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By examining trade imbalances using 40 countries including Euro-zone countries, we show that the trade imbalance has been exacerbated after joining the Euro zone for the member countries, and the intra trade has greater impact on the imbalance than the offshore trade. For the trade between northern countries and southern countries in the Euro-zone, the imbalance worsens after joining the Euro zone. The bilateral gaps in the government expenditure and the unemployment have significant effect. Excessive government expenditure leads to the increase in the trade imbalance.

Aims: The frequency of newly diagnosed thyroid nodules is increasing in South Korea. However, few studies have investigated the incidence of thyroid cancer in patients with thyroid nodules using national data. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the incidence of thyroid cancer and medical costs among patients newly diagnosed with thyroid nodules in South Korea. Settings and Design: This was a retrospective cohort study. Subjects and Methods: We analyzed the national health claim database, which includes all hospital records and covers almost every population managed by the National Health Insurance System. We selected patients aged 20–120 years with new thyroid nodules in 2008 using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition codes. We followed the selected cases for at least 2 years after thyroid nodule diagnosis to investigate cancer development and medical costs. Statistical Analysis Used: Frequency analysis was used. Results: We identified 283,844 eligible patients with thyroid nodules. Their mean age was 48 ± 13.2, and 234,388 (82.58%) cases were female. During the median follow-up of 2.4 years, 21,538 (7.6%) patients were diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and 93.5% of them underwent treatment such as thyroidectomy, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy. The average medical cost was 3,996,391 KRW after diagnosis of thyroid cancer. Conclusions: Here, national representative statistics regarding the incidence and medical costs of thyroid nodule and thyroid cancer are presented. The information provided herein will improve understanding of the natural course of thyroid nodules in Asians. Further study is needed to identify the risk factors of thyroid cancer in patients with thyroid nodules.

Fe-6.5Si fine particles were mechanically fabricated by a milling method for use in magnetorheological fluids. Oleic acid was used as a surfactant for the dispersed substance for preparing the hydrophobic fluid with silicon oil as a dispersing medium. Further, oleic acid and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate were used as surfactants, forming a bilayer structure, for preparing the hydrophilic fluid with polyethylene glycol as a dispersing medium. The adsorption of oleic acid onto the Fe-Si particles was achieved by oxidizing the particle surface with trimethylamine N-oxide dihydrate. In order to make a comparative examination of the fluid properties, ferromagnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical precipitation and the subsequent process was accompanied under the same conditions as applied for the magnetorheological fluid. The fluid particles were characterized by magnetization measurements. The viscosity of the fluids was obtained at various concentrations under an external field. The viscosity values of the magnetorheological fluid were higher than those of the ferromagnetic fluid. Moreover, they increased considerably by using silicon oil as the dispersing medium as well as under an applied magnetic field and at higher fluid concentrations. The magnetorheological fluids may be effectively resistant to a strong impact from outside when the appropriate fluid concentration is used and a magnetic field is applied for increasing the shear strength of the fluids.

A xylanase-producing bacterium was isolated from a soil sample collected in Yongin city, Korea. The strain was aerobic and gram positive, and grew between pH 5.0 and 11.0, forming a yellow-colored colony. The strain was classified as a novel subspecies bacterium of Paenibacillus barcinonensis by 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, phylogenetic analysis, phenotypic, and biochemical characteristics, and thus named Paenibacillus sp. HX-1. This strain produced extracellular endo--1,4-xylanase, and the best xylanolytic activity (205.17 unit/ml) was obtained at 96 h in an optimized TNX medium containing 1% (w/v) bacto tryptone, 1% (w/v) NaCl, and 0.7% (w/v) beechwood xylan at pH 7.0, and 200 rpm. The endo--1,4-xylanase produced by the strain HX-1 yielded xylobiose as the end product from beechwood xylan hydrolysis. The enzyme exhibited optimum pH and temperature at pH 7.0 and , respectively. The remarkable enhancing effect of the TNX medium on xylanase production by HX-1, in spite of its simple formula, may have great advantages for industrial applications of xylanase.

Effects of a CrN/Cr coating layer on the durability of metal bipolar plates (stainless steel (STS) 430) are investigated in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) with a fuel recirculation system, since under fuel recirculation the metal bipolar plates can be faced with a tougher corrosion environment. Before the fuel recirculation, the performance losses of the cells consisting of metal bipolar plates are ascribed to cathode degradation, due to a high corrosion level of the cathode side. However, after fuel recirculation, corrosion of the anode metal bipolar plate by pH decrease and overpotential increase brings about severe anode degradation. It is found that damage by corrosion of the cathode metal bipolar plate is limited to degradation of the cathode catalyst, whereas corrosion of the anode metal bipolar plate deteriorates not only the catalysts but also the electrolyte membrane. These durability tests show that the CrN/Cr coatings deposited on the STS 430 improve the corrosion resistance of the metal substrate and lead to low performance degradation.

