We examined whether hypotension in very low birth weight infants aged⩽1 week was associated with hospital morbidities and overall mortality. Further, we studied whether hypotension was associated with poor neurodevelopmental outcomes in these patients at the corrected age of 18 months. A total of 166 very low birth weight infants were studied during this period. Hospital outcomes and neurodevelopmental outcomes at the corrected age of 18 months were evaluated. Among the 166 very low birth weight infants, 95 patients (57.2%) experienced hypotension at⩽1 week and were associated with an increased incidence of morbidities and mortality. At the corrected age of 18 months, hypotension of the⩽1 week group had significantly lower scores in all three – cognitive, language, and motor – composites of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III) screening tests. In addition, a multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that longer mechanical ventilation and periventricular leukomalacia were additionally associated with worse cognitive and language neurodevelopmental outcomes. Hypotension in very low birth weight infants within 1 week of life was associated with increased morbidities and overall mortality. It was also associated with an increased risk of cognitive and language outcomes.

The submarine channel-fill system of the Cambrian Spurs Formation exhibits unique metre-scale cycles of breccia and diamictite. The studied sections, Eureka Spurs, are located at the Mariner Glacier in the central-eastern part of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. A facies analysis of the channel-fill deposit has led to the recognition of four main lithofacies: breccia, diamictite, thin-bedded sandstone and mudstone. The channel-fill deposit consists of two architectural elements: hollow-fill (HF) and sheet-like (SL) elements. The SL has wide convex-up geometry and consists solely of a very thick bed of diamictite, and is interpreted as a submarine channel lobe. The HF has a concave-up erosional base and flat upper surface. The HF consists of nine cyclic alternations of underlying breccia (cohesionless debris flow) and overlying diamictite (cohesive debris flow). The deposition of breccia is interpreted to have been controlled by repeated allogenic processes such as earthquakes. In contrast, the abrupt vertical transition from breccia to diamictite in each cycle is interpreted to have resulted from an autogenic, slope instability-related process. The interaction of the allogenic and autogenic factors recorded in the metre-scale unique cyclic deposits provides new criteria to interpret cycles of submarine debris flow.

The preparation of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) samples from powders is quite difficult and challenging. For powders with particles in the 1–5 μm size range, it is especially difficult to select an adequate sample preparation technique. Epoxy is commonly used to bind powder, but drawbacks, such as differential milling originating from unequal milling rates between the epoxy and powder, remain. We propose a new, simple method for preparing TEM samples. This method is especially useful for powders with particles in the 1–5 μm size range that are vulnerable to oxidation. The method uses solder as an embedding agent together with focused ion beam (FIB) milling. The powder was embedded in low-temperature solder using a conventional hot-mounting instrument. Subsequently, FIB was used to fabricate thin TEM samples via the lift-out technique. The solder proved to be more effective than epoxy in producing thin TEM samples with large areas. The problem of differential milling was mitigated, and the solder binder was more stable than epoxy under an electron beam. This methodology can be applied for preparing TEM samples from various powders that are either vulnerable to oxidation or composed of high atomic number elements.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the unemployment experience and depressive symptoms among mid-aged (ages 45–59) and elderly (ages 60 or above) persons and to examine further the effects of unemployment insurance, industrial accident compensation insurance (IACI) and national pension on the stated relationship. Data were used from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) between 2006 and 2012. A total of 1,536 individuals employed at the 2006 baseline were followed. The association between employment status change during 2006 to 2008, 2008 to 2010 or 2010 to 2012 and depressive symptoms in years 2008, 2010 or 2012 were analysed using a generalised estimating equation model. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D 10) scale. The results showed that the ‘employed to unemployed’ group had statistically significant increases in depression scores in the mid-aged (β = 0.4884, p = 0.0038) and elderly (β = 0.8275, p ⩽ 0.0001) categories, compared to the ‘employed to employed’ group. Findings were maintained in groups without a social safety net. Contrastingly, the ‘employed to unemployed’ groups with unemployment insurance and IACI did not show statistically significant increases in depression scores. The ‘employed to unemployed’ category of individuals enrolled in the national pension system exhibited a lower increase of depression. Therefore, an enhanced focus on the mental health of unemployed individuals is required, in addition to the provision of a reliable social safety net.

In this study, the effect of simple shearing on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of 316L austenitic stainless steel were investigated. Two different shear strain routes were obtained by twisting cylindrical specimens in the forward and backward directions. The strain-induced martensite phase was effectively obtained by alteration of the routes. Formation of the martensite phase clearly resulted in significant hardening of the steel. Grain-size reduction and strain-induced martensitic transformation within the deformed structures of the strained specimens were characterized by scanning electron microscopy – electron back-scattered diffraction, X-ray diffraction, and the TEM-ASTAR (transmission electron microscopy – analytical scanning transmission atomic resolution, automatic crystal orientation/phase mapping for TEM) system. Significant numbers of twin networks were formed by alteration of the shear strain routes, and the martensite phases were nucleated at the twin interfaces.

