Search

The relationship between reproductive breast risk factors and breast cancer survival in patients with different breast cancer subtypes is not well known.We examined a large-sized, retrospective study of 23,882 subjects from the Korean Breast Cancer Registry. The breast cancer subtype was determined by immunohistochemical staining for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Information regarding reproductive factors, including breastfeeding, age at first birth (AFB), and parity, was gathered. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to estimate the association among breast cancer subtypes, such as luminal A, luminal B, Her-2/neu overexpressing, and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), and breast cancer survival as dependent variables and adjusting for age and stage.High parity (≥ 5) increased the recurrence risk of luminal A and B breast cancer (hazard ratio [HR], 1.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.96-3.97; P = .0055 and HR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.42-3.02, respectively; P = .0073) in breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS), but 1 to 3 child births decreased the recurrence risk of luminal A breast cancer (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.34-0.91; P = .0055) and luminal B breast cancer (HR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.17-0.61; P = .0073) in BCSS. Early AFB (20 years) increased the recurrence risk of luminal A breast cancers (HR, 1.61; 95% CI, 0.62-4.26; P = .039) in BCSS and of TNBC (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 0.78-2.21; P = .0006) in overall survival. Her-2/neu overexpressing breast cancer had no correlation with parity and AFB in breast cancer survival.High parity (≥ 5) and early AFB (20 years) were correlated with worse clinical outcomes in patients with luminal breast cancer, but not with other subtyped breast cancers.

Zr-rich Zr–Ti–Ni(Cu) alloy system with deep eutectics was investigated for bulk metallic glass (BMG) compositions. The BMGs were investigated by locating deep eutectic compositions and by evaluation of alloys near it. When Cu was added to the Zr 45 Ti 21 Ni 34 eutectic alloy as an additional melting point depressant, even lower melting eutectics were obtained. A new quaternary eutectic alloy was found with a composition of Zr 49 Ti 17 Ni 20 Cu 14 . The microstructure consists of three glass forming compounds of Zr 2 Ni, Zr 2 Cu, and (Zr,Ti) 2 Ni. By examining alloys around the new quaternary eutectic alloy, a BMG with a glass forming ability of 4 mm diameter was found at the off-eutectic Zr 49 Ti 14 Ni 20 Cu 17 composition. The study confirmed the composition of the best glass former near the eutectic point. The searching method for BMGs starting from a deep eutectic alloy as a reference point is described.

Background Remifentanil is known to attenuate the cardiovascular responses to tracheal intubation. We determined effective doses (ED 50 /ED 95 ) of remifentanil to prevent the pressor response to tracheal intubation in patients with severe preeclampsia. Methods Seventy-five women with severe preeclampsia were randomly allocated to one of five remifentanil dose groups (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, or 1.25μg/kg) given before induction of anaesthesia using thiopental 5mg/kg and suxamethonium 1.5mg/kg. Systolic arterial pressure, heart rate and plasma catecholamine concentrations were measured. Neonatal effects were assessed by Apgar scores and umbilical cord blood gas analysis. A dose was considered effective when systolic arterial pressure did not exceed 160mmHg for more than 1min following tracheal intubation. Results Baseline systolic blood pressure and heart rate did not differ among the groups. The intubation-induced increases of heart rate and blood pressure were attenuated in a dose-dependent manner by remifentanil. ED 50 and ED 95 were 0.59 (95% CI 0.47–0.70)μg/kg and 1.34 (1.04–2.19)μg/kg, respectively. Norepinephrine concentrations remained unaltered following intubation but increased significantly at delivery, with no differences between the groups. Apgar scores and umbilical arterial and venous pH and blood gas values were comparable among the groups. Two women each in the 1.0 and 1.25μg/kg groups received ephedrine for hypotension defined as systolic arterial pressure Conclusions The ED 95 of remifentanil for attenuating the hypertensive response to tracheal intubation during induction of anaesthesia in severely preeclamptic patients undergoing caesarean delivery under general anaesthesia was 1.34μg/kg.