Although AhR activation regulates CD4T cell differentiation, how it works has yet to be elucidated. In the present study, using in vitro Th17 differentiation model, we examined effects of AhR activation by indoxyl 3-sulfate (I3S), a uremic toxin, on Th17 differentiation and investigated underlying mechanisms. I3S increased expression of RORγt, the master transcription factor for Th17 differentiation, and stimulated Th17 differentiation, in a comparative manner as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), a prototypical AhR ligand. Activation of STAT3, which is phosphorylated by the IL-6 signaling pathways and thus is necessary for Th17 differentiation, was strongly stimulated by I3S and TCDD. Phosphorylation of c-Src, which was shown to be activated by AhR ligands, was also increased by I3S and TCDD, and blocking of c-Src activity by 4-amino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-7-(t-butyl) pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine (PP2) inhibited phosphorylation of both c-Src and STAT3, raising a possibility that stimulatory activities of I3S and TCDD on Th17 differentiation could be exerted via increased phosphorylation of c-Src, which in turn stimulates STAT3 activation. Finally, we found that I3S worsened experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), which is primarily mediated by Th17 cells, enhancing the frequency of IL-17-producing cells in draining lymph nodes.

본 연구는 과학 교과교육학 이론이 예비과학교사에게 어느 정도 필요한지에 대한 과학교육 연구자들의 의견을 알아보고자 하였다. 이를 위해서 과학교육 전공교수들의 설문을 통해 과학교사의 역량과 소양 측면에서 과학 교과교육학 이론들의 세부 내용들이 어느 정도 중요한지에 대한 의견을 분석하였다. 또한 중등과학교사신규임용후보자선정경쟁시험(중등과학교사임용시험)에 제시된 과학 교과교육학 이론 관련 문항을 분석하여 과학교육 연구자들의 의견과의 차이점을 비교하였다. 그 결과, 과학교육 전공교수들은 탐구 과정, 과학지식 평가, 탐구능력 평가 실험장치 및 도구 사용법, 실험실 안전, 학생의 오개념, 토론, 논술 등에 대해서 중요하다고 인식하고 있었다. 반면에, 과학교육 전공교수들은 과학 철학, 과학교육과정의 변천, 외국 교육과정, 브루너의 수업이론, 카플러스 순환학습모형, 발생학습모형, 발견학습모형, 클로퍼 교육목표 분류 등의 내용이 상대적으로 덜 중요하다고 인식하고 있었다. 중등과학교사임용시험 문항 분석 결과, 교육과정이나 오수벨 이론 등과 같이 중요도와 관계없이 편중된 영역에서 많은 문항들이 출제된 것으로 나타나 과학교육 연구자들이 중요하게 생각하는 이론의 중요성과 중등과학교사임용시험에서 출제된 문항 분포는 관련이 적었다. 본 연구는 과학교육 연구자들의 의견과 중등과학교사임용시험 출제 경향의 차이를 줄이는 방안 마련이 필요함을 시사한다.

본 연구의 목적은 중등과학교사신규임용후보자선정경쟁시험(이하 중등과학교사임용시험)의 문항들에서 어떤 과학교육학 이론이 제시되었는지를 분석하는 것이다. 이를 위해 최근 5년간 시행된 중등과학교사임용시험의 과학교육학 관련 문항들을 과학과 교육과정, 과학사 및 과학철학, 과학 탐구, 과학 교수학습이론, 과학 ...

The passivation behaviour of copper-containing high-performance ferritic stainless steels in the cathode environment of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells was investigated using electrochemical tests and XPS surface analyses. The addition of copper to the alloy deteriorated the corrosion resistance at a passive region of 0.6 VSCE. With an increase of the copper content, the passivity of the alloy degraded due to an increase of the formation of Cr-containing inclusions, and a decrease of the Cr oxide and hydroxide in the passive film.

본 연구는 학교 과학 탐구의 특징이 어떠한지 탐색하는 것을 목표로 하였다. 연구를 위하여, 연구진은 13개의 과학중점학교에서 운영하는 다양한 유형의 일상적 과학수업을 참관하고 녹화하였다. 연구 자료는 총 15개 수업(18차시)에 해당하는 수업 관찰 및 녹화, 교사 및 학생과 면담, 수업 지도안 및 학생 활동지 등의 문서자료로 수집되었다. 수업 녹화물과 면담 녹음 자료는 즉시 전사하여 분석에 사용되었다. 자료 분석은 3단계로 이루어졌다. 1단계에서는 전체 수업 중에서 교사-학생, 학생들 간의 상호작용이 활발한 수업을 선정했다. 2단계에서는 선정된 수업의 담화를 주제의 흐름에 따라 단편으로 나눈 후 ``탐구의 인지적 과정``(Chinn & Malhotra, 2002)을 준거로 하여 세부적으로 분석 및 해석했다. 3단계에서는 담화의 연속선상에서 일관되게 나타나는 탐구의 특징을 조명하였다. 연구 결과는 과학적 탐구의 특징으로서, ``변인조절-실험장치 개선``, ``실험 계획 과정(변인탐색-절차계획-변인통제-측정계획)``, ``(관찰)증거-설명 변환 과정``, ``증거-설명 연결의 추론 과정``이 반영된 4개 수업 사례로 제시되었다. 연구 결과를 토대로 학교 과학 탐구 실제에 대한 교육적 의미가 논의되었다.

