIS. SHP overexpression also corrected the impaired sensitivity of UCP2-overexpressing β-cells to methylpyruvate, another energy fuel that bypasses glycolysis and directly enters the Krebs cycle. KATP channel inhibition mediated by dihydroxyacetone, which gives reducing equivalents directly to complex II of the electron transport system, was similar in Ad-Null-, Ad-UCP2- and Ad-UCP2+Ad-SHP-infected cells. The mitochondrial metabolic inhibitor sodium azide totally blocked the effect of SHP overexpression on GSIS. These results suggest that SHP positively regulates GSIS in β-cells and restores glucose sensitivity in UCP2-overexpressing β-cells by enhancing mitochondrial glucose metabolism, independent of PPARγ activation.

Pruritus associated with intrathecal opioid administration is particularly common in pregnancy. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can reduce the severity of this pruritus but have undesirable side effects. The recent development of drugs that can specifically inhibit the cyclooxygenase 2 isoenzyme have become an attractive alternative. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of such a drug (celecoxib) in reducing intrathecal opioid-induced pruritus in a randomised double-blinded study of 60 women undergoing Caesarean section. All of them received spinal anaesthesia with 3 ml of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine and 0.3 mg preservative-free morphine. After delivery of the baby, they received either oral celecoxib 200 mg or placebo. Visual analogue scores for pain and pruritus were measured at 30 min, 2, 4, 8, and 24 h. There was no difference in the severity and onset of pain and pruritus between the two groups. Timing of administration, inadequate dosing and possible altered pharmacokinetics in pregnancy may explain the lack of efficacy.

Sol-gel derived catalyst systems of cobalt, nickel, and iron were used in the growth of gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires by thermal chemical vapor deposition. A diffusion barrier matrix of titania (TiO2) has been used in which the catalysts were dispersed to have control of the catalyst particle sizes and hence on the size and morphology of the GaN nanowires. This single-step and cost-effective processing of the catalyst bed produced good-quality GaN naowires with comparable structural and optical properties with those previously reported. In a particular case, a stress-induced cubic admixture to the otherwise hexagonal structural symmetry was observed. The samples were characterized by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and cathodo-luminescence studies.

In this work we employ conventional (diode) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) magnetron sputtering to deposit tungsten thin films of thickness 40 nm. The effect of varying the deposition parameters (background pressure, substrate bias and, particularly, the argon sputtering pressure) on transformation of the films’ phases and related physical properties was investigated using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, as well as electrical resistivity evaluation and bending-beam stress measurements. Tungsten films deposited by diode sputtering at any argon sputtering pressure from 5×10−1 Pa (5×10−3 mb) up to 2.0 Pa over a broad parameter window are dominated by β–W, thus yielding resistivity that could reach ∼190 μΩ cm. Conversely, over a broad range of sputtering pressures and substrate biases, the ICP sputtering is capable of depositing α-W thin films that exhibit markedly reduced resistivity of only ∼20 μΩ cm. The impact of varying the de...

The diffusion of ink in water was investigated. Both stamp ink and Quink blue ink were chosen for the analysis. The displacement of the diffused ink front was measured at temperatures of 10–30 °C. The experimental data of the ink front were in good agreement with the theory of diffusion. The diffusion coefficients satisfy the Arrhenius plot, and the activation energy is smaller for the Quink blue ink than for the stamp ink. The mechanism of the ink diffusion is explained by the kinetics of viscous flow.

Based on a Landau-transformation, both semidiscrete and fully discrete in time mixed methods are applied to a single-phase linear Stefan problem in one space dimension. We construct semidiscrete and fully discrete approximations and show the global existence of a semidiscrete solution. Optimal rates of convergence in L^2 and H^1 norms are derived.

We present a structural investigation of self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots on GaAs(0 0 1) substrates grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. The grazing incidence X-ray scattering measurements were performed at BL17B of Taiwan Light Source and BL12B2 of SPring-8. The strain field, composition distribution, and shape of the dots are determined. We found that In concentration was less than the nominal composition, 50% near the dot/substrate interface and exceeded 50% near the top of the dots, indicating In surface segregation. In addition, the relation between the strain and the composition did not obey Vegard’s law.

