A new species of chionelasmatid sessile vent barnacle, Eochionelasmus coreana sp. nov., is described and illustrated on the basis of specimens collected from the Solitaire hydrothermal vent field in the Central Indian Ridge of the Indian Ocean. This new species is morphologically very similar to E. ohtai, the type species of the genus Eochionelasmus. However, it differs from E. ohtai in its distribution, the status of the notch on the maxillule, and the positions of rl1 and cl1 on whorls of the imbricating plates. In addition, a molecular phylogenetic tree indicated that the chionelasmatid Eochionelasmus was closely related to the waikalasmatid Waikalasma with high supporting values rather than the other chionelasmatid Chionelasmus. The new species is not only the first record of a sessile vent barnacle from outside of the Pacific Ocean, but is also the first sessile barnacle from the Indian Ocean.

A new species of callianassid ghost shrimp, Paraglypturus tonganus sp. nov., is described and illustrated on the basis of five specimens that were collected from sediments in a vent field of the Tonga Arc, south-western Pacific Ocean. This new species is morphologically very similar to P. calderus Türkay & Sakai, 1995, the type species of the genus Paraglypturus Türkay & Sakai, 1995. It differs from P. calderus mainly in the absence (vs. presence in P. calderus) of an anterolateral row of setal pores on the carapace; the endopod of the second maxilliped, with a dactylus bearing stiff and thick serrate setae at the apex (vs. without in P. calderus); a yellow circular structure located on the ventral surface on the uropodal endopod (vs. on the dorsal surface on the uropodal exopod in P. calderus); and the articulation structure of the first pleopod in males (uniarticulate in P. tonganus vs. biarticulate in P. calderus). The new species is the first record of a ghost shrimp from a vent field of the Tonga Arc, and also the second reported species of the genus Paraglypturus.

A transverse (d33) mode piezoelectric cantilever was fabricated for energy harvesting. Various dimensions of interdigital electrodes (IDE) were deposited on a piezoelectric layer to examine the effects of electrode design on the performance of energy harvesters. Modeling was performed to calculate the output power of the devices. The estimation was based on Roundy’s analytical modeling derived for a d31 mode piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH). In order to apply the Roundy’s model to d33 mode PEH, the IDE configuration was converted to the area of top and bottom electrodes (TBE). The power conversion in d33 mode PEH was commonly estimated by the product of piezoelectric layer’s thickness and finger electrode’s length. In addition, the spacing between fingers was regarded as gap between top and bottom electrodes. However, the output power in a transverse mode PEH increases continuously with the increase of finger spacing, which does not correspond to experimental results. In this research, the dimension of IDE was converted to that of TBE using conformal mapping, and variation of power of PEH was remodeled. The modified model suggests that the maximum power in a transverse mode PEH is obtained when the finger spacing is identical with effective finger spacing. The output power then decreases when finger spacing is larger than effective finger spacing. The decrease of efficiency may result from insufficient degree of poling and increased charged defect with increasing finger spacing.

Rodents respond to a chronic high-fat diet (HFD) in two ways: some readily become obese (obesity prone, OP) and others do not (obesity resistant, OR). Although several hypotheses have been proposed, the mechanisms underlying the inter-individual susceptibility to diet-induced obesity remain to be fully defined. In the present study, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight MS was carried out for identification of differentially expressed liver proteins in OP and OR rats fed a HFD, in an attempt to discover marker proteins involved in susceptibility and/or resistance to obesity in rat liver. The 2-DE analysis demonstrated that forty spots from 380 visualised spots were differentially regulated between the groups. Among these forty spots, twelve were differentially expressed proteins between OP and OR rats, reaching statistical significance. Of these, five proteins have already been linked to obesity; however, seven proteins involved in obesity susceptibility or resistance were identified for the first time in the present study. In order to validate the proteomic results and gain insight into the metabolic changes between the OP and OR groups, we further confirmed the expression pattern of some proteins of interest by Western blot analysis. Combined results of proteomic analysis with Western blot analysis revealed that reduced lipogenesis and increased fat oxidation were achieved in the livers of OR rats. In conclusion, the present proteomic study is an important advance over the previous steps required for identification of OP and OR rats, and should prove valuable in the search for the pathogenesis of obesity in humans.

