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With the disproportionate impact of the global pandemic on developing countries, health aid has become crucial in improving people’s health and well-being more than ever. Reflecting developing countries’ needs, Korea, like other donors, made significant contributions to support the global COVID-19 response. Considering the increased amount and importance of the health sector in Korea’s foreign aid, this article aims to investigate the motivations of Korea’s total bilateral aid and bilateral health aid using panel data of 128 developing countries from 2006 to 2021 with the random-effects panel Tobit model. The time frame was divided into three periods, 2006–2009, 2010–2019 and 2020–2021, to test Korea’s aid determinants pre- and post-pandemic outbreak. No notable changes in Korea’s aid allocation pattern were found before and after the pandemic. Instead, Korea seemed to have mixed motives of donor interest and recipients’ needs in specific periods. However, a priority partner country was consistently identified as an influential factor in Korea’s aid.

Climate technology development and transfer have gained significant attention as a means to combat climate change and promote sustainable development. However, there is a lack of studies that systematically identify, categorize, and prioritize the barriers to technology transfer, especially within international cooperation projects. This paper addresses this literature gap by conducting an in-depth analysis of closure reports from Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) technical assistance projects and incorporating the perspectives of Korea which has the largest number of CTCN members. The 204 barriers identified from the 77 reports were grouped into 10 categories, and the information and awareness category had the largest number of barriers, followed by the institutional and organizational capacity and the technical categories. When prioritizing the 32 survey responses, the top three difficulties were economic and financial, legal and regulatory; category-level difficulties included ‘technical barriers,’ and sub-category-level difficulties included ‘COVID-19 restrictions’, ‘challenges in gathering good data’, and ‘limited budget.’ These findings will enhance the understanding of policymakers and practitioners on the significance of resource allocation, capacity-building efforts, and risk management strategies to improve the effectiveness of climate technology international cooperation projects.

The amount of moisture contained in fallen leaves in the forest is closely related to the possibility of the ignition and spread of a forest fire. This moisture content is an important fundamental component of the forest fire danger rating system, as well as an essential parameter in forest fire management. This study examined the relationship between the moisture content of fuel in the forests and weather information obtained from HOBO data loggers installed in forests during the forest fire seasons of 2018 and 2020. The moisture content of the forest fuel was divided into two slopes (south and north), and the fallen leaves used were broad-leaved (Prunus serrulate and Quercus dentata) and coniferous (Pinus densiflora and Pinus koraiensis). The temperature (mean, minimum, and maximum) and relative humidity (mean and minimum) data obtained from the weather measuring devices installed in the forests were used to correlate weather factors with fuel moisture content. During the spring forest fire period, the temperature (mean, minimum, and maximum) and relative humidity (mean and minimum) of each slope and tree species were significant, while the average temperature and relative humidity were significant during the autumn. According to the correlations between the fuel moisture content and weather, factors with high significance were selected, and multiple regression analyses of the slope and species were found to be significant at 1 percent. The results of this study are expected to be used as primary data for calculating the fuel index of the forest fire forecasting system by accounting for the effects of weather factors on the moisture content of the fuel.

Most defect inspection methods used in semiconductor manufacturing require design layout or golden die images.Unlike methods that require such additional information, this paper presents a method for automatic inspection of defects in semiconductor images with a single image.First, we devise a method to classify images into four types: flat, linear, patterned, and complex using a cosine similarity.For linear and patterned images, we obtain defect-free images that retain the structure.Then, subtract defect-free image from input image to get a flat image.The FAST-MCD method then estimates the parameters of the inlier distribution of the flat image and uses them to detect defects.A segmentation neural network is used to detect defects in complex images.

