During the past decade, carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) has emerged and spread across the world.1 The major carbapenemase enzymes currently being reported are KPC, NDM-1, VIM, IMP, and OXA.2 Because carbapenemase can be effectively transmitted via mobile genetic elements, and current therapeutic options for CPE infections are extremely limited, CPE may be one of the most serious contemporary threats to public health. However, very little is known about the characteristics of CPE carriage during hospitalization. The aims of this study were to investigate the clearance rate of CPE carriage and determine the number of consecutive negative cultures required to confirm CPE clearance. We also examined CPE transmission among hospitalized patients.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;36(11):1361–1362

Cancer is a leading cause of death, and the dietary pattern in Korea is changing rapidly from a traditional Korean diet to a Westernised diet. In the present study, we investigated the effects of dietary factors on cancer risk with a prospective cohort study. Among 26 815 individuals who participated in cancer screening examinations from September 2004 to December 2008, 8024 subjects who completed a self-administered questionnaire concerning demographic and lifestyle factors, and a 3 d food record were selected. As of September 2013, 387 cancer cases were identified from the National Cancer Registry System, and the remaining individuals were included in the control group. The hazard ratio (HR) of cancer for the subjects older than or equal to 50 years of age was higher (HR 1·80, 95 % CI 1·41, 2·31; P< 0·0001) than that for the other subjects. Red meat consumption, Na intake and obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) were positively associated with overall cancer incidence in men (HR 1·41, 95 % CI 1·02, 1·94; P= 0·0382), gastric cancer (HR 2·34, 95 % CI 1·06, 5·19; P= 0·0365) and thyroid cancer (HR 1·56, 95 % CI 1·05, 2·31; P= 0·0270), respectively. Participants who had at least three dietary risk factors among the high intakes of red meat and Na, low intakes of vegetables and fruits, and obesity suggested by the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research at baseline tended to have a higher risk of cancer than the others (HR 1·26, 95 % CI 0·99, 1·60; P= 0·0653). In summary, high intakes of red meat and Na were significant risk factors of cancer among Koreans.

Liposomal drug delivery products have been already commercialized in tumor therapeutics, which can realize passive tumor targeting via enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect resulting from the leaky tumor vasculature. To control drug release out of the liposomes, thermo-sensitive liposomes (TSLs) have been developed so that an abrupt exposure of highly concentrated drugs to tumor tissues was enabled by locally treated thermal stimuli. As interests upon TSL have increased along with ongoing clinical trials, some types of TSLs with different physical properties in pharmacokinetics and the mechanism of drug release have been formulated. However, there are few protocols established with a desirable heat source to maximize the efficacy of different TSLs as treating tumors. In this study, we examined different protocols for the most effective application of different TSLs to tumor therapy. First, we examined if enhancing the accumulation of TSLs within tumor tissues prior to bursting drugs out of TSLs could lead to increasing anti-tumor efficacy. Second, we compared the efficiency of two different heat sources on the use of TSL, a warm water bath (42°C) and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Our study suggests that the specified protocol be setup for TSLs with different physical properties to optimally function in tumor therapies.

The formation and morphological evolution of germanides formed in a ternary Ni/Ta-interlayer/Ge system were examined by ex situ and in situ annealing experiments. The Ni germanide film formed in the Ni/Ta-interlayer/Ge system maintained continuity up to 550°C, whereas agglomeration of the Ni germanide occurred in the Ni/Ge system without Ta-interlayer. Through microstructural and chemical analysis of the Ni/Ta-interlayer/Ge system during and after in situ annealing in a transmission electron microscope, it was confirmed that the Ta atoms remained uniformly on the top of the newly formed Ni germanide layer during the diffusion reaction. Consequently, the agglomeration of the Ni germanide film was retarded and the thermal stability was improved by the Ta incorporation.