A study for the enhancement of effective magnetic flux of Permanent Magnet-Transversal Flux Machines using flux guiding is presented. By taking into account an intrinsic demagnetization curve which considers the leakage flux, the stator winding can be more compact; furthermore, a lighter stator and a more efficient permanent magnet machine can be obtained by using magnetic flux path guiding.

Partially alloyed filler metals in the form of powders and laminated foils were used for the brazing of Ti and Ti alloys to lower the manufacturing cost. In this study, by using a raw elemental powder mixture, a multi-component filler sheet with a nominal composition of 37.5Ti–37.5Zr–15Cu–10Ni was fabricated using a Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) machine in the temperature range from 650 °C to 785 °C for 1 min. As the sintering temperature was increased from 650 °C to 750 °C, the bending strength of the sheets tended to rise, but the bending strength at 785 °C was drastically reduced. The melting range of the sheets became similar to that of the as-cast alloy. The sheets sintered at 750 °C showed the highest bending strength of 259 MPa, which was much higher than that of the as-cast material, and the melting range of this sheet was from 800 °C to 852 °C. The relatively high strength of the sheet was due to the remaining elemental powders such as Ti or Zr, but the brittle intermetallics, such as Ti 2 Cu and (Ti,Zr) 2 Ni Laves phases, formed in the sheet during the sintering process deteriorated its mechanical strength. The partially developed eutectic phase between the remaining Ti or Zr powder caused the sheet to exhibit melting behavior similar to that of the as-cast alloy. The brazability of the sheet sintered at 750 °C was examined with commercially pure Ti at 870 °C for 5–60 min. The tensile strength of the Ti joint brazed for 30 min was 431 MPa, which was close to that of the base metal.

The seeding rates of the vacuum suction nozzle seeders are affected by the jumping height of the seeds on the vibrating seed hopper. This study was performed to investigate the optimum vibration condition of the seed hopper on the vacuum suction nozzle seeder for improving seeding performance. Experiments were carried out to determine the vibration conditions of the seed hopper by air pressure and eccentric weight, and to optimize the seed-pickup performance of each nozzle by suction pressure. As the result with the experiments, the fluctuations of the jumping height of the seeds were showed at amplitude 0.4 mm and frequency 42 Hz, and jumping heights of the seeds were increased as the air pressure increase and the eccentric weight decrease, regardless number of seeds of the hopper. The best seeding rate of the seed hopper was 98% at the 300-seed cell, when the condition of the seed hopper was the suction air pressure of 94.6 kPa-abs., amplitude and frequency of the seed hopper vibration were at 0.57 mm and 43.6 Hz, respectively. The optimum vibrating conditions of the seed hopper were decided into frequency 43.6-43.8 Hz and the amplitudes 0.61-0.62 mm.

We evaluated the limit of scaling bottom electrode contact (BEC) heater size and high resistivity heater to reduce writing current. It was found that the resistivity of heater should be increased for reducing writing current below the heater size of about 50 nm without any undesirable increase of resistance of the crystalline state (SET state, Rset). It was shown in the numerical simulations that the dissipated heat loss through BEC during melting GST was decreased in the increase of resistivity of heater. In addition, we analyzed the resistance components contributing to the total set resistance. It was observed that the undesired sharp increase of Rset as the BEC size decreases below 50 nm was attributed to the resistance component of GST–BEC interface. In the case of high resistivity heater, the contributions of both incomplete crystallization and heater itself were enhanced.

We report the microstructure and optical properties of gallium nitride (GaN) epilayers grown on lens shape patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) for various growth times. A lens shaped pattern was used to reduce the threading dislocation density and to improve optical emission efficiency. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) image shows flat and smooth surface of GaN grown on PSS at 80 min which could be achieved by lateral growth from the trench region. From the DCXRD spectra, full width at half maximun (FWHM) value was decreased with increasing growth time. FWHM of the sample grown at 80 min was 473.5 arc sec. This indicates there is an improvement in crystalline quality of the GaN grown on PSS as the growth time increases. From photoluminescence (PL) spectra, an increase in band edge emission intensity and a decrease in defect related yellow luminescence was observed for GaN on PSS as the growth time increased. From the PL spectra, FWHM was 82.2 meV at peak position 363.9 nm for the sample grown for 80 min. It is clearly seen that the threading dislocations can be reduced by lateral growth improving the light emission efficiency by internal light reflection on the lens surface for GaN grown on PSS.

