This study investigated the effect of the flavonoid-based compound isorhamnetin (ISO) on maturation and developmental competence in oxidative stress-exposed porcine oocytes in vitro. Treatment with 2 μM ISO (2 ISO) increases the developmental rate of oxidative stress-exposed porcine oocytes during in vitro maturation (IVM). The glutathione level and mRNA expression of antioxidant-related genes (NFE2L2 and SOD2) were increased in the 2 ISO-treated group, whereas the reactive oxygen species level was decreased. Treatment with 2 ISO increased mRNA expression of a cumulus cell expansion-related gene (SHAS2) and improved chromosomal alignment. mRNA expression of maternal genes (CCNB1, MOS, BMP15 and GDF9) and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity were increased in the 2 ISO-treated group. The total cell number per blastocyst and percentage of apoptotic cells were increased and decreased in the 2 ISO-treated group, respectively. Treatment with 2 ISO increased mRNA expression of development-related genes (SOX2, NANOG, and POU5F1) and anti-apoptotic genes (BCL2L1 and BIRC5) and decreased that of pro-apoptotic genes (CASP3 and FAS). These results demonstrate that 2 ISO improves the quality of porcine oocytes by protecting them against oxidative stress during IVM and enhances subsequent embryo development in vitro. Therefore, we propose that ISO is a useful supplement for IVM of porcine oocytes.

Our previous studies have already revealed that β-cryptoxanthin (BCX), hesperetin (HES), and icariin (ICA) antioxidants are effective for in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes. In this study, we investigated which of BCX, HES, or ICA was more effective for IVM of porcine oocytes. The antioxidant properties were assessed with aged porcine oocytes and embryos by comparing 2,2-diphenyl-1-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)hydrazyl (DPPH), reducing power, and H2O2 scavenging activity assays. The chemical assay results demonstrated that BCX had a greater DPPH scavenging activity and reducing power than HES and ICA, compared with controls. However, the H2O2 scavenging activity of the antioxidants was similar when tested at the optimal concentrations of 1 μM BCX (BCX-1), 100 μM HES (HES-100), and 5 μM ICA (ICA-5). The biological assay results showed that BCX-1 treatment was more effective in inducing a significant reduction in reactive oxygen species (ROS), improving glutathione levels, and increasing the expression of antioxidant genes. In addition, BCX-1 inhibited apoptosis by increasing the expression of anti-apoptotic genes and decreasing pro-apoptotic genes in porcine parthenogenetic blastocysts. BCX-1 also significantly increased the blastocyst formation rate compared with the ageing control group, HES-100 and ICA-5. This study demonstrates that damage from ROS produced during oocyte ageing can be prevented by supplementing antioxidants into the IVM medium, and BCX may be a potential candidate to improve assisted reproductive technologies.

Background: Extrapyramidal signs (EPSs), which are important characteristics of Parkinson's disease (PD), occur frequently in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although AD and PD share common clinical features such as EPSs, these diseases vary with respect to vascular risk factors. The presence of vascular risk factors increases the risk of AD; however, these factors have been known to be inversely associated with PD. We aimed to assess the effect of vascular risk factors and white matter lesions (WMLs) on EPSs in AD.

Methods: We recruited 1,187 AD patients and 333 controls with neither cognitive impairment nor EPSs. All participants underwent detailed clinical evaluations which included assessments of vascular risk factors, cognitive function, and EPSs, as well as WMLs on brain MRIs. EPS subtypes were classified into tremor-dominant, postural instability gait difficulty, or indeterminate; WMLs subtypes were classified into periventricular WML (pvWML) or deep WML (dWML).

Results: EPSs were present in 17.9% of subjects with AD and were significantly associated with vascular risk factors such as age, male gender, diabetes mellitus, and WMLs. Additionally, a multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that EPSs in AD were associated with pvWML (odds ratio (OR), 1.61–2.52), not with dWML. With respect to EPS subtypes, the majority (78.4%) of EPSs in AD were postural instability gait difficulty, which was also associated with WMLs (OR 1.84–2.41), pvWML (OR 2.09–3.14), and dWML (OR 1.83–3.42).

Conclusions: EPSs in AD are associated with selected vascular risk factors as well as WMLs.

