Although the cardiovascular benefits of an increased urinary potassium excretion have been suggested, little is known about the potential cardiac association of urinary potassium excretion in patients with chronic kidney disease. In addition, whether the cardiac association of urinary potassium excretion was mediated by serum potassium levels has not been studied yet. We reviewed the data of 1633 patients from a large-scale multicentre prospective Korean study (2011–2016). Spot urinary potassium to creatinine ratio was used as a surrogate for urinary potassium excretion. Cardiac injury was defined as a high-sensitivity troponin T ≥ 14 ng/l. OR and 95 % (CI for cardiac injury were calculated using logistic regression analyses. Of 1633 patients, the mean spot urinary potassium to creatinine ratio was 49·5 (sd 22·6) mmol/g Cr and the overall prevalence of cardiac injury was 33·9 %. Although serum potassium levels were not associated with cardiac injury, per 10 mmol/g Cr increase in the spot urinary potassium to creatinine ratio was associated with decreased odds of cardiac injury: OR 0·917 (95 % CI 0·841, 0·998), P = 0·047) in multivariate logistic regression analysis. In mediation analysis, approximately 6·4 % of the relationship between spot urinary potassium to creatinine ratio and cardiac injury was mediated by serum potassium levels, which was not statistically significant (P = 0·368). Higher urinary potassium excretion was associated with lower odds of cardiac injury, which was not mediated by serum potassium levels.

In this paper, the electrical properties of bottom-gate (BG) polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-film transistors (TFTs) by NiSi2 seed-induced lateral crystallization (SILC) and its applications are presented. Sequential lateral solidification (SLS), which is one of crystallization methods, is known to have poor electrical properties of TFTs with BG structures due to problems induced by laser. Therefore, the laser method cannot be used to well-developed production line of amorphous-Si (a-Si) TFT, resulting in large initial investment cost to change fabrication procedures. On the other hand, the BG poly-Si TFT by SILC (SILC-BGPS TFT) has basically compatible process flows with that of the a-Si TFT. The SILC-BGPS TFT exhibited threshold voltage of -3.9 V, steep subthreshold slope of 130 mV/dec, a high field-effect mobility of 129 cm2/Vs , and I on /I off ratio of ∼106.

Self-separated Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) films were processed by a hydrothermal deposition and a rapid thermal separation method, followed by a sol–gel filling and sintering process. The films possess excellent piezoelectric and electromechanical properties close to those of bulk material. The maximum remnant polarization is over 30 μC/cm2 and the electromechanical coupling factor (kt) reaches as high as 0.52. The unique microstructure characteristics of the PZT films, such as their highly dense structure, columnar grains, well-connected grain boundaries, and well-dispersed nanopores, could all contribute to the enhanced piezoelectric and electromechanical properties.

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is reported as the main factor responsible for the beneficial effects of glutamine (GLN) and as a negative regulator of high mobility group box protein-1 (HMGB-1) expression. Our aim was to determine whether GLN attenuates acute lung injury (ALI) by the inhibition of HMGB-1 expression during sepsis. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to caecal ligation and puncture (CLP) to induce sepsis. GLN or saline was administered through tail vein 1 h after CLP. Then, quercetin (Q), an inhibitor of HSP70, was utilised to assess the role of the enhanced HSP70. We observed the survival of the subjects. At 24 h post-CLP, we measured lung HSP70, phosphorylated heat shock factor-1 (HSF-1-p) and HMGB-1 expressions, NF-κB DNA-binding activity and ALI occurrence. We also measured serum HSP70, IL-6 and HMGB-1 concentrations. GLN improved survival during sepsis. In GLN-treated rats, lung HSP70 and HSF-1-p expressions were enhanced, lung HMGB-1 expression and NF-κB DNA-binding activity were suppressed, and ALI was attenuated. Furthermore, in GLN-administered rats, serum HSP70 concentration was higher, and serum IL-6 and HMGB-1 concentrations were lower than those in non-treated rats. Q inhibited the enhancement of HSP70 and HSF-1-p expressions and abrogated the GLN-mediated benefits. In conclusion, GLN attenuated ALI and improved survival by the inhibition of HMGB-1 expression during sepsis in rats. These benefits were associated with the enhancement of HSP70 expression by GLN.

