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Overloaded vehicles is one of the main problemsthat cause premature failure in road infrastructure. This paper presents an analysis of overloaded vehicles'effect on flexible pavement based on historical weigh-in-motion data. Thisarticle highlights the potential use of weigh-in-motion (WIM) data in pavement design by addressing the overload, the percentage of overloading, and axle load distribution. The percentage of overloaded vehicles can reach more than 80% of the total number of trucks and maybe one of the substantial factors that reduce pavement's service life. The actual traffic load is presented in the form of distribution for each type of axle load (axle load spectra) and the Vehicle Damage Factor (VDF) for each truck type. The effect of overload on the flexible pavement's design life is estimated by using the Cumulative ESAL comparison and Pavement Damage Ratio. Both analyses show that overload vehicles significantly decrease the pavement design life up to nearly half of the pavement life.

Rubber-tired trains are powered by electricity through sliding contact between the conductor rail system and collector shoe. The sliding contact produces wear on the conductor rail and wear...

Flexible manipulation of the carrier transport behaviors in two-dimensional materials determines their values of practical application in logic circuits. Here, we demonstrated the carrier-type manipulation in field-effect transistors (FETs) containing α-phase molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe

Over the last decade, various rating systems and indicators have been proposed for evaluating or certifying roadway sustainability. However, there is no systematic method for the roadway projects to adopt the indicators of the rating systems to enhance sustainability for certification. This study developed a strategy for adopting indicators in a roadway rating system for sustainability certification. First, the framework and rules for prioritizing the indicators were established from literature review. Then, carbon emissions, costs, and the difficulties of employing the indicators were analyzed in a roadway case study. Finally, the priorities for adopting the indicators were determined. The results revealed that the indicators with higher score–unit ratios should have higher priorities in the project. By using the developed framework, the simultaneous analysis of multiple dimensions enables appropriate investigation into roadway sustainability problems. The score–unit ratio is a simple but effective metric to evaluate whether a project has incorporated appropriate indicators to enhance sustainability.

Warm-mix asphalt (WMA) is one technology that has been found to have potential in minimizing the environmental harm caused by road construction activities. Its low mixing and compacting temperatures have opened great opportunities for more sustainable development. However, because WMA is mixed at low temperatures, the drying process of the aggregate may fail to dry the WMA completely. The binder-aggregate adhesion property can be damaged by moisture remaining from incomplete drying. The present study investigated the effects of aggregate moisture on the binder-aggregate interfacial characteristics of WMA by evaluating its surface free energy and adhesive bond strength. The results showed that for the Pen 60-70 binder type, the aggregate AG in general showed the higher bond energy and aggregate SD showed the lowest bond energy among three aggregate types. Also, the bond energy diminishes with increasing aggregate moisture contents but the percent drops in bond energy is less when WMA additives was included. For the PM binder, SL aggregate group showed the highest bond energy and SD aggregate group showed the lowest bond energy. For the work of adhesion, the results showed that with aggregate with 10% moisture contents has destructive effects on the work of adhesion which may decrease to 50% compare to dry aggregate condition. Finally, the four quadrant diagrams can be used to combine two distinct property of the bond energy and the work of adhesion as the hybrid performance indicator to rank the effect of moist aggregate to the adhesion properties at binder-aggregate interface.

Although indicators in rating systems have been initiated to measure and promote the sustainability performance of roadway projects in some developed countries, applying those indicators to other regions/countries may still be difficult. In response to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, local road agencies in Taiwan urgently need to establish systematic and quantifiable sustainable roadway strategies. As part of the project to develop a green urban road rating system in Taiwan, this study aims to develop transportation livability-related indicators (TLIs) and identify critical barriers to TLI application in Taiwan’s urban road system. To this end, the research employed an adaptive approach that integrates top-down and bottom-up approaches. The top-down approach included the comprehensive literature review and panel discussion to derive four TLIs and 21 corresponding requirements, and nine potential barriers to hold the indicator adoption. Four TLIs are pedestrian facilities, universal design, multimodal transportation, and utility facilities. The bottom-up approach used the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to assign weights to proposed indicators/requirements. Four critical barriers were also investigated through the Weighted Sum Model (WSM) method, namely unfavorable in-situ conditions, lack of stakeholders’ coordination, unsupported government policy and regulation, and limited budget and schedule. The findings can be beneficial to engineers and decisionmakers to enhance the livability standard of urban streets. The framework proposed in this research can be applied to other roadway characteristics aspects in different regions/countries.

Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) and sinapic acid (SA) are 2 components separately isolated from 2 Asian medicinal plants, Hydnophytum formicarum Jack and Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. The antitumor activities of them were worth exploring, therefore, we examined their antitumor activities in A549, HCT116, HeLa, and Colo320 cancer cell lines by means of WST-1 assay. The results show that Tan IIA exerted far higher (IC50 from 1.0 ± 0.0 to 166.3 ± 24.0 µg/mL) antiproliferative activities than SA (IC50 from 2236.3 ± 484.1 to >10 000.0 µg/mL). Of the 4 cell lines, A549 cells were the most sensitive to Tan IIA; thus, we used Western blotting to explore the cytotoxic mechanisms of Tan IIA in A549 cells and found that they rely on simultaneous induction of apoptosis and necroptosis in the cells. Apoptosis was hallmarked by the induction of cleaved caspase-3 by Tan IIA and necroptosis by the necroptotic marker proteins cyclophilin A and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), as well as increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities. The necroptotic effect was confirmed by the necroptosis inhibitor necrostatin-1 (Nec-1), which eliminated these effects and restored cell survival rates. The levels of cyclophilin A decreased in response to the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk, and those of cleaved caspase-3 decreased in response to Nec-1. Conclusively, Tan IIA has the potential to prevent lung cancer and the mechanism seems to be apoptosis and necroptosis, of which the relationship is mutually interdependent. This is the first report of Tan IIA eliciting necroptosis in A549 cells. Tan IIA may be used for necroptosis-based cancer therapy, especially to overcome apoptosis resistance.

This work was supported by the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No. MOST 108-2112-M-005-012-MY3 and 109-2112-M-005-013-MY3), and also supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 61974070 and 61874074, 1311 Talent Plan, and Start-Up Fund from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications under Grant No. NY219003, and Shenzhen Peacock Plan (Grant No. KQTD2016053112042971).

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are drawing growing attention for next-generation electronics and optoelectronics owing to its atomic thickness and unique physical properties. One of the challenges posed by 2D materials is the large source/drain (S/D) series resistance due to their thinness, which may be resolved by thickening the source and drain regions. Recently explored lateral graphene–MoS21−3 and graphene–WS21,4 heterostructures shed light on resolving the mentioned issues owing to their superior ohmic contact behaviors. However, recently reported field-effect transistors (FETs) based on graphene–TMD heterostructures have only shown n-type characteristics. The lack of p-type transistor limits their applications in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor electronics. In this work, we demonstrate p-type FETs based on graphene–WSe2 lateral heterojunctions grown with the scalable CVD technique. Few-layer WSe2 is overlapped with the multilayer graphene (MLG) at MLG–WSe2 junctions such that the contact res...

A considerable proportion of stroke survivors are prescribed with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Our study indicated that PPI use is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis, hip fracture, and vertebral fracture in stroke patients. The risk tends to increase as the cumulative doses of PPIs increase.A considerable proportion of stroke survivors are prescribed with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Our study investigated the association between PPI use and the risk of osteoporosis and fracture among stroke survivors.A population-based propensity-matched retrospective cohort study was conducted using the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. Patients diagnosed with a new stroke between 2000 and 2012 were identified. After propensity score matching, 10,596 patients were enrolled, and 5298 patients were each assigned to the PPI user and non-user groups. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated for the risk of osteoporosis, hip fracture, and vertebral fractures according to PPI use or non-use. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the dose effects of PPI.PPI use after stroke was associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis, hip fracture, or vertebral fracture, with an adjusted HR (aHR) of 1.28 (P 0.001). The aHRs were also significant for each outcome: osteoporosis, 1.26 (P 0.001); hip fracture, 1.18 (P = 0.048); vertebral fracture, 1.33 (P 0.001). A pattern of dose effect was identified. For any event (osteoporosis/hip fracture/vertebral fracture), the aHR for PPI use of 1-90, 91-365, and 365 cDDDs was 1.22 (P 0.001), 1.27 (P 0.001), and 1.66 (P 0.001), respectively. For each outcome, the highest dose was associated with the highest risk, with aHR of 1.79 (P 0.001), 1.41 (P = 0.039), and 1.82 (P 0.001) for osteoporosis, hip fracture, and vertebral fracture, respectively. Age- and sex-stratified analyses revealed similar patterns.PPI use is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis, hip fracture, and vertebral fracture in stroke patients.