The purpose of this study is to investigate trends in the incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in South Korea from 2006-2009.We used the national health claim database managed by Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, which contains all hospital records of every Korean citizen. Patients with SAH were defined as International Classification of Diseases-10 codes with a hospitalization period of ≥ 14 days or death within 14 days of hospitalization. We evaluated trends in the incidence of SAH during a 4-year period using the Cochran-Armitage trend test.We identified 35,263 patients with SAH among adult patients (≥ 18 years old) from 2005-2009. Age-adjusted SAH incidence rates decreased from 13.4 in 2006 to 12.4 in 2009/100,000 men (P = 0.0025) and women also showed a decrease from 19.4-17.3/100,000 (P0.0001). However, this decreasing pattern was not shown in patients less than 50 years of age. SAH incidence showed gender differences dependent on age; men who were 40 years old or less had a higher incidence than women.The age-adjusted incidence rates of SAH were slightly decreased in South Korea. Further research should be conducted to identify the clinical risk factors to reduce SAH incidence rates even more, especially in younger people.

Heat transfer is crucial to the fabrication of high efficiency light emitting diode (LED) packages. The effectiveness of the heat transfer depends on the package materials and design. This paper presents an application of high thermal conductivity aluminum nitride (AlN) films to replace low thermal conductivity epoxy resin or alumina substrates. The AlN film was directly deposited on an aluminum plate which enabled the removal of thermal interface materials (TIM) such as the adhesive thermal bonding sheets that are used in conventional metal printed circuit board (PCB)-based LED packaging process. A fully dense AlN ceramic film was successfully deposited at room temperature using the aerosol deposition method. The thermal resistance, a parameter of the heat transfer characteristic of an LED package, was measured using a thermal transient tester. The results showed that the thermal resistance of the LED package mounted on the AlN thick film was 28.5 K/W, while an LED package mounted on a conventional epoxy-based metal PCB and a PCB with thermal vias were 47.2 K/W and 36.5 K/W, respectively. This indicates that an aerosol-deposited AlN-based LED package exhibits greatly enhanced heat transfer compared to the conventional metal PCB.

We examined the effects of mild therapeutic exercise during a period of inactivity on size and contractile functions of myosin heavy chain (MHC) type I ( n = 204) and type II ( n = 419) single fibers from the medial gastrocnemius in three age groups. Young adult (5–12 mo), middle-aged (24–31 mo), and old (32–37 mo) F344BNF1 rats were assigned to one of three groups: weight-bearing control, non-weight bearing (NWB), and NWB plus exercise (NWBX). Fourteen days of hindlimb suspension were applied in NWB rats. The NWBX rats exercised on the treadmill for 15 min, four times a day, during the period of NWB. The NWBX did not improve peak power, but increased normalized power of MHC type I fibers in young adult rats. In MHC type II fibers, NWBX did not change peak power, isometric maximal force, Vmax, and fiber size from young adult and middle-aged rats. NWBX did not improve peak power and isometric maximal force and showed a dramatic decline in Vmaxand normalized power in the old rats. Collectively, mild treadmill exercise during a period of inactivity does not improve peak power of MHC type I or type II fiber from the gastrocnemius in young, middle-aged, and old rats. However, NWBX is beneficial in enhancing normalized power of MHC type I fibers in young adult rats, most likely due to the stimulus intensity and the ability of the individual fibers to adapt to the stimulus. In contrast, several factors, such as impaired adaptation potential, inappropriate exercise intensity, or increased susceptibility to muscle damage, may contribute to the lack of improvement in the older rats.

This paper proposes three robust detection algorithms for locating the cutting line in an image captured by a panel-cutting system. All of the proposed methods contain two stages: edge detection and line fitting. In this paper, edge detection can search interest gradients depending on the intensity concentration. Meanwhile, the proposed line-fitting algorithm is able to precisely fit a line by minimizing the summation of L1 distance from each detected edge point to the fitted line. As the result, all of the proposed methods achieve accuracy of more than 85%. Going one step further, full-scale edge detection (FSED) obtains the best performance at 99.05%, which is evaluated by using a variety of real-world images.

This study aims to verify the effectiveness of sleep education by identifying the differences of adaption to school and self-resilience of the high school students before and after sleep education for a certain period of time. The conclusion of this study is presented below: First, there were differences in adaptation to school and self-resilience of the high school students before and after sleep education for the high school students. After sleep education, adaptation to school environment and school friends became higher, and also the emotion control, personal relations and optimism, which are the subvariables of self-resilience, became higher. Second, there were differences in adaptation to school and self-resilience before and after sleep education by grade of the high school students. The freshmen's adaptation to school friends and adaptation to school life, which are the subvariables of adaptation to school, increased after sleep education. The sophomores' adaptation to school environment, which is the subvariable of adaptation to school, went up higher after sleep education. The freshmen's emotion control, vitality and personal relations, which are the subvariables of self-resilience, were higher after sleep education. The sophomores' personal relations, which are a subvariable of self-resilience, went up higher.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of chicory fiber for the replacement of fat and smoking on quality characteristics of restructured sausages. Treatments were as follows; Control: Pork backfat 20%, T1: Pork backfat 10% + Chicory fiber 10%, T2: Control + Smoking, T3: T1 + Smoking. The addition of chicory fiber significantly reduced the moisture, fat, hardness and pH values, whereas the smoking treatment increased the fat, redness and pH values of restructured sausages (p

