Following ovulation, oocytes undergo a time-dependent deterioration in quality referred to as post-ovulatory ageing. Although various factors influence the post-ovulatory ageing of oocytes, oxidative stress is a key factor involved in deterioration of oocyte quality. Artemisia asiatica Nakai ex Pamp. has been widely used in East Asia as a food ingredient and traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammation, cancer, and microbial infections. Recent studies have shown that A. asiatica exhibits antioxidative effects. In this study, we investigated whether A. asiatica has the potential to attenuate deterioration in oocyte quality during post-ovulatory ageing. Freshly ovulated mouse oocytes were cultured with 0, 50, 100 or 200 μg/ml ethanol extracts of A. asiatica Nakai ex Pamp. After culture for up to 24 h, various ageing-induced oocyte abnormalities, including morphological changes, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, apoptosis, chromosome and spindle defects, and mitochondrial aggregation were determined. Treatment of oocytes with A. asiatica extracts reduced ageing-induced morphological changes. Moreover, A. asiatica extracts decreased ROS generation and the onset of apoptosis by preventing elevation of the Bax/Bcl-2 expression ratio during post-ovulatory ageing. Furthermore, A. asiatica extracts attenuated the ageing-induced abnormalities including spindle defects, chromosome misalignment and mitochondrial aggregation. Our results demonstrate that A. asiatica can relieve deterioration in oocyte quality and delay the onset of apoptosis during post-ovulatory ageing.

This study examined the effects of a variety of metallurgical factors on the electrochemical corrosion behavior of superaustenitic stainless steel welds. First, the effects of the sigma (σ)-phase on the corrosion behavior were studied by means of a three-dimensional-atom probe. Cr and Mo depletion areas formed around the σ-phases which are precipitated in the interdendritic area were clearly observed. Second, the effects of oxide inclusion on the pitting corrosion of the steel welds were analyzed. The utilization of high resolution transmission electron microscope clearly demonstrated that the thickness and Cr content of the passive film formed on the steel surface decreased significantly with decreasing distance to the oxide inclusion, resulting in a deterioration of the corrosion resistance. Third, the effects of alloying elements, Cu and Al, were evaluated using an electrochemical polarization technique. This confirmed that Cu has a detrimental effect on the resistance to localized corrosion of the steel. The addition of Al up to 0.25 wt% had no significant effects on corrosion resistance in a chloride environment despite the presence of an Al-based oxide layer (Al2O3) on the outermost surface.

There has been controversy over the localized corrosion mechanism of super-austenitic stainless steel weld due mainly to the lack of effective evaluation technique for identification of corrosion nucleation site in weld. For this reason, an electrochemical polarization method followed by an observation of microstructure using the back-scattered electron mode in field emission-scanning electron microscopy is used. To clarify the localized corrosion mechanism, energy dispersive spectroscopy line profile analyzed by transmission electron microscopy is additionally utilized. It clearly reveals that the selective corrosion is preferentially initiated around the σ-phase precipitated in the interdendritic region in weld. The local depletion of Cr and Mo around the σ-phase can be partly replenished by the diffusion of the elements into the depleted area during the subsequent heat treatment at 1180 °C.

In 2000, Korea Astronomy Observatory launched the Near-Earth Object Patrol (NEOPAT) program. NEOPAT has conducted follow-up observations of NEOCP (NEO Confirmation Page) objects and discovered 52 new main-belt asteroids during the observation runs. We initiated collaboration with the Yonsei Survey Telescopes for Astronomical Research (YSTAR) team for NEO search. Wide-field of view, fast read-out time, and fully autonomous data pipeline will enable us to detect and track NEOs with a high efficiency. Scheduled to begin active operations in mid-2001, our survey system is going to be the first network of robotic telescopes for NEO search with automatic access to both hemispheres.