We have fabricated a new magnetic field enhanced solid phase crystallization (FESPC) polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin film transistors (TFTs), which shows the excellent electrical characteristics and superior stability compared with hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) TFTs. The mobility (μ) and threshold voltage (VTH) of p-type TFTs of which the channel width and length are 5 μm and 7 μm, respectively are 31.98 cm2/Vs and -6.14 V, at VDS=-0.1 V. In the FESPC TFTs, the characteristics caused by grain boundary are remarkable due to large number of grain boundaries in the channel compared with poly-Si TFTs. The VTH of the TFT which have 5 μm channel length is smaller than that of 18 μm channel length by 1.36 V, which is considerably large value. It is due to the large number of grain boundaries in the channel and the high lateral electric field. The grain boundary potential barrier height is decreased, when the large lateral electric field is applied (which is called DIGBL effect). As a result of increased mobility, the drain current is increased, and VTH can be decreased. The activation energy (Ea) is strongly depended on the drain bias and the number of grain boundaries. is decreased, caused by the large drain bias and/or smaller number of grain boundaries. This decreased Ea can be reduced VTH due to increased the drain current. VTH of p-type poly-Si TFT employing FESPC on the glass substrate is affected by channel length and VDS due to energy barrier lowering effect at the grain boundary by increased lateral electrical field.

A bistable effects of Au nano-crystals embedded in poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) were observed. Subsequently we investigated dependency of the nonvolatile memory behavior on curing temperature for the Au nano-crystals embedded in the PVK. For the study, in the devices of different curing temperatures we measured current-voltage characteristics for the devices and investigated the formation of the Au nano-crystals using cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The nonvolatile memory behavior depends on the curing temperature, which is attributed to the suitable formation of the Au nano-crystal.

Canine oocytes are ovulated at prophase of the first meiotic division and undergo maturation in the distal part of the oviduct for at least 48–72 h. Because of these differences from other domestic mammals, the efficiency of in vitro maturation (IVM) of canine oocyte is very low. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of canine serum on IVM of canine oocytes recovered from ovaries in various reproductive states (follicular, luteal or anestrous stages). Oocytes were recovered by mincing ovaries from bitches presented for ovariohysterectomy at various stages of the estrous cycle. Heat-inactivated canine serum was prepared with blood taken from dogs at the anestrous, estrous or diestrous stage of the estrous cycle as determined by progesterone concentration and vaginal cytology. Oocytes were cultured for 72 h in tissue culture medium (TCM)-199 supplemented with 10% canine anestrous, estrous or diestrous serum or fetal bovine serum (FBS) (experiment 1), or supplemented with 0 (control), 5%, 10% or 20% canine estrous serum (experiment 2). In experiment 1, IVM of oocytes collected at the follicular stage of the estrous cycle to metaphase II (MII) stage was higher (p < 0.05) with canine estrous serum (14.2%) than with canine anestrous (5.2%) or diestrous serum (6.3%), FBS (2.2%) or in the control (2.2%). In experiment 2, oocytes collected at the follicular stage of the estrous cycle cultured in TCM-199 with 10% canine estrous serum showed a higher maturation rate to MII stage (13.5%, p < 0.05) compared with those cultured with 5% (1.3% MII) or 20% canine estrous serum (5.1% MII) or the control (2.7% MII). In conclusion, our results demonstrate that supplementing culture medium with 10% canine estrous serum improves IVM of canine follicular stage oocytes.

We have investigated the development of erbium(III)-cored supramolecular complexes containing metalloporphyrins to circumvent the solubility problem and improve the optical amplification property. The new synthetic methodology was accomplished through the ligand-exchange model reaction using ErCl3 to optimize its synthetic condition We have designed and synthesized the model complexes to investigate coordination property between the ligand and the erbium ion. Highly coordinated erbium(III)-cored model complexes (at least 8 to 10 coordination) showed the strong near infrared(IR) emission at 1520 nm, corresponding to the 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition. Also, with these synthetic results, erbium(III)-cored supramolecular complexes based on metalloporphyrins were synthesized and characterized. They also showed the infrared emission of the 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition at 1520 nm.

The effects of the isoelectronic Al-doping of GaN grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition were investigated for the first time using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Hall measurements, photoluminescence (PL), and time-resolved PL. When a certain amount of Al was incorporated into the GaN films, the room temperature photoluminescence intensity of the films was approximately two orders larger than that of the undoped GaN. More importantly, the electron mobility significantly increased from 130 for the undoped sample to 500 cm2/Vs for the sample grown at a TMAl flow rate of 10 νmol/min, while the unintentional background concentration only increased slightly relative to the TMAl flow. The incorporation of Al as an isoelectronic dopant into GaN was easy during MOCVD growth and significantly improved the optical and electrical properties of the film. This was believed to result from a reduction in the dislocation-related non-radiative recombination centers or certain other defects due to the isoelectronic Al-doping.