One of the main missions of KSTAR is to develop long-pulse operation capability relevant to the production of fusion energy. After a full metal wall configuration was decided for ITER, a major upgrade for KSTAR was planned, to a tungsten first wall similar to the JET ITER-like wall (coatings and bulk tungsten plasma-facing components). To accomplish the upgrade, tungsten bonding technology has been developed and tested. Since the leading edges of each castellation structure have to be protected, shaping of tungsten blocks has been studied by ANSYS simulation, and the miniaturized castellation has been exposed to Ohmic plasma to confirm the simulation results. It is found that a shaped castellation block has more heat handling capability than a conventional block. For more dedicated experiments, a multipurpose castellation block is fabricated and exposed to Ohmic, L- and H-mode plasmas and observed by IR camera from the top. During the fabrication and assembly of the blocks, leading edges caused by “naturally misaligned” blocks due to engineering limits with a maximum level up to 0.5 mm have been observed, and these have to be minimized for the future fusion machine

Monolayers of a lipophilic C 60-derivative (FPTL) mixed in dipalmitoyl-phosphatidyl-choline (DPPC) have been studied by the Langmuir film balance technique and Brewster angle microscopy. Previous X-ray scattering studies showed that the FPTL molecules intercalated into the DPPC monolayers and modified the bending and compression modulus of the host DPPC membranes. Combined study of surface pressure–area isotherms and Brewster angle microscopy measurements clearly established that the liquid-condensed domain structures are strongly influenced by an addition of the fullerene bearing lipid molecules, where it caused smaller liquid-condensed domain structures.

Alginate is a natural polysaccharide found in brown algae. Alginates are widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries and have been employed as a matrix for the entrapment of drugs, macromolecules and biological cells. Alginate microspheres can be produced by the external or internal gelation method using calcium salts. The addition of calcium chloride solution in the final phase of production of microspheres by external gelation method using an emulsification technique causes the disruption of the equilibrium of the system being stirred, resulting in a significant degree of clumping of microspheres. Therefore, in this study, production of alginate microspheres by the internal gelation method using a modified emulsification technique was explored. The influence of calcium salt, added in varying amounts and at different stages, on the morphology of the microspheres was investigated. The effects of other hardening agents and different drying methods were also studied.

A linear birth–growth process is generated by an inhomogeneous Poisson process on ℝ × [0, ∞). Seeds are born randomly according to the Poisson process. Once a seed is born, it commences immediately to grow bidirectionally with a constant speed. The positions occupied by growing intervals are regarded as covered. New seeds continue to form on the uncovered part of ℝ. This paper shows that the total number of seeds born on a very long interval satisfies the strong invariance principle and some other strong limit theorems. Also, a gap (an unproved regularity condition) in the proof of the central limit theory in [5] is filled in.

A new automatic parameter extraction method for modeling of silicon spiral inductors is presented. The concepts on self-resonance frequency (fsr) and quality factor of a spiral inductor are utilized to develop the concise extraction procedures. In the mean time, the presented extraction procedures are programmed as a macro to execute all the extractions automatically and shorten the extraction time effectively. Without any additional optimization or curve fitting, almost all the patterns of S-parameters between the measured and the simulation of extracted data implemented with the extraction macro are less than 5%. The programmed extraction macro makes it fast and accurate to extract and characterize the behaviors of silicon-based spiral inductors with different structures and substrate resistivities. It provides a concrete foundation for commercial silicon radiofrequency (RF) circuit design to realizing on-chip silicon RF integrated circuits. Furthermore, the directly extracted equivalent model parameters, without any optimization, also provide a rule to fairly, effectively and physically judge the performance of a spiral inductor. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Black-oxide and/or brown-oxide layers were formed on the surface of copper-base leadframe sheets in hot alkaline solutions, and then the oxide-coated leadframe sheets were molded with epoxy molding compound (EMC). The molded bodies were machined to form sandwiched-double-cantilever-beam (SDCB) specimens, and the adhesion strength between oxide-coated leadframes to EMC was measured in terms of critical energy-release rate (GIC) using SDCB specimens. Results revealed that untreated leadframe and Cu2O-coated leadframe showed almost no adhesion to EMC, however once a continuous CuO layer formed on the leadframe surface (brown oxide) or on the Cu2O layer (black oxide), GIC increased to around 80 J/m2. A study of failure surfaces base on the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), glancing-angle X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Auger electron microscopy (AES), electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses indicated that the failure path was closely related to the surface condition of leadframe prior to molding with EMC.