Summary Purpose To validate a conceptual short-form health literacy 12 items questionnaire (HL-SF12) in patient populations. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted via a convenient sample of 403 patients from three departments of a community general hospital in the northern Taiwan. Patients' health literacy was assessed with a validated HL-SF12, derived from the full scale, the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q), as well as a single-item from Chew's Set of Brief Health Literacy Question. A reference population in Northern Taiwan ( n =928) via the HLS-EU-Q in 2013–2014 was used as a reference to compare the health literacy between that of the general public and the patients. Data was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal consistency analysis, correlation analysis, and linear regression models. Results Patients' health literacy assessed with the HL-SF12 was shown with high internal consistency (Cronbach α=.87), and moderately correlated with the single-item from Chew's Set of Brief Health Literacy Question, with satisfactory item-scale convergent validity (item-scale correlation ≥ .40), without floor/ceiling effect, and with satisfactory goodness of fit indices of the three-factor construct model for most of the patients. Their health literacy was significantly positively associated with female gender, higher income, and more often watching health-related TV programs. On the other hands, patients were reported with significantly higher healthcare health literacy than the general public, but not in general health literacy, disease prevention health literacy, or health promotion health literacy. Conclusion The comprehensive HL-SF12 was a valid and easy to use tool for assessing patients' health literacy in the hospitals to facilitate healthcare providers in enhancing patients' health literacy and healthcare qualities.

In the present study, we aim to help improve the design of van der Waals stacking, i.e., vertical 2D electronics, by probing charge transport differences in both parallel and vertical conducting channels of layered molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), with thin graphite acting as source and drain electrodes. To avoid systematic errors and variable contact contributions to the MoS2 channel, parallel and vertical electronics are all fabricated and measured on the same conducting material. Large differences in the on/off current ratio, mobility, and charge fluctuations, between parallel and vertical electronics are evident in electrical performance as well as in charge transport mechanisms. Further insights are drawn from a well-constrained analysis of both temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics and low-frequency (LF) current fluctuations. This work offers significant insight into the fundamental understanding of charge transport and the development of future layered-materials-based integration technology.

The oxygen (O

Specification tests for thin surface treatment are mainly simulated or empirical; without considering fundamental mechanical or rheological properties of the material. Thus, it is difficult to incorporate the test results into mechanical-based pavement design analysis. A series of test methods, which quantify performance-related mechanical properties of thin surface treatment employed in pavement maintenance and pavement preservation is thus needed. The objective of this study is to investigate the performance-related mechanical properties of thin surface treatment materials for pavement maintenance and preservation. The Micro-Surfacing Mat and Precast Rubber Asphalt Mat were used in this study. The Finite Element Model result indicated that the Modified Leutner Shear Test adequate to evaluate the direct shear strength of the thin surface treatment. The results show that the sensitivity loading frequency and the temperature susceptibility of the Precast Rubber Asphalt Mat were reduced by Rubber Modified Asphalt content. The Precast Rubber Asphalt Mat has greater interfacial shear strength as well as shear stiffness compared to those of Micro-Surfacing Mat. The tack coat application rate is crucial for the interfacial shear strength of Precast Rubber Asphalt Mat. This research found that shear stress and the displacement rate are positively related to the interfacial shear strength and shear stiffness. The interfacial shear strength and shear stiffness are negatively related to testing temperature. The Micro-Surfacing Mat had higher dynamic direct shear modulus, lower loading frequency sensitivity, and better rutting resistance than Precast Rubber Asphalt Mat.

Due to its complex nature and inherent unobservable features, teacher change within a specific context has rarely been investigated despite its importance as an issue in teacher professional develo...