The chemical composition of interstellar grains is derived here on the basis of (1) the cosmic abundance of the elements; (2) the wavelength dependence of extinction and polarization; (3) the average total extinction; (4) the ratio of polarization to extinction; (5) the predominantly dielectric character of grains in the visible spectral region; and (6) infrared spectral characteristics of grains. It is indicated that the major portion of the grains, by mass, consist of core-mantle particles in the 0.1-µm size range, whose cores consist largely of silicates and whose mantles are a solid mixture of O, C, and N with H in a heterogeneous combination of simple and complex molecules with frozen free radicals. A minor constituent of the solid particles exist in the form of very small uncoated particles generally less than 10-6 cm in size whose precise composition is not certain. Inferences of the core-mantle model with respect to spatial distribution are consistent with the proposition that growth of the mantles occurs in the galactic shock region predicted by the density-wave theory. Estimates of the total visual extinction toward the galactic center and the consequent estimates of the total amount of far infrared radiation are shown to depend critically on the grain model. Variations of the ratio of far ultraviolet to visual extinction are correlated with the conditions for growth of mantles on the bare small particles which are generally prevented from accreting mantles primarily because of their extreme temperature fluctuations produced by the ultraviolet photons in the radiation field.

This paper develops a fully modified OLS (FM-OLS) estimator for cointegrating polynomial regressions, i.e., regressions that include as explanatory variables deterministic variables, integrated processes, and integer powers of integrated processes. The stationary errors are allowed to be serially correlated and the regressors are allowed to be endogenous. The paper extends the fully modified estimator of Phillips and Hansen (1990) from cointegrating regressions to cointegrating polynomial regressions. The FM-OLS estimator has a zero-mean Gaussian mixture limiting distribution that allows for standard asymptotic inference. Wald and LM specification tests as well as a KPSS-type test for cointegration are derived. The theoretical analysis is complemented by a simulation study which shows that this FM-OLS estimator, as well as tests based upon it, perform well in the sense that the performance advantages over OLS are largely similar to the performance advantages of FM-OLS over OLS in standard cointegrating regressions.

A novel nano-scale manipulator capable of handling low-dimensional materials with three-dimensional linear motion, gripping action, and push–pull action of the gripper was developed for an in situ experiment in transmission electron microscopy. X-Y-Z positioning and push–pull action were accomplished by a piezotubing system, combined with a specially designed assembly stage that consisted of a lever-action gripping tip backed by a push–pull piezostack. The gripper tip consisted of tungsten wire fabricated by electrochemical etching followed by a focused ion beam process. Performance of the nano-scale manipulator was demonstrated in a grab-and-pick test of a single silver nanowire and in an in situ tensile test of a pearlitic steel sample with a specific orientation.

We classify integral modular categories of dimension $p{{q}^{4}}$ and ${{p}^{2}}{{q}^{2}}$ , where $p$ and $q$ are distinct primes. We show that such categories are always group-theoretical, except for categories of dimension $4{{q}^{2}}$ . In these cases there are well-known examples of non-group-theoretical categories, coming from centers of Tambara–Yamagami categories and quantum groups. We show that a non-grouptheoretical integral modular category of dimension $4{{q}^{2}}$ is either equivalent to one of these well-known examples or is of dimension 36 and is twist-equivalent to fusion categories arising froma certain quantum group.

Electrons in topological insulators possess unique electronic band structures and spin properties, promising a novel route to engineer material properties for electronics and energy science. Enhancing the surface state signal in electron transport is critical for both fundamental study of the surface states and future applications. Nanostructures of topological insulators naturally have large surface-to-volume ratios, effectively increasing the surface transport compared to the bulk contribution. Moreover, the unique morphology of topological insulator nanostructures results in various quantum effects of electronic states, which can tailor the surface band via quantum confinement. Here we review recent progress in topological insulator nanostructures. Material design and electron transport of topological insulator nanostructures are introduced, with an emphasis on the unique properties of nanostructures. A few examples of applications and future perspective in using these nanostructures are also discussed.

The catalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) significantly influences the electrochemical performance of direct methanol fuel cells. Information about the factors that influence the electrochemical activity of the catalyst themselves is scarce; hence, guidelines for the preparation of Pt NPs that yields the best performances are lacking. With consideration for this situation, we systematically investigated the relationship(s) between the characteristics of Pt NPs and their electrochemical performance. The general characteristics of Pt NPs, such as the average size, loading density, and dispersion status on the support, were varied in the presence of poly(acrylic acid)-wrapped multiwalled carbon nanotubes by controlling the preparation conditions, including the pH of the aqueous solution, the reaction temperature, and the reaction time. The enhanced catalytic activity is attributable to higher degree of dispersion, specific surface area, and electrochemically active surface area of Pt NPs. The optimized catalyst exhibits a ∼165% higher catalytic activity toward methanol oxidation than the commercial E-TEK.