Stream restoration is an important process affecting the ecological health of stream ecosystems. There have been numerous cases of restoration, dealing with either structural or biological changes. In Korea, most restoration projects have merely dealt with improving hydrological characteristics or water quality; however, in recent years the improvement of ecological characteristics has been an increasing focus for restoration projects. In this study, we utilized data collected from 5675 stream sites in May 2007 to discover general patterns of anthropogenic modification in Korean streams. The survey results after application of the stream modification index (SMI; presence or absence type; high scores indicate more disturbed) provided a general distribution of disturbed/undisturbed streams or rivers in the watershed. We then compared the level of modification with the socio-geographical patterns (population, land coverage, elevation, and slope) for the watershed. The results show that streams in highly populated areas suffered from human modification compared with other well-preserved stream sites. In metropolitan cities, urbanized areas had positive relationship as identified by a high SMI. On the other hand, agricultural land cover identified an SMI increase for lowland river area. In general, mountainous streams possessed a better status in stream morphology due to different land-cover patterns (i.e., mainly forested area); however, some mountainous areas were impacted by concentrated summer rainfall. We could distinguish the forcing variables (i.e., land use pattern) for the disturbed streams through a comparison between the SMI and geographical information; the SMI application was able to identify areas of high necessity for restoration.

Controlled ZnO nanostructures were grown on a flexible substrate for the future development of smart sensing tags. Thermolysis-assisted chemical solution deposition was used to grow ZnO nanorods at 85°C from 0.01mol of Zinc nitrate hexahydrate and HMT (Hexamethyltetramine) solution. To promote and modulate the ZnO nanorods, R.F. sputtered ZnO seed layers were deposited on polyimide substrates at various film thicknesses in the range of 8 to 160 nm. The optimum processing conditions to fabricate ZnO nanostructures have been investigated to examine the growth behaviors and to correlate the process parameters with the morphological characteristics. When the ethanol gas sensitivities were measured at different thickness of ZnO seed layers before growing ZnO nanorods, the highest sensitivity was obtained at 40 nm thick ZnO film at 300°C where the film thickness is similar to the Debye length. When ZnO nanorods were grown on such a ZnO seed layer, the sensitivities were more heavily influenced by the ZnO nanostructures rather than the thickness of the seed layer probably due to the dominant proportion of carrier density involved with the gas absorption.

Optimum processing conditions for fabricating SnO2 thin films were investigated to detect low ppm levels of ethylene gas for future on-field gas sensor applications. Different argon-to-oxygen ratios during R.F. sputtering were attempted to find the optimum gas ratio in depositing SnO2 thin film. Post-annealing was performed at 650°C to investigate the influence of film property change on ethylene sensing property of sensor. As-deposited and post-annealed films prepared under four different argon-to-oxygen ratios were studied by SEM, XRD, and sensitivity measurement. It was found that the stoichiometry and crystallinity of SnO2 films determined by post annealing was more influential than those by the argon to oxygen ratio during R.F sputtering on ethylene gas detection. An ethylene gas-sensing mechanism on R.F. sputtered SnO2 thin films for the design of processing conditions is proposed.

Despite numerous previous studies, relationships between watershed land use and adjacent streams and rivers at various scales in Korea remain unclear. This study investigated the relationships between land uses and the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of 720 sites of streams and rivers across the country. The land uses at two spatial scales, including a 1-km buffer and the base watershed management region (BWMR), were computed in a geographical information system (GIS) with a digital land use/land cover map. Characteristics of land uses at two spatial scales were then correlated with the monitored multidimensional characteristics of the streams and rivers. The results of this study indicate that land use types have significant effects on stream and river characteristics. Specifically, most characteristics were negatively correlated with the proportions of urban, rice paddy, agricultural, and bare soil areas and positively correlated with the amount of forest. The site-scale and BWMR-scale analyses suggest that BWMR land use patterns were more strongly related to ecological integrity than they were to site land use patterns. Improving our understanding of land use effects will largely depend on relating the results of site-specific studies that use similar response techniques and measures to evaluate ecological integrity. In addition, our results clearly indicate that the characteristics of streams and rivers are closely linked and that land use types differentially affect those characteristics. Thus, effective restoration and management for ecological integrity of lotic system should consider the physical, chemical, and biological factors in combination.

We evaluated the effects of the two main kiwifruit cultivars (gold kiwifruit (GOK) and green kiwifruit (GRK)) and their active phenolic compound, quercetin, on H2O2-induced inhibition of gap-junction intercellular communication (GJIC) in WB-F344 rat liver epithelial cells. We found that both GOK and GRK protect WB-F344 cells from H2O2-induced inhibition of GJIC. The extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2)–connexin 43 (Cx43) signalling pathway is crucial for the regulation of GJIC, and both GOK and GRK blocked the H2O2-induced phosphorylation of Cx43 and ERK1/2 in WB-F344 cells. Quercetin alone attenuated the H2O2-mediated ERK1/2–Cx43 signalling pathway and consequently reversed H2O2-mediated inhibition of GJIC in WB-F344 cells. A free radical-scavenging assay using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl showed that the scavenging activity of quercetin was higher than that of a synthetic antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene, per mol, suggesting that the chemopreventive effect of quercetin on H2O2-mediated inhibition of ERK1/2–Cx43 signalling and GJIC may be mediated through its free radical-scavenging activity. Since the carcinogenicity of reactive oxygen species such as H2O2 is attributable to the inhibition of GJIC, GOK, GRK and quercetin may have chemopreventive potential by preventing the inhibition of GJIC.

