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Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide which act as an insect neurotoxin. It used for control of pest such as aphids and other sucking insects in fruits and vegetables. Systemic pesticides move inside a crop following absorption by the plant, and these were converted into a variety of metabolites. Sometimes these metabolites make a problem about safety of agricultural products. So a simultaneous determination method of pesticide and its metabolites is needed, to monitor their presence in agricultural product and study on the fate of pesticide in a plant. This study's aim is to investigate simultaneous analysis method of imidacloprid and its metabolites, imidacloprid guanidine, imidacloprid olefin, imidacloprid urea, and 6-chloronicotinic acid in red pepper using QuEChERS method and LC-MS/MS systems. QuEChERS method was modifed beacuase MgSO salts decreased the recoveries of 6-chloronicotinic acid in extraction procedure. Imidacloprid and its metabolites were extracted by acetonitrile with 1% glacial acetic acid and the extracts were purified through QuEChERS with primary secondary amine (PSA) and C and analyzed with LC-MS/MS in ESI positive mode. Standard calibration curves were made by matrix matched standards and their correlation coefficients were higher than 0.999. Recovery studies were carried out on spiked pepper blank sample at four concentration levels (0.01, 0.04 and 0.1, 0.4 mg/kg). The average recoveries of imidacloprid and its metabolites were in the range of 70~120% with < 20% RSD. This result indicated that the method using QuEChERS and LC-MS/MS was suitable for the simultaneous determination of imidacloprid and its metabolites in red pepper.

Pesticides were sprayed on perilla leaf and leafy lettuce in a greenhouse and the reduction rate ofpesticide residues on each vegetable by washing were tested. The reduction rate of pesticide residues bywashing for 30 sec~3 min on perilla leaf were 3~63% in tap water, 2~58% in salt water, 6~74% in green teawater, and 8~86% in detergent solution. The detergent solution only showed significant difference inreduction rates compared to the tab water washing. Considering reduction effects of the washing duration, itwas showed that the reduction rates were a pattern of inclining as the duration of washing process increased,but there was no significant difference in the reduction rates except the reduction rates between washing inthe detergent solution for 1 min and 3 min. Comparing washing in flowing tab water and in stagnant tabwater with leafy lettuce, the reduction rate by one time washing were 8~68% in flowing tab water and7~64% in stagnant tab water. The water and the time used in this experiment were 17.5 L, 2.9 min withflowing tab water and 4 L, 1 min with stagnant tab water. The reduction rate by 3 times washing in stagnanttab water were 16.5~76.6%, and the water and the time used were 12 L, 3 min. Therefore, when the waterand the time used to wash vegetables were considered, washing two or three times in stagnant tab watercould be more effective than washing one time in flowing tab water.Key words Pesticide residue, Leafy vegetable, Washing, Reduction

The design of the exhaust manifold for the pulse converters of a 4 strokes high power medium-speed diesel engine is presented in terms of fatigue analysis. The said system undergoes thermal expansion due to high temperature of exhaust gas and is exposed to intrinsic vibration of the internal combustion engine. Moreover, the exhaust pulse generates pressure pulsating along the runner inside manifold. Under such circumstances, the design and construction of exhaust manifold must be carried out in a way to prevent early failure due to fracture. To validate the design concept, a test rig was developed to simulate the combination of thermal and vibrational movements, simultaneously. Experimental results showed that a certain sense of reliability can be achieved by considering a field factor obtained from the results of engine bench tests.

The Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) leader (L) protein zinc-finger domain was mutated to study its role in cell death in infection of the murine macrophage cell line M1-D, revealing that an intact zinc-finger domain is required for full apoptotic activity. A functional L zinc-finger domain was also required for activation of p38 MAPK that results in phosphorylation and activation of p53, and in turn, alteration of the conformation of the anti-apoptotic proteins Puma and Mcl-1, leading to the release of pro-apoptotic Bax and apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway. TMEV infection also inhibits host protein synthesis, a stress shown by others to induce apoptosis. Since inhibition of host protein synthesis follows rather than precedes activation of MKK3/6 and p38, it seems less likely that it triggers of apoptosis in infected cells. Finally, we showed that the levels of reactive oxygen species following infection were consistent with apoptotic rather than necrotic cell death. Thus, these experiments support an important role for the TMEV L protein zinc-finger domain in apoptosis in an infected murine macrophage line.

Proteins from sunflower seeds were hydrolyzed with Alcalase and Flavourzyme to isolate iron-binding peptides. The optimal hydrolysis conditions were determined. Hydrolysates were filtered under a 3 kDa membrane and iron-binding peptides separated from the hydrolysates using ion exchange and gel permeation chromatographic methods. A fraction with the highest iron-binding activity (Fe/peptide, 0.69), F22, was obtained. These results suggest that fractions isolated from sunflower seed protein hydrolysates can be applied toward the production of iron supplements.