Analytical electron microscopy (AEM) was used to examine the initial interfacial reaction layers between a eutectic Sn–3.5Ag solder and an electroless nickel-immersion gold-plated (ENIG) Cu substrate during reflow at 255 °C for 1 s. AEM confirmed that a thick upper (Au,Ni)Sn2 layer and a thin Ni3Sn4 layer had formed through the reaction between the solder and ENIG. The amorphous electroless Ni(P) plated layer transformed into two P-rich Ni layers. One is a crystallized P-rich Ni layer, and the other is an intermediate state P-rich Ni layer before the crystallization. The crystallized P-rich layer consisted of Ni2P and Ni12P5. A thin Ni2P layer had formed underneath the Ni3Sn4 layer and is believed to be a predecessor of the Ni2SnP ternary phase. A Ni12P5 phase was observed beneath the Ni2P thin layer. In addition, nanocrystalline Ni was found to coexist with the amorphous Ni(P) phase in the intermediate state P-rich Ni layer.

The effect of changes in poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) conformation on removal of Si3N4 film was investigated. PAA was used as a passivation agent by adsorption on an Si3N4 film in shallow-trench isolation chemical–mechanical planarization (STI CMP). Adsorption behavior of PAA on the Si3N4 film and the conformation transition were determined by adsorption isotherms and force measurements using atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a function of ionic strength. AFM results revealed that, as ionic strength increases, the repulsive force between the negatively charged carboxylate groups along the backbone of PAA is reduced due to counterion screening and to the changes of PAA conformation from a stretched to a coiled configuration. At high ionic strength, the coiled conformation of PAA formed a dense passivation layer on the Si3N4 film, which led to suppression of the removal rate of Si3N4 film from 72 to 61 Å/min in the STI CMP process.

Robot collision characteristics are analyzed by using the idea of the collision map. This analysis consists of the translations of the collision region on the collision map and they correspond to parallel movements of the original robot path. These translations are investigated in several cases and applied to general situations in which two robots are moving or working in a common workspace. Also, the collision characteristics are analyzed for a few special situations where the analysis of collision characteristics is crucial and the resultant solution for collision avoidance can be obtained.

We report the role of thin AlN interlayer in the fabrication of AlxGa1-xN/GaN heterostructures with high x from 0.35 to 0.50 on sapphire (0001) by MOVPE. After growing the AlN interlayer of 20 nm thick on GaN/sapphire (0001) epitaxy, the AlxGa1-xN epitaxial layers of 1.0 um thick were grown on it with increasing the flow rate of TMA. The measured Al mole fractions of AlxGa1-xN/GaN heteroepitaxy grown using the thin AlN interlayer from each TCD rocking curve are 0.35, 0.37, 0.45 and 0.50, respectively. As incorporation rate of Al in the AlxGa1-xN increases, the crystallinity is getting well and the RMS values scanned by AFM of their surfaces become lower. And also, the optoelectronic characteristics of those heteroepitaxy evaluated by cathodeluminescence(CL) are improved with the increase of x. To the contrary these trends, it is usually known that crystallinity, surface morphology and optical property of the AlxGa1-xN/GaN heteroepitaxy grown without AlN interlayer between them become worse with the increase of x above 0.2. Meanwhile, electrical resisitivities of Al0.35Ga0.65N, Al0.37Ga0.63N, Al0.45Ga0.55N and Al0.50Ga0.50N epitaxy, which were grown with the thin AlN interlayer, measured by four point probing method are 13.5, 18.1, 31.7 and 36.2 Mohm-cm, respectively. These resisitivities increase by degrees in spite of the advance of characteristics with the raising of x.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the formation of water residues on wafers during drying. To investigate this DI water droplets were intentionally placed on the surface of substrates with various wettabilities and then left to dry in both N2 and O2 atmospheres. It was found that both hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces created the water mark in N2 and O2. The size and dry time of residues were dependent on the wettability of surfaces. Auger analysis of residues showed that the oxidation of surface in water might be one of causes of water mark formation. Considering the pore size of final filters in DI water generation is 0.05 μn, a large number of particles less than 0.05 μm ay be in DI water. In order to investigate the effect of small particles less than 0.05 μm on water mark formation, PSL particles less than 0.05 μm were added to DI water. DI water containing particles was left to dry as a function of particle concentrations. The size of water marks was dependent on the concentration of particles in DI water after they reached a critical concentration.