Large herbivores can disperse seeds over long distances through endozoochory. The Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus), an internationally vulnerable species but locally considered a vermin, is a potential endozoochorous seed dispersal vector. In this study, feeding experiments were conducted to test the efficiency of seed dispersal through gut ingestion by the Korean water deer, its temporal pattern and the effect of gut passage on seed recovery and germination rate. Eight plant species, including species that formerly germinated from its faeces, were used to feed three Korean water deer. Once the deer had consumed all the provided seeds, their faeces were collected after 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. The collected faeces were air-dried, and the number of seeds retrieved from the faeces was counted every 24 h (0–24, 24–48, 48–72 and 72–96 h). Among the eight plant species, six species were retrieved with intact seeds. Panicum bisulcatum had the highest recovery rate of 33.7%, followed by Amaranthus mangostanus (24.5%) and Chenopodium album (14.4%). Most of the seeds were recovered within the 24–48 h time interval. Germination tests were conducted on the ingested and uningested seeds for the four species which had a sufficient recovery rate. The effects of gut passage on seed germination differed according to plant species. The germination rate substantially decreased after gut passage. The results suggest that the Korean water deer can disperse seeds, potentially over long distances albeit at a high cost of low seed recovery and germination rate.

Hyperlipidaemia is a major cause of atherosclerosis and related CVD and can be prevented with natural substances. Previously, we reported that a novel Bacillus-fermented green tea (FGT) exerts anti-obesity and hypolipidaemic effects. This study further investigated the hypotriglyceridaemic and anti-obesogenic effects of FGT and its underlying mechanisms. FGT effectively inhibited pancreatic lipase activity in vitro (IC50, 0·48 mg/ml) and ameliorated postprandial lipaemia in rats (26 % reduction with 500 mg/kg FGT). In hypertriglyceridaemic hamsters, FGT administration significantly reduced plasma TAG levels. In mice, FGT administration (500 mg/kg) for 2 weeks augmented energy expenditure by 22 % through the induction of plasma serotonin, a neurotransmitter that modulates energy expenditure and mRNA expressions of lipid metabolism genes in peripheral tissues. Analysis of the gut microbiota showed that FGT reduced the proportion of the phylum Firmicutes in hamsters, which could further contribute to its anti-obesity effects. Collectively, these data demonstrate that FGT decreases plasma TAG levels via multiple mechanisms including inhibition of pancreatic lipase, augmentation of energy expenditure, induction of serotonin secretion and alteration of gut microbiota. These results suggest that FGT may be a useful natural agent for preventing hypertriglyceridaemia and obesity.

Feasibility of multiwavelength Raman spectroscopy was studied as a potentialin-line monitoring technique for grain size distribution in channel poly-Si usedin three dimensional stacked NAND (3D NAND) Flash memory devices. Variouschannel poly-Si materials in 3D-NAND Flash memory devices, converted fromchemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown a-Si, were characterized usingnon-contact, multiwavelength Raman spectroscopy and high resolutioncross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (HRXTEM). The Ramancharacterization results were compared with HRXTEM images. The correlationbetween the grain size distribution characterized by multiwavelength Ramanspectroscopy and “on current” (ION) of 3D NANDFlash memory devices was investigated. Good correlation between these techniqueswas seen. Multiwavelength Raman spectroscopy is very promising as anon-destructive in-line monitoring technique for grain size distribution inchannel poly-Si used in 3D NAND Flash memory devices.

Background: The influences of demographics, culture, language, and environmental changes on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores are considerable.

Methods: Using a sample of 7452 healthy, community-dwelling elderly Koreans, aged 55 to 94 years, who participated in the four ongoing geriatric cohorts in Korea, we investigated demographic influences on MMSE scores and derived normative data for this population. Geropsychiatrists strictly excluded subjects with cognitive disorders according to the protocol of the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet (CERAD-K) Clinical Assessment Battery (CERAD-K-C).

Results: Education (standardized β = 0.463), age (standardized β = −0.303), and gender (standardized β = −0.057) had significant effects on MMSE scores (p < 0.001). The score of MMSE increase 0.379 point per 1-year education, decrease 0.188 per 1-year older, and decrease 0.491 in women compared to men. Education explained 30.4% of the scores’ total variance, which was much larger than the variances explained by age (8.4%) or gender (0.3%). Accordingly, we present normative data for the MMSE stratified by education (0, 1–3, 4–6, 7–9, 10–12, and ≥ 13 years), age (60–69, 70–79, and 80–89 years), and gender.

Conclusions: We provide contemporary education-, age-, and gender-stratified norms for the MMSE, derived from a large, community-dwelling elderly Korean population sample, which could be useful in evaluating individual MMSE scores.

Laser fusion requires very high energy/power output with high repetition rate over 10 Hz, which is very difficult with the current laser technologies. However, the recent research work on the phase controlling of the stimulated Brillouin scattering wave enables the realization of this kind of laser fusion driver. The recent progress of controlling the phase has been successfully demonstrated by the self-generated density modulation method proposed by one of the authors (Kong). Nevertheless, it showed a long-term fluctuation of the phase because of the long-term fluctuation of the density of the SBS medium due to the thermal fluctuation. This long-term thermal fluctuation is inevitable a fact in nature. The authors used a specially designed stabilizing system for the phase controlling system, which has the PZT control of the mirror for phase controlling SBS-PCM (the so-called feedback mirror). This system stabilizes the phase controlling system very well for more than 1 h. This technique will help the laser fusion driver to be realized sooner than expected. In addition, we propose a similar scheme to be applied to the ultra-fast pulse laser system, which must operate at high repetition rate for the laser fusion energy power plant.

We propose a short channel gate overlapped lightly doped drain (GOLDD) poly-Si TFT employing 45° tilt implant for source and drain (S/D) regions without any additional ion doping or mask. Oblique-incident ELA activation is performed to activate both n+ S/D and n- LDD regions as well as cure junction defects. The proposed poly-Si TFT can suppress the anomalous leakage current, and exhibit the better reliability against the hot-carrier stress.

Residual ion implantation damage at source/drain junctions of excimer laser annealed polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin film transistor (TFT) was investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Cross-sectional TEM observation showed that XeCl excimer laser (λ=308 nm) energy decreased considerably at the source/drain junctions of top-gated poly-Si TFT due to laser beam diffraction at the gate electrode edges and that the silicon layer amorphized by ion implantation, was not completely annealed at the juncions. The HR-TEM observation showed severe lattice disorder at the junctions of poly-Si TFT.

An optimized process of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3(PZT) ferroelectric capacitor has been investigated in order to develop a highly scaleable 1T/1C ferroelectric random access memory. The PZT ferroelectric capacitor, Pt/PZT/Pt stack, was formed on the TiO2/SiO2/Si substrate. The PZT thin films were prepared by conventional sol-gel multi-coating method. Physical and electrical properties of the PZT ferroelectric capacitors were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and RT6000S, respectively.

It was revealed that the microstructure of PZT thin film is strongly influenced by sol-gel coating process, especially depending on coating methods of the first PZT layer. The second phase was observed in the PZT thin films, which is found to be pyrochlore phase. The size and density of pyrochlore phase were significantly reduced by modifying the coating methods of first PZT layer. Microstructure of PZT thin film capacitors was evaluated in detail along with electrical properties such as remnant polarization, coercive electric field, and dielectric leakage. The sensing Pr window was also introduced for proper sensing margin in IT/1C ferroelectric random access memory. This concept is well verified by 64Kb 1T/1C ferroelectric random access memory.