Many previous studies on the sample preparation of various kinds of radiocarbon dating samples by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) have been examined at KIGAM (Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources) and our own procedures have been established. Furthermore, an automated reduction system has been developed. The volume of the reduction region was minimized to improve the reduction yield, and air-actuated pneumatic valves and solenoid arrays were used for computer control of the system. Operation of all the valves and vacuum pumps and signals from the temperature sensors and pressure gauges were interfaced to a personal computer with an A/D board. A computer program was also developed to perform automatic operation of the reduction system. This system consistently shows a higher reduction yield than 90%. The reduction time of the system is currently 140 min.

A 1MV AMS was installed in KIGAM (Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources). After 4 months of installation, the AMS started normal operation from January 2008. This multi-element AMS was developed by HVEE to measure 14C, 10Be, and 26Al. The results of an acceptance test demonstrate that this machine is capable of routine 14C age dating and of measurements of other radioisotopes in terms of accuracy and precision as well as the background level. After installation, an investigation aimed at determining the stable operating conditions was conducted, and background levels were determined to be as low as 10–15 for 14C and 10–14 for 10Be and 26Al.

We deposited various nano structured ZnO thin films with plasma treatment on an alumina substrate and fabricate ZnO sensors for acetone detection. The ZnO sensors with various nano structures and the plasma treatment were deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method with RuO2 micro heater and Ru electrode. In order to control a work function intentionally, the various deposition conditions and the plasma treatment were used. Sensitivities of the ZnO sensor were measured in acetone vapor and air at 250 degree C. In conclusion, we suggested that the sensitivity of ZnO sensors for acetone strongly depends on the work function of the as-deposited or plasma treated nano structured ZnO thin films.

In this paper, we demonstrate a perfectly-ordered microbowl array with balanced dielectrophoresis (DEP) for a high-throughput single-cell analysis. In order to fabricate well-ordered microbowl array in a large area, we utilized three-dimensional diffuser lithography for photoresist mold and nickel electroplating technique for final microbowl structures on a silicon substrate. Single microbowl has six sharp apexes surrounding the microbowl perimeter. Each microbowl has a diameter of 10 μm, and a height of 9 μm, which can be controllable by patterns on mask and lithography conditions. To investigate feasibility for application to the microbowl array as a single-cell microarray, we used latex beads of 6.4 μm in an average diameter to be captured by dielectrophoretic force. The nickel microbowl array densely packed with a hexagonal geometry played as a bottom electrode, and an ITO-coated glass covered the nickel microbowl array as a top electrode while keeping a uniform gap between two electrodes. After injecting solution containing latex beads through the gap, we applied an AC signal (2 VPP, 1 MHz) between two electrodes to induce high electric field near the sharp apexes of the single microbowl. A negative DEP trap is formed at the center of the single microbowl with balanced DEP force from the six apexes. The experimental result shows that injected latex beads had been successfully and uniformly aligned and trapped at the microbowl array sustained by negative DEP.

In this paper, we investigated the effects of the substrates and crystalline orientations on the mechanical properties of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thin films. The PZT thin films were deposited by sol-gel method on platinized silicon substrates with different types of layer materials such as silicon nitride and silicon oxide. The crystalline orientations of PZT thin films were controlled by combined parameters of a chelating agent and pyrolysis temperature. A nanoindentation CSM (continuous stiffness measurement) technique was employed to characterize the mechanical properties of those PZT thin films. It was observed that (001/100)-oriented films show a higher Young’s modulus compared to films with mixed orientations of (110) and (111), indicating a clear dependence on film orientation. The influence of substrates on the mechanical properties of PZT thin films was also characterized. Finally, no significant influence of the film thickness was found on the mechanical properties of films thicker than 200 nm.