Magnetic properties of composite materials consisting of polymer filled with ferromagnetic powders (MnZn ferrite, Fe-Si alloy) were investigated in this study. The volume fraction of magnetic powders as fillers was varied from 70 % to 95 %. This paper presents the fabrication method of polymer magnetic composites in an effort to produce the 0-3 types of MnZn ferrite and FeSi as fillers with a proper complex permeability through the optimization of some experimental parameters. The polymer matrix composites were prepared by mixing the crushed ferrites and flaky FeSi powders homogenously with low-density resins (EPDM, epoxy). The relationships among the manufacturing technology of these materials, their filler volume fraction, as well as their complex permeability were measured and analyzed.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognosis (clinical outcomes) of one-stage fl apless implant surgery based on success and survival rate and marginal alveolar bone loss. Materials and Methods: Ninety dental implants were placed according flapless surgical procedure in forty-one patients at Hospital between April 2004 and May 2009. The mean age of the patients was 54, and the patients were comprised of 24 men and 17 women. Each patient was investigated radiographically and clinically being with average follow up 49.7 period. Result: Average healing period is 4.45 month (maxilla: 5.31 month, mandible: 3.20 month) after installation and survival rate is 95.7% in this period. The survival rate and success rate at 1 year after function (prosthodontics setting) are 92.4% and 88.0%. At fi nal observation, the survival rate and success rate are 90.2% (maxilla: 89.1%, mandible: 92.9%) and 84.8% (maxilla: 82.8%, mandible: 89.3%). The mean residual alveolar bone resorption at 1-year after function and fi nal observation are 0.8 mm and 1.07 mm. Conclusion: Our study suggest that if appropriate surgical technique with proper patients selection, fl apless implants surgery is predictable simple and safety technique.

The agar-degrading bacterium GNUM-1 was isolated from the brown algal species Sargassum serratifolium, which was obtained from the West Sea of Korea, by using the selective artificial seawater agar plate. The cells were Gram-negative, 0.5-0.6 micrometer wide and 2.0-2.5 micrometer long curved rods with a single polar flagellum, forming nonpigmented, circular, smooth colonies. Cells grew at 20 degrees C- 37 degrees C, between pH 5.0 and 9.0, and at 1-10% (w/v) NaCl. The DNA G+C content of the GNUM-1 strain was 45.5 mol%. The 16S rRNA sequence of the GNUM-1 was very similar to those of Alteromonas stellipolaris LMG 21861 (99.86% sequence homology) and Alteromonas addita R10SW13 T (99.64% sequence homology), which led us to assign it to the genus Alteromonas. It showed positive activities for agarase, amylase, gelatinase, alkaline phosphatase, esterase (C8), lipase (C14), leucine arylamidase, valine arylamidase, alpha-chymotrypsin, acid phosphatase, naphthol- AS-BI-phosphohydrolase, alpha-galactosidase, beta-galactosidase, beta-glucosidase, catalase, and urease. It can utilize citrate, malic acid, and trisodium citrate. The major fatty acids were summed feature 3 (21.5%, comprising C16:1omega7c/iso- C15:0 2-OH) and C16:0 (15.04%). On the basis of the variations in many biochemical characteristics, GNUM-1 was considered as unique and thus was named Alteromonas sp. GNUM-1. It produced the highest agarase activity in modified ASW medium containing 0.4% sucrose, but lower activity in rich media despite superior growth, implying that agarase production is tightly regulated and repressed in a rich nutrient condition. The 30 kDa protein with agarase activity was identified by zymography, and this report serves as the very first account of such a protein in the genus Alteromonas.

The effect of the surface topography of 446M ferritic stainless steel as a bipolar plate for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is evaluated by interfacial contact resistance (ICR) measurement and finite element method (FEM) simulation. When the surface of stainless steel is in contact with the carbon paper under load, the surface roughness of stainless steel can affect the degree of deformation of the carbon fiber. Moreover, the higher deformation of carbon fiber under load in the rougher stainless steel could lead to larger real contact area between stainless steel and carbon fiber, and consequently the rough one has a lower ICR value than the fine one. The results suggest that the topography of stainless steel as a bipolar plate significantly affects the ICR. Furthermore, it was found that topography of bipolar plate is one of the key factors to decrease ICR.

Barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ) and silver (Ag) composite film with high dielectric constant was grown at room temperature by an aerosol deposition method. The dielectric constant increases by 0.5 times after adding Ag to the BaTiO 3 matrix, compared with pure BaTiO 3 . The high dielectric constant can be attributed to the percolation effect of Ag inclusions in the BaTiO 3 matrix. The Ag was present in the form of discrete layer in the BaTiO 3 film. The dielectric properties of BaTiO 3 –Ag were discussed in detail taking into account the changes in microstructures.

BACKGROUND: Because the peak age for incidence of sudden deaths in infancy temporally coincides with the age of infant primary immunization some have raised the question as to whether immunization is a risk factor for sudden death in infancy. Recent occurrence of two sudden deaths in infants in Korea has renewed concerns about the causal association between immunization and sudden deaths in infants. METHODS: We carried out a retrospective review of data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Adverse Events Following Immunization Surveillance System and Vaccine Compensation programs. RESULTS: From 1994 to 2011 a total of 45 cases of sudden deaths in the first 2 years of life following immunization were reported in Korea. The causes of death were classified as follows: infectious diseases (n= 13); accidental injuries (n= 7); congenital abnormalities (n= 2); and malignancy (n= 1). Of 20 sudden deaths in infancy nine deaths met Brighton Collaboration case definition level I and II and therefore were classified as possible sudden infant death syndrome cases. Hepatitis B vaccine (n= 13) was the most frequent vaccine with temporal association with sudden deaths in the first 2 years of life. CONCLUSION: Few sudden deaths in the first 2 years of life following immunization have been reported despite the use of universal immunization in Korea. The majority of deaths in infancy did not meet case definition for sudden infant death syndrome. Encouraging investigators to perform thorough investigation including postmortem autopsy and death scene examination may promote data comparability and provide guidance on decision-making in the vaccine-safety monitoring and response system in Korea. (c) 2012 The Authors. Pediatrics International (c) 2012 Japan Pediatric Society.