Currently, road and airport pavement construction uses approximately 90% asphalt, most of which is mainly derived from fossil fuels. However, with the improvement in oil refinery technology, the quality of asphalt binders is degrading gradually. Moreover, from the environment standpoint, fossil fuels are the main source of greenhouse gases, which lead to global warming. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop a more sustainable binding material from renewable or other alternative resources to replace or modify the existing petroleum-based asphalt binder for the highway industry. The main objective of this study was to investigate the potential use of a bio-oil byproduct as a partial replacement for a bitumen-based binder. The properties of various blending combinations of a biobinder and asphalt binder were compared with those of an unmodified asphalt binder through several physical and rheological tests. The specific gravity of the biobinder was found to be higher than that of the petroleum-based binder. In general, biobinder blends have a higher viscosity than that of the unmodified binder at temperatures higher than 60 °C. Binders containing the biobinder at 25% and 50% have lower temperature susceptibility than that of the unmodified binder. Adding the biobinder at up to 25% does not significantly change the complex shear modulus of unaged binders, whereas rolling thin-film oven-aged biobinder blends show a higher complex modulus and greater viscosity than those of the unmodified binder. Moreover, the biobinder blends show higher G ∗ /sin δ, lower nonrecoverable compliance and greater recovery ability than those of conventional AC-20.

Frequent mill and overlay activities result in the production of a considerable amount of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) materials. Many pavements that incorporated RAP exhibit a shorter service life than do those without RAP. One of the possible reasons is that certain RAP materials have already undergone multiple recycling processes during the past decade. This results in severe aging of the reclaimed asphalt binder (RAB). In this study, three severely aged RABs, two RAP blending scenarios, two virgin binders, and two commercial rejuvenators were used to investigate the feasibility of using severely aged binders for constructing pavements. The chemical and rheological properties of the rejuvenated severely aged binders were evaluated using high-performance gel permeation chromatography and a dynamic shear rheometer. The molecular size distributions of rejuvenated RABs revealed that the rejuvenators used in this study could rebalance the proportions of large, medium, and small molecular components among the rejuvenated RABs. However, the polydispersity values still enabled clearly distinguishing between virgin binders and rejuvenated RABs. Two performance parameters were used to evaluate the potential of age-induced damage as well as permanent rutting in the binders. A Glover–Rowe damage zone was evaluated, and it revealed promising results to distinguish among severely aged binders, virgin binders, and rejuvenated binders. Oscillation and multiple stress creep and recovery tests were performed to obtain rutting potential parameter G ∗ /sin( δ ) and J nr , respectively. The results indicated that all rejuvenated aged binders exhibited higher G ∗ /sin( δ ) values and lower J nr values compared with the control virgin binders.

The objective of this study was to fully characterize and validate the mechanical-based aging model parameters and compared with the chemical kinetic model. This study found that level of aging applied to both asphalt binder and asphalt concrete showed differences, as verified by all of the p-values from regression analysis test, were greater than 0.05. The aging variable value decreased with the aggregate involved. The aging history dependent (k2) could be simulated the actual aging behavior as a polynomial curve. The Pearson correlation test showed that there is a strong relationship between the carbonyl content and the aging model variable.

Modern technology allows us to mimic biological functions with artificial devices. The human brain, including numerous neural cells that connect via synapses, enables us to handle complex tasks with ultra-low power consumption, which is one of the most important biological components that eager to emulate. Here, we propose and build a simple indium selenide (InSe)-based photonic synaptic device with unique gate tunable behaviours such as time-varying output current, auto-depression rate, and paired-pulse facilitation (PPF). A new inverse PPF behaviour is observed, characterized by the positive correlations to the time interval, which is opposite of those negative ones in previous studies. To unveil the origin of this new finding, both the substrate-dependent persistent photocurrent examination and low-frequency noise (LFN) measurements are performed to investigate the electric-controlled charge trapping/detrapping processes between the InSe and SiO2 interface. Furthermore, we systematically demonstrate such the specific evolution of the flexible plasticity within a low-operation voltage and a wide range of visible spectra. Interestingly, the inverse PPF can be employed to emulate more detailed characteristics of a biological brain such as the age-related changes of synaptic plasticity in real human brains. Thus, we believed that our findings provide a proof-of-concept for systematically mimicking the brain plasticity and advancing the development of energy-efficient artificial brains.