Service providers provide virtualized IT resources by using Internet technologies in their services. Users use the provided IT resources as much as they want and pay the corresponding fee. In such cloud computing environments, issues of malicious codes, hacking and leak of confidential information are the biggest concerns of the people involved. In this paper, we study the virtualization security management, which is important for the proper management of collection of virtualization resources information and security events, monitoring and analysis of cloud security situations, and cloud security policies. Specifically, we propose the structuring of the virtualization security management system and the management method to reduce the complexity of administering the virtual machines installed in the cloud data centers caused by the inherent properties of virtual machines characterized by dynamic changes in the form of image files. Therefore, we studied the tracing method for history of infected virtual machines following an analysis of the VM lifecycle status and VM running states.

The objective of this study is to develop and evaluate the system to produce the real- time ensemble drought prediction data. Ensemble drought prediction consists of 3 processes (meteorological outlook using the multi-initial conditions, hydrological analysis and drought index calculation) therefore, more processing time and data is required than that of single member. For ensemble drought prediction, data process time is optimized and hardware of existing system is upgraded. Ensemble drought data is estimated for year 2012 and to evaluate the accuracy of drought prediction data by using ROC (Relative Operating Characteristics) analysis. We obtained 5 ensembles as optimal number and predicted drought condition for every tenth day i.e. 5th, 15th and 25th of each month. The drought indices used are SPI (Standard Precipitation Index), SRI (Standard Runoff Index), SSI (Standard Soil moisture Index). Drought conditions were determined based on results obtained for each ensemble member. Overall the results showed higher accuracy using ensemble members as compared to single. The ROC score of SRI and SSI showed significant improvement in drought period however SPI was higher in the demise period. The proposed ensemble drought prediction system can be contributed to drought forecasting techniques in Korea.

As polyethylene has unique physical characteristics such as low surface energy, low crystallization temperature, lack of polar groups, complicated lamellar structures, susceptibility to thermal degradation, and so on, most conventional coating techniques are not suitable for it. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has many benefits over conventional coating techniques, and it can be a good candidate as a coating technique for polyethylene. In this study, a low-temperature ALD technique for depositing layers of Al2O3 on blown, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) films was investigated. The effect of plasma surface modification on the effectiveness of the ALD technique in Al2O3 layer formation was also studied.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Ru films under various precursor and oxidant supply conditions was carried out at 320{degree sign}C on silicon wafers. The Ru precursor used was bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl) ruthenium [Ru(EtCp)2], and oxygen gas was used as the oxidant. The Ru precursor pulse time, oxygen pulse time, and oxygen flow rate were varied, and the effects of these parameters on the morphology of the deposited films were analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The films showed hollow shell-like bumps, indicating that film growth began with a reaction in the gas phase or in physically adsorbed states. A mismatch between the thermal expansion coefficients of Si and Ru or the existence of residues on the wafer surfaces was suspected to be responsible for the hollow shell-like structures. However, the results of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) proved that the latter was not the case.

During restoration of damaged teeth in dental clinics, dentin bonding agents are usually overlaid with restorative resin composites. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of restorative resin composites on cytotoxicity of dentin bonding agents. Dentin bonding agents were placed on glass discs, pre-cured and uncured resin composite discs. Bonding agents on the glass discs and composite resins discs were light cured and used for agar overlay cytotoxicity testing. Dentin bonding agents on composite resin discs exhibited far less cytotoxicity than that on glass discs. The polymerization of resin composite increased the surface hardness and decreased the cytotoxicity of bonding agents. In conclusion, composite resins in dental restorations are expected to enhance the polymerization of dentin bonding agents and reduce the elution of resin monomers, resulting in the decrease of cytotoxicity.

Thispaper presents a 200-Mb/s to 3-Gb/s half-rate referenceless clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit in 180nm CMOS process. A bidirectional frequency detector (FD) is proposed to eliminate the harmonic locking issue and reduce the frequency acquisition time. A frequency band selectorfor wide-range the voltage-control oscillator (VCO) is also presented to select an exact frequency band of the VCO. The simulation shows the CDR achieves 10-ps peak-to-peak jitter at 3Gb/s and the frequency acquisition time of 12.9 μs.

The approaches for maintaining hepatocytes in vitro are aimed at recapitulating aspects of the native liver microenvironment through the use of co-cultures, surface coatings and 3D spheroids. This study highlights the effects of spatial confinement-a less studied component of the in vivo microenvironment. We demonstrate that hepatocytes cultured in low-volume microfluidic channels (microchambers) retain differentiated hepatic phenotype for 21 days whereas cells cultured in regular culture plates under identical conditions de-differentiate after 7 days. Careful consideration of nutrient delivery and oxygen tension suggested that these factors could not solely account for enhanced cell function in microchambers. Through a series of experiments involving microfluidic chambers of various heights and inhibition of key molecular pathways, we confirmed that phenotype of hepatocytes in small volumes was shaped by endogenous signals, both hepato-inductive growth factors (GFs) such as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and hepato-disruptive GFs such as transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1. Hepatocytes are not generally thought of as significant producers of GFs–this role is typically assigned to nonparenchymal cells of the liver. Our study demonstrates that, in an appropriate microenvironment, hepatocytes produce hepato-inductive and pro-fibrogenic signals at the levels sufficient to shape their phenotype and function.

