In this article, we explore whether hierarchy and linearity conspire to affect agreement. The data come from an experimental study of honorific agreement between verbal si and coordinate subjects in Korean. We focus on computing the mismatch driven by honorifically mixed conjuncts. Unlike South Slavic gender agreement, Korean has neither Resolved Agreement nor First Conjunct Agreement. Only Last Conjunct Agreement is attested in Korean honorification. We show that honorific agreement within coordinate subjects is triggered only when the honorific verbal si appears, which is substantially different from the case with the honorific nominal nim. We also show that acceptability significantly decreases when the last conjunct of coordinate subjects is incongruous with an honorific verb. We thus argue that verbal honorific agreement with Korean coordinate subjects is sensitive to linear order, mimicking South Slavic gender agreement.

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.

ZK60 (Mg–Zn–Zr) alloys exhibited a variation in precipitates with aging, and their mechanical properties also changed. Microindentation tests were carried out on two types of ZK60 alloys of solid solution (T4) and peak aging (T6). Microstructure and texture evolution during indentation was investigated using electron backscatter diffraction. Twinning occurred near the indentation marks in most grains. It was found that tensile twinning was dominant, and two twin variants were usually observed. Texture and microstructure evolution by twinning and slip activation was further examined by uniaxial compression test with strain. The initial random orientation gradually changed into basal fibers with strain. Some grains with nonbasal orientations aligned with the loading direction easily underwent twinning followed by slip deformation. Other grains near basal orientations revealed only slip deformation.

The effects of polymer substrates on the interfacial structure and the thermal stability of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films were investigated. The GZO thin films were deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrates by rf-magnetron sputtering at room temperature, and thermal stability tests of the GZO thin films on the polymer substrates were performed at 150°C up to 8 h in air. Electrical and structural characterizations of the GZO thin films on the PET and the PEN substrates were carried out, and the origins of the stable interfacial structure and the improved thermal stability of the GZO thin film on the PEN substrate were discussed.

Thin-film transistors (TFTs) utilizing a TiZnSnO (TZTO) channel layer were fabricated by using a solution process. The effect of annealing temperature on the device performance of the TZTO TFTs was investigated. TFTs with nanocrystalline TZTO films exhibited a better device performance than those with amorphous TZTO films. The on/off current ratio of the TZTO TFTs annealed at 600 °C was as large as 4.2 × 106. The field-effect mobility (μFE) of 4.1 cm2/Vs and subthreshold swing of 1.2 V/decade were achieved.

We evaluated the optical and electrical characteristics of SnO2 hybrid films with various contents (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 at.%) of Pt nanoparticles. The Pt nanoparticles were synthesized by a methanol reduction method, and their size was restricted to an average of 3 nm using poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) as a protecting agent. An enhancement in electrical properties was observed due to the addition of Pt nanoparticles; the lowest resistivity (1.36 × 10−2 Ω·cm) and the highest figure of merit (1.18 × 10−4 Ω−1) were obtained with SnO2 film containing 0.15 at.% Pt nanoparticles after annealing at 600 °C, and the average transmittance in the visible region was 86.61%. Well-defined 30-μm-wide direct-patterned SnO2 films containing Pt nanoparticles were formed by photochemical metal-organic deposition through a simple process including a photosensitive starting precursor, ultraviolet exposure, and removal of the unexposed area with solvent rinsing.

Stream development can generate environmental changes that impact fish communities. In temperate streams, the distribution of fish species is associated with environmental gradients. To analyze the relevant factors, large-scale exploration is required. Thus, to evaluate the distribution patterns of fish in Korea, sampling was conducted on a national scale at 720 sites over a 6-week period in 2009. A total of 124 fish species in 27 families were identified; Zacco platypus and Zacco koreanus of the Cyprinidae were the dominant and subdominant species, respectively. Of the species found, 46 (37.1%) were endemic and 4 (3.2%) exotic; of the latter, Micropterus salmoides and Lepomis macrochirus were widely distributed. Upon canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), both altitude and biological oxygen demand (BOD) were highly correlated with CCA axes 1 and 2, respectively. This explained 62.5% of the species–environment relationship. Altitude and stream order were longitudinally related to species distribution. The numbers of both total and endemic species gradually increased as streams grew in size to the fourth–fifth-order, and decreased in sixth-order, streams. Overall, fish communities were stable throughout the entire watershed, whereas some species showed site-specific occurrence patterns due to the paleogeomorphological characteristics of Korean peninsula. However, various anthropogenic activities may negatively affect fish communities. Therefore, both short- and long-term sustainable management strategies are required to conserve native fish fauna.