ObjectivesTo investigate the association between benzodiazepine (BZD) use and the risk of chronic-onset poststroke pneumonia.DesignPopulation-based propensity-matched retrospective cohort study.SettingTaiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database.ParticipantsPatients newly diagnosed with stroke between 2000 and 2012 were identified and, after propensity score matching, 7516 patients were enrolled. Among these, 3758 patients received BZDs after stroke while 3758 did not.Outcome measuresHRs for developing pneumonia over 1 month after stroke according to BZD use were assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Analyses according to cumulative defined daily doses (cDDDs) of BZDs and stratification for age and sex were also performed.ResultsDuring a mean follow-up time of 4.4 years, 1027 patients in the BZD cohort and 478 patients in the non-BZD cohort developed pneumonia over 1 month after stroke. Patients using BZDs after stroke had a higher pneumonia risk than did those not using BZDs (52.2vs32.6 per 1000 person-years, adjusted HR (aHR)=2.21, 95% CI (CI)=1.97 to 2.48, p365 cDDDs of BZDs were 2.28 (95% CI=2.01 to 2.58; pConclusionsBZD use is associated with an increased risk of chronic-onset poststroke pneumonia.

Power dissipation is a crucial problem as the packing density of transistors increases in modern integrated circuits. Tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs), which have high energy filtering provided by band-to-band tunneling (BTBT), have been proposed as an alternative electronics architecture to decrease the energy loss in bias operation and to achieve steep switching at room temperature. Very recently, the BTBT behavior has been demonstrated in van der Waals heterostructures by using unintentionally doped semiconductors. The reason of the BTBT formation is attributed to a significant band bending near the heterointerface, resulting in carrier accumulations. In this work, to investigate charge transport in type-III transistors, we adopted the same band-bending concept to fabricate van der Waals BP/MoS2 heterostructures. Through analyzing the temperature dependence of their electrical properties, we carefully ruled out the contribution of metal-semiconductor contact resistances and improved our understanding of carrier injection in 2D type-III transistors. The BP/MoS2 heterostructures showed both negative differential resistance and 1/f 2 current fluctuations, strongly demonstrating the BTBT operation. Finally, we also designed a TFET based on this heterostructure with an ionic liquid gate, and this TFET demonstrated an subthreshold slope can successfully surmount the thermal limit of 60 mV/decade. This work improves our understanding of charge transport in such layered heterostructures and helps to improve the energy efficiency of next-generation nanoscale electronics.

In terms of band-gap engineering for devices, despite silicene's great promise, it has received considerably less attention than its carbon cousin graphene. Taking advantage of its tunable band gap, the authors use an effective Hamiltonian formalism to examine the formation of silicene superlattices. They theoretically consider engineering of the local band structure of silicene through application of an out-of-plane electric field, together with control over the spin and valley degrees of freedom, and finally show how to optimize negative differential resistance. This design principle could be extended to stacks of other two-dimensional materials as well.

P-channel WSe 2 FETs along with multilayer graphene source/drain (S/D) are demonstrated by the CVD growth of the WSe 2 monolayer to the patterned graphene. Multilayer graphene (MLG) is adopted to reduce contact resistance while the monolayer WSe 2 served as the channel for the electrostatics integrity of the FET. Furthermore, by increasing the p-type doping concentration of the graphene S/D, the I on /I off ratio can be enhanced to 108 and the unipolar p-channel characteristics are retained regardless the choice of the work function of the metal used for the S/D contact.

This work reveals the intrinsic carrier transport behavior of 2D organolead halide perovskites based on phase-pure homologous (n = 1, 2, and 3) Ruddelsden-Popper perovskite (RPP) (BA)2 (MA)n-1 Pbn I3n+1 single crystals. The 2D perovskite field effect transistors with high-quality exfoliated 2D perovskite bulk crystals are fabricated, and characteristic output and transfer curves are measured from individual single-crystal flakes with various n values under different temperatures. Unipolar n-type transport dominated the electrical properties of all these 2D RPP single crystals. The transport behavior of the 2D organolead halide hybrid perovskites exhibits a strong dependence on the n value and the mobility substantially increases as the ratio of the number of inorganic perovskite slabs per organic spacer increases. By extracting the effect of contact resistances, the corrected mobility values for n = 1, 2, and 3 are 2 × 10-3 , 8.3 × 10-2 , and 1.25 cm2 V-1 s-1 at 77 K, respectively. Furthermore, by combining temperature-dependent electrical transport and optical measurements, it is found that the origin of the carrier mobility dependence on the phase transition for 2D organolead halide perovskites is very different from that of their 3D counterparts. Our findings offer insight into fundamental carrier transport behavior of 2D organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites based on phase-pure homologous single crystals.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship of the vertical deformation between the scaled-down pavement test and full-scale pavement structure according to the theory of similitude-based analysis procedure. Finite element analysis used to investigate and establish the relationship between the scaled-down and full-scale models. Four scaled-down models with scaling factors of 0.9, 0.75, 0.6, and 0.45 with two types of constitutive models of asphalt concrete materials, elastic and viscoelastic, are considered. The results show that the vertical deformation in the full-scale model achieved by applying a vertical shift to the vertical deformation in the scaled-down model. The vertical shift factor varies linearly in normal and logarithm scale with the scaling factor from 0.9 to 0.45 for linear elastic and viscoelastic material, respectively. Moreover, this study proposes a systematic analysis procedure to determine the testing temperature in the SALS test at a specific loading speed by using the time–temperature superposition principle. This study contributes considerably to preliminary understanding of the relationship between the scaled-down tester in the laboratory and the full-scale model according to the theory of similitude.