Hydrido-organo-siloxane-polymer (HOSP), a typical silsesquioxane-based low dielectric constant material, was etched with ions of different incident angles in CHF3 plasma. The etch rate normalized to the rate obtained with ions incident perpendicular to the surface deviated from the general cosine dependence on the ion incident angle. That is, the rate deviated to over-cosine values at low ion angles below 70°, due to the physical sputtering of the surface by energetic ions, and to under-cosine values at high angles, above 70°, due to the redeposition of particles emitted from the bottom. The roughness of the etched surface also varied with the ion incident angle as a result of the surface etching by energetic ions and the redeposition of particles emitted from the bottom. For example, when the bias voltage was –100V, the surface roughness was different according to three angle regions: i) ion bombardment dominant region below 70°, ii) intermediate region between 70° and 85o, and iii) redeposition dominant region above 85°. The surface composition and chemical structure after etching were also affected by the ion incident angle. The F/C atomic in the surface layer was much lower at ion angles higher than 70° than below 70° because cage-like Si-O bonds were more rapidly dissociated by F atoms from fluorocarbon polymer layer than network Si-O bonds at high angles. This information obtained in this study is useful for predicting the profile and surface characteristics of interconnection patterns in microelectronics fabrication.

Electrical and structural properties of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films on flexible polymer substrates were investigated. Room temperature sputtered ITO films on polymer substrates are initially amorphous but become partially crystalline as oxygen partial pressure decreases under 1.5%. The crystallinity shows more (400) and (222) preferentially oriented textures as decreasing of oxygen pressure resulting in lower resistivity. Moreover, an interesting growth property similar to 3D growth mechanism including larger grain size and columnar-like grain structure was also observed. It is considered that the columnar-like grain structure is probably attributed to the poor surface morphology of polymer substrates Based on the experiments, we obtained high performance ITO films on a polycarbonate substrate including 3.8 × 10 –4 Ω-cm in resistivity and transmittance above 80% in the visible ranges at 0.2% oxygen partial pressure.

The silicidation reactions and thermal stability of Co silicide formed from Co-Ta/Si systems have been investigated. In case of Co-Ta alloy process, the formation of low resistive CoSi2phase is delayed to about 660°C, as compared to conventional Co/Si system. Moreover, the presence of Ta in Co-Ta alloy films reduces the silicidation reaction rate, resulting in the strong preferential orientation in CoSi2 films. Upon high temperature post annealing in the furnace, the sheet resistance of Co-silicide formed from Co/Si systems increases significantly, while that of Co-Ta/Si systems maintains low. This is due to the formation of TaSi2 at the grain boundaries and surface of Co-silicide films, which prevents the grain boundary migration thereby slowing the agglomeration. Therefore, from our research, increased thermal stability of Co-silicide films was successfully obtained from Co-Ta alloy process.

The electrical and mechanical properties in indium-tin-oxide films deposited on polymer substrate were examined. The materials of substrates are polyethersulfone(PES), polycarbonate(PC), polyethylene terephthalate(PET) which have gas barrier layer and anti-glare coating for plastic-based devices. The experiments were performed by rf-magnetron sputtering using a special instrument and buffer layers. Therefore, we obtained a very flat polymer substrate deposited ITO film and investigated the effects of buffer layers, in addition to the instrument. Moreover, the influences of an oxygen partial pressure and post-deposition annealing in ITO films deposited on polymer substrates were clarified. X-ray diffraction observation, measurement of electrical property, and optical microscope observation were performed for the investigation of micro-structure and electro-mechanical properties. They indicated that as-deposited ITO thin films are amorphous and become quasi-crystalline after adjustment of oxygen partial pressure and thermal annealing above 180 °C. As the results, we obtained 20-25 Ω/ of ITO films with a good transmittance (above 80%) under 0.2 % oxygen contents and vacuum annealing. Furthermore, using organic buffer layer, we obtained ITO films which have rather high electrical resistance (40-45 Ω/ ) but have improved optical (more than 85%) and mechanical characteristics compared to the counterparts.

