Juhann Kim

Silicon nitride (SiNx) thin films have been deposited by radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering of a silicon target in reactive nitrogen-argon atmospheres without intentional substrate heating. The influence of negative substrate bias Vs on the microstructural, compositional, chemical, mechanical, and optical properties of the SiNx films was systematically investigated. An extensive analysis of the films was carried out using ellipsometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force

These studies demonstrate a chondrocyte phenotype of notochordal cells and are the first direct evidence of notochordal cell differentiation, suggesting that they may act as progenitor cells, which has the potential to lead to their use in novel approaches to regeneration of degenerative intervertebral disc.

The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF)2 in the irradiated brain was examined to test how a single high dose radiation, similar to that used for intraoperative radiation therapy given to the normal cerebrum, can affect the vascular endothelium. After a burr hole trephination in the rat skull, the cerebral hemisphere was exposed to a single 10 Gy dose of gamma rays, and the radiation effect was assessed at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after irradi

BACKGROUND: The intervertebral disc (IVD) is an avascular structure, and is therefore stable under hypoxic conditions. Previous studies have demonstrated that hypoxia might be related to symptomatic degenerative disc diseases (DDDs); however, the pathomechanism is still poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To identify the effect of hypoxia on the production of inflammatory mediators, angiogenic factors, and extracellular matrix-regulating enzymes of IVD cells during inflammatory reactions. METHODS: Hum

Amorphous hydrogenated carbon nitride thin films (a-CNx:H) have been prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of N2 and CH4 gases using a helical resonator discharge. The structural and optical properties of the deposited a-CNx:H films have been systematically studied as a function of the substrate temperature and radio frequency (rf) substrate bias. The chemical structure and elemental composition of the a-CNx:H films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (F

A sampled-delay focusing technique was recently proposed by the authors which completely eliminates the use of analog L-C delay lines for beam focusing in completely eliminates the use of analog L-C delay lines for beam focusing in ultrasound B-mode imaging systems. With this approach, the product of sampling rate and maximum time delay is required to be less than unity. To remove this constraint, we propose in this paper a first-in-first-out pipelining technique. This allows one to perform beam

The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF)2 in the irradiated brain was examined to test how a single high dose radiation, similar to that used for intraoperative radiation therapy given to the normal cerebrum, can affect the vascular endothelium. After a burr hole trephination in the rat skull, the cerebral hemisphere was exposed to a single 10 Gy dose of gamma rays, and the radiation effect was assessed at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after irradi

We conclude that exposure to macrophages, as can be expected after anular injury, can result in enhanced response to local inflammation. Although changes were observed in all inflammatory mediators after macrophage exposure, the most significant change was observed in IL-6 and IL-8, implicating these mediators in development of symptomatic disc.

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is the main source of intractable lower back pain, and symptomatic IVD degeneration could be due to different degeneration mechanisms. In this article, we describe the molecular basis of symptomatic IVD degenerative disc diseases (DDDs), emphasizing the role of degeneration, inflammation, angiogenesis, and extracellular matrix (ECM) regulation during this process. In symptomatic DDD, pro-inflammatory mediators modulate catabolic reactions, resulting in chan

The present research is an experimental study for the enhancement of boiling heat transfer using microporous coatings. Two types of coatings are investigated: one that is bonded using epoxy and the other by soldering. Effects on pool boiling performance were investigated, of different metal particle sizes of the epoxy-based coating, on R-123 refrigerants, and on water. All boiling tests were performed with 1 cm × 1 cm test heaters in the horizontal, upward-facing orientation in saturated conditi

We have studied the room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) properties of europium (Eu)-doped gallium nitride (GaN) thin films grown by radio frequency planar magnetron cosputter deposition. X-ray photoelectron core level spectra collected for Eu 4d revealed that the Eu ions in the GaN host were mainly in the trivalent state. A series of PL peaks were observed in the region of 530–700 nm, with the most intense peak at 614 nm. They were assigned to the radiative trans

Room-temperature blue and near-infrared (NIR) electroluminescence ac (EL) has been demonstrated from Tm-doped GaN thin films prepared by rf planar magnetron sputter deposition. Blue and NIR EL emission peaks at ∼475 and ∼800 nm, respectively, were observed from the Tm3+ 4f intrashell transitions from the G41 and F43 excited states to the H63 ground state, respectively. The threshold voltage for the 475 nm blue emission was consistently 11 to 19 V higher than that for the 800 nm NIR emission. The

The phase transition in gallium nitride (GaN) thin films at room temperature from the thermodynamically stable wurtzite to the metastable zinc-blende structure is studied. The GaN films were grown at room temperature on (100)-oriented silicon substrates by radio-frequency planar magnetron sputtering of a GaN target in pure nitrogen atmosphere. As the nitrogen gas pressure during the film growth is decreased from 30 to 10 mTorr, the crystalline phase of GaN films changed from a hexagonal wurtzite

We consider general chi-square goodness-of-fit test statistics for randomly censored data--call these generalized Pearson statistics--which are nonnegative definite quadratic forms in the cell frequencies obtained from the product-limit estimator, allowing random cells and general estimators of nuisance parameters. This class of statistics generalizes the class studied by Moore and Spruill in the no censoring case. The large sample behavior of these statistics under the null hypothesis and local

LF cells interact with macrophage-like cells to produce angiogenesis-related factors except TGF-β1. Activated LF cells that have been exposed to macrophage, can impact the inducement of angiogenesis-related factors, suggesting that fibrosis and scarring during inflammatory reaction is the major pathomechanism of LF hypertrophy.