The rapid increase in conventional diesel and gasoline vehicles in developing countries draws attention to clean energy vehicles, including electric buses. From socioeconomic and environmental perspectives, the benefits of electric buses are well described; however, there is a lack of studies to analyze the willingness to pay (WTP). This study aims to estimate 500 residents’ WTP in Pokhara Metropolitan City in Nepal, based on a contingent valuation method (CVM). The survey results show that 78% of respondents are willing to pay a special monthly tax for introducing electric buses in the city primarily due to the fact that electric buses are likely to be helpful to the environment (82.3%). Using the logistic regression analysis, it is estimated that the mean WTP is 758.6 NPR per person, with the most influencing factors of ‘willingness to ride electric buses for free’ and ‘the average usage of the main transportation per week’. The variables that show a positive relationship with the WTP are ‘the average usage of the main transportation per week’, ‘willingness to ride electric buses for free’, and ‘age’. The variable that negatively correlates with the WTP is ‘age’. The study’s findings provide references for developing funding options and budgeting plans for local policymakers.

The formation of high-energy electrons and ion fluxes induced by an abnormal electron heating mode in asynchronous pulse-modulated plasma was investigated using particle-in-cell simulation. We demonstrate that the abnormally high electron heating mode was induced only for a short time in the asynchronous pulsed plasmas. Furthermore, enhanced production of energetic electrons accompanies this electron heating. In particular, the higher energy electrons ( ε > 20 eV) are mainly produced by the abnormal electron heating during the first period of the abrupt sheath expansion phase in the asynchronous pulsed plasma with α1 = α3 = 0.05. These high-energy electrons are crucial for tailoring the expansion of plasma density and neutralizing the surface charging for the HARC etching process. A synergy of higher energy electrons and higher density ion fluxes in asynchronous pulsed plasma can be a promising solution to reduce statistical variation and charging-induced profile deterioration without the etch rate reduction in 3D NAND fabrication.

A successful passage of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) is an essential prerequisite for the drug molecules designed to act on the central nervous system. The logarithm of blood–brain partitioning (LogBB) has served as an effective index of molecular BBB permeability. Using the three-dimensional (3D) distribution of the molecular electrostatic potential (ESP) as the numerical descriptor, a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model termed AlphaQ was derived to predict the molecular LogBB values. To obtain the optimal atomic coordinates of the molecules under investigation, the pairwise 3D structural alignments were conducted in such a way to maximize the quantum mechanical cross correlation between the template and a target molecule. This alignment method has the advantage over the conventional atom-by-atom matching protocol in that the structurally diverse molecules can be analyzed as rigorously as the chemical derivatives with the same scaffold. The inaccuracy problem in the 3D structural alignment was alleviated in a large part by categorizing the molecules into the eight subsets according to the molecular weight. By applying the artificial neural network algorithm to associate the fully quantum mechanical ESP descriptors with the extensive experimental LogBB data, a highly predictive 3D-QSAR model was derived for each molecular subset with a squared correlation coefficient larger than 0.8. Due to the simplicity in model building and the high predictability, AlphaQ is anticipated to serve as an effective computational screening tool for molecular BBB permeability.

The study of the genus Streptomyces is of particular interest because it produces a wide array of clinically important bioactive molecules. The genomic sequencing of many Streptomyces species has revealed unusually large numbers of cytochrome P450 genes, which are involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Many macrolide biosynthetic pathways are catalyzed by a series of enzymes in gene clusters including polyketide and non-ribosomal peptide synthesis. In general, Streptomyces P450 enzymes accelerate the final, post-polyketide synthesis steps to enhance the structural architecture of macrolide chemistry. In this review, we discuss the major Streptomyces P450 enzymes research focused on the biosynthetic processing of macrolide therapeutic agents, with an emphasis on their biochemical mechanisms and structural insights.