Wireless systems are evolving into complex hardware architectures with carrier aggregation and multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antennas to support higher peak data rates and spectral efficiencies under International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced guidelines. Low-loss, linear RF switches are key parts of these tunable and reconfigurable RF systems. Currently, most of commercial RF switches are made of FET switches with SOI [1-2], SOS [3], GaN [4] technologies and RF MEMS [5]. Key features of RF switches include low insertion loss, high isolation, excellent linearity, power handling, easy integration with conventional semiconductor technologies, and reliability and packaging. For comparison, typical RF switch figure-of-merit, R on ·C off , values are 230–300 femtosecond for RF SOI switches, 448 for RF SOS switches, 453 for GaN FET switches, and ∼4 for RF MEMS switches. RF MEMS switches offer the best FOM with excellent linearity >70 dBm. For high RF power handling, GaN FET switches showed 40 W continuous-wave RF power handling with

The self-assembly behaviors of flow-enhanced CdSe nanoparticle (NP) colloidal systems were investigated, which were systemically prepared by adding ethylene glycol (EG) or acetic acid (AA) to NP suspensions with deionized water (DI water) base. The additive solvents, which had higher boiling points and lower surface tensions than those of the DI water, modified the internal flow of the NP colloidal system, consequently affecting the morphologies of the generated NP superstructures after the full evaporation of their droplets. In flow-enhanced systems, NPs were formed into highly elongated dendrites that stretched from the center region to the edges along the direction of convective flow inside the droplet, while NPs in random drift system were easily aggregated to form cluster-shaped thick dendritic structures. When the volume fraction of EG was increased, the dominant superstructures were changed from dendrites to clusters, which can be mainly attributed to the changes in the dielectric properties of the NP droplets as evaporation proceeded because of the large discrepancy in the vapor pressures of EG and DI water. The balance between the interparticle potentials of electrostatic repulsion and van der Waals attraction was continuously altered, resulting in the formation of clusters with increasing EG ratio. Contrastively, the transition of superstructures could not be observed in the case of colloidal system prepared by mixing DI water and AA, which can be ascribed to the similar vapor pressures of the two solvents; the dielectric properties of the solution mixture was barely changed throughout the steady evaporation process, which resulted in the formation of uniformly distributed highly elongated dendrites. Polarization-dependent imaging experiments and photoluminescence measurements revealed that the stretched dendrites formed under the flow-enhanced conditions showed higher crystallinity than that of the clusters.

This paper presents a novel correlation canceling-type feedback canceler based on decision-directed pilot symbols for a terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (T-DMB) on-channel repeater (OCR). In order to guarantee an additional isolation of the OCR, two types of the feedback cancelers have been investigated: a correlation canceling (CC)-type feedback canceler and a frequency-domain channel estimation (FDCE)-type feedback canceler. While both of the feedback cancelers suppress the feedback signal effectively, they can operate complementarily each other with their own respective advantages. To achieve these complementary properties of the two types of feedback cancelers, we adopt a CC-type feedback canceling structure based on the frequency-domain estimated pilot symbols. The proposed feedback canceler improves the feedback channel estimation accuracy of the conventional CC-type feedback canceler as well as increases the channel estimation speed of the conventional FDCE-type feedback canceler. Simulation results show that the proposed feedback canceler has better feedback canceling performance and tracking ability for dynamic feedback channels.

Department of Chemistry, Soongsil University, Seoul 156-743, KoreaReceived April 30, 2012, Accepted May 8, 2012Key Words : ET, Ferrocene, Self-assembly, Porous fra mework, Intermolecular S···S contact In contrast to the polar hydrogen bond donor-acceptorpairs, thiol-containing moieties are not regarded as goodhydrogen bond tectons due to their insufficient polarity.