Seasonal variations in the profile and concentrations of essential oil in Zanthoxylum piperitum were investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Seasonal changes in the percentages of the main constituents of the essential oil of both leaves and fruits from Z. piperitum varied. Variations in essential oil yield and the amount of monoterpenes and ses-quiterpenes in leaves and fruits at different developmental stages were significant. The characteristic content of essential oil in leaves was determined mainly due to the content of monoterpenes, and that in fruits was determined largely due to the sesquiterpenes. Twenty-nine compounds in the oil from Z. piperitum leaves were detected; the major compounds were b-phellandrene (26.90%), citronella (15.32%), b-myrcene (3.24%), α-pinene (2.79%), trans-caryophyllene (2.66%), and fanesyl acetate (2.30%). The highest yield of oil (43.89%) in Z. piperitum leaves was obtained in May but decreased gradually beginning in June. The yield of essential oil from Z. piperitum leaves during early periods was higher than that during later periods and usually decreased from early maturation stages to subsequent stages. However, in contrast to leaves, the oil yield in Z. piperitum fruit increased in June, and oil yield later in the season was higher than that earlier in the season. These results indicate that the essential oil produced from Z. piperitum leaves at the early developmental stages was stored in leaves, and might be transferred to fruit at the final developmental stages.

For La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM) perovskite, used as the cathode material for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), it is known that the formation of a triple-phase-boundary is restrained due to the formation of a second phase at the YSZ/electrode interface at high temperature. To decrease the 2nd phase, lowering the sintering temperature has been used. LSM powder was synthesized by molten salt synthesis method to control its particle size, shape, and agglomeration. We have characterized the phase formation, particle size, shape, and sintering behavior of LSM in the synthesis using the variation of KCl, LiCl, KF and its mixed salts as raw materials. In the case of KCl and KCl-KF salts, the particle size and shape of the LSM was well controlled and synthesized. However, in the case of LiCl and KCl-LiCl salts, LiMnOx as 2nd phase and LSM were synthesized simultaneously. In the case of the mixed salt of KCl-KF, the growth mechanism of the LSM particle was changed from ‘diffusion-controlled’ to ‘reaction-controlled’ according to the amount of mixed salt. The sintering temperature can be decreased below 1000 °C by using the synthesized LSM powder.

Object The authors investigated the rupture rate among patients with untreated unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) in South Korea during 2006–2009. Methods A longitudinal study using national representative health-claim data, including all hospital records for every Korean citizen, was used. Patients with a UIA who were 18–80 years old in 2006 were identified using the I67.1 ICD-10 code. To select eligible patients, a historical period of 1 year prior to the first diagnosis of a UIA in 2006 was utilized. Patients with a previous UIA diagnosis, subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), or treatments, such as clipping or coiling, during the historical period were excluded from analysis. Patients with head trauma or a brain tumor during the historical period were also excluded. Eligible patients were followed up for at least 3 years from the index date. Rupture was defined as SAH events with at least 14 days of hospitalization, using the I60 ICD-10 code and excluding the I60.8 code, or death within 14 days of hospitalization. Results Seven thousand four hundred four patients with UIAs were identified, including 1441 treated patients (20%) and 5963 untreated patients (80%), with a median follow-up of 3.3 years. Rupture events occurred in 163 (0.9 cases/100 person-years) of the 5963 untreated patients. The rupture rate was highest in the 1st year after UIA diagnosis. An older age was a risk factor for rupture among patients with UIAs. Conclusions The overview of the incidence of rupture indicates the need for a preventive strategy and future studies to prevent rupture in Asian patients with UIAs.

Stainless steel is one of the best candidate materials for bipolar plate of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and there have been several manufacturing techniques for stainless steel bipolar plate. The deformation from manufacturing process for bipolar plate can induce the corrosion problem of bipolar plate. The deformed and the stamped stainless steels were examined by evaluating the corrosion resistance to understand the effect of the deformation on the stainless steel as a bipolar plate. The deformation of the stainless steel can significantly affect the corrosion resistance and the deformation from the shaping process for bipolar plate can induce the local anodic sites on the bipolar plate. Therefore, from the corrosion point of view, the shaping process for the bipolar plate is an important factor and the corrosion possibility by shaping process should be considered when selecting the optimum shaping method.

High power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) lighting has drawn a great interest in the field of street light system in recent years. Key parameters for successful launching of LED street light in the commercial market are price and light efficiency, respectively, and they are greatly influenced by the materials and design factors used in high power LED package. This article presents a new design and materials processing technology to realize the solution of LED packaging with advantageous in price and performance. Cost effective materials and processing technology can be realized via thick film glass-ceramic insulating layer and silver conductor. Highly effective thermal design using direct heat dissipation to heat sink in LED package is demonstrated.