Vertical scaling technique faces a physical limitation in 3D NAND device fabrication, even assuming superior etching technology. Another promising scaling technique to increase the storage density is lateral scaling, which increases the number of holes between slit and slit from four to nine and above. However, unpredictable small critical dimension, feature-to-feature variation, and distortion occur. To elucidate the profile deteriorations induced by the lateral scaling, we analyzed the effect of the angular etching yield dependency of the incident ion fluxes into a given feature using the multiscale technology computer-aided design methodology. As one of the inherent features of the gas, incident angle θmax in which the sputtering yield achieves its maximum value is a crucial factor for analyzing and modeling etching profiles. Moreover, the impact of the heavy inert ion strikes on the unpreferred etching profiles was investigated. In this study, the synergy of lower energy ions, larger fluxes, and larger θmax of heavy inert ions decrease the feature-to-feature variation, reducing hard mask distortion without the etch rate reduction.

Cost-effective vertical etching of plug holes and word lines is crucial in enhancing 3D NAND device manufacturability. Even though multiscale technology computer-aided design (TCAD) methodology is suitable for effectively predicting etching processes and optimizing recipes, it is highly time-consuming. This article demonstrates that our deep learning platform called TCAD-augmented Generative Adversarial Network can reduce the computational load by 2 600 000 times. In addition, because well-calibrated TCAD data based on physical and chemical mutual reactions are used to train the platform, the etching profile can be predicted with the same accuracy as TCAD-only even when the actual experimental data are scarce. This platform opens up new applications, such as hot spot detection and mask layout optimization, in a chip-level area of 3D NAND fabrication.

The transmission of vector-borne diseases is sensitive to environmental conditions, including temperature, humidity, rainfall, and land use/habitat quality. Understanding these causal relationships is especially important as increasing anthropogenic changes drive shifts in vector-borne disease dynamics. In this chapter, we first briefly describe the biology of vectors and pathogens that underlies environmental influences on transmission of vector-borne diseases. Next, we review the impacts of each of the major environmental drivers (as previously mentioned), synthesizing and comparing mechanisms across different vector-borne disease systems. Then, we discuss key challenges and standard approaches to research in the discipline. Finally, we highlight areas where research is advancing in promising new directions and suggest areas where new approaches are needed.

The authors argue that prominent industry clusters in a city or region play an oversized role in driving the most robust and forward-thinking K-12 STEM programs, and the authors encourage greater intentional adoption of a local-industry-cluster-centric strategy when developing K-12 STEM programs. Working from the premise that cities and regions have become the core economic unit of competition globally (Florida, Adler, and Mellander, Regional Studies, 51(1), 86–96, 2017), the authors logically connect the principles and activities of industry clusters with principles and activities of STEM education. They review cases drawn from the current volume in support of the ideas shared, and they propose a STEM Technopolis model. Using results from a survey of actors across sectors, they highlight differences between the views of K-12 educators versus professionals from other sectors, and they use these observations to highlight where actions can be taken to better leverage advantages found in the STEM Technopolis.

While it has become clear that the global community needs to utilize partnerships between the public and private sectors to achieve broader economic and development goals, there has been less discussion about the potential role of investors in shaping and participating in this movement. Part of this may be due to familiarity with traditional methods such as official development assistance (ODA) and relatively less understanding about recent innovations in socially responsible investing (SRI), including social impact bonds and development impact bonds. As economies like Korea have begun to show greater interest in harnessing various investment strategies to achieve broader social goals, we find it critical to better understand what financial tools are available within the context of encouraging sustainable development. As such, this paper highlights the potential role investors can play in contributing to broader social issues both at home and abroad through an examination of recent innovations in SRI – specifically, the category of so-called “socially responsible bonds.”

An improved liquid distribution model based on a volume cell (LDMvc) was proposed to predict the liquid load distribution in a packed column under offshore conditions. The LDMvc contained four tuning parameters. The LDMvc is an improvement of the existing intersection-based LDM since the number of model tuning parameters is reduced to four through a sophisticated flow split algorithm, and a gas flow distribution model can be associated with the LDMvc. Two experimental columns with inner diameters of 0.133 m and 0.4 m were packed with Mellapak 500X-like elements for a 1.4 m bed height and Mellapak 250X-like elements for a 4 m bed height, respectively. The 4 m bed height column was built on a sloshing machine to simulate ship movement. The liquid distribution inside the columns was measured using an electrical resistance tomography (ERT) system. The offshore conditions were a permanent tilt ranging from 2 to 6° and a roll motion with three amplitude-period pairs. The LDMvc, after tuning with the experimental data, reliably predicted the liquid load distribution in the packed columns under different tilts and roll motions.