Semiconductors or metal nanoparticles (NPs) using their monolayer bindings with self-assembly chemicals are an attractive topic for device researchers. Electrical performance of such structures can be investigated for a particular application, such as memory device. Currently, Au NPs has been reported to show a substantial potential in the memory applications. In this study, Au NP and gluing layer were fabricated through a new method of monolayer formation of a chemical bonding or gluing. In this study, a new NPs memory system was fabricated by using organic semiconductor, i.e., pentacene as the active layer, evaporated Au as electrode, SiO2 as the gate insulator layer on silicon wafer. In addition, Au NPs coated with binding chemicals were used as charge storage elements on an APTES (3-amino-propyltriethoxysilane) as a gluing layer. In order to investigate chemical binding of Au NP to the gate insulator layer, GPTMS (3-glycidoxy-propyltrimethoxysilane) were coated on the Au NPs. As a result of that, a layer of gold nanoparticles has been incorporated into a metal-pentacene-insulator-semiconductor (MPIS) structure. The MPIS device with the Au NP exhibited a hysteresis in its capacitance versus voltage analysis. Charge storage in the layer of nanoparticles is thought to be responsible for this effect.

A novel route to organic-inorganic composites was described based on biomineralization of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based hydrogels. The 3-dimensional hydrogels were synthesized by radical crosslinking polymerization of poly(ethylene glycol fumarate) (PEGF) in the presence of ethylene glycol methacrylate phosphate (EGMP) as an apatite-nuclating monomer, acrylamide (AAm) as a composition-modulating comonomer, and potassium persulfate (PPS) as a radical initiator. We used the urea-mediated solution precipitation technique for biomineralization of hydrogels. The apatite grown on the surface and interior of the hydrogel was similar to biological apatites in the composition and crystalline structure. Powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the calcium phosphate crystalline platelets on hydrogels are preferentially aligned along the crystallographic c-axis direction. Inductively-coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) analysis showed that the Ca/P molar ratio of apatites grown on the hydrogel template was found to be 1.60, which is identical to that of natural bones. In vitro cell experiments showed that the cell adhesion/proliferation on the mineralized hydrogel was more pronounced than on the pure polymer hydrogel.

Evaluation of apoptosis and expression level of apoptosis-related genes is useful for examining the variation in embryo quality according to environmental change. The objective of this study was to investigate DNA fragmentation and apoptosis-related gene expression patterns in frozen-thawed bovine blastocysts. In vitro produced day 7 blastocysts were frozen by two different vitrification methods (conventional 0.25 ml straw or MVC straw). After thawing, DNA fragmentation of surviving embryos was examined by TUNEL assay, and the expression patterns of their apoptotic genes (survivin, Fas, Hsp 70 and caspase-3) were evaluated using real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. In vitro survival rates of frozen-thawed embryos were higher following the MVC vitrification method (88.2% re-expanded at 24 h, 77.1% hatching at 48 h) than the conventional (C) vitrification method (77.0% re-expanded at 24 h, 66.7% hatching at 48 h). However, both vitrified methods resulted in a significantly higher apoptotic index (C vitrification method 11.9%, MVC vitrification method 11.0%) than in non-frozen embryos (3.0%). Expression levels of survivin, Fas, caspase-3, and Hsp 70 were also increased in the frozen-thawed embryos compared with non-frozen embryos. These results indicate that the cryopreservation procedure might cause damage that results in an increase in DNA fragmentation and apoptosis-related gene transcription, reducing developmental capacity of frozen-thawed embryos.

We report the discovery of three new star clusters in the halo of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822. These clusters were found in the deep images taken with the MegaPrime at the CFHT covering a total field of 2 deg $\times$ 2 deg. The most remote cluster is found to be located as far as 79 arcmin away from the center of NGC 6822. This distance is several times larger than the size of the region in NGC 6822 where star clusters were previously found. Morphological structures of the clusters and color-magnitude diagrams of the resolved stars in the clusters show that at least two of these clusters are proabably old globular clusters.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted remarkable attention as reinforcement for composites owing to their outstanding properties1-3. CNT/Cu nanocomposites were fabricated by mixing the nano-sized Cu powders with multi-wall carbon nanotubes and followed by the spark plasma sintering process. The CNT/Cu nanocomposite fabricated from nano-sized Cu powders shows more homogeneous distribution of CNTs in matrix compared to that fabricated from macro-sized Cu powders. The hardness of CNT/Cu nanocomposite fabricated from nano-sized Cu powders increases with increasing the volume fraction of CNTs, while the hardness of that fabricated from macro-sized Cu powders decreases with the addition of CNTs.

