The United States - Korea Free Trade Agreement: Path to Common Economic Prosperity or False Promise?

The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, currently awaiting ratification in the legislatures of both countries, is known to be the most significant bilateral trade agreement for the United States since the conclusion of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993 and for Korea since the initiation of the FTA drive in 2003. Both governments have promoted the U.S.-Korea FTA as the trade agreement that will enhance trade between the two countries and promote economic prosperity. The article critically reviews the inherent features of the U.S.-Korea FTA and examines whether the FTA is expected to promote the promised economic prosperity for both countries. The article also discusses prospects and impacts of the FTA on creating even larger free trade agreements between East Asia and North America and between East Asia and Europe

A Suspended Nanogap Formed by Field-Induced Atomically Sharp Tips

A sub-nanometer scale suspended gap (nanogap) defined by electric field-induced atomically sharp metallic tips is presented. A strong local electric field (\u3e109 V=m) across micro/nanomachined tips facing each other causes the metal ion migration in the form of dendrite-like growth at the cathode. The nanogap is fully isolated from the substrate eliminating growth mechanisms that involve substrate interactions. The proposed mechanism of ion transportation is verified using real-time imaging of the metal ion transportation using an in situ biasing in transmission electron microscope (TEM). The configuration of the micro/nanomachined suspended tips allows nanostructure growth of a wide variety of materials including metals, metal-oxides, and polymers. VC 2012 American Institute of Physics

Charge Transfer Induced Molecular Hole Doping into Thin Film of Metal-Organic-Frameworks

Despite the highly porous nature with significantly large surface area, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) can be hardly used in electronic, and optoelectronic devices due to their extremely poor electrical conductivity. Therefore, the study of MOF thin films that require electron transport or conductivity in combination with the everlasting porosity is highly desirable. In the present work, thin films of Co3(NDC)3DMF4 MOFs with improved electronic conductivity are synthesized using layer-by-layer and doctor blade coating techniques followed by iodine doping. The as-prepared and doped films are characterized using FE-SEM, EDX, UV/Visible spectroscopy, XPS, current-voltage measurement, photoluminescence spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and incident photon to current efficiency measurements. In addition, the electronic and semiconductor property of the MOF films are characterized using Hall Effect measurement, which reveals that in contrast to the insulator behavior of the as-prepared MOFs, the iodine doped MOFs behave as a p-type semiconductor. This is caused by charge transfer induced hole doping into the frameworks. The observed charge transfer induced hole doping phenomenon is also confirmed by calculating the densities of states of the as-prepared and iodine doped MOFs based on density functional theory. Photoluminescence spectroscopy demonstrate an efficient interfacial charge transfer between TiO2 and iodine doped MOFs, which can be applied to harvest solar radiations.Comment: Main paper (19 pages, 6 figures) and supplementary information (15 pages, 10 figures), accepted in ACS Appl. Materials & Interface

Graduate Student Recital: Kyung Jin Lee, Cello; Tong Sook Han, Piano; May 25, 1973

Centennial East Recital HallFriday EveningMay 25, 19738:15 p.m

User Analysis Mechanisms based Mobile Fitness System

Modern men have health problems caused by lack of exercise than in the past. But most modern people do not know what to do exercise. Mobile systems for fitness to solve this problem have been developed. In this paper, by analyzing the user's BMI (Body Mass Index) Index and BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) value, the data is made available. The processed data is provided to the user which proposes the right exercise and the appropriate level of exercise intensity, for exercise machines. This is different from detecting the movement, like the existing system, and a fitness value showing the calorie consumption caused. Thus the user is considered to be able to efficiently proceed to a movement based on the provided data

RFID-Based Digital Board Game Platforms

This paper presents digital board games built upon RFID-based platforms. The platforms consist of RFID tag-embedded physical objects and RFID reader boards. A library is built upon the platforms for recognizing data, locations, and movements of the physical game objects. Three kinds of game prototypes are designed and developed for use in young children's edutainment. The user tests prove that a natural type of interactivity can be achieved for digital board games, and it can contribute to establishing paradigms for next-generation edutainment

The Effects of Phonotactic Probability and Neighborhood Density on Adults' Word Learning In Noisy Conditions

Purpose: Noisy conditions make auditory processing difficult. This study explores whether noisy conditions impact the effects of phonotactic probability (the likelihood of occurrence of a sound sequence) and neighborhood density (phonological similarity among words) on adults’ word learning. Method: Fifty-eight adults learned nonwords varying in phonotactic probability and neighborhood density in either an unfavorable (0dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio, SNR) or a favorable (+8dB SNR) listening condition. Word learning was assessed in a picture naming task by scoring the proportion of phonemes named correctly. Results: The unfavorable 0dB SNR condition showed a significant interaction between phonotactic probability and neighborhood density in the absence of main effects. Specifically, adults learned more words when phonotactic probability and neighborhood density were both low or both high. The +8dB SNR condition did not show this interaction. These results were inconsistent with those from a prior adult word learning study under quiet listening conditions that showed main effects of word characteristics. Conclusion: As the listening condition worsens, adult word learning benefits from a convergence of phonotactic probability and neighborhood density Clinical implications are discussed for potential populations who experience difficulty with auditory perception or processing making them more vulnerable to noise