The thickness dependence of the electrical stability under monotonic and cyclic tensile loading is investigated for Cu films on polymer substrates. As for monotonic tensile deformation, thicker films show better stability than thinner films due to their higher ductility and the larger capability of strain accommodation. For the fatigue resistance, however, a more complex behavior was observed depending on the amount of the applied strain. For low strain amplitude in the high cycle fatigue (HCF) regime, thinner films exhibit longer fatigue life because the larger strength of thinner films suppresses dislocation movement and damage nucleation. However, for high strain amplitudes in the low cycle fatigue (LCF) regime, the fatigue life for thinner films is drastically reduced compared to thicker films. It is shown that fatigue coefficients in the LCF regime can be obtained when applying the Coffin–Manson relationship.

The oxidation mechanism and thermal stability of nickel oxide (NiO)/carbon nanotube (CNT) composites were investigated by examining composites with different NiO contents by thermogravimetric analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). NiO acts as a catalyst in the oxidation of CNT in the composite. CNTs can be oxidized, even in a vacuum, by reducing NiO to nickel at temperatures lower than the normal oxidation temperature of CNTs. This phase transition was confirmed directly by in situ heating TEM observations. In air, reduction by CNT occurs simultaneously with reoxidation by gaseous O2 molecules, and NiO maintains its phase. The thermal stability decreased with increasing NiO content because of defects in the CNT generated by the NiO loading.

Pt/Sr0.85Bi2.4Ta2O9/TiO2/Si structures were prepared with variation of the Sr0.85Bi2.4Ta2O9 (SBT) film thickness for MFIS-FET applications. After depositing TiO2 film of 10 nm thickness by reactive sputtering on Si(100) substrate as a buffer layer, SBT thin film of 210-400 nm thickness was prepared onto it by metal organic decomposition process. Regardless of the SBT film thickness, the Pt/SBT/TiO2/Si structures exhibited clockwise directional hysteresis, indicating well-defined ferroelectric switching behavior of the SBT films. While the memory window of the Pt/SBT/TiO2/Si MFIS structures increased with increasing the SBT film thickness, the maximum capacitance of the Pt/SBT/TiO2/Si MFIS structures decreased with increasing the SBT film thickness. The Pt/SBT(400 nm)/TiO2(10 nm)/Si structure exhibited a memory window of 1.3 V at ±5 V.

Pt/Sr0.85Bi2.4Ta2O9/Al2O3/Si structures were prepared for MFIS-FET applications. After depositing Al2O3 film of 10-50 nm thickness by reactive sputtering on Si(100) substrate as a buffer layer, Sr0.85Bi2.4Ta2O9 (SBT) thin film of 400 nm thickness was prepared onto it by metalorganic decomposition process. With annealing at 800°C for 1 hour in oxygen ambient, the 400 nm-thick SBT film exhibited 2Pr of 10.2 μC/cm2 and Ec of 37.5 kV/cm at ±5V. C-V characteristics of the Pt/SBT/Al2O3/Si structures exhibited hysteresis loops due to the ferroelectric switching behavior of the SBT film. When the Al2O3 buffer layer was thicker than 10 nm, the memory window and maximum capacitance of the Pt/SBT/Al2O3/Si structure increased with decreasing the thickness of the Al2O3buffer layer, and the Pt/SBT(400 nm)/Al2O3(10 nm)/Si structure exhibited a memory window of 2.2 V at ±5 V.

Dielectric properties and leakage current characteristics of the Al2O3 thin films, deposited by reactive sputtering at room temperature, have been investigated with variations of the O2 content in the sputtering gas and the film thickness. The Al2O3 films of 10-300 nm thickness were amorphous without depending on the O2 contents of 25-75% in the sputtering gas. Maximum dielectric constant was obtained for the Al2O3 film deposited with the sputtering gas of 50% O2 content. With reduction of the film thickness from 300 nm to 10 nm, dielectric constant decreased from 9.04 to 3.71 and tangent loss increased from 0.0035 to 0.0594, respectively. When the O2 content in the sputtering gas was higher than 50%, the Al2O3 films exhibited no shift of the flatband voltage in C-V curves. The leakage current density increased with increasing the film thickness, and the Al2O3 films thinner than 100 nm exhibited the leakage current densities lower than 10−6 A/cm up to 650 kV/cm.