In analyzing pesticide residue, LLE (liquid liquid extraction) is generally applied as one of the existing methods, but needed quite a lot of organic solvents and analytical apparatuses for the sample pre-treatment. In addition to its long analysis time and complex analytical processes, it is required to develop a more rapid and efficient method at present. In order to establish an economic and simple pesticide residue analytical method, this study carried out a comparative experiment on the existing analytical method with a new sample pre-treatment method named QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe), which extracts and refines pesticide components by directly adding solid powder into the sample. Both the two analytical methods showed favorable values of correlation coefficient ( > 0.99) of calibration curves. In terms of the detection limit (identification limit), imidacloprid showed 0.02 mg/kg, while the rest of pesticides showed a level around 0.05 mg/kg. The results of this experiment revealed that the recovery of LLE was 92.8-100.9% and the RSD was below 2.5%. On the other hand, the recovery of QuEChERS was 92.2-101.6% and RSD was below 1.9%. As a result of comparing the amount of pesticide residue by the time between the two analytical methods by using Paired t-Test, there was no significant difference between the two analytical methods as the p-value ranged from 0.3148-0.9890. Considering the results of the two methods, the QuEChERS method had similar recovery, compared to the analytical method using the existing LLE, and the analytical time was shortened by about one fourth of that of the existing method. Moreover, since it excludes the use of harmful organic solvents like dichloromethane during the process of extraction, thus leading to protecting experimenters health and remarkably reducing the amount of disused solvents, it is judged as an echo-friendly and economic analytical method.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to develop analytical method for picoxystrobin in agricultural commodities using GC/ECD and GC/MS. METHODS AND RESULTS: Each steps of analytical method were optimized for determining picoxystrobin residues in various agricultural commodities. The developed methods include acetone extraction, n-hexane/saline water partition and florisil column chromatography for analysis of all samples (apple, potato, green pepper, hulled rice and soybean), and in addition to these steps, solid phase extraction (SPE) was used for analysis of green pepper and n-hexane/acetonitrile partition was used for analysis of hulled rice and soybean. The instrumental conditions were tested for quantitation in GC/ECD and for confirmation in GC/MS. Recovery was in the range of 86~109% with RSD 10.2% and the quantitation limits (LOQ) of method were 0.025 mg/kg in all agricultural commodities. CONCLUSION: The result showed that the developed method can be used to determine picoxystrobin residue in agricultural commodities.

Recently, more and more firms are considering the adoption of RFID technology because it is expected to make process automation easier and has many different application areas. A review of existing studies about RFID adoption methodology shows that the most of the proposed methodologies are mainly based on economic evaluations. However, in the near future when the adoption and diffusion of RFID become major forces among business firms, it would surely have some limits to decide its adoption solely on the basis of economic considerations. In order for all the important strategic objectives to be considered during the major decision processes, it is necessary to make explicit what the decision makers really want to achieve from the RFID system. In this paper, we propose a general value model of RFID system which can provide an overall vision of all values RFID adoption may offer and a way to search and evaluate alternatives on the basis of these values. Especially, this model contains not only opportunities but also risks of RFID adoption so that a balanced consideration can be made. The model building process was essentially based on the `value-focused thinking` approach proposed by R. Keeney. The proposed model is expected to provide insights about what to do in the process of introduction in order to maximize the potential benefits and minimize the negative risks. Referring to this value model, the important decisions would have greater chance to be based on a balanced consideration of opportunities and risks.

We report on the fabrication and electrical comparison between flexible tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs) and metal–oxide–semiconductor FETs (MOSFETs) on plastic substrates from device to circuit performance by use of fully CMOS-compatible silicon nanowires (SiNWs) as the channel material. The SiNW TFETs exhibit ION/IOFF ratio of ∼105, which is about an order of magnitude lower than that of their MOSFET counterparts, viz. ∼106, mainly due to their high turn-on voltage and low band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) efficiency. The SiNW complementary TFET (c-TFET) inverter shows ultralow DC power consumption (at VDD = 3 V, Ppeak = 11.4 nW and Pstby = 26.8 pW, respectively), which are about three to four orders of magnitude lower than those of the SiNW CMOS inverter, viz. 17.4 µW and 0.39 µW, respectively. Due to the different pros and cons for each of these devices, our top–down approach should open up the opportunity to integrate SiNW TFETs with SiNW MOSFETs on one plastic substrate for flexible hybrid SiNW TFET-MOSFET integrated circuits, where both high-performance and low-power functionality are required.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the applicability of Land Surface Model (LSM) for estimating the runoff on East Asia. Global geographical and weather data are used as input for the model and for the model verification, the simulated runoff results are compared with observed data from 34 global observation stations provided by Global Runoff Data Center (GRDC). Kppen`s climate zone is used to calculate the model parameter for ungaged basins. As a result, the simulated runoff shows good performance comparing with observed data in 17 basins assumed as ungaged basins. The Hydrologic components on East Asia area are estimated from the model and the continental water balance components are seasonally similar to each country. Also, it reveals that runoffs from southern China, Japan and Taiwan are much higher than those from mongolian and northern China.

