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A novel nanocomposite titanium dioxide powders were synthesized by mechanical alloying and heat treatment. The absorption threshold of the nanocomposite TiO 2 moved to a longer wavelength and the photoreactivity was dramatically enhanced. Also the new absorption was believed to be induced by the trapping band gap between the valence and conduction bands of nanocomposite TiO 2 .

Non-ferrous metals are widely used as basic materials in various industrial fields, and zinc is a metal that is produced and used next to iron, aluminum, and copper. In this study, DEA (data envelopment analysis) was applied to measure the efficiency of 43 zinc smelters in three countries in East Asia: Korea, China, and Japan. The constant returns to scale (CRS) and the variable returns to scale (VRS) models, and the slack-based measure (SBM) were used for the analysis. As a result of the efficiency analysis, there were three efficient zinc smelters in the CRS model, 14 in the VRS model and 14 in the SBM. The average efficiency was 0.458 based on the SBM, which indicates that there is room for improvement in efficiency. In addition, the average scale efficiency value was 0.689, showing the scale to be inefficient. Therefore, it can be seen that the labor cost and the energy cost must be brought to an appropriate level. The Tobit regression analysis was used to analyze the causes of efficiency. The greater the capacity and the larger amount of bonus Zn of the refinery, the higher the efficiency of the refinery.

Nanocrystalline Ni 8 wt% doped TiO 2 powder was synthesized by mechanical alloying. Microstructural and photospectrometiric analysis showed that the Ni added up to 8 wt% was dissolved into the rutile TiO 2 matrix. The absorption threshold of the Ni doped powder shifted from 380 to 500 into the visible light region. (480-500 nm)

Introduction Assessing patient expectations in orthopaedic surgery has gained significant importance over time. However, there have been only a few studies on how to measure such expectations in hand surgery. Against the backdrop, the study was designed to develop a valid and reliable expectations survey for patients undergoing hand surgery and to identify the correlations between preoperative expectations and postoperative satisfaction. Materials and methods This is a three-phase prospective cohort study. In the first phase of the study (146 patients), patient expectations were assessed while developing a draft questionnaire based on frequency and clinical relevance. In the second phase (154 patients newly included), test-retest reliability was measured to ensure test consistency. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) served as a basis for developing the final survey questionnaire. In the third phase, we followed up with patients, who completed the preoperative expectations survey, 3 months after surgery to assess the fulfillment of their expectations. The Pearson correlation method was used to measure the association between preoperative expectations and postoperative satisfaction. Results In the first phase, 146 patients shared 406 different expectations, which were grouped into nine categories. Then, in the second phase, the final survey was populated by questionnaire items under respective category that have revealed strong test-retest reliability (ICC of 0.91). A significant positive correlation between patient expectations and satisfaction was observed (R = 0.181, p = 0.034). Conclusion The survey was designed to offer a valid and reliable approach for the comprehensive assessment of patient expectations in hand surgery. The survey results show that patients with high expectations tend to be more satisfied with surgical outcomes. It is strongly believed that this approach would serve as a useful tool at a time when patient perspective is taken into account increasingly more in the clinical practice.