Betulinic acid (BA), a plant-derived pentacyclic triterpenoid, may interact with the members of the organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B subfamily. Here, we investigated the interactions of BA and its analogs with OATP1B1/3 and rat Oatp1b2 in vitro and in vivo . BA inhibited the activity of OATP1B1/3 and rat Oatp1b2 in vitro . Systemic exposure of atorvastatin was substantially altered with the intravenous co-administration of BA (20 mg/kg). Preincubation (incubation with inhibitors, followed by washout) with BA led to a sustained inhibition of OATP1B3, which recovered rapidly in the media containing 10% fetal bovine serum. The addition of albumin to the media decreased intracellular concentrations of BA and expedited the recovery of OATP1B3 activity following preincubation. For asunaprevir and cyclosporin A (previously known to inhibit OATP1B3 upon preincubation), the addition of albumin to the media shortened recovery time with asunaprevir, but not with cyclosporin A. Overall, our results showed that BA inhibits OATP1B transporters in vitro and may incur hepatic transporter-mediated drug interactions in vivo . Our results identify BA as another OATP1B3 inhibitor with preincubation effect and suggest that the preincubation effect and its duration is impacted by altered equilibrium of inhibitors between intracellular and extracellular space (e.g., albumin in the media).

Steviol glucosides (SGs) such as rubusoside (Ru), stevioside (Ste), rebaudioside A (RebA) and stevioside glucosides (SG) are herbal tea sweeteners that enhance the solubility and stability of a number of pharmaceutically important compounds. The complex of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) with 10% (w/v) each Ru, Ste, RebA or SG enhanced the water solubility of EGCG over 15 times to 345, 312, 341, or 320 mg/mL, respectively. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging (SC50) activities of EGCG, EGCG-Ru, EGCG-Ste, EGCG-RebA, and EGCG-SG in water were 5.88, 6.03, 6.52, 4.89, and 4.23 μg/mL, respectively. EGCGs complexed with different SGs maintained inhibitory activities against human intestinal maltase, human pancreatic α-amylase, and the growth of Streptococcus mutans, Helicobacter pylori, Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium difficile. In glucose tolerance test using C57BL/6 mice, plasma glucose levels in mice treated with EGCG or EGCG-Ste complex were decreased by 9.34%, which was 31.08% lower than those treated with maltose. The efficient and cost-effective EGCG-SGs production method might be applicable to produce water soluble bioactive nutraceuticals in large scale.

Astragalin (kaempferol-3-O-β- d -glucopyranoside, Ast) is a kind of flavonoid known to have anti-oxidant, anti-HIV, anti-allergic, and anti-inflammatory effects. It has low solubility in water. In this study, novel astragalin galactosides (Ast-Gals) were synthesized using β-galactosidase from Bacillus circulans and reaction conditions were optimized to increase the conversion yield of astragallin. Purified Ast-Gal1 (11.6% of Ast used, w/w) and Ast-Gal2 (6.7% of Ast used, w/w) were obtained by medium pressure chromatography (MPLC) with silica C18 column and open column packed with Sephadex LH-20. The structures of Ast-Gal1 and Ast-Gal2 were identified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to be kaempferol-3-O-β- d -glucopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β- d -galactopyranoside and kaempferol-3-O-β- d -glucopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β- d -galactopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-β- d -galactopyranoside, respectively. The water solubility of Ast, Ast-Gal1, and Ast-Gal2 were 28.2 ± 1.2 mg/L, 38,300 ± 3.5 mg/L, and 38,800 ± 2.8 mg/L, respectively. The SC50 value (the concentration required to scavenge 50% of the ABTS + ) of Ast, Ast-Gal1, and Ast-Gal2 were 5.1 ± 1.6 μM, 6.5 ± 0.4 μM, and 4.9 ± 1.1 μM, respectively. The IC50 values (the half maximal inhibitory concentration) of Ast, Ast-Gal1, and Ast-Gal2 against angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) were 171.0 ± 1.2 μM, 186.0 μM, and 139.0 ± 0.2 μM, respectively.