One potential plant species suggested for phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated soils in Korea is evening primrose (Oenothera odorata). In this study, the tolerance mechanism of O. odorata to Cd exposure was investigated using tissue concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and growth decline (fresh weight and root elongation) as indicators of Cd induced stress when grown under hydroponic conditions. Compounds containing thiol functional groups including phytochelatins (PCs) were also determined in both root and shoot. In response to elevated Cd concentrations, the growth of O. odorata decreased, and shoot synthesis of MDA increased as the concentration of Cd accumulated in the tissue also increased. Simultaneously, MDA synthesis in the root was suppressed despite much more Cd being accumulated in the roots compared to the shoots. The suppression of MDA synthesis in the roots was related to PCs synthesis since much higher PC concentrations were observed in roots than in shoots. The synthesized PCs resulted in mitigation of Cd activity through complexation and compartmentalization in tissue and consequently Cd induced MDA production was reduced. Therefore, this study clearly demonstrated that PC synthesis has a significant role in the Cd tolerance of O. odorata. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

TOPO-capped CdSe nanocrystals with different sizes were synthesized by a slightly modified Peng and Peng's method, and pyridine-capped CdSe nanocrystals were obtained from TOPO-capped CdSe by exchange of TOPO with pyridine. By applying X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL (TRPL) spectroscopy, structural and optical characteristics of TOPO-capped and pyridine-capped CdSe are studied in detail. Analysis results show that, by exchanging the surface ligand from TOPO to pyridine, the crystalline quality and optical properties of CdSe nanocrystals are improved. During surface ligand exchange, the diameter of CdSe is decreased, which is caused by the loss of surface Cd and Se atoms with leaving TOPO molecules. The TRPL results suggest that the localized optical transitions of pyridine-capped CdSe, which result from defects and impurities existing in the nanocrystals, are suppressed, compared with those from the original TOPO-capped CdSe. The PL blue-shifts of pyridine-capped CdSe are also observed, and the PL and XPS results indicate that, when TOPO is substituted by pyridine, the surface electronic density of CdSe is re-distributed.

Association of official agricultural chemists official method was adapted and used to develop analytical method for determination of 76 pesticides residues in persimmon, grape, and pear by concurrent use of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Despite few exceptions in particular matrix, two fortified spiking (100 and 400 ppb) in three matrices gave satisfactory results in terms of accuracy, repeatability, precision, and linearity. Method detection limits (MDLs) were determined using five low spiking and eight replicate samples. MDLs were calculated by multiplying the standard deviation with student t-value 2.998 for n-1 (7) degree of freedom at 99% confident level. limit of quantification were obtained by multiplying standard deviation with 10. Experimental results indicate grape was the most problematic matrix among tested fruits and persimmon the least. Etoxazole is the most problematic pesticide and not applicable in this method. Developed method was successfully applied for the determination of residual pesticides in blindincurred samples.

In this paper, we proposed an algorithm for speech enhancement of speeches corrupted by colored noise. When there is no correlation between colored noise and speech signal, the colored noise turns into white noise through whitening transformation. This transformed signal has been applied to the generalized subspace approach for speech enhancement. The speech spectral distortion, produced by the whitening transformation as pre-processing, has been restored by using the inverse whitening transformation as post-processing of the proposed algorithm. The performance of the proposed algorithm for speech enhancement has been confirmed by computer simulation. The colored noises used in this experiment were car noise and multi-talker babble. It is confirmed that the proposed algorithm shows better performance from SNR and SSD viewpoint over the previous approach with the data from the AURORA and TIMIT data base.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the applicability of a Land Surface Model (LSM) for drought analysis in Korea. For evaluating the applicability of the model, the model was calibrated on several upper dam site watersheds and the hydrological components (runoff and soil moisture) were simulated over the whole South Korea at grid basis. After converting daily series of runoff and soil moisture data to accumulated time series (3, 6, 12 months), drought indices such as SRI and SSI are calculated through frequency analysis and standardization of accumulated probability. For evaluating the drought indices, past drought events are investigated and drought indices including SPI and PDSI are used for comparative analysis. Temporal and spatial analysis of the drought indices in addition to hydrologic component analysis are performed to evaluate the reproducibility of drought severity as well as relieving of drought. It can be concluded that the proposed indices obtained from the LSM model show good performance to reflect the historical drought events for both spatially and temporally. From this point of view, the LSM can be useful for drought management. It leads to the conclusion that these indices are applicable to domestic drought and water management.

The synthesis, characterization, and coordination chemistry of a series of mono-, di-, and trinuclear homo-/heterometallic complexes with the dinucleating ligand, N,N′-bis[(2-diphenyl-phosphanyl)phenyl]formamidine (pnnp)1 are reported. Treatment of (pnnp)PdMe (1) with NiCl2(dme) forms the heterobimetallic (pnnp)PdMe(μ-Cl)NiCl (3) complex, whereas reaction of 1 with Cu(CH3CN)4+PF6– yields the Pd···Cu···Pd heterometallic trinuclear complex (pnnp)Pd(Me)CuPd(Me)(pnnp)·PF6 (8). The reaction of pnnp with NiCl2(dme) (dme = 1,2-dimethoxyethane) produces the Ni dimer [(pnnp)NiCl(μ-Cl)]2 (5) or the dinuclear (pnnp)NiCl(μ-X)NiCl (X = Cl or OH) (4) complexes, depending upon the stoichiometry. The reaction of pnnp with CoII or FeII ions leads to the monometallic complexes (pnnp)CoCl2 (6) or (pnnp)FeCl2 (7), respectively. The dinuclear (pnnp)PdMe(μ-Cl)NiCl (3) and (pnnp)NiCl(μ-X)NiCl (X = Cl or OH) (4) complexes adopt A-frame structures with two square-planar d8 metal complexes hinged by the bridging ligand; the angles between the square planes correlate to the covalent radii, in which the smaller homo-bimetallic Ni complex adopts a more coplanar arrangement of the two Ni square planes. The heterometallic trinuclear complex (pnnp)Pd(Me)CuPd(Me)(pnnp)·PF6 (8) adopts an unusual structure around the Cu center, suggestive of a weak d8–d10 interaction between the Pd and Cu atoms. All complexes have been characterized by NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and X-ray crystallography, and their structural diversity is discussed.