High k dielectric thick films, consisting of BaTiO3, a low softening glass and fluoride compounds, were studied to apply them as potential low temperature N2-fireable capacitors on commercially-available Cu foils. Different additive combinations of LiF, ZnF2 and BaF2 were specifically compared in terms of dielectric constant, dielectric loss and Curie temperature (Tc) for the purpose of optimizing dielectric performance. The thick film consisting of 95BaTiO3-1.5LiF-1.5ZnF2-2 bismuth borosilicate glass exhibited the best performance, i.e., a dielectric constant of 2,382 and a dissipation factor of 0.021 at Tc of 27°C at the firing temperature of 950°C. This result can be regarded as one of the best performance, compared to literature reported on embedded capacitors in Cu-PCB applications. No apparent Cu-diffusion was detected across the Cu-thick film-Cu foil structure.

Piezoelectric materials have been investigated as vibration energy converters to power wireless devices or MEMS devices due to recent low power requirement of such devices and the development of miniaturization technology. It has shown the potential that piezoelectric power generator can be an alternative to the traditional power source-battery because of facile vibration sources in our environment and the potential elimination of maintenance required for large volume batteries. To date, PZT (Lead Zirconium Titanate) has been commonly exploited as a piezoelectric material for energy conversion since it can generate higher power density even at low-g (< 1 g) vibration environment. Its high fragility, however, can limit its applicability at high-g conditions. Therefore, other types of piezoelectric materials such as polymer and composite are necessary to investigate the applicability at severe vibration conditions. In this study, piezoelectric power generators based on cantilever beam structure were designed, optimized, and fabricated by considering matching the resonant frequency with environmental vibration, achieving maximum output power, and reaching maximum g-value without device failure. As piezoelectric materials, ceramic PZT, polymer PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) and composite MFC (Macro Fiber Composite) were utilized. The energy conversion of all three types of generator devices was systematically evaluated. All three devices were measured to generate enough power density for providing electric energy to wireless sensor or MEMS device. The PZT device shows the highest output energy density and PVDF device has the highest durability to operate at high-g vibration condition.

We designed and synthesized a dendritic architecture in which three branches of the NLO-active component consisting of push-pull type conjugated structure were linked onto its core. Chemical structure of the dendritic nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophore was verified by NMR spectroscopy, which clearly showed that the conjugated bridge had a trans-conformation. The dendrimer exhibited that the broad absorption band centered at around 608 nm extending to 760 nm. It was thermally stable up to 275 °C in the nitrogen atmosphere. Polymer film was prepared by spincoating the solution of mixture of amorphous polycarbonate (APC) and the dendritic chromophore, which exhibited an electro-optic coefficient of 19 pm/V at 1.55 μm wavelength.

Piezoelectric ZnO and PZT films for acoustic wave device have been investigated. The films used for acoustic wave devices require textured structure, high piezoelectric coefficients, and high electromechanical coupling coefficients, because the piezoelectric films launch and receive the acoustic wave. We fabricated ZnO films by RF magnetron sputtering, and PZT films by chemical solution deposition (CSD). Results showed that uniform, dense and highly textured films were obtained under optimal process parameters. The film texture was controlled by modifying process parameters, such as gas kinds, gas ratio, and substrate type for sputtered ZnO films, and the presence of chelating agent, temperature of heat treatment, and substrate type for solution derived PZT films. Flexural plate wave (FPW) device has been successfully integrated onto 4-inch silicon wafers with optimized piezoelectric films.

Battery, the traditional power source in present wireless remote sensor systems, has large volume and requires large amount of maintenance. Therefore, piezoelectric power generator has been studied for a potential alternative to battery by scavenging or harvesting energy from its operating environment. The efforts for investigating such piezoelectric device have been especially enhanced by the miniaturization requirement and low energy consumption of advanced devices as well as the sufficient vibration energy sources and its high conversion efficiency. To utilize piezoelectric material as energy conversion transducer, the device should be designed to operate with high efficiency and simple configuration. PZT (Lead Zirconium Titanate) is an excellent candidate for energy conversion because of its large piezoelectric constant and coupling coefficient.

In this study, power generators based on bimorph cantilever structure were designed and fabricated using PZT ceramic benders due to accessible large strain or energy. The parameters influencing the output energy of piezoelectric bimorph cantilevers including the dimensions of the cantilever and the proof mass, the loading ways of the proof mass, and the resonant frequency of the cantilever were systematically investigated. The robustness of cantilever structure was also considered for implementing piezoelectric power conversion devices in harsh environments. The final optimal design was realized by considering the balance between the output power and the safety factor through numerical analysis. The energy density generated by the optimized piezoelectric devices was higher than 1 mW at 1-g vibration, which could be enough to operate microsensor systems. To broaden the operation conditions, multiple-resonant frequency device was also explored.