In order to investigate the reason for the higher capacity of the interpenetrating isoreticular metal-organic frameworks (IRMOFs) at lower temperatures, we performed grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations and molecular dynamics simulations at 77 K for a set of the interpenetrating IRMOF-11 and the non-interpenetrating counterpart IRMOF-12. From the GCMC simulations, we found universal force field (UFF) is better for describing the hydrogen adsorption behavior than DREIDING force field. The results from the molecular dynamics simulations showed the density of adsorbed hydrogen molecules was increased in the various pores created by the catenation of IRMOF comparing to that of the pores in IRMOF-12. Moreover, the adsorbed hydrogen molecules in IRMOF-11 have the smaller diffusion coefficients. It means that their dynamic behavior is more restricted because of the complexity of the interpenetrating network of IRMOF-11. These results of molecular simulations show the small pores created by the catenation are important for the increase of hydrogen adsorption on IRMOF-11 at lower temperatures.

System in package (SiP) is a superb candidate to enhance the area efficiency and performance of electronic packaging. Here, recent work on stacked chip type 3D SiP with vertically interconnected through hole vias are reported. The process includes; formation of 50um-diameter via holes, conformal deposition of SiO2 dielectric layer, deposition of Ta and Cu barrier layers, via filling by Cu electroplating, Cu/Sn bump formation for multi-chip stacking, and finally chip-to-PCB bonding using Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder and ENIG pad. A prototype 3D SiP stacked up to 10 layers was successfully fabricated.

A high frequency electrical model of the through hole via was proposed and the model parameters were extracted from measured S-parameters. The proposed model was verified by TDR/TDT (time domain reflectometry/time domain transmission) and eye-diagram measurement. Contact resistances of Cu via and bump joint were presented.

An amorphized tungsten nitride diffusion barrier is compared with that of polycrystalline tungsten nitride preventing the diffusion of copper into Si during post annealing processes at 600 – 800 °C for 30 min. Experimental evidence such as RBS, TEM, XRD measurements shows that the amorphized tungsten nitride layer perfectly blocks the expeditious diffusion of the Cu film due to the amorphous grain boundaries stuffed with N impurities.

The effect of the post plasma treatment on the dielectric properties and reliability of fluorine doped silicon oxide (SiOF) films was studied. Also, the thermal stability of a Cu/WN interconnect system with SiOF intermetal dielectrics was examined by RTA. The surface roughness of SiOF films increased with the increasing plasma treatment power due to ion bombardment effect during the plasma treatment. As the plasma treatment power increased, the dielectric constant increased from 3.16 to 3.43, while the change in the relative dielectric constant of the plasma treated films by the boiling treatment was decreased in magnitude. Furthermore, the chemical properties of the plasma treated SiOF films near the top layer tend to resemble those of thermal oxides by the plasma treatment of sufficient power because of the reduction in the Si-F bonding in the films. In the case of Cu/WN/SiOF/Si multilayer structure, surface oxidation and densification due to the plasma treatment seemed to play an important role in protecting the interdiffusion between SiOF and metal interconnects.

We have investigated the solid phase crystallization of a-(Si/Si0.7Ge0.3) and a-(Si0.7Ge0.3/Si) bilayer films deposited on SiO2 for an annealing temperature of 550 °C. It was found that, in case of a-(Si0.7Ge0 3/Si), nucleation of crystalline phases occurred at the free surface, while in a-(Si/Si0.7Ge0.3) crystalline phase nucleated at Si0.7Ge0.3/SiO2 interface. The crystallization rate of an a-(Si0.7Ge0.3/Si) is much slower than that of an a-(Si/Si0.7Ge0.3) films. After full crystallization, poly-(Si0.7Ge0.3/Si) has many equiaxed grains and the defect density of the upper Si0.7Ge0.3 was much lower than that of lower Si0.7 Ge0.3 in a poly-(Si/Si0.7Ge0.3) film whose grain morphology was elliptical. The average grain size of poly-(Si0.7Ge0.3/Si) was ˜7 μm and this film had strong (111) preferential orientation, while poly-(Si/Si0.7Ge0.3) had weak (311) or random oriented grains with the average size of˜0.3 μm.

Pt/SrBi2Ta2O9(SBT)/CeO2/Si (MFIS) structures were investigated for observing the change of electrical properties and morphology of interface of Pt/SBT after post-annealing of Pt top electrodes. The morphology of Pt/SBT interface became smooth and Bi oxide was formed at the bottom of Pt top electrode after post-annealing Pt top electrode. In order to describe the origin of these changes, Bi-oxide/Pt/SiO2/Si structure was investigated with annealing temperatures about the reaction between Bi oxide and Pt. We can describe that the smooth interface of Pt/SBT and the consumption of metallic Bi, which the reason why electrical properties were drastically improved, is induced by the melting of Pt-Bi alloys and formation of Bi-oxide after post-annealing Pt top electrode.