NADPH-P450 reductase (NPR) transfers electrons from NADPH to cytochrome P450 and heme oxygenase enzymes to support their catalytic activities. This protein is localized within the endoplasmic reticulum membrane and utilizes FMN, FAD, and NADPH as cofactors. Although NPR is essential toward enabling the biochemical and pharmacological analyses of P450 enzymes, its production as a recombinant purified protein requires a series of tedious efforts and a high cost due to the use of NADP+ in the affinity chromatography process. In the present study, the rat NPR clone containing a 6× Histidine-tag (NPR-His) was constructed and heterologously expressed. The NPR-His protein was purified using Ni2+-affinity chromatography, and its functional features were characterized. A single band at 78 kDa was observed from SDS-PAGE and the purified protein displayed a maximum absorbance at 455 nm, indicating the presence of an oxidized flavin cofactor. Cytochrome c and nitroblue tetrazolium were reduced by purified NPR-His in an NADPH-dependent manner. The purified NPR-His successfully supported the catalytic activities of human P450 1A2 and 2A6 and fungal CYP52A21, yielding results similar to those obtained using conventional purified rat reductase. This study will facilitate the use of recombinant NPR-His protein in the various fields of P450 research.

Organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B3 (OATP1B3) is a major influx transporter mediating the hepatic uptake of various endogenous substrates as well as clinically important drugs such as statins and anticancer drugs. However, molecular mechanisms controlling the membrane trafficking of OATP1B3 have been largely unknown. Several reports recently indicated the presence of a distinct, cancer-type OATP1B3 variant lacking the N-terminal 28 amino acids compared to OATP1B3 expressed in non-malignant hepatocytes. Interestingly, the cancer-type OATP1B3 variant is located predominantly in the cytoplasm, implicating the involvement of the N-terminal region of OATP1B3 in its membrane trafficking. In the current study, we set out to experimentally validate the importance of the N-terminal region of OATP1B3 and to identify responsible sequence motif(s) in that region. A number of truncation or point mutants of OATP1B3 were transiently expressed in HEK293T, HCT-8 or MDCK II cells and their expression in cytoplasmic and surface membrane fractions were analyzed by immunoblotting. Our results indicated that the N-terminal sequence of OATP1B3, in particular, at the amino acid positions between 12 and 28, may be indispensable in its membrane trafficking. Moreover, our results using a fusion construct indicated that the first 50 amino acids of OATP1B3 are sufficient for its membrane localization. The importance of the N-terminal region in membranous localization was shared among the other OATP1B subfamily members, OATP1B1 and rat Oatp1b2. Our efforts to identify the responsible amino acid(s) or structure motif(s) in the N-terminal region did not pinpoint individual amino acids or motifs with putative secondary structures. Our current findings however demonstrate that the N-terminal region is important for the membrane localization of the OATP1B subfamily members and should facilitate future investigations of the mechanisms involved in the regulation and membrane trafficking of these important transporter proteins.

Caffeic acid was modified via transglucosylation using sucrose and dextransucrase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512FMCM. Following enzymatic modification, a caffeic acid glucoside was isolated by butanol separation, silica gel chromatography, and preparative HPLC. The synthesized caffeic acid glucoside had a molecular mass-to-charge ratio of 365 m/z, and its structure was identified as caffeic acid-3-O-α-d-glucopyranoside. The production of this caffeic acid-3-O-α-d-glucopyranoside at a concentration of 153 mM was optimized using 325 mM caffeic acid, 355 mM sucrose, and 650 mU mL–1 dextransucrase in the synthesis reaction. In comparison with the caffeic acid, the caffeic acid-3-O-α-d-glucopyranoside displayed 3-fold higher water solubility, 1.66-fold higher antilipid peroxidation effect, 15% stronger inhibition of colon cancer cell growth, and 11.5-fold higher browning resistance. These results indicate that this caffeic acid-3-O-α-d-glucopyranoside may be a suitable functional component of food and ph...