The EPCglobal Network is a computer network used to share product data among trading partners. It provides the supply chain with improved visibility and traceability by using Electronic Product Code (EPC), which is stored on an RFID tag. Although this network model is widely accepted as a global standard and the growth of EPCglobal-subscriber base is considerable, the EPC technology adoption process is still in its infancy. This is because some of the critical issues on this model still remain to be verified such as scalability, data management, security, privacy and the economic value of data sharing. In this paper, we focus on scalability issue among the challenges to overcome and we regard performance of the EPCglobal Network only as a track and trace query-processing cost in the network. We developed performance models consisting of three elements of the EPCglobal Network : Discovery Services (DS), EPC Information Services (EPCIS), Object Naming Services (ONS). Then we abstracted out the track and trace query execution model to evaluate performance of the overall EPCglobal Network. Finally using the proposed models, we carried out simulation analysis based on an RFID-based inbound logistics process of automobile parts. This work is an important step towards the EPC technology diffusion and provides guidelines for businesses looking to buy or build the EPCglobal Network-based systems. Key words: EPCglobal Network, Performance, RFID, Supply Chain

Organized mesoporous TiO2 films with high porosity and good connectivity were synthesized via sol–gel by templating an amphiphilic graft copolymer consisting of poly(vinyl chloride) backbone and poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) side chains, i.e., PVC-g-POEM. The randomly microphase-separated graft copolymer was self-reorganized to exhibit a well-ordered micellar morphology upon controlling polymer–solvent interactions, as confirmed by atomic force microscope (AFM) and glazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). These organized mesoporous TiO2 films, 550 nm in thickness, were used an an interfacial layer between a nanocrystalline TiO2 thick layer and a conducting glass in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Introduction of the organized mesoporous TiO2 layer resulted in the increased transmittance of visible light, decreased interfacial resistance and enhanced electron lifetime. As a result, an energy conversion efficiency of DSSC employing polymer electrolyte was significantly improved from 3.5% to 5.0% at 100 mW cm−2.

We suggest a simple process to fabricate a hole-patterned TiO2 electrode for a solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) to enhance cell performance through interfacial properties of the electrode with the electrolyte with minimum dye loading. The method involves prepatterning of SU-8 photoresist on a conducting glass, followed by the deposition of a nanocrystalline TiO2 layer, calcination at 450 °C and characterization using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Hole-patterned TiO2 photoelectrodes yielded better solar energy conversion efficiency per dye loading compared to a conventional non-patterned photoelectrode. For example, a 50 μm hole-patterned DSSC exhibited 4.50% conversion efficiency in the solid state, which is comparable to an unpatterned flat TiO2 photoelectrode (4.57%) however the efficiency per dye loading of the former (0.986%/g) was much greater than that of the latter (0.898%/g). The improvement was attributed to improved transmittance through the electrode as well as better interfacial properties between the electrolyte and electrode, as confirmed by UV–visible spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance (EIS) analysis.

A chromotropic ferrocenyl chalcone with two pyrenyl groups (Fc-dPyr) is prepared and spectroscopically characterized. The X-ray structure analysis shows that the two pyrenyl groups are almost parallel to each other with a torsion angle of 5.57° and adopt a dimeric mode with a distance of 3.776 A between them, ready to form an excimer. The solvatochromic fluorescence spectra indicate that the emission maxima observed in hydrogen-bonding donor (HBD) solvents (CHCl3, EtOH and MeOH) exhibit a strictly linear relationship with the normalized ETN value, while those in a non-HBD solvent (CH3CN) do not. The molecular chemosensor activity of Fc-dPyr is highly selective toward Fe(III) ions over Fe(II) ions. The fluorescence emission intensity of Fc-dPyr steeply decreases in the presence of Fe(III) ions as an oxidant, but not in the presence of Fe(II) ions.