GaN epilayers were grown on lens shaped patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) (0001) and unpatterned sapphire substrate (UPSS) (0001) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The quality of the grown GaN epilayers on the PSS and UPSS were compared. Structural characteristics, surface morphology and optical properties of the GaN epilayers were investigated using double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL). A lens shaped pattern was formed on the sapphire substrate to reduce threading dislocation (TD) density and also to improve the optical emission efficiency by internal reflection on the lens. Scanning electron microscopy images show the growth of GaN epilayers at various times. Full coalescence is observed at a growth time of 80 min. It is seen from the DCXRD rocking spectrum that full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the GaN grown on PSS was 438.7 arcsec which is less than UPSS value. The lower value of FWHM indicates that the crystalline quality of the GaN epilayers grown on PSS is improved compared to GaN grown on UPSS. It is clearly seen from the AFM images that the dislocation density is less for the GaN grown on PSS. A strong and sharp photoluminescence (PL) band edge emission was observed for the GaN grown on PSS compared to UPSS. Defect related yellow luminescence was observed for GaN grown on UPSS which did not appear for PSS. The FWHM at the 364.3 nm peak position was evaluated to be 50.7 meV from the PL spectra for GaN grown on PSS. The above result indicates GaN epilayers can be grown on PSS with low TD density and will be useful for optical emission.

A hexapod walking robot had been developed for gathering information in the field. The developed robot was (, mm) in size and 14.7 N in weight. The legs had nineteen degrees of freedom. A leg has three rotational joints actuated by small servomotors. Two servomotors placed at ankle and knee played the roles of vertical joint for up and down motions of the leg and the other one placed at coxa played the role of horizontal joint for forward and backward motions. In addition, a servomotor placed at thorax between the front legs and the middle legs played the role of vertical joint for pumping the two front legs to climb stair or inclination. Walking motion of the robot was executed by tripod gait. The robot was controlled by manual remote-controller communicated by an infrared ray. Two controllers were equipped to control the walking of the robot. The sub-controller using PIC microcomputer (Microchips, PIC16F84A) received the 16 bit command signal from the manual remote controller, decoded it to 8bit and transmitted it to the main microcomputer (RENESAS, SH2/7045), which controlled the 19 servomotors using the PWM command signals. Walking speeds were controlled by adjusting the period of command cycle and the stride. Forward walking speed were within 100 cm/min to 300 cm/min. However, experimental walking speed had the error of 4-40 cm/min to compare with the theoretical one, because of slippage of the leg and the circular arc motion of servomotor of coxa.

Gallium nitride (GaN) epilayers were grown on a patterned sapphire substrate (0001) (PSS) using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) for various growth time from 10 to 80 min. Structural characteristics, surface morphology and optical properties of the GaN epilayer were investigated using double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL). A lens shaped pattern was formed on the sapphire substrate to reduce threading dislocation density and also to improve the optical emission efficiency by internal reflection on the lens. From the DCXRD rocking spectrum, full width at half maximum (FWHM) was decreased with increasing growth time. The FWHM of the sample grown at 80 min was 473.48 arcsec which indicates good crystalline quality. From the SEM images, full coalescence takes place at 80 min growth time. It was observed that the threading dislocation densities were reduced as the growth time increased thereby obtaining a smooth and defect free GaN epilayer at high growth time. From the PL spectra, a decrease in the FWHM and an increase in the peak position were observed as the growth time was increased. Similarly, the yellow luminescence was decreased as the growth time increased and disappeared at growth time 80 min. From the band edge emission spectra, FWHM was 82.2 meV at peak position 363.9 nm for the sample grown at 80 min which indicates a low threading dislocation density. Our results show that by using PSS for growing GaN epilayer with high growth time, threading dislocation density could be reduced thereby improving the crystalline and optical quality of the GaN layers.