The geometries and vibrational frequencies of the parent molecule, intermediates, transition state, and products involved in the photochemical decay of carbonyl cyanide NC–C(O)–CN have been studied by ab initio calculations at the MP2/6-311G* level. The energies of various species have been refined using the modified Gaussian-2 [G2M(MP2)] method. The molecular parameters and energetics derived from the ab initio calculations were used to compute microcanonical rate constants of all possible reaction steps of photodissociation of the carbonyl cyanide employing the conventional and variational RRKM theory and to obtain the product branching ratios. The results show that the radical decay, CO(CN)2+ hνOCCN/OCNC+CN, is dominant (86.14% and 13.85% for OCCN and OCNC, respectively), while the molecular decay, CO(CN)2CO+NCCN, gives only a trace amount of the products. Whereas the computed radical product yields qualitatively agree with those measured in experiment (Scheld, H. A., et al. J Chem Phys 1999, 111, 923), the calculated branching ratio for the molecular decay channel underestimates the experimental value of ∼6%. This deviation may be attributed to the deficiencies in the variational RRKM treatment of the radical decay rate constants and/or to some nonstatistical behavior of the system which enhances the molecular decay. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002

The ITER vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) core survey spectrometer has been designed as a 5-channel spectral system so that the high spectral resolving power of 200–500 could be achieved in the wavelength range of 2.4–160 nm. To verify the design of the ITER VUV core survey spectrometer, a two-channel prototype spectrometer was developed. As a subsequent step of the prototype test, the prototype VUV spectrometer has been operated at KSTAR since the 2012 experimental campaign. From impurity injection experiments in the years 2015 and 2016, strong emission lines, such as Kr xxv 15.8 nm, Kr xxvi 17.9 nm, Ne vii 46.5 nm, Ne vi 40.2 nm, and an array of largely unresolved tungsten lines (14-32 nm) could be measured successfully, showing the typical photon number of 1013–1015 photons/cm2 s.

A fluctuation analysis technique using analytic signals is proposed. Analytic signals are suitable to characterize a single mode with time-dependent amplitude and frequency, such as an MHD mode observed in fusion plasmas since the technique can evaluate amplitude and frequency at a specific moment without limitations of temporal and frequency resolutions, which is problematic in Fourier-based analyses. Moreover, a concept of instantaneous phase difference is newly introduced, and error of the evaluated phase difference and its error reduction techniques using conditional/ensemble averaging are discussed. These techniques are applied to experimental data of the beam emission spectroscopic measurement in the Heliotron J device, which demonstrates that the technique can describe nonlinear evolution of MHD instabilities. This technique is widely applicable to other diagnostics having necessity to evaluate phase difference.

A solid particle injection system is developed for KSTAR. The system has a compact size, compatibility with a strong magnetic field and high vacuum environment, and the capability to inject a small amount of solid particles with a narrow injection angle. The target flight-distance of 10 cm has been achieved with a particle loss rate of less than 10%. Solid impurity particles such as tungsten and carbon will be injected by this system at the midplane in KSTAR. The impurity transport feature will be studied with a soft X-ray array, a vacuum ultra-violet diagnostic, and Stand Alone Non-Corona code.

Congenital pyriform aperture stenosis (CPAS) is a form of nasal obstruction caused by congenital narrowing of the maxilla at the medial processes. Traditionally, surgical correction involves a sublabial approach with subperiosteal dissection, widening of the aperture by drilling, and the use of nasal stents postoperatively. Although this approach may lead to symptomatic improvement, it alone may fail to provide a patent airway secondary to unaddressed posterior narrowing. Additionally, the use of stents is problematic because they are prone to clogging and can cause internal nasal scarring and septal or alar necrosis. We present the surgical management of this condition in six patients using a novel approach that aims to correct these limitations by including both the traditional sublabial procedure and an endonasal reduction of the inferior turbinates, without the use of stents postoperatively.Retrospective chart review.Review of the medical records of six consecutive patients aged 2 weeks to 7 months, who underwent repair of CPAS via a sublabial ostectomy and endonasal inferior turbinate reduction from 2009 to 2012.All six patients were clear of airway obstruction postoperatively and at follow-up.This is an alternative approach that leads to symptomatic improvement for CPAS patients without the morbidity associated with stent use.4.

