Atomic layer etching (ALE) is a promising technique with atomic-level thickness controllability and high selectivity based on self-limiting surface reactions. ALE is performed by sequential exposure of the film surface to reactants, which results in surface modification and release of volatile species. Among the various ALE methods, thermal ALE involves a thermally activated reaction by employing gas species to release the modified surface without using energetic species, such as accelerated ions and neutral beams. In this study, the basic principle and surface reaction mechanisms of thermal ALE?processes, including “fluorination-ligand exchange reaction”, “conversion-etch reaction”, “conversion-fluorination reaction”, “oxidation-fluorination reaction”, “oxidation-ligand exchange reaction”, and “oxidation-conversion-fluorination reaction” are described. In addition, the reported thermal ALE processes for the removal of various oxides, metals, and nitrides are presented.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) plays an important role in alcohol metabolism; ALDH is responsible for the oxidation of acetaldehyde generated during alcohol oxidation. ALDH is also known to oxidize various other endogenous and exogenous aldehydes. Cytochrome P-450 2E1 (CYP2E1), a liver microsomal enzyme, also metabolizes acetaldehyde and ethanol and can be induced by other inducers including acetone and ethanol. We examined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of ALDH and CYP2E1 genotypes in Korean. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method was used to determine ALDH and CYP2E1 SNP. Mutation in ALDH was 60% (heterozygote 46.7% and homozygote 13.3%) among 15 cases. CYP2E1 mutation was 52.7% (heterozygote 47.4% and homozygote 5.3%) among 19 cases.

Resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene), a naturally occuring polyphenol compound which present in the skin of grapes and red wine has been considered to posses chemopreventive and antioxidant properties. However, little is known about the cellular actions by which resveratrol mediates its therapeutic effects. In this study, the effect of resveratrol on cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis in human osteogenic sarcoma (HOS) cells was investigated. IC50 value was determined to be approximately 60μg/mℓ. Chromosomal DNA framgmentation analysis showed the appearance degraded DNA in time-and dose-dependent manner upon treatment of resveratrol. In order to observe the molecular mechanism involved in resveratrol-induced apoptosis, Western blot analysis was performed. We observed the decrease in the level of procaspase-3, the zymogen form of active caspase-3 in resveratrol-treated cells. This result implies that caspase-3 is activated upon treatment of resveratrol. The activation of caspase-3 was confirmed by the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Taken together, our data demonstrate that resveratrol has anti-proliferative effect on HOS cells and induced apoptosis through activation of caspase-3 and PARP cleavage.