Streptomyces avermitilis produces clinically useful drugs such as avermectins and oligomycins. Its genome contains approximately 33 cytochrome P450 genes and they seem to play important roles in the biosynthesis of many secondary metabolites. The SAV_7130 gene from S. avermitilis encodes CYP158A3. The amino acid sequence of this enzyme has high similarity with that of CYP158A2, a biflaviolin synthase from S. coelicolor A3(2). Recombinant S. avermitilis CYP158A3 was heterologously expressed and purified. It exhibited the typical P450 Soret peak at 447 nm in the reduced CO-bound form. Type I binding spectral changes were observed when CYP158A3 was titrated with myristic acid; however, no oxidative product was formed. An analog of flaviolin, 2-hydroxynaphthoquinone (2-OH NQ) displayed similar type I binding upon titration with purified CYP158A3. It underwent an enzymatic reaction forming dimerized product. A homology model of CYP158A3 was superimposed with the structure of CYP158A2, and the majority of structural elements aligned. These results suggest that CYP158A3 might be an orthologue of biflaviolin synthase, catalyzing C-C coupling reactions during pigment biosynthesis in S. avermitilis.

The photoinduced S-H (D) bond fission dynamics of four ortho-substituted thiophenols, 2-fluoro, 2-chloro, 2-bromo, and 2-methoxythiophenol at a pump wavelength of 243 nm, have been investigated by velocity-map imaging and high-level electronic structure calculations. The D atom images of the deuterated ortho-substituted thiophenols show much reduced X̃/Ã branching ratios of the cofragment radicals over that of bare thiophenol. The angular distributions of the D fragment display negative anisotropies, indicating that transition dipole moments are perpendicular to the fast dissociating S-D bond axis. Initial excitation at 243 nm occurs directly to the

This study empirically tests the effectiveness of two main aid modalities, conventional project-type aid and modern program-type aid, on a country’s economic growth and its budget expenditures. With respect to growth, neither type of aid showed a significant positive effect. In terms of fiscal response, however, both modalities indeed appeared to increase public expenditures in partner countries. This study specifically examines the case of Tanzania, among the countries where program-based approach (PBA) is most active. Tanzanian data support the abovementioned empirical findings; the country’s PBA, a specifically results-based approach (RBA) as an advanced version of PBA, is indeed positively related to government expenditures.

In this study, we plated thin conducting Cu layer in a thickness of 200–300 nm on the surface of carbon fiber that was supposed to replace the core of Cu wire for weight reduction. The metal-coated carbon fibers (MCF) exhibit comparable electrical properties to the bulk Cu including the electrical conductivity of 5.9 × 10 −6 Ω cm, temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of 1.14 × 10 −3 /K, and featureless 1/f noises. In addition to electrical properties, the Joule heating of MCF revealed that the MCF terminated itself when the temperature of MCF significantly rose. This was due to the much lower burning temperature of carbon fiber, comparing to that of Cu, which can be beneficial in the prevention of a fire sparked by a hot metal wire.

Conformational isomers of hydroquinone and their 1:1 clusters with water have been spatially separated using a Stark deflector in a supersonic jet. trans-Hydroquinone (HyQ) conformer with zero dipole moment is little influenced by inhomogeneous electric fields, whereas cis conformer with nonzero dipole moment (2.38 D) is significantly deflected from the molecular beam axis into the direction along which the strong field gradient is applied. Resonant two photon ionization carried out by shifting the laser position perpendicular to the molecular beam axis after the Stark deflector then gives an exclusive S1–S0 excitation spectrum of the cis conformer only, making possible immaculate conformer-specific spectroscopy and dynamics. As the spatial separation is apparently proportional to the effective dipole moment strength, conformational assignment could be absolute in the Stark deflector, which contrasts with the hole-burning spectroscopic technique where identification of a conformational isomer is intrinsic...

