Kyung Ah Park

Fermi Level Engineering of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by AuCl3 Doping

We investigated the modulation of optical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) by AuCl 3 doping. The van Hove singularity transitions (E 11 (S), E 22 (S), E 11 (M)) in absorption spectroscopy disappeared gradually with an increasing doping concentration and a new peak appeared at a high doping concentration. The work function was downshifted up to 0.42 eV by a strong charge transfer from the SWCNTs to AuCl 3 by a high level of p-doping. We propose that this large work function shift forces the Fermi level of the SWCNTs to be located deep in the valence band, i.e., highly degenerate, creating empty van Hove singularity states, and hence the work function shift invokes a new asymmetric transition in the absorption spectroscopy from a deeper level to newly generated empty states.

Electrical-field effect on carbon nanotubes in a twisted nematic liquid crystal cell

We have fabricated twisted nematic cells doped by carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The CNTs with a minute amount of doping did not perturb the liquid crystal orientation in the off and on state. The hysteresis studies of voltage-dependent transmittance and capacitance under ac and dc electric field showed that the residual dc, which is related to an image sticking problem in liquid crystal displays, was greatly reduced due to the ion trapping by CNTs.

Doping and de-doping of carbon nanotube transparent conducting films by dispersant and chemical treatment

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) dispersed with Nafion in a solvent mixture containing de-ionized water and 1-propanol (bisolvent) were sprayed on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate to fabricate flexible transparent conducting films (TCFs). Different SWCNT-to-Nafion ratios were used to optimize the film performance of transparence and sheet resistance. The TCFs were then immersed in nitric acid. These steps resulted in p-type doping due to the presence of Nafion in the SWCNT network and de-doping (removal of doping effect) by the acid treatment. X-Ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the de-doping effect occurred with the partial removal of Nafion from the nanotube surface by the nitric acid treatment, which improved the film conductivity by a factor of ∼4 with negligible change in transmittance.

Solution-processed InGaZnO-based thin film transistors for printed electronics applications

This letter reports the utility of using the sol-gel process for exploring the library of multicomponent ZnO-based oxides as an active layer of thin film transistors. We chose InGaZnO as a starting material and modulated the Ga content to examine the potential of this material. Increasing the Ga ratio from 0.1 to 1 brought about a dynamic shift in the electrical behavior from conductor to semiconductor. This exploratory work critically helped us fabricate a device with robust device performance (a mobility of 1∼2 cm2 V−1 s−1 for the 400 °C-sintered samples and 0.2 cm2 V−1 s−1 for the 300 °C-sintered samples).

Experience-Dependent Plasticity of Cerebellar Vermis in Basketball Players

The cerebellum is involved in the learning and retention of motor skills. Using animal and human models, a number of studies have shown that long-term motor skill training induces structural and functional plasticity in the cerebellum. The aim of this study was to investigate whether macroscopic alteration in the volume of cerebellum occurs in basketball players who had learned complex motor skills and practiced them intensively for a long time. Three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging volumetry was performed in basketball players (n = 19) and healthy controls (n = 20), and the volumes of cerebellum and vermian lobules were compared between two groups. Although there was no macroscopic plasticity detected in the cerebellum as a whole, detailed parcellation of cerebellum revealed morphological enlargement in the vermian lobules VI–VII (declive, folium, and tuber) of basketball players (P < 0.0166), which might then be interpreted as evidence for plasticity. This finding suggests that the extensive practice and performance of sports-related motor skills activate structural plasticity of vermian lobules in human cerebellum and suggests that vermian VI–VII plays an important role in motor learning.

Effect of annealing temperature on microstructural evolution and electrical properties of sol-gel processed ZrO2/Si films

High-permittivity (k) ZrO2/Si(100) films were fabricated by a sol-gel technique and the microstructural evolution with the annealing temperature (Ta) was correlated with the variation of their electrical performance. With increasing Ta, the ZrO2 films crystallized into a tetragonal (t) phase which was maintained until 700 °C at nanoscale thicknesses. Although the formation of the t-ZrO2 phase obviously enhanced the k value of the ZrO2 dielectric layer, the maximum capacitance in accumulation was decreased by the growth of a low-k interfacial layer (IL) between ZrO2 and Si with increasing Ta. On the other hand, the gate leakage current was remarkably depressed with increasing Ta probably due to the combined effects of the increased IL thickness, optical band gap of ZrO2, and density of ZrO2 and decreased remnant organic components.

Neuroprotective effects of agmatine on oxygen-glucose deprived primary-cultured astrocytes and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B.

