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Background: The electronics industry has characteristics, such as the continuous occurrence of new hazards and risk factors due to rapid technological changes, the occurrence of safety and health blind spots due to the outsourcing of work, trade secrets, and a lack of information, so research is needed from a safety and health perspective. This study sought to determine the relationship between work-related health problems and the working conditions of electronics industry workers. Methods: The study subjects were 3354 workers in the electronics industry from the raw data of the 4th to 6th Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS). The variables were divided into general, occupational, and working environment characteristics, and a logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between work-related health problems and working conditions. Results: Among the general and occupational characteristics, gender, education, night work, and working time appropriateness were analyzed as effect factors. In terms of working environment characteristics, physical work risk, musculoskeletal work risk, possibility of risk to work, subjective health impact, and working environment satisfaction were found to have effects on work-related health problems. Conclusions: The results of this study are meaningful in that they identified the effect factors of work-related health problems in the working conditions of workers in the electronics industry, where prior studies are lacking. Therefore, improvements, such as the management of night workers, appropriate working time, reduction in exposure to work risk factors, and improvement in working environment satisfaction, appear to be necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenges have arisen in selecting suitable candidates for interconnects and metal contacts due to the exponential increase in metal resistivity at scaled pitches. Molybdenum (Mo) has emerged as a promising alternative to the traditional metals such as copper or tungsten owing to its low electrical resistivity and electron mean free path. In this study, we investigated the formation of a molybdenum film grown by thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) using a MoO2Cl2 solid precursor and H2 and NH3 gases as the reducing agents. A molybdenum nitride film served as the seed layer on a SiO2 substrate before molybdenum film deposition. The analysis focused on the film's phase, morphology, chemical bonding states, and resistivity across various thicknesses. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the presence of polycrystalline BCC planes. Our analyses confirmed the successful growth of the molybdenum metal thin film, which, at a thickness of 10 nm, exhibited a record-low resistivity of approximately 13 μΩ cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and clean fuels are representative factors of a clean and safe residential environment. Uzbekistan faces environmental issues and ranks low among countries on the Environmental Performance Index. This study aimed to identify regional disparities and wealth inequalities in WASH services and clean fuels in Uzbekistan. Methods: We employed raw data from the 2021–2022 Uzbekistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and the WASH and clean fuels coverage were analyzed. For each of the variables with the lowest coverage within WASH services and clean fuels variables, we evaluated the disparities between urban and rural areas and calculated the concentration index (CI). Results: Among WASH services and clean fuels, basic handwashing and clean fuels for space heating demonstrated the lowest coverage. In most regions, urban areas had higher coverage of basic handwashing and clean fuels for space heating compared to rural areas. The CI of clean fuels for space heating was 0.2141 or higher in five areas. The CI was notably high in areas with low coverage of WASH services and clean fuel for space heating. Conclusions: Basic handwashing and clean fuels for space heating showed varied regional coverage patterns and wealth-related inequalities. The results of this study can provide evidence for policy formulation, particularly in addressing disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Metabolic syndrome is a growing health concern globally, and its prevalence continues to increase. This study investigated whether a marine healing program could improve metabolic syndrome indicators and mental health in adults with a metabolic syndrome and those at risk of developing it. Materials and Methods: This study enrolled 30 participants who were assigned to either the experimental or control groups. The duration of the study was set at 4 weeks. Both groups received metabolic syndrome management education, and the experimental group additionally participated in two marine healing programs. Anthropometric indicators, biochemical indicators, and mental health indicators were collected before and after the intervention. Results: The findings indicate that the experimental group had significantly lower systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, and body weight, as well as higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and uric acid. Mental health indicators (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and quality of life measures) additionally showed improvement. Pre–post comparisons between the experimental group and the control group showed that the experimental group had significantly decreased by 1.05 kg in body weight, whereas the control group increased by 0.29 kg in body weight. In addition, HDL-C decreased by 0.91 mg/dL in the control group and increased by 3.7 mg/dL in the experimental group. Conclusions: Overall, these results suggest that marine healing programs could improve metabolic syndrome indicators such as body weight and HDL-C better than the control treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we conducted research on manufacturing molybdenum (Mo) thin films by a thermal atomic layer deposition method using solid MoO2Cl2 as a precursor. Mo thin films are widely used as gate electrodes and electrodes in metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors. Tungsten (W) has primarily been used as a conventional gate electrode, but it suffers from reduced resistivity due to the residual fluorine component generated from the deposition process. Thus, herein, we developed a Mo thin film with low resistivity that can substitute W. The MoO2Cl2 precursor used to deposit the Mo thin film exists in a solid state. For solid precursors, the vapor pressure does not remain constant compared to that of liquid precursors, thereby making it difficult to set process conditions. Furthermore, the use of solid precursors at temperatures 600 °C and above has many limitations. Herein, H2 was used as the reactive gas for the deposition of Mo thin films, and the deposition temperature was increased to 650 °C, which was the maximum processing temperature of the aluminum nitride heater. Additionally, deposition rate, resistivity change, and surface morphology characteristics were compared. While resistivity decreased to 12.9 μΩ∙cm with the increase of deposition temperature from 600 °C to 650 °C, surface roughness (Rq) was increased to 0.560 nm with step coverage of 97%. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the crystallization change in the Mo thin film with increasing process temperature, and a certain thickness of the seed layer was required for nucleation on the initial wafer of the Mo thin film. Thus, the molybdenum nitride thin film was deposited after the 4 nm deposition of Mo thin film. This study confirmed that crystallinity of Mo thin films must be increased to reduce their resistivity and that a seed layer for initial nucleation is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of deposition temperature of TiN thin films deposited using the thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) method was investigated. TiCl4 precursor and NH3 reactive gas were used, and the deposition rate, resistivity change, and surface morphology characteristics were compared in the deposition temperature range of 400 °C–600 °C. While resistivity decreased to 177 µΩcm as the deposition temperature increased to 600 °C, an increase in surface roughness (Rq) to 0.69 nm and a deterioration in the step coverage were identified. In order to obtain a high-quality TiN thin film with excellent resistivity and step coverage characteristics even at low deposition temperatures, the TiN thin film was post-treated with plasma in a combination of N2/He gas ratio of 3:2 to confirm the change in resistivity. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed crystallization change in the TiN thin film caused by plasma energy. As a result, the resistivity of the TiN thin film deposited at 400 °C was confirmed to be lowered by about 25%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]