The Saemangeum tidal flat, an important staging site for migratory shorebirds that travel the East Asian-Australasian (EAA) Flyway, was isolated from the eastern Yellow Sea in 2006 as part of a large-scale reclamation project. To gain a better understanding of the impacts that this reclamation has had on the long-distance migratory shorebirds that use the EAA Flyway, we examined the number of shorebirds visiting Saemangeum and three adjacent sites in the Geum Estuary (Yubu Island, the Janghang coastline, and the Geum River Channel) during the spring and fall prior to, and after, completion of the reclamation (2004–2013). A total of 48 shorebird species, including one Critically Endangered, three Endangered, and nine Near Threatened species, were observed over this period. Peak numbers of shorebirds recorded at sites in Saemangeum and the Geum Estuary following completion of the project were 74% below those recorded in 2004 and 2005, the years prior to reclamation activity. In Saemangeum, shorebird abundance declined by approximately 95% and 97.3% during the northward and southward migrations, respectively, as a result of reclamation. Although shorebird populations in the Geum Estuary increased by 5% and 20% during the northwards and southward migrations, respectively, these increases failed to offset the reduction in shorebird abundance in Saemangeum; overall, shorebird abundance at Saemangeum and the three adjacent sites in the Geum Estuary markedly declined over the reclamation period. Given the more favourable conditions of adjacent areas, sites in Saemangeum and the Geum Estuary no longer provide the habitat conditions necessary for long-distance migratory shorebirds. In order to improve habitat for staging migratory birds, we suggest that measures such as the conversion of an abandoned salt farm for use as roosting sites, the construction of artificial barriers to prevent human disturbance, and re-opening of the river-banks to facilitate water flow be implemented.

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.

A quantitative analysis of In concentration in InGaN/GaN multiquantum wells in light-emitting diodes was carried out using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and high-angle annual dark-field scanning TEM (HAADF-STEM). The In composition in InGaN was evaluated by the precise measurement of c-lattice parameters in the HRTEM micrographs, which increase with increasing In composition. The reliability of the results was confirmed by high-resolution x-ray diffraction measurements and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Quantitative In compositions can, therefore, be determined using HRTEM. We tried to determine the quantitative In compositions in InGaN by analyzing the intensity profiles of the HAADF-STEM images. However, several problems were encountered, such as differences in the thickness of the region observed, carbon contamination, and ion beam damage during specimen preparation. Therefore, relative differences in composition were observed in the HAADF-STEM images.

We have observed the inconsistent findings from various studies on twin pregnancy outcomes obtained by assisted reproductive technology and spontaneous conception. In most studies, however, the concrete chorionicity, regarded as a confounding factor for predicting the perinatal outcomes of twin pregnancies, has not been determined. The purpose of this study was to compare obstetric and perinatal outcomes of only the dichorionic twin pregnancies according to the methods of conception: spontaneous and in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The twin pairs with dichorionicity reported from 1995 to 2008 were investigated and we divided them into two groups which consisted of 286 and 134 twins by spontaneous conception and IVF, respectively. Odds ratios for associations between IVF and pregnancy outcomes were analyzed after adjustment for maternal age and parity. There were no risk differences between the two groups regarding the obstetric complications, which include preterm delivery, preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of membranes, preeclampsia, placenta previa, and abruption. Any differences were not shown in the two groups for the risk estimates of perinatal outcomes, such as low birthweight, very low birthweight, small for gestational age, Apgar scores of < 7 at 5 minutes, discordance in birthweights, congenital anomalies and mortality. However, twins conceived after IVF were less likely to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit than those conceived spontaneously (adjusted OR 0.488; 95% confidence interval 0.261–0.910). In the cases of dichorionic twins, IVF may not be associated with adverse perinatal and obstetric outcomes compared with spontaneous conception.