To better understand the neuroprotective actions of agmatine in ischemic insults, its effects on astrocytes were investigated using an in vitro oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) model. After primary culture, cortical astrocytes were moved into a closed anaerobic chamber and incubated in glucose-free culture media. 4 h later, the cells were restored to normoxic conditions and supplied with glucose for 20 h. The ability of agmatine to rescue astrocytes from OGD only and OGD followed by restoration (OGD-R) was assessed. Cell viability was monitored with or without 100 muM agmatine, using the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay and annexin V flow cytometric assay. For morphological analysis, Hoechst 33258 and propidium iodide double nuclear staining was performed. Expression and phosphorylation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) family proteins were also investigated by immunoblotting. Results showed that astrocytes had decreased viability following OGD and OGD-R and that agmatine treatment increased cell viability and induced NF-kappaB translocation into the nucleus. Finally, our studies revealed that agmatine can rescue astrocytes from death caused by ischemic and/or ischemic-perfusion neuronal injuries in vitro. Our findings provide new insights that may lead to a novel therapeutic strategy to reduce these kinds of neuronal injuries.

Agmatine attenuates brain edema through reducing the expression of aquaporin-1 after cerebral ischemia

Brain edema is frequently shown after cerebral ischemia. It is an expansion of brain volume because of increasing water content in brain. It causes to increase mortality after stroke. Agmatine, formed by the decarboxylation of L-arginine by arginine decarboxylase, has been shown to be neuroprotective in trauma and ischemia models. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of agmatine for brain edema in ischemic brain damage and to evaluate the expression of aquaporins (AQPs). Results showed that agmatine significantly reduced brain swelling volume 22 h after 2 h middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice. Water content in brain tissue was clearly decreased 24 h after ischemic injury by agmatine treatment. Blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption was diminished with agmatine than without. The expressions of AQPs-1 and -9 were well correlated with brain edema as water channels, were significantly decreased by agmatine treatment. It can thus be suggested that agmatine could attenuate brain edema by limitting BBB disruption and blocking the accumulation of brain water content through lessening the expression of AQP-1 after cerebral ischemia.

DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF CARBON NANOTUBES DISPERSED IN NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTAL

The alignment and dynamic response of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in nematic liquid crystal (NLC) medium induced by strong electric field have been observed through polarizing optical microscope. Density-functional calculations suggest that LC molecule anchors helically to the CNT wall to enhance π-stacking with a binding energy of nearly -2.0 eV due to a considerable amount of charge transfer from LC molecule to CNT, resulting in the formation of excess charges and permanent dipole moment in CNTs. Under strong electric field, the motion of CNTs distorted the director of adjacent LC molecules. Our detailed analysis of dynamics revealed that the four-lobe textures in vertical cell and two vertical stripes in in-plane switching cell were strongly correlated, i.e., the side view of textures by the vertical motion of CNTs in vertical cell was similar to the textures in in-plane switching cell. Interestingly, the magnitude of textures in microscope was strongly dependent on the size of CNTs and the applied field strength. The statistical size distribution of textures similar to that of CNTs provided information for the degree of dispersion of CNTs.

Agmatine Improves Cognitive Dysfunction and Prevents Cell Death in a Streptozotocin-Induced Alzheimer Rat Model

Purpose Alzheimers disease (AD) results in memory impairment and neuronal cell death in the brain. Previous studies demonstrated that intracerebroventricular administration of streptozotocin (STZ) induces pathological and behavioral alterations similar to those observed in AD. Agmatine (Agm) has been shown to exert neuroprotective effects in central nervous system disorders. In this study, we investigated whether Agm treatment could attenuate apoptosis and improve cognitive decline in a STZ-induced Alzheimer rat model. Materials and Methods We studied the effect of Agm on AD pathology using a STZ-induced Alzheimer rat model. For each experiment, rats were given anesthesia (chloral hydrate 300 mg/kg, ip), followed by a single injection of STZ (1.5 mg/kg) bilaterally into each lateral ventricle (5 µL/ventricle). Rats were injected with Agm (100 mg/kg) daily up to two weeks from the surgery day. Results Agm suppressed the accumulation of amyloid beta and enhanced insulin signal transduction in STZ-induced Alzheimer rats [experimetal control (EC) group]. Upon evaluation of cognitive function by Morris water maze testing, significant improvement of learning and memory dysfunction in the STZ-Agm group was observed compared with the EC group. Western blot results revealed significant attenuation of the protein expressions of cleaved caspase-3 and Bax, as well as increases in the protein expressions of Bcl2, PI3K, Nrf2, and γ-glutamyl cysteine synthetase, in the STZ-Agm group. Conclusion Our results showed that Agm is involved in the activation of antioxidant signaling pathways and activation of insulin signal transduction. Accordingly, Agm may be a promising therapeutic agent for improving cognitive decline and attenuating apoptosis in AD.