The objective of this study was to address the issues associated with the solubility of the pork meat oligopeptide, while maintaining its original nutritional value and improving its digestibility. The pork meat oligopeptide was used to produce an oral liquid supplement that was contained in a 200 ㎖ can. The formulation was designed to satisfy 20% of the daily recommended nutrition intake of an adult male aged between 20 and 29. Analysis of the quality characteristics showed that this formulation was highly homogenized as an oral liquid supplement with advanced solubility. In addition, based on the viscosity, pH, color value, turbidity, and brix, the product was shown to advanced processing quality with great solubility; however, there was some concern that the taste would be deteriorated due to the bitter taste of the peptide. Thus, further studies need to be performed before this formulation can be commercialized.Key words: oligopeptide, oral liquid supplement, great solubility and quality characteristics

This study characterized the adverse events following immunization (AEFI) with the novel influenza A (H1N1) 2009 vaccine in Korea. Data on immunization and AEFI were collected between October 27, 2009 and March 15, 2010 through the national immunization registry and passive surveillance systems. The frequency of AEFI and serious adverse events (SAEs) were calculated according to age, sex, priority group, and vaccine type. In 13,758,527 vaccine recipients aged 6 months or older, 2,530 AEFI were reported (18.4 per 100,000 immunizations). The AEFI reporting rate was highest among people aged 10-19 years (29.6 per 100,000 immunizations) and was higher in female recipients than in male recipients (20.0 versus 16.7 per 100,000 immunizations). Most AEFIs were nonspecific systematic reactions that occurred within 24 h (77.4%) after vaccine administration. A total of 178 vaccine-related SAEs were identified, and vaccine-related mortalities were not reported. This study showed that the AEFI reporting rate after influenza A (H1N1) 2009 vaccinations was relatively high, especially in the younger population. Mild systemic reactions accounted for the majority of reported AEFI, and fatal SAEs were rare. This study also implied that passive surveillance might be an efficient safety monitoring system that can detect relatively rare AEFI.

With a notion that the eurozone does not have a fiscal federalist system, we analyze the effectiveness of fiscal policy at the country level of the eurozone and the state level of the US. Our empirical analysis shows that, not like the case of the US, the role of fiscal policy for counteracting regional income shocks is far weaker in low-income countries in the eurozone. In addition, the contagion effect of fiscal crises in the eurozone is stronger and this effect becomes stronger in the eurozone after the establishment of the European Union. Our finding provides empirical evidence for fiscal problems in a single-currency area without a fiscal federalist system.

To fabricate a ceramic-based substrate for 3-dimensional integration modules with a thick film coating process at room temperature, aerosol deposition method was employed. Al 2 O 3 was chosen as a main coating material for the requirements of low permittivity and dielectric loss. Especially to give a functionality of plasticity, composite film with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was also studied. The effects of PTFE, which was incorporated in the film, were investigated by the microstructural characterization. It was confirmed that Al 2 O 3 –PTFE film with the grain size of 100–200 nm were grown at room temperature using Al 2 O 3 –0.5 wt% PTFE mixture powders. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss of Al 2 O 3 –PTFE film were 4.5 and 0.005 at 1 MHz, respectively.

The effect of RuO2 electrodeposition on ferritic stainless steel as a bipolar plate is evaluated in terms of the surface morphology, interfacial contact resistance (ICR), potentiostatic polarization, contact angle, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The surface morphology of deposited RuO2 is greatly stabilized by addition of HNO3 in 10 mM RuCl3·xH2O solution. The RuO2-deposition on stainless steel shows a high contact angle indicating the high surface energy and hydrophobic characteristics. The ICR measurement indicates that the deposition of conductive RuO2 on stainless steel is very effective in decreasing ICR value. Moreover, after potentiostatic polarization, the ICR value shows only 2.4 and 2.2 mΩ cm2 at 150 N/cm2 under air and H2 purged environments, respectively. In electrochemical test, even though the current density of RuO2-deposited stainless steel is slightly higher than that of bare stainless steel, it is acceptable value for the relevant DOE 2015 target for metallic bipolar plates (less than 1 μA/cm2). Because the RuO2-deposition on stainless steel shows a low ICR value and good corrosion resistance and high contact angle, the RuO2-deposition is a sufficiently feasible method for the bipolar plate material of PEMFC.