In this paper, a new type of noise, different from the conventional Random Telegraph Noise (RTN), has been found and analyzed in a resistance random access memory (RRAM). The regular RTN signal is governed by the trapping and detrapping of the electrons. It will appear regularly with a two-level current and the amplitude of the RTN is smaller. However, an abnormal noise, called giant noise, was observed from the oxygen migration. The amplitude of the giant noise is much larger than the RTN one. Also, two different types of giant noise were observed depending on the movement of the oxygen vacancies. All of the above various types of noise might play an important role in the readout error in an RRAM. Therefore, these noise effects need further attention in the design of RRAM.

A novel resistive memory with the TiN/Ti/HfO x /TiN stack is proposed and fully integrated with 0.18 µm CMOS technology. The excellent memory performances such as low operation current (down to 25 µA), low operation voltage ( 100 M cycles), and reliable data retention (10 years extrapolation at 220°C). A 1 Kb array with robust characteristics was also fabricated successfully. The endurance for all devices can exceed 106 cycles by a pulse width of 40 ns. New verification methods, which give tight distribution for high resistance (R HIGH ) and low resistance (R LOW ), are proposed to ensure a good operation window. Due to the high density application, the ultra-high LRS nonlinearity (>1000), robust retention, and good endurance are demonstrated in the HfO X based CRS device with a simple structure.

The efficacy of heparin-bridging therapy during the initiation of oral anticoagulation therapy (OAC) in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is unclear.To evaluate the efficacy and the safety of heparin-bridging therapy during OAC initiation in NVAF patients.This study included 5327 consecutive warfarin-naïve NVAF patients who received OAC that was initiated with (n = 1053) or without (n = 4274) heparin bridging at four tertiary hospitals. Stroke and bleeding events within 30 days of OAC were evaluated.While there was no difference in the incidence of stroke (0.5% vs. 0.3%, P = 0.381), major bleeding rate (0.9% vs. 0.3%, P = 0.004) was higher in heparin-bridged than in non-bridged patients. This trend remained in the propensity score-matched population (stroke 0.5% vs. 0.6%, P = 0.762; major bleeding 0.8% vs. 0.1%, P = 0.019). A high CHA2 DS2 -VASc score was an independent predictor for stroke, whereas bridging therapy had no beneficial effect in preventing stroke regardless of CHADS2 or CHA2 DS2 -VASc scores. The HAS-BLED score had a predictive value for major bleeding (odds ratio 1.80, 95% confidence interval 1.11-2.92, P = 0.018), and heparin-bridging therapy was associated with a higher major bleeding rate (odds ratio 4.44, 95% confidence interval 1.68-11.72, P = 0.003), especially in patients with a HAS-BLED score of ≥ 1.The heparin-bridging therapy increased bleeding without the benefit of preventing stroke at the initiation of OAC in NVAF. Our data suggest that heparin bridging should not be considered at the initiation of OAC in NVAF patients.

Ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, ovomucin, and lysozyme are a few of the egg white proteins that can be used as functional components. The objective of this study was to develop a simple, sequential separation method for multiple proteins from egg white. Separated proteins are targeted for human use, and thus any toxic compounds were excluded. The methods for individual components and the sequential separation were practiced in laboratory scale first, and then tested for scale-up. Lysozyme was separated first using FPC3500 cation exchange resin and then ovomucin using isoelectric precipitation. Ovalbumin and ovotransferrin were separated from the lysozyme- and ovomucin-free egg white by precipitating ovotransferrin first using 5.0% (wt/vol) (NH4)2SO4 and 2.5% (wt/vol) citric acid combination. After centrifugation, the supernatant (S1) was used for ovalbumin separation and the precipitant was dissolved in water, and reprecipitated using 2.0% ammonium sulfate (wt/vol) and 1.5% citric acid (wt/vol) combination. The precipitant was used as ovotransferrin fraction, and the supernatant (S2) was pooled with the first supernatant (S1), desalted using ultrafiltration, and then heat-treated to remove impurities. The yield of ovomucin and ovalbumen was >98% and that of ovotransferrin and lysozyme was >82% for both laboratory and scale-up preparations. The SDS-PAGE and western blotting of the separated proteins, except for ovomucin, showed >90% purity. The ELISA results indicated that the activities of separated ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, and lysozyme were >96%. The protocol separated 4 major proteins in sequence, and the method was simple and easily scaled up.