In this paper, a transverse flux reluctance motor circuit-field model, based on a variable equivalent air gap permeance concept, is introduced. The core nonlinearity is fully considered through a saturation factor, calculated with the support of the finite-element method (FEM) analysis. A simplified model variant is developed and the calculated values are compared with the ones obtained by the FEM analysis. The model provides simple analytical expressions useful for dynamic analysis as well as for online control

D-values for ultra high pressure inactivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Listeria innocua were evaluated in commercial applesauce with selected concentrations of soluble solids ranging from 13 to 60%. Applesauce with S. cerevisiae was compressed to 300 MPa and immediately decompressed (identified as 0 s) or held at 300 MPa for 30-s intervals for 150 s at room temperature. Applesauce with L. innocua was treated at 375 MPa for 0 to 300 s at room temperature. D-values for both microorganisms at soluble solids concentrations of 13, 20 and 30% were calculated. D-values for inactivation of S. cerevisiae were 26.3, 29.9 and 46.5 s in applesauce adjusted with sucrose to 13, 20 and 30% soluble solids, respectively. D-values for inactivation of L. innocua were 40.2, 55.2 and 120.6 s in applesauce also adjusted with sucrose to 13, 20 and 30% of soluble solids. Ultra high pressure treatment of commercial applesauce inoculated with S. cerevisiae or L. innocua adjusted to 40, 50 or 60% soluble solids reduced an initial inocula of 107to 106by less than 1 log. Soluble solids concentrations greater than 30% provide a baroprotective effect on inactivation by high pressure treatment. The use of ultra high pressure technology by the food industry to inactivate microorganisms may be limited in food models with high soluble solids concentrations. Soluble solids adjusted with sucrose concentrations greater than 30% protect against the destruction of microorganisms. An effective pressure treatment that ensures the microbial stability of foods depends on an understanding of the relationship between microorganisms and food components.

This study was undertaken to determine the pressure and time required to inactivate Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Listeria innocua on apples and blueberries while maintaining a “fresh-like” fruit texture and color.d-values for inactivation of S. cerevisiae and L. innocua inoculated on diced apples and blueberries following ultra high pressure treatment at 300 and 375 MPa at room temperature were determined.d-values for inactivation of S. cerevisiae at 300 MPa ranged from 19.7 s on diced apples to 22.4 s on blueberries.d-values for inactivation of L. innocua at 375 MPa ranged from 67.1 s on diced apples to 46.7 s on blueberries. Ultra high pressure is an efficient and effective option for inactivating S. cerevisiae and L. innocua on apples, blueberries or other fruit while preserving a fresh appearance and texture.

Experiments were conducted with pureed pumpkin to evaluate energy eficiency and microbial reduction effect of a new thin-film Refractance Window (RW) drying method. The RW drying system was designed based on a novel concept that uses hot water circulating beneath and in contact with a transparent plastic conveyor belt on which a thin film ofpuree is dried. In the energy study, water temperature, water circulation velocity, puree temperature, and puree moisture content were determined. In both pilot and commercial scale RWdryers with circulating water at 95C, drying of pumpkin puree from 80% to 5% moisture content (wb) was achieved in less than 5 min. The Refractance Window mdryer demonstrated 52% to 70% energy efficiency. The pilot scale unit was used to evaluate the effect of RW drying on microbial reduction. At a circulating water temperature of 9SC, R W drying of inoculated pumpkin purees resulted in at least 4.6, 6.1, 6.0, and 5.5 log reductions of total aerobic plate counts (APC), coliforms, Escherichia coli. and Listeria innocua, respectively.