The onset of pronucleus formation and DNA synthesis in porcine oocytes following the injection of porcine or murine sperm was determined in order to obtain insights into species-specific paternal factors that contribute to fertilisation. Similar frequencies of oocytes with female pronuclei were observed after injection with porcine sperm or with murine sperm. In contrast, male pronuclei formed 8-9 h following the injection of porcine sperm, and 6-8 h following the injection of murine sperm. After pronucleus formation maternally derived microtubules were assembled and appeared to move both male and female pronuclei to the oocyte centre. A few porcine oocytes entered metaphase 22 h after the injection of murine sperm, but normal cell division was not observed. The mean time of onset of S-phase in male pronuclei was 9.7 h following porcine sperm injection and 7.4 h following mouse sperm injection. Ultrastructural observation revealed that male pronuclei derived from murine sperm in porcine oocytes are morphologically similar to normal male pronuclei in porcine zygotes. These results suggest that species-specific paternal factors influence the onset of pronucleus formation and DNA synthesis. However, normal nuclear cytoplasmic interactions were observed in porcine S-phase oocytes following murine sperm injection.

Mechanisms of misfit strain relaxation in epitaxially grown Bi4-xLaxTi3O12 (BLT) thin films deposited on SrTiO3 (STO) and LaAlO3 (LAO) substrates have been investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The misfit strain of 20 nm thick BLT films grown on STO substrate was relaxed by forming misfit dislocations at the interface. However, cracks were observed in 100 nm thick BLT films grown on the same STO. It was confirmed that cracks were formed because of high misfit strain accumulated with increasing the thickness of BLT, that was not sufficiently relaxed by misfit dislocations. In the case of the BLT film grown on LAO substrate, the magnitude of lattice misfit between BLT and LAO was very small (~1/10) in comparison with the case of the BLT grown on STO. The relatively small misfit strain formed in layered structure of the BLT films on LAO, therefore, was easily relaxed by distorting the film, rather than forming misfit dislocations or cracks, resulting in misorientation regions in the BLT film.

In this study we examined the developmental potential of reconstructed embryos and the fate of donor mitochondria during preimplantation development after nuclear transfer in cattle. Isolated cumulus cells were used as donor cells in nuclear transfer. Cumulus cells labelled with MitoTracker Green FM fluorochrome were injected into enucleated bovine MII oocytes and cultured in vitro. MitoTracker labelling on donor cells did not have a detrimental effect on blastocyst formation following nuclear transfer. Cleavage rate was about 69% (56/81) and blastocyst formation rate was 6.2% (5/81) at 7 days after nuclear transfer. The labelled mitochondria dispersed to the cytoplasm and became distributed between blastomeres and could be identified up to the 8- to 15-cell stage. Small patches of mitochondria were detected in some 8- to 15-cell stage embryos (5/20). However, donor mitochondria were not detected in embryos at the 16-cell stage and subsequent developmental stages. In the control group, mitochondria could be identified in arrested 1-cell embryos up to 7 days after nuclear transfer. These results suggest that disappearance of the labelled donor mitochondria in nuclear transfer bovine embryos is not due to fading of the fluorochrome marker, but is rather an as yet undefined cytoplasmic event.

Microtubules and microfilaments are major cytoskeletal components and important modulators for chromosomal movement and cellular division in mammalian oocytes. In this study we observed microtubule and microfilament organisation in bovine oocytes by laser scanning confocal microscopy, and determined requirements of their assembly during in vitro maturation. After germinal vesicle breakdown, small microtubular asters were observed near the condensed chromatin. The asters appeared to elongate and encompass condensed chromatin particles. At the metaphase stage, microtubules were observed in the second meiotic spindle at the metaphase stage. The meiotic spindle was a symmetrical, barrel-shaped structure containing anastral broad poles, located peripherally and radially oriented. Treatment with nocodazole did not inhibit germinal vesicle breakdown. However, progression to metaphase failed to occur in oocytes treated with nocodazole. In contrast, microfilaments were observed as a relatively thick uniform area around the cell cortex and overlying chromatin following germinal vesicle breakdown. Treatment with cytochalasin B inhibited microfilament polymerisation but did not prevent either germinal vesicle breakdown or metaphase formation. However, movement of chromatin to the proper position was inhibited in oocytes treated with cytochalasin B. These results suggest that both microtubules and microfilaments are closely associated with reconstruction and proper positioning of chromatin during meiotic maturation in bovine oocytes.

Highly hydrophobic fluorocarbon films were prepared by the vapor phase (VP) deposition method in a vacuum chamber using both liquid (3M's FC40, FC722) and solid sources (perfluorodecanoic acid (CF3(CF2)8COOH), perfluorododecane (C12F26)) on Al, Si and oxide coated wafers. The highest static contact angles of water were measured on films deposited on aluminum substrate. But relatively lower contact angles were obtained on the films on Si and oxide wafers. The advancing and receding contact angle analysis using a captive drop method showed a large contact angle hysteresis (ΔH) on the VP deposited fluorocarbon films. AFM study showed poor film coverage on the surface with large hysteresis. FTIR-ATR analysis positively revealed the stretching band of CF2 groups on the VP deposited substrates. The thermal stability of films was measured at 150°C in air and nitrogen atmospheres as a function of time. The rapid decrease of contact angles was observed on VP deposited FC and PFDA films in air. However, no decrease of contact angle on them was observed in N2.