Microlight-emitting diodes (µLEDs) are emerging solutions for both high-quality displays and lighting technologies. However, the overall light output power density of these devices is low, as the emission area is shielded by the p-electrodes required for current injection. In this study, instead of the more conventionally used indium tin oxide (ITO), an AlN thin film with nanoscale conducing filaments (CFs) is used, referred to as CF-AlN, as a transparent conducting electrode (TCE), to enhance the output power density from the same emission area. As a result of this modification, the electroluminescence intensity is enhanced by 10% at an injection current of 10 mA, and the current density is improved by 13% at a forward voltage of 4.9 V, in comparison to the parameters observed with ITO-based µLEDs. This improvement is attributed to the higher transmittance of CF-AlN TCEs, together with efficient hole injection from the p-electrode into the light-emitting layer, through the CFs formed in the AlN layer. In addition, using transmission electron microscopy analyses, the origin of the CFs is directly identified as the diffusion of In and Sn ions, which provides critical insight into the conduction mechanism of AlN-based TCEs.

Trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid (t10c12-CLA) can reportedly alter the immune responses of phagocytes; however, it is unknown whether t10c12-CLA has a direct effect on the chemotaxis of peripheral blood polymorphonuclear neutrophillic leukocytes (PMNs). Here, we examined the effect of t10c12-CLA on the chemotaxis of porcine PMNs. The chemotactic response of porcine naïve PMNs was increased by porcine recombinant (pr) interleukin (IL)-8. Treatment with t10c12-CLA increased the chemotactic activity of porcine PMNs to IL-8 compared to porcine naïve PMNs, and enhanced their total cellular F-actin level. This increased chemotactic activity of t10c12-CLA-treated porcine PMNs was inhibited by cytochalasin D, an F-actin polymerization inhibitor. These results suggest that t10c12-CLA directly upregulates the chemotaxis of porcine PMNs, and that this effect may be associated with increased actin polymerization.

The objective of this study is to suggest an approach for estimating probability rainfall using climate scenario data based GCM and to analyze changes of flood characteristics like probability rainfall, flood quantile and flood water level under climate change. The study area is Namhan river basin. Probability rainfalls which is taken 1440 minutes duration and 100-year frequency are estimated by using IPCC SRES A2 climate change scenario for each time period (S0: 1971~2000; S1: 2011~2040; S2: 2041~2070; S3: 2071~2100). Flood quantiles are estimated for 17 subbasins and flood water level is analyzed in the main channel from the downstream of Chungju dam to the upstream of Paldang dam. Probability rainfalls, peak flow from flood quantile and water depth from flood water level have increase rate in the range of 13.0~15.1 % based S0 (142.1 mm), 29.1~33.5% based S0 (), 12.6~13.6% in each S1, S2 and S3 period, respectively.

Background Radial meniscal tears historically have been treated by partial meniscectomy, although they are more biomechanically detrimental than longitudinal tears. Clinical results after meniscal repair for radial tears of the midbody of the lateral meniscus have been reported rarely. Study Design Case series: Level of evidence, 4. Methods Fourteen consecutive patients who had radial tears of the midbody of the lateral meniscus underwent arthroscopic repair. Inclusion criteria were radial tears involving the red-red or red-white zone. All patients underwent all-inside meniscal repair using absorbable sutures. Postoperative evaluation was performed using joint-line tenderness, McMurray test, range of motion, and follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at 6 months postoperatively. Lysholm knee score and Tegner activity level were evaluated at last follow-up. In 4 patients, second-look arthroscopies were performed. Results The average follow-up was 36.3 months. No patient had joint-line tenderness. Three patients complained of pain or a click on McMurray test. The mean follow-up range of motion was 138.6°. Follow-up MRI scans demonstrated that 5 (35.7%) menisci were healed, 8 (57.1%) were partially healed, and 1 (7.1%) was not healed. The follow-up Lysholm score was 94.7 (range, 81-100; standard deviation [SD] = 6.4) and Tegner score was 5.7 (range, 3-7; SD = 1.4). Second-look arthroscopies in 4 patients showed partial healing of meniscal tears. Conclusion Meniscal repair for radial tears of the midbody of the lateral meniscus may be an effective, alternative treatment to partial meniscectomy.

To obtain visible and traceable information from the supply chain, HW/SW standards for the EPC global network, which process electronic product code (EPC) data read from Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, are regarded as the de facto industry standard. Supply chain participants install information service systems and provide logistics information to partners by following the EPCglobal architecture framework. Although quality of service (QoS) is essential for providing dependable and scalable services as pointed out by Auto-ID Lab, only a few models for the performance analysis of QoS-related work have been developed in the context of EPC information service systems. Specifically, doing so allows alternative design choices to be tested in an easy and cost-effective manner and can highlight potential performance problems in designs long before any construction costs are incurred. Thus, in this study we construct a model of an EPC information service system for the purposes of performance analysis and designing a dependable system. We also develop a set of building blocks for analytical performance models. To illustrate how the model works, we determine the characteristics of an EPC information service system and then select a combination of these proven modeling concepts. We construct a performance model that considers the response time and shows how to derive meaningful performance values. Finally, we compare the analytical results to measurements of the EPC information service system.