Nutritional adequacy of growing Thoroughbred horses raised in an alternate feeding system - grazing during late spring through late fall and stable feeding for the rest of seasons - was assessed by determining vitamin E and trace mineral levels in the serum and blood chemistry related to nutrition and health. During the stable feeding in winter and early spring, 50 growing female horses were fed concentrates (1.4% of their body weight), grass hay (0.62%) and alfalfa hay (0.37%). For the grazing period, the same horses were fed supplementary concentrates (1.1%) during late spring through early summer, and concentrates (1.1%) and alfalfa hay (0.5%) during late summer through late fall. Blood samples were collected before grazing in early spring, and during grazing in early summer through late fall. Serum vitamin E, BUN, GTP, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin levels were increased (P

The thin agar layer (TAL) method was used to enumerate cold-injured (-20C for 2 h and then 25C for 2 h) foodborne pathogens. This method involves overlaying 14 mL of nonselective medium (Tryptic Soy Agar, TSA) onto a prepoured, pathogen-specific, selective medium. The microbial recovery with the TAL method was compared with the recovery for TSA and pathogen-specific, selective media. No significant difference occurred between TSA and TAL (P 0.05) for recovery of cold-injured Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphyococcus aureus, but the numbers of cells recovered were lower in selective media than TSA or TAL. The TAL method has better recovery capacity than selective media and provides better selectivity than TSA to differentiate target microorganisms.

Combined lactic acid (2%), hot water, and microwave treatments were used to reduce natural microflora and the pathogens Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes in vacuum-packaged beef. Hot water at 158EF followed by vacuum packaging and 5 sec. of microwave were acceptable for microbial reduction. Dipping inoculated meat for 20 sec. into 2% room temperature lactic acid prior to that treatment at 158EF reduced E. coli O157:H7 by 1.05 log CFU/cm2, S. typhimurium by .7 log CFU/cm2 , and L. monocytogenes by .85 log CFU/cm2 (CFU is colony forming unit). One log equals a 90% reduction, and 2 log a 99% reduction. With this treatment, meat color reverted to an acceptable value after 14 hr of storage at 39EF. Part 3 of the experiment combined 2% lactic acid and hot water treatments into one step. Dipping for 20 sec. in 176EF, 2% lactic acid then vacuum packaging and microwaving for 5 sec. reduced natural microflora by 1.8 log CFU/cm2, E. coli O157:H7 by 1.18 log CFU/cm2, S. typhimurium by 1.5 log CFU/cm2, and L. monocytogenes by 1.5 log CFU/cm2, with acceptable color values after 14 hr storage at 40EF. This combination was the most effective in reducing both natural and inoculated microorganisms and provides a low-cost alternative for decontamination of meat surfaces.

Structural and optical properties of gallium nitride (GaN) epilayers grown on lens shape patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) for various growth times were evaluated. From Raman spectra, a blue shift and reduction in the FWHM of Raman modes of GaN grown on PSS were observed when compared to GaN grown on unpatterend sapphire substrate (UPSS). From the DCXRD spectra, full width at half maximum (FWHM) value was decreased with increasing growth time. FWHM of the sample grown at 80 min was 473.5 arc sec. This indicates that there is an improvement in crystalline quality of the GaN grown on PSS as the growth time increases. From photoluminescence (PL) spectra, an increase in band edge emission intensity and a decrease in defect related yellow luminescence were observed for GaN on PSS as the growth time increased.

Vertically aligned GaN nanocolumn arrays were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Gallium coated silicon substrate. The dense packing of the NCs gives them the appearance of a continuous film in surface view, but cross-sectional analysis shows them to be isolated nanostructures. The GaN nanocolumns have uniform diameters of 85 nm, lengths up to 720 nm and possess a pyramid like tip. Photoluminescence measurements of NCs show excitonic emission with a dominant, narrow peak centered at 363 nm and FWHM of 68 meV. From the Raman spectrum, peaks at 566.9 and 730 cm-1 are assigned to the E2 and A1(LO) GaN phonons modes which clearly indicates that the grown nanocolumns are highly crystalline. The grown nanocolumns are highly oriented and perpendicular to the growth surface.