Aging is characterized by a progressive loss of muscle mass and impaired contractility (e.g., decline in force, velocity, and power). Although the slowing of contraction speed in aging muscle is well described, the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for the decrement in speed are unknown. Myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms are the primary molecules determining contractile velocity; however, the contraction speed of single fibers within a given MHC isoform type is variable. Recent evidence proposes that the decline in shortening velocity (Vo) with aging is associated with a decrease in the relative content of essential myosin light chain 3f (MLC3f) isoform. In the current study, we first evaluated the relative content of MLC3f isoform and Vo in adult and old rats. We then used recombinant adenovirus (rAd) gene transfer technology to increase MLC3f protein content in the MHC type II semimembranosus muscle (SM). We hypothesized that (i) aging would decrease the relative MLC3f content and Vo in type II fibers, and (ii) increasing the MLC3f content would restore the age-induced decline in Vo. We found that there was an age-related decrement in relative MLC3f content and Vo in MHC type II fibers. Increasing MLC3f content, as indicated by greater % MLC3f and MLC3f/MLC2f ratio, provided significant protection against age-induced decline in Vo without influencing fiber diameter, force generation, MHC isoform distribution, or causing cellular damage. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first data to demonstrate positive effects of MLC3f against slowing of contractile function in aged skeletal muscle.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship changes of married couples after the disaster occurred in 2007 in South Korea and to seek solutions to improve their relationship by identifying factors associated with the change. Subjects for the study were 186 married couples either who were victims of Typhoon in Koheung and Jeju island in September or who have suffered from oil spill in Taehan in December, 2007. The result showed that 51 respondents (27.4%) reported that their relationship had been changed negatively, compared to a total of 37 respondents (19.9%) were changed in a positive way. Negative change occurred approximately 2.5 times higher than positive change. The result of multi-nomial logistic regression analysis showed that factors affecting married couples` relationship were relationship with their children, subjective health status, degree of anxiety or depression symptom, state of recovery, and religion. Based on the results, solutions to prevent marital relationship from deteriorating after going through disaster and implications of social work to enhance the relationship were discussed.

Ferritic stainless steel is a good candidate material for bipolar plate, however stainless steel is limited to use as a bipolar plate due to its high ICR. In order to reduce ICR value, chemical treatment is performed by immersion in the acidic and alkali solutions. Immersion in the HCl solution makes the specimen surface rougher because of metal dissolution. The rough surface decreases the ICR value since the real contact area between the specimen surface and carbon paper increases. Immersion in the NaOH solution do not result any change in the surface topology. However, the ICR value decreases because the passive film immersed in NaOH solution enriches in Cr oxy-hydroxide with the bound water acting as a donor-type impurity.

Extraocular muscle (EOM) myofibers do not fit the traditional fiber typing classifications normally used in noncranial skeletal muscle, in part, due to the complexity of their individual myofibers. With single skinned myofibers isolated from rectus muscles of normal adult rabbits, force and shortening velocity were determined for 220 fibers. Each fiber was examined for myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoform composition by densitometric analysis of electrophoresis gels. Rectus muscle serial sections were examined for coexpression of eight MyHC isoforms. A continuum was seen in single myofiber shortening velocities as well as force generation, both in absolute force (g) and specific tension (kN/m2). Shortening velocity correlated with MyHCIIB, IIA, and I content, the more abundant MyHC isoforms expressed within individual myofibers. Importantly, single fibers with similar or identical shortening velocities expressed significantly different ratios of MyHC isoforms. The vast majority of myofibers in both the orbital and global layers expressed more than one MyHC isoform, with up to six isoforms in single fiber segments. MyHC expression varied significantly and unpredictably along the length of single myofibers. Thus EOM myofibers represent a continuum in their histological and physiological characteristics. This continuum would facilitate fine motor control of eye position, speed, and direction of movement in all positions of gaze and with all types of eye movements—from slow vergence movements to fast saccades. To fully understand how the brain controls eye position and movements, it is critical that this significant EOM myofiber heterogeneity be integrated into hypotheses of oculomotor control.

The surface of 446M ferritic stainless steel (FSS) is modified by immersing in NaOH solution to understand its effect on the interfacial contact resistance (ICR) and corrosion. Immersion in NaOH solution under optimum condition can lead to decrease the ICR value of 446M FSS with no decrease in the corrosion resistance. Immersion of 446M FSS in NaOH solution increases the ratio of Cr oxy-hydroxide/oxide, which contributes to decrease the ICR value. This means that the bound water present in the form of the OH − group in the passive film acts as a donor-type impurity and provides the active sites for electrical conduction in the oxide. This imparts positive effect on the electrical conduction and leads to decrease in the ICR value even after the long-term immersion in the simulated PEMFC environment.

CrN/Cr-coated stainless steel (STS) 316L is investigated as the material for a metal bipolar plate for a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) under actual operating circumstances. Protective coating layers of CrN/Cr are formed on STS 316L using an unbalanced magnetron (UBM) DC sputter via Cr target in an effort to improve the corrosion resistance and long-term stability of the STS 316L. In a corrosion resistance test, the CrN/Cr-coated STS 316L shows much better corrosion resistance than bare STS 316L in simulated electrolytic environments under anodic and cathodic potentials relevant to DMFCs. The interfacial contact resistance (ICR) between CrN/Cr-coated 316L and carbon paper decrease to 4 mΩ cm2 at a compaction force of 150 N cm−2 compared to bare STS 316L (570 mΩ cm2). The CrN/Cr-coated STS 316L cell has better cell performance compared to the bare STS 316L cell. Furthermore, the CrN/Cr-coated STS 316L cell exhibit low voltage losses of 38.2 μV h−1 under long-term operation of 760 h. These results show that the CrN/Cr-coated STS 316L, demonstrating its feasibility for use as a metal bipolar plate in a DMFC under actual operating circumstances.