Display Omitted The Ir-gate AlSb/InAs HEMT on Si substrate has been studied with reliability evaluation.The Ir-gate exhibited a superior metal work function.The Schottky barrier height of InAs/AlSb on silicon was improved.TEM, SIMS, and low frequency noise measurement were adopted to proof device stability. In this work, the 6-inch AlSb/InAs on Si (001) substrate is used to increase device integration and cost-effective purpose. The iridium (Ir)-gate was used for the InAs/AlSb on silicon substrate and temperature-dependent characteristics were also studied. The Ir-gate exhibited a superior metal work function which was beneficial for increasing the Schottky barrier height of InAs/AlSb on silicon heterostructures. Moreover, transmission electron microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and low frequency noise measurements were conducted to proof that the Ir-gated AlSb/InAs HEMT achieved the better stability of characteristics after self-heating and hot-carrier stresses.

Precisely controllable and reversible p/n-type electronic doping of molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe

ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the association between thiazide use and the risk of hip fracture after stroke.SettingA population-based, propensity-matched cohort study was conducted on the basis of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database.ParticipantsPatients with newly diagnosed ischaemic stroke between 2000 and 2011 were included. After propensity score matching, 7470 patients were included, of whom 3735 received thiazides and 3735 did not.Outcome measuresHRs for developing hip fractures within 2 years after stroke were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression model with adjustments for sociodemographic and coexisting medical conditions.ResultsOverall, patients using thiazides after stroke had a lower risk of hip fracture than those not using thiazides (8.5 vs 13.9 per 1000 person-years, adjusted HR=0.64, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.89, p=0.007). Further sensitivity analysis based on the duration of thiazide use revealed that the risk of hip fracture tended to decrease as the duration of exposure of thiazides increased. However, the effect was significant only in patients with long-term use of thiazides (using thiazides for >365 days within 2 years after stroke), with a 59% reduction in the risk of hip fracture when compared with patients not using thiazide (adjusted HR=0.41, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.79, p=0.008).ConclusionsThe long-term use of thiazides is associated with a decreased risk of hip fracture after stroke.

Previous studies have evaluated reading comprehension as the general understanding of reading texts. However, this broad and generic assessment of reading comprehension overlooks the specific aspects and processes that students need to develop. This study adopted Kintsch's Construction–Integration model to tap into reading comprehension at different levels and investigated how English as a foreign language (EFL) students benefit from online annotations to scaffold reading comprehension. Fifty EFL students participated in this study and the data collected included (1) the pre- and post-test assessments in reading comprehension levels, (2) the students’ online annotations on reading texts, and (3) the discussion transcripts from an online discussion forum. The results from the first two data sources (1 and 2) were the data-sets used to investigate the influence of the annotation types on reading comprehension levels. The third data source was the data-set used to probe into the process of how students benef...

A scanning light probe can locally dope two-dimensional molybdenum ditelluride, allowing monolithically integrated circuits (ICs) to be quickly written on the material.

Multifunctional devices are expected to allow development of low-cost, highly integrated, and energy-efficient electronics for the internet of things (IoT) era. Here, we demonstrate an all-two-dimensional ReSe2/h-BN/graphene heterostructure (ReSe2 HS) consisting of a vertically coupled ReSe2 field-effect transistor and charge storage component, which possesses multifunctional characteristics for use in electronics and optoelectronics. As an electrically controlled non-volatile memory (NVM), the ReSe2 HS delivers high-performance multilevel data storage with a readout on/off current ratio exceeding 105 and excellent durability (>104 s) at an ultralow Vds of 50 mV, which benefits to the development of power saving devices. The ReSe2 HS design and high-photoresponsivity ReSe2 channel also achieve an energy efficient optical NVM with full-visible-spectrum distinction. Besides, the ReSe2 HS displays unique ambipolarity to operate as either an inverter or frequency doubler. We further propose a power-free ReSe2 HS optical memory matrix to simplify imaging systems. The ReSe2 HS shows promise for use in light-programmable information storage systems and neuromorphic computation with low power consumption.