The selective oligomerization of ethylene to 1-hexene or 1-octene provides a selective route to these valuable α-olefins. Selective trimerization and tetramerization of ethylene with Cr catalysts have been proposed to occur by a mechanism involving metallacycle intermediates. We envisioned that the intermediacy of metallacycles could provide an opportunity to generate new classes of functionalized ethylene oligomers by chain transfer to a transmetalation reagent. Herein, we report the influence of transmetalation agents such as zinc alkyls on the selectivity of ethylene oligomerization with a Cr(PNP)Cl3/MAO system (PNP = Ph2PN(iPr)PPh2). Oligomerization of ethylene with Cr(PNP)Cl3/MAO at 200 psig of ethylene at 25 or 45 °C generates 1-hexene, 1-octene, C10−C22 oligomers, and polyethylene. The addition of ZnR2 increases the productivity and selectivity for C10−C22 oligomers and results in a decrease in the amount and molecular weight of the polyethylene generated. Analysis of the product distribution after...

We develop novel GaN-based high temperature and radiation-hard electronics to realize data acquisition electronics and transmitters suitable for operations in harsh planetary environments. In this paper, we discuss our research on metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors that are targeted for 500 (sup o)C operation and >2 Mrad radiation hardness. For the target device performance, we develop Schottky-free AlGaN/GaN MOS transistors, where a gate electrode is processed in a MOS layout using an Al2O3 gate dielectric layer....

Acquiring materials that simultaneously meet two or more conflicting requirements is very difficult. For instance, a situation wherein the color chromaticity and photoluminescence (PL) intensity of phosphors conflict with one another is a frequent problem. Therefore, identification of a good phosphor that simultaneously exhibits both desirable PL intensity and color chromaticity is a challenge. A high-throughput synthesis and characterization strategy that was reinforced by a nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA)-based optimization process was employed to simultaneously optimize both the PL intensity and color chromaticity of a MgO–ZnO–SrO–CaO–BaO–Al2O3–Ga2O3–MnO system. NSGA operations, such as Pareto sorting and niche sharing, and the ensuing high-throughput synthesis and characterization resulted in identification of promising green phosphors, i.e., Mn2+-doped AB2O4 (A = alkali earth, B = Al and Ga) spinel solid solutions, for use in either plasma display panels or cold cathode fluorescent lamps.

This article describes the comparison of different versions of an easy, rapid and low-cost sample preparation approach for the determination of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables by concurrent use of gas and liquid chromatography (GC and LC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) for detection. The sample preparation approach is known as QuEChERS, which stands for "quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe". The three compared versions were based on the original unbuffered method, which was first published in 2003, and two interlaboratory validated versions: AOAC Official Method 2007.01, which uses acetate buffering, and European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Standard Method EN 15662, which calls for citrate buffering. LC-MS/MS and GC-MS analyses using each method were tested from 50 to 1000ng/g in apple-blueberry sauce, peas and limes spiked with 32 representative pesticides. As expected, the results were excellent (overall average of 98% recoveries with 10% RSD) using all 3 versions, except the unbuffered method gave somewhat lower recoveries for the few pH-dependent pesticides. The different methods worked equally well for all matrices tested with equivalent amounts of matrix co-extractives measured, matrix effects on quantification and chemical noise from matrix in the chromatographic backgrounds. The acetate-buffered version gave higher and more consistent recoveries for pymetrozine than the other versions in all 3 matrices and for thiabendazole in limes. None of the versions consistently worked well for chlorothalonil, folpet or tolylfluanid in peas, but the acetate-buffered method gave better results for screening of those pesticides. Also, due to the recent shortage in acetonitrile (MeCN), ethyl acetate (EtOAc) was evaluated as a substitute solvent in the acetate-buffered QuEChERS version, but it generally led to less clean extracts and lower recoveries of pymetrozine, thiabendazole, acephate, methamidophos, omethoate and dimethoate. In summary, the acetate-buffered version of QuEChERS using MeCN exhibited advantages compared to the other tested methods in the study.

A series of monocyclopentadienyl titanium complexes containing a pendant amine donor on a Cp group (A = CpTiCl3, B = CpNTiCl3, C = CpNTiCl2TEMPO, for Cp = C5H5, CpN = C5H4CH2CH2N(CH3)2, and TEMPO = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl) are investigated for styrene homopolymerization and ethylene–styrene (ES) copolymerization. When activated by methylaluminoxane at 70 °C, complexes with the amine group (B and C) are active for styrene homopolymerization and afford syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS). The copolymerizations of ethylene and styrene with B and C yield high-molecular weight ES copolymer, whereas complex A yields mixtures of sPS and polyethylene, revealing the critical role that the pendant amine has on the polymerization behavior of the complexes. Fractionation, NMR, and DSC analyses of the ES copolymers generated from B and C suggest that they contain sPS. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1579–1585, 2010