This study was done to identify the relationship of social support network, activities of daily living, depression and health-related quality of life of male elders, and to identify factors affecting the health-related quality of life in this population. This research design for this study was a descriptive survey design using a convenience sampling. Data collection was done using self-questionnaire with 194 elders from welfare centers for senior citizens located in G city from December 20, 2014 to January 31, 2015. Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression with the SPSS 20.0 Program were used to analyze the data. Health-related quality of life had positive correlations with social support network (r=.23, p =.001) and with activities of daily living (r=.40, p

The modulation of quasi-one-dimensional plasmonic nanorods via the utilization of localized surface plasmon resonance is critical for achieving local dynamic tuning on the nanoscale as well as for fundamental studies. In particular, a magnetic field has been used as an effective external stimulus that can be activated in an instant and reversible way. However, limited synthetic procedures hinder the full-utilization of one-dimensional nanorods, making it challenging to tailor magnetic-responsive plasmonic materials. Here, we report the magnetic manipulation of Au nanorods with ferromagnetic Ni segments, which facilitate orientational control, allowing for the selective tuning of surface plasmon resonance. Ni segments served as a magnetic responder for the external magnetic field for guided-alignment as well as bridges to mediate intrasurface plasmon coupling of nanorods. We investigated the correlation between the optical properties and the aspect ratio of Ni segments. By designing various configurations ...

This study was to investigate if there are important variables of rural tourism destination for foreign tourists that discriminate rural tourism perception, experience, and intention to behavior. of the experience activity among the regions and the villages. From the literature review, the survey questionnaires was developed to measure important variables of rural tourism destination, rural tourism perception, experiences and intention to behavior. A total of 799 useful samples were collected and analyzed in SPSS. Factor analysis showed that there are four underlying dimensions (program, preparation to receive, service and regional products, and human service). the results of discriminate analysis showed that service and regional products are important variables in rural tourism perception and experiences. And also service and regional products and human service are important variables in intention to behavior. More detailed discussion and implications are provided in conclusion.

Surface crossing of bound (S1, ππ*) and continuum (S2, πσ*) states has been observed in the ultrafast S–D bond dissociation reaction of thiophenol-d1. It is manifested by an unanticipated variation of fragment angular distribution as a function of the excitation energy. The anisotropy parameter (β) of +0.25 at the S1 origin decreases to −0.60 at ∼600 cm–1 above the S1 zero-point level, giving a broad peak in β with a bandwidth of ∼200 cm–1. The peak in β is ascribed to the in-plane S-D bending mode excitation by which the nuclear configuration in the proximity of the S1/S2 conical intersection seam is directly accessed, showing a mixed character of parallel (S1–S0) and perpendicular (S2–S0) transition dipole moments at the same time. As a result, the dynamic aspect of the conical intersection is experimentally revealed here through direct access to the nuclear configuration on the multidimensional conical intersection seam.

Conical intersection as a dynamic funnel in nonadiabatic transition dictates many important chemical reaction outputs such as reaction rates, yields, and energy disposals especially for chemical reactions taking place on electronically excited states. Therefore, the energetics and topology of conical intersections have been subjected to intensive theoretical and experimental studies for decades as these things are the keys to understanding and controlling nonadiabatic transitions which are ubiquitous in nature. In this article, we focus on πσ*-mediated photodissociation reactions of thiophenols and thioanisoles. Interestingly, for these chemical systems, the nonadiabatic transition probability can be precisely measured as a function of the excitation energy, giving a great opportunity for spectroscopic characterization of the multi-dimensional conical intersection seam that governs the nonadiabatic transition dynamics of polyatomic molecules. The passage of the reactive flux in the proximity of the conica...