Electrical contacts often dominate charge transport properties at the nanoscale because of considerable differences in nanoelectronic device interfaces arising from unique geometric and electrostatic features. Transistors with a tunable Schottky barrier between the metal and semiconductor interface might simplify circuit design. Here, germanium nanowire (Ge NW) transistors with Cu3 Ge as source/drain contacts formed by both buffered oxide etching treatments and rapid thermal annealing are reported. The transistors based on this Cu3 Ge/Ge/Cu3 Ge heterostructure show ambipolar transistor behavior with a large on/off current ratio of more than 105 and 103 for the hole and electron regimes at room temperature, respectively. Investigations of temperature-dependent transport properties and low-frequency current fluctuations reveal that the tunable effective Schottky barriers of the Ge NW transistors accounted for the ambipolar behaviors. It is further shown that this ambipolarity can be used to realize binary-signal and data-storage functions, which greatly simplify circuit design compared with conventional technologies.

An all-inkjet-printed organic thin film transistor (OTFT) with a double-layer dielectric structure is proposed and implemented in this study. By using the double-layer structure with different dielectric materials (i.e., polyvinylphenol with poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)), the threshold-voltage of OTFT can be adjusted. The threshold-voltage shift can be controlled by changing the composition of dielectric layers. That is, an enhancement-mode OTFT can be converted to a depletion-mode OTFT by selectively printing additional dielectric layers to form a high-k/low-k double-layer structure. The printed OTFT has a carrier mobility of 5.0 × 10 − 3 cm 2 /V-s. The threshold-voltages of the OTFTs ranged between − 13 V and 10 V. This study demonstrates an additional design parameter for organic electronics manufactured using inkjet printing technology.

This study is aimed at evaluating the rate of long-term aging of WMA compared to conventional hot-mix-asphalt (HMA). A test section with recorded traffic and weather information was designated in this study. Field cores of two WMAs and one conventional HMA were taken from the field periodically. Both mix and binder properties of retrieved were measured in the laboratory. The resilient modulus and indirect tensile test were performed to characterize mixture properties. The rheological properties of extracted binder were measured by the dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) in order to obtain the complex shear modulus (G*) as well as the phase angle (δ) of binder with and without the WMA additives.

Purpose Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global pandemic metabolic disorder. In recent years, the amount of medical resources required for the treatment of diabetes has increased as diabetes rates have gradually risen. The combined effects of individual and neighbourhood socio-economic status (SES) on DM survival rates are still not clear, especially in patients of working age. In this paper, we aim to analyze the combined effects of neighbourhood and individual SES on DM survival rates in patients of working age in Taiwan. Methods The study of 23,781 people who were diagnosed with DM by using population—based study between 2002 and 2006. Each sample was followed up for 4 years or as a sensor case. We defined Individual SES and neighbourhood SES by each patient’s job category and household income which characterized as advantaged or disadvantaged. Then we compared the survival rates by SES group used Cox proportional hazards model for adjust risk factors. Results The 4-year overall survival rates of diabetic patients were worst for those with low individual SES who living in advantaged neighbourhoods. After adjustment for patient characteristics, DM patients with high individual SES living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods had the same risk of mortality as those patients with high individual SES living in advantaged neighbourhoods (hazard ratio: 1.11; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.81–1.51). The study found that DM patients with low individual SES who live in disadvantaged areas had a greater risk of mortality than those with high SES (odds ratio: 2.57; 95% CI: 2.04–3.24). There were significant differences in survival rates between patients with high individual SES and patients with low individual SES. In contrast, the results did not statistically significant differences in survival rates between advantaged and disadvantaged neighbourhood SES groups. Conclusion DM patients with low individual SES had the worst survival rate, regardless of whether they were living in a high or low SES neighbourhood area. The competitive cause of death, i.e., the fact that complications, rather than DM itself, are often the cause of death, may be the reason for the inverse relationship found between the effects of individual SES and neighbourhood SES on DM survival. