Study of Internal Linear Inductively Coupled Plasma Source for Ultra Large-Scale Flat Panel Display Processing

An internal-type linear inductive antenna, which is referred to as “double comb-type antenna”, was used as a large-area inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source with a substrate area of 2,300 mm × 2,000 mm. The characteristics of the ICP source were investigated for potential applications to flat panel display (FPD) processing. The source showed higher power transfer efficiency at higher RF power and higher operating pressures. The power transfer efficiency was approximately 88.1% at 9 kW of RF power and a pressure of 20 mTorr Ar. This source showed increasing plasma density and improved plasma uniformity with increasing RF power at a given operating pressure. A plasma density >1.5 × 10¹¹/cm³ and a plasma uniformity of approximately 11% was obtained at 9 kW of RF power and 15 mTor Ar using this internal ICP source, which is applicable to FPD processing.     

Remarks on possibilistic variances of fuzzy numbers

Carlsson and Fullér (Fuzzy Sets Syst. 122:315–326, 2001) introduced the definitions of two crisp possibilistic variances of a fuzzy number A, Var(A) and Var′(A). They showed that the subsethood does entail smaller variance in the sense of Var(?). Thus it is natural to ask whether it holds in the sense of Var′(?). Yet we are able to prove that it actually does not hold. Zhang and Wang (Appl. Math. Lett. 20:1167–1173, 2007) had introduced some conditions for which the subsethood does entail smaller variance in the sense of Var′(?). In this paper we give more generalized conditions for which it holds.     

Development of optical fiber-based respiration sensor for noninvasive respiratory monitoring

In this study, two types of nasal-cavity-attached fiber-optic respiration sensors have been fabricated for noninvasive respiratory monitoring. One is a silver halide optical-fiber-based respiration sensor that can measure the variations of infrared radiation generated by the respiratory airflow from a nasal cavity. The other is a thermochromic-pigment-based fiber-optic respiration sensor that can measure the intensity of reflected light which changes owing to color variations of the temperature-sensing film according to the temperature difference between inspiratory and expiratory air. We have demonstrated the similarities of the respiratory signals using the fiber-optic respiration sensors and the temperature transducer of the BIOPAC? system. In addition, we verified that respiratory signals without the deterioration of the MR image can be obtained using the fiber-optic respiration sensors. It is anticipated that the proposed noninvasive fiberoptic respiration sensors will be highly effective for respiratory monitoring of a patient during MRI procedures.     

Characterization of mitochondria isolated from normal and ischemic hearts in rats utilizing atomic force microscopy

Mitochondria play critical roles in both the life and the death of cardiac myocytes. Various factors, such as the loss of ATP synthesis and increase of ATP hydrolysis, impairment in ionic homeostasis, formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and release of proapoptotic proteins are related to the generation of irreversible damage. It has been proposed that the release of cytochrome c is caused by a swelling of the mitochondrial matrix triggered by the apoptotic stimuli. However, there is a controversy about whether or not the mitochondria, indeed, swell during apoptosis. The major advantages of atomic force microscopy (AFM) over conventional optical and electron microscopes for bio-imaging include the fact that no special coating and vacuum are required and imaging can be done in all environments--air, vacuum or aqueous conditions. In addition, AFM force-distance curve measurements have become a fundamental tool in the fields of surface chemistry, biochemistry, and material science. In this study, we used AFM to observe the morphological and property changes in heart mitochondria that were isolated from a rat myocardial infarction model. From the shape parameters of the mitochondria in the AFM topographic image, it seemed that myocardial infarction caused the mitochondrial swelling. Also, the results of force-distance measurements showed that the adhesion force of heart mitochondria was significantly decreased by myocardial in infarction. Therefore, we suggested that myocardial infarction might be the cause of mitochondrial swelling and the changes in outer membrane of heart mitochondria.     

Dual-mode operation of a twisted nematic liquid crystal cell by switching between dynamic and memory modes

We propose a twisted nematic liquid crystal device that can be operated in dynamic or memory mode, based on the information content to be displayed at that time. +90°-twisted and -90°-twisted states are used as two stable states for operation in the memory mode. A vertical electric field is applied to realize gray levels for operation in the dynamic mode. The proposed device has a memory retention time of over a month for the memory mode and a response time of 12 ms for the dynamic mode. Contrast ratios of over 500∶1 can be obtained in both the dynamic and memory modes.     

Dependence structure of the Korean stock market in high frequency data

This paper analyzes the evolution of the dependence structure for various time window intervals, known as Epps effect, using the Trade and Quote data of 663 actively traded stocks in Korean stock market. It is found that the random matrix theory analysis could not represent the dependence structure of the stock market in the microstructure regime. The Cook-Johnson copula is introduced as a parsimonious alternative method to handle this problem, and the existence of the Epps effect is confirmed for the 663 stocks using high frequency data. It was also found that large capitalization companies tend to have a stronger dependence structure, except for the largest capitalization group, since the phenomenon of price level resistance leads to the weak dependence structure in the largest capitalization group. In addition, grouping the industry as a sub-portfolio is an appropriate approach for hour interval traders, whereas this approach is not a strategy recommended for high frequency traders.     

Cross-correlations in volume space: Differences between buy and sell volumes

We study the cross-correlations of buy and sell volumes on the Korean stock market in high frequency. We observe that the pulling effects of volumes are as small as that of returns. The properties of the correlations of buy and sell volumes differ. They are explained by the degree of synchronization of stock volumes. Further, the pulling effects on the minimal spanning tree are studied. In minimal spanning trees with directed links, the large pulling effects are clustered at the center, not uniformly distributed. The Epps effect of buy and sell volumes are observed. The reversal of the cross-correlations of buy and sell volumes is also detected.     

On $$epsilon $$ ϵ -solutions for robust semi-infinite optimization problems

Positivity - In this paper, we consider semi-infinite optimization problems involving a convex objective function and infinitely many convex constraint functions with data uncertainty, and give its...