Light emitting diode, LED, has become a popular device for display and lighting applications. Among them, high power LED array modules are especially interested in the field of street light system, recently. High power LED array module is generally consisted of several pieces of LEDs which are mounted on the PCB with the combination of series and parallel circuits according to the designed operating voltage and power consumption, i.e. total wattages. Since the life time expectancy and brightness of LED are greatly influenced by the operation temperature of LED, thermal management technology of LED module including system design, heat transfer and dissipation become a hot issue in these days. In this work, we would like to present several thick film approaches to fabricate thermally efficient high power, i.e. LED array modules with over 50 watts by using different array package design, materials selection and film forming techniques. Here, we will demonstrate 50 watts LED array modules directly coupled with aluminum, copper or silicon heat sinks which operates at 12volts using 4 × 9, 4 pieces of LED in series multiplied by 9 arrays in parallel, LED array circuit. The microstructure of metal-ceramic multilayers and interfaces, and the heat transfer performance of the LED array modules will be presented.

The dielectric constant (er) of the films grown at 100 °C increased as the beam energy density increased and a saturated value of 80 was obtained for the film grown under 6.0 J cm−2. The larger er value was attributed to the increased amount of nano-sized Bi3NbO7 crystals. The er values also increased with the beam energy density for films grown at 300 °C and a very high er value of 135.6 with a low loss of 3.0% at 100 kHz was obtained for the film grown at 300 °C under a beam density of 3.0 J cm−2. The crystalline BiNbO4 phase developed, but the amount of Bi3NbO7 crystals decreased as the beam energy density increased, indicating that the increased er values of the films grown at 300 °C could be due to the formation of the crystalline BiNbO4 phase. The electrical properties of the films grown at 300 °C under a beam density of 3.0 J cm−2 were considerably influenced by the oxygen partial pressure (OPP) during annealing. The film annealed at 300 °C under a 50.0 torr OPP exhibited a low leakage current density of 5.4 × 10−9 A cm−2 at 0.3 MV cm−1 with a relatively high breakdown field of 0.4 MV cm−1.

The bipolar plate is an important component of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) because it supplies the pathway of the electron flow between each unit cell. The ferritic stainless steel is considered a good candidate material for bipolar plate, but it is limited to use as a bipolar plate due to its corrosion problem and high interfacial contact resistance (ICR). To explore a cost-effective method of surface modification, various chemical and heat treatments are performed with 446M ferritic stainless steel to understand the effect of the surface modifications on the ICR and the corrosion resistance. The ICR and corrosion resistance of 446M stainless steel can be effectively controlled by a proper surface modification with combined treatment of immersion in the acidic solution, followed by heat treatment. The combined chemical and heat treatment not only improves the corrosion resistance but also reduces the ICR value.

BaTiO3–resin hybrid composite is one of the most promising candidates for the embedded capacitors. We utilized the inkjet printing to prepare BaTiO3–resin hybrid film. In order to extract the maximum relative permittivity from the hybrid films, the following aspects were investigated: (1) the effect of BaTiO3 powder size on the relative permittivity of inkjet-printed films and (2) the improvement of the packing density by using two different sizes of BaTiO3 powders resulting in the increase in relative permittivity. The microstructures of the films were investigated to confirm the improvement on the packing density and their effects on the relative permittivity.

We have investigated the inkjet-printing of Al 2 O 3 ink on the solid surface. The deposit patterns of nanoparticles from ink droplets were controlled by adding a drying agent to the main ink solvent. This co-solvent ink system creates a circulating flow in the ink droplet during its drying process, resulting in a uniform deposit of nanoparticles from the ink droplet. The study on the spreading of Al 2 O 3 ink droplets on the solid surface was implemented to identify an optimum condition for the inkjet printing of straight lines. With the inkjet-printed straight lines, uniform Al 2 O 3 films were printed by adjusting the line-to-line pitches and investigated by SEM and a surface profiler.

Amorphous Bi5Nb3O15 (BNO) films were grown at room temperature (RT) on a Cu/Ti/SiO2 /Si substrate using radio frequency magnetron sputtering. All the films were well formed on the Cu electrode with a sharp interface between the film and the electrode. The dielectric constant of the amorphous BNO film grown under 25 W was 46, with a low dissipation factor of 2.7% at 100 kHz. This film exhibited a low leakage current density of 5.5 × 10-8 A/cm2 at 4.5 V and a large breakdown voltage of 7.2 V. However, the electrical properties deteriorated as the sputtering power and the growth temperature increased due to the increased surface roughness; this was because a film with a rough surface generally has a larger surface area, and there can be electric field intensification at surface asperity, which degrade the electrical properties of the film. In addition, the electrical properties were not influenced by the oxygen partial pressure (OPP) because the variation of OPP during the growth of the films did not affect their surface roughness. The amorphous BNO film grown on the Cu/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate at RT under 25 W may be a good candidate material for an embedded capacitor.

This work describes the development of highly efficient human DNA separation with functionalized mesoporous silica (FMS) materials. To demonstrate the electrostatic interaction effect between the target DNA molecules and FMS, three aminofunctionality types comprised of a mono-, a di-, and a tri-amine functional group were introduced on the inner surfaces of mesoporous silica particles. Systematic characterization of the synthesized materials was achieved by solid-state 29Si and 13C-NMR techniques, BET, FT-IR, and XPS. The DNA separation efficiency was explored via the function of the amino-group number, the amount used, and the added NaCl concentration. The DNA adsorption yields were high in terms of the use of triaminofunctionalized FMS at the 10 ng/L level, and the DNA desorption efficiency showed the optimum level at over 3.0 M NaCl concentration. The use of FMS in a DNA separation process provides numerous advantages over the conventional silica-based process.