A gold and aluminum layer was investigated as an anode for organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). By pretreating the ultrathin aluminum layer in an oxygen (O2) plasma, the hole injection from the metal anode to the organic layer was greatly enhanced. The fabricated OLEDs demonstrated improved current density and luminance characteristics as compared with other devices using a gold anode and an aluminum layer not treated with an oxygen plasma.

(001) oriented (Ba, Sr)TiO3 (BST) thin films were deposited on MgO (001) single crystal substrates by the pulsed laser deposition method. Structural properties of BST films were investigated using X-ray diffractometer. Coplanar waveguide (CPW) device based on BST/MgO layer structure was fabricated by dc sputtering deposition, photolithography and etching process. To study the geometrical factor dependent microwave performance of the CPW phase shifter based on (001) oriented BST film, the CPW devices having various gap and width were fabricated. The microwave dielectric properties of BST CPW phase shifter devices were examined by calculating the scattering parameter obtained using a HP 8510C vector network analyzer with the frequency range 0.5 ∼ 20 GHz at room temperature under the dc bias field of 0 ∼ 40V. The measured return loss and insertion loss at 10 GHz with no dc bias were about -12 ∼ -4 dB and -14 ∼ -3 dB, respectively, which mainly depended on the impedances of the CPW transmission lines. The measured differential phase shift values were about 20 ° ∼ 140 ° at 10 GHz with 40 V dc bias variations, which depended on the gap size.

Microwave properties of coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission lines fabricated on high dielectric materials, such as ferroelectric Ba1−xSrxTiO3 films, are highly sensitive on the dimension and shape of electrodes. A small change in device dimension affects the total electrical length of the CPW, which may mislead the effective dielectric constant of the dielectric layer. Furthermore, extracting dielectric constant of high-k thin films from the measured microwave properties, such as S-parameters, is very difficult. The well known a modified conformal mapping method frequently exhibits an inconsistent dielectric constant for CPW on high-k materials. CPW transmission lines were fabricated on high-k thin films, ferroelectric Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3, which were deposited by the pulsed laser deposition with partial oxygen backgrounds. A large phase shift angle of 100° at 10 GHz was observed from the CPW (gap = 4 μm, length = 3 mm) with a 40 V of dc bias, which supports that the idea of the tunable microwave device application using ferroelectrics films. The dielectric constant of the thin ferroelectric film was extracted from the dimension of the CPW (gap, width, length) and the measured S-parameters by a modified conformal mapping. However, the dielectric constant of the ferroelectric thin film calculated by a modified conformal mapping exhibits a gap dependency; dielectric constant (990 ∼ 830) decreases with increasing gap size (4 ∼ 19 μm, respectively). For comparison, dielectric properties have been extracted by extensive EM-simulation using a HFSS™ (Ansoft) with observed dimensions of CPW devices. Total phase, which is closely related with the dielectric constant of the film, is strongly affected by gap size, film thickness, and slanted angle of CPW.

As a basis for inferring phylogenetic relationships between Pelvetia and Pelvetiopsis in the family Fucaceae, the complete sequences of the plastid-encoded RuBisCo spacer region were determined for all four species of Pelvetia, for the type species of Pelvetiopsis, P. limitata, and for three other fucacean species (Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus gardneri and F. vesiculosus). All trees based on the sequences of the RuBisCo spacer region showed that Pelvetia is not monophyletic and consists of two clades, one including P. babingtonii, P. compressa, and P. siliquosa, the other comprising only the type species, P. canaliculata. P. canaliculata is not closely related to any of the other Fucaceae studied, and it may represent a monotypic genus. RuBisCo spacer sequences support the establishment of a new genus for the three Pacific Pelvetia species: P. babingtonii, P. compressa and P. siliquosa. The congruence of the RuBisCo spacer data with reported nuclear rDNA 18S and ITS sequences, and with biogeographical and morphological data, indicates that the RuBisCo spacer region, including its flanking areas, is useful for inferring phylogenetic relationships within the Fucaceae.