Vertical GaN nano-columns arrays were grown on Au-coated silicon (111) substrate by Au+Ga alloy seeding method and pulsed flow of Gallium and ammonia using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A gold thin film was deposited on Si using an ion coating system. The Au coated Si substrate was annealed at 800 oC under hydrogen ambient for 5 min. The pre-deposition of gallium and nitrogen was performed for 60 sec to form Au+Ga and nitrogen solid solution, which acts as the initial nucleation islands. Then Gallium and ammonia were let in pulse method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image reveals a vertical growth and cylindrical in shape GaN nano-column. From the sharp PL peak intensity it is clearly seen that the dislocation density is reduced considerably and the optical quality of the nano-column is improved.

Single-crystal GaN nano-column arrays were grown on Au-coated silicon (111) substrate by Au-Ga alloy seeding method using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The nano-column arrays were studied as a function of growth parameters and Au thin film thickness. The diameter and length of the as-grown nano-column vary from 100 to 500 nm and 4 to 6 µm, respectively. The surface morphology and optical properties of the nano-columns were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), cathodoluminescence (CL) and photoluminescence (PL). The Au+Ga alloy droplets were found to be uniformly distributed on silicon surface. Further, SEM image reveals a vertical growth and cylindrical in shape GaN nano-column. The chemical composition of the nano-column, which composed of gallium and nitrogen ions, was estimated by EDX. CL reveals a strong band edge emission from the GaN nano-column. PL spectra show a peak at 365.7 nm with a full-width half maximum (FWHM) of 65 meV which indicates good optical quality GaN nano-column with low dislocation density. Our results suggest that single crystal GaN nano-column can be grown on Au+Ga alloy on silicon substrate with a low dislocation density for better device performances.

An investigation was conducted to examine the effects of diamond-like carbon (DLC) overcoats on the wear durability of the VCR head and the signal dropout caused by wear debris while the VCR is in operation. Approximately 40-nm-thick DLC films were deposited directly on the Mn-Zn ferrite head pole by an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) system using CH/sub 4/ source gas. The deposition temperature was maintained at below 100/spl deg/C to prevent deterioration of the epoxy resin attached to the head. From the experiment we were able to discover that DLC films accumulated successively from the bottom of the grooves on the head surface smoothing out the surface. In general, DLC heads outperformed the bare heads. The head life is increased significantly by the wear durability of DLC films and the continuous supply of lubricating DLC films. We were also able to discover that leftover DLC films along the head edge provide continuous lubricity on the rubbing head surface during use. Furthermore, most of the wear debris was more readily expelled from the DLC head surface than from the bare head. Therefore, the onset time of the signal dropouts was found to be delayed six times in DLC heads in the still frame mode.

We report that the terahertz transparency occurs at the fundamental shape resonance of the rectangular holes regardless of the areal coverage. The funneling of energy at the fundamental resonance is also confirmed at the near-field.

Starting from terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, we obtain electric field vector images at each frequency component. We then synthesize images for diffraction from a single slit for an arbitrary incident waveform by inverse Fourier-transformation.

We experimentally study Poynting vector flows when terahertz waves transmit through a multiple slit arrays. Our methods provide a new way of visualizing energy flows and determining different diffraction orders in the near-field.

A terahertz near-field imaging has been developed, spatiotemporally imaging both the amplitude and phase of the horizontal and vertical components of the electric field vector over the spectral range from 50 GHz to 1.5 THz.

We have achieved the nearly perfect transmission over 90% of random arrays that can be thought of as merely collective system of single rectangular holes with various length-to-width ratios and slits, using terahertz time domain spectroscopy. It is found that the terahertz transparency by the enhanced transmission can be experimentally realized even in the areal coverage less than 12% at the fundamental shape resonance, provided that the shape is strongly asymmetric.

Programming with larger current than optimized one is often preferable to ensure a good resistance distribution of high-resistive reset state in high-density phase-change random access memories because it is very effective to increase the resistance of cells to a target value. In this paper, we firstly report that this larger current writing may conversely degrade the reset distribution by reducing the resistance of normal cells via the partial crystallization of amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 and this degradation can be suppressed by designing a novel cell structure with a heat dissipating layer.