In this study, the quality of thin film diode (TFD) as a switching device for active-matrix liquid-crystal-displays (AM-LCDs) was enhanced by low temperature annealing conditions with high reliability and good electrical properties. Device was composed with Ta as bottom electrode, anodic Ta2O5 as insulator layer and top electrode. Two types of material such as Ti and Cr were evaluated as a top electrode of the TFD device to optimize the symmetry of current-voltage characteristic curve, respectively. The annealing was done at low temperature conditions below 350°C. The low temperature annealing improved the TFD device with nearly perfect symmetry under high electric field.

We investigated the structural evolution of the Ni/Au contact on GaN(000l) during annealing in N2, using in-situ x-ray diffraction, anomalous x-ray scattering, and high resolution electron microscopy. GaN decomposition occurred mostly along GaN dislocations at temperature higher than 500°C. The decomposed Ga diffused into Au and Ni substitutional positions, and the decomposed nitrogen reacted with Ni, forming Ni4N. Interestingly, Ni4N was grown epitaxially. The epitaxial relationship of the Ni4N, Au, and Ni was identified as M(111)//GaN(0002) and M[1 −1 0]//GaN[1 1 −2 0] (M= Ni4N, Au, and Ni). At dislocation free regions, however, the atomically smooth interface remained intact up to 700 °C. Remarkable improvement of device reliability is expected in the contact on dislocation free regions compared with the contact on dislocations.

Surface pretreatment using Cl2 plasma was applied to n-type GaN and Ti/Al ohmic contacts with resistivity of ~ 10−6 Ω cm2, realized without annealing. Using synchrotron radiation photoemission spectroscopy, it was observed that the Fermi level moved by 0.5 eV toward the conduction band edge and the atomic ratio of Ga/N was increased by the treatment. This suggests that a number of N vacancies were produced at the treated surface and the Fermi level was pinned at the energy level of N vacancies near the conduction band. The N vacancies acting as donors for electrons produced a number of electrons, resulting in the near surface region to be in the degenerate state. Both the shift of Fermi level and the production of electrons at the treated surface lead to the reduction in contact resistivity through the decrease of the effective Schottky barrier for conduction of electrons.

A reliable interconnection of electrodes to the flexible polymer substrate with anisotropic conductive film (ACF) of which the conductive particles were similar in elasticity to the substrates was accomplished. The contact resistance value was maintained even while the junction was stressed under sudden changes in temperature and pressure. We found that the conduction failure is caused by the action of a complex mechanism on the changes of a joint structure. The major driving factor seems likely to be defects in the transparent electrodes due to the thermal strain of the substrate and penetration of conductive particles into the substrate. The materials of substrate and conductive particle are polycarbonate (PC) with a gas barrier layer and poly-divinylbenzene (DVB) whose hardness is similar to that of the polymer substrate, respectively. In this paper, several experiments were performed with an emphasis on the properties of polymer substrates. Furthermore, the electrical and mechanical performance of the joint structure was studied by evaluating contact resistance and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations. Moreover, for the experiments, we fabricated test IC with Au bumps through photolithography and electro-plating process. Conductive particle with elasticity similar to that of the polymer substrates did little damage to the transparent electrodes on the substrates, and low temperature and pressure under a stepped process did not bring about their deformation either. Consequently, we adopted the results on the fabrication of plastic based flat panel display module and thus could obtain a highly reliable interconnect with a low contact resistance ( 20-25ω ).

Both the wafer fusion and the heteroepitaxy technology were used successfully to obtain high quality GaAs layer on the InP substrate where the lattice mismatch was 3.7 %. The enhancement of the lateral growth rate was a crucial factor for the formation of high quality QWR in the patterned fusion layer. This technique can provide a way of overcoming the limitation of heteroepitaxy caused by misfit problems and its subsequent quality degradation. It is expected that the overgrowth technique on the patterned fusion layer can be applicable to the photonic device fabrication on the other substrate such as Si.

We investigated the structural behavior of the Ni/Au contact on GaN(000l) during annealing in N2, using in-situ x-ray diffraction, anomalous x-ray scattering, and high resolution electron microscopy. Thermally activated atomic mobility caused the two metal atoms, Au and Ni, to interdiffuse during annealing and form solid solutions. At temperature higher than 500°C, GaN decomposition and reactions occurred mostly along GaN dislocations. By decomposed nitrogen reacted with Ni, interestingly, epitaxial Ni4N phase was formed. The epitaxial relationship of the Ni4N, Au, and Ni was identified as M(111)//GaN(0002) and M[0 1 1]//GaN[0211] (M= Ni4N, Au, and Ni).