A systematic study on the effect of sputtering deposition parameters on material properties of Al doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) films prepared by an in-line rf magnetron sputtering and on surface morphology of the films after wet etching process was carried out. For application to silicon thin film solar cells as a front electrode, the as-deposited films were surface-textured by a dilute HCl solution to improve the light scattering properties such as haze and angle resolved distribution of scattered light on the film surfaces. The microstructure of as-deposited films is affected significantly by the working pressure and film compactness decreases with increasing working pressure from 1.5 mTorr to 10 mTorr. High quality ZnO:Al films with electrical resistivity of 4.25 × 10-4 Ω cm and optical transmittance of 80% in a visible range are obtained at low working pressure of 1.5 mTorr and substrate temperature of 100℃. Crater-like surface morphologies are observed on the textured ZnO:Al films after wet etching. The size and shape of craters are closely dependent on the microstructure and film compactness of as-deposited films. Haze values of the textured ZnO:Al films are improved in a whole wavelength of 300 – 1100 nm compared to commercial SnO2:F films (Asahi U type) and incident light on the textured films is scattered effectively with 30° angle.

Haloperidol, a classical antipsychotic drug, affects the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway in the brain. However, findings are inconsistent and the mechanism by which haloperidol regulates ERK is poorly understood. Therefore, we examined the ERK pathway and the related protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in detail after haloperidol administration. Haloperidol (0.5 and 1 mg/kg) induced biphasic changes in the phosphorylation level of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK), ERK, and p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (p90RSK) without changing Raf-1 phosphorylation. Fifteen minutes after haloperidol administration, MEK-ERK-p90RSK phosphorylation increased, whilst PP2A activity decreased. At 60 min, the reverse was observed and the binding of PP2A to MEK and ERK increased. Higher dosages of haloperidol (2 and 4 mg/kg), affected neither MEK-ERK-p90RSK phosphorylation nor PP2A activity. Accordingly, PP2A regulates acute dose- and time-dependent changes in MEK-ERK-p90RSK phosphorylation after haloperidol treatment. These findings suggest the involvement of a dephosphorylating mechanism in the acute action of haloperidol.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have emerged as one of the most promising oxide materials owing to their optical and electrical properties, together with their high chemical and mechanical stability. Chemical solution deposition (CSD) is attractive technique for obtaining ZnO thin films and has the advantages of easy control of the film composition and easy fabrication of a larger-area thin film at low cost. In this work, epitaxial ZnO thin films on SiC substrate were prepared by using a CSD method with a zinc naphthenate precursor. Precursor films were pyrolyzed at 500°C for 10 min in air and finally annealed at 600°C, 700°C, 800°C and 900°C for 30 min in air. Crystallinity and in-plane alignment of the films were investigated by X-ray diffraction theta-2 theta scan and pole-figure analysis. Scanning electron microscope, scanning probe microscope, and He-Cd laser (325 nm) are used to detect the surface morphology and photoluminescence of the films. The effects of annealing temperature on crystallinity and epitaxy of the films will be fully discussed on the basis of the results of X-ray diffraction analysis.

A mucin coat is deposited on rabbit embryos during passage through the oviduct; rabbit blastocysts cultured from the 1-cell stage in vitro have no mucin coat. When cultured blastocysts are transferred to recipients, the lack of mucin coat might account in part for subsequent failure of pregnancy. We have investigated the possibility that mucin coat deposition is induced following transfer of in vitro 72 h-cultured blastocysts to oviducts of asynchronous or synchronous recipients. One-cell embryos were collected by flushing oviducts 19–20 h post-coitus and were cultured in vitro for 72 h until they reached the blastocyst stage. The blastocysts were transferred to the oviducts of recipients that were synchronized either with the donors (synchronous) or 1 day later than the donors (asynchronous). They were recovered after 24–48 h and the mucin coat thickness and embryo degeneration rate were measured. The degeneration rate of blastocysts recovered from uteri of synchronous recipients was higher than that from asynchronous recipients (72.2% vs 40.0%). The mucin coats around embryos recovered from oviducts of asynchronous recipients after 48 h were thicker than those from synchronous recipients. More asynchronous recipients were pregnant and gave birth to more pups than synchronous recipients. These results indicate that the oviducts of asynchronous recipients secreted more mucin around the transferred embryos, causing higher rates of implantation of the in vitro-cultured blastocysts.

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of sperm concentrations and culture media on fertilization and development of in vitro matured pig oocytes. The concentrations of frozen-thawed sperm were 0.2×107, 2×107, 20×107 and 200×107/ml, respectively. Culture media were NCSU-23, HEPES-buffered (25 mM) NCSU-23, PZM-3 and PZM-4, respectively. Increasing the sperm concentration from 0.2×107 to 2×107/ml, significantly increased the penetration rate. Also, increasing the sperm concentration from 20×107 to 200×107/ml increased the penetration rate from 62.1% to 69.9%, respectively, with no differences between these two concentrations. A similar pattern was observed for polyspermic penetration and male pronucleus formation. The mean number of sperm per oocyte significantly increased in the 20×107/ml and again in the 200×107/ml sperm concentrations. The percentage of blastocysts from cleaved oocytes at the 2×107/ml sperm concentration was significantly higher than that at the 0.2×107, 20×107 and 200×107/ml sperm concentrations. The percentage of blastocysts from cleaved oocytes and the cell numbers per blastocyst were significantly higher in the HEPES-buffered NCSU-23 culture medium than in the NCSU-23, PZM-3 and PZM-4 culture media under a gas atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air.

The Ni silicide-mediated phase transformation of amorphous to crystalline silicon (c-Si) was studied using transmission electron microscopy. Amorphous silicon (a-Si) films coated with very thin Ni layer (∼10-1Å) were annealed at various temperatures. Randomly oriented NiSi2 precipitates were observed in the Ni deposited a-Si film annealed at 400°C. The nucleation of the epitaxial c-Si has occurred on the {111} faces of the octahedral NiSi2 precipitate at 430°C and then caused to the variation in the shape of the NiSi2 precipitates. During the growth of c-Si, the needle-like morphology developed from the migration of NiSi2 precipitates through the a-Si matrix leaving a trail of c-Si. The collision of a migrating NiSi2 precipitate with a stationary NiSi2 precipitates in the a-Si film gave rise to the change in the morphology of the growing Si grain and the formation of additional c-Si needles on variants of the <111> direction.

Although robots have some kinematic and dynamic constraints such as the limits of the position, velocity, acceleration, jerk, and torque, they should move as fast as possible to increase the productivity. Researches on the minimum-time trajectory planning and control based on the dynamic constraints assume the availability of full dynamics of robots. However, the dynamic equation of robot may not often be exactly known. In this case, the kinematic approach for the minimum-time trajectory planning is more meaningful. We also have to construct a controller to track precisely the minimum-time trajectory. But, finding a proper controller is also difficult if we do not know the explicit dynamic equations of a robot.

This paper describes an optimization of trajectory planning based on a kinematic approach using the evolution strategy (ES), as well as an optimization of a sliding mode tracking controller using ES for a robot without dynamic equations.

This paper presents a computational method for obtaining an optimal control trajectory for point-to-point motion of a cooperating robot carrying a flexible object. To increase the overall productivity and its efficiency, it is required to move the object as fast as possible using the maximum capacity of actuators of robots. If the carrying object is very sensitive to vibration, the robots should be operated so as not to cause excessive vibration of that object. This work deals with optimal input design for cooperative robots to reduce vibration of flexible objects that are handled at speed, under firm constraints on control torques.

GaN epitaxial thin films were grown on a nitridated sapphire at low temperature (550°C) using remote plasma enhanced ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition system and these films were investigated by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), X-ray diffraction(XRD) θ-rocking technique and the Ultraviolet-Visible-Nearinfrared (UV-VIS-NIR) absorption spectrum. The FWHM of the X-ray θ-rocking curve was about 0.4 degree using the (0002) reflection from the GaN layer with 5000Å thickness grown on the nitridated sapphire. An analysis of XRD and the UV-VIS-NIR absorption spectrum showed that the crystalline and optical qualities of GaN are dependent on the nitridation time of the sapphire even at low temperature when a plasma source is used for nitridation. This means that the density of protrusion, which is formed by a relaxation of the elastic energy caused by the lattice difference between the sapphire and AlxO1-xN, with the sapphire nitridation time plays a key role in the crystalline and optical properties of grown GaN films. The RBS channeling data and the FWHM value of the θ-rocking curve for GaNr(0002) also indicated that the truncated hexagonals are tilted towards each other. These results showed that the GaN epitaxial film can be successfully grown on nitridated sapphire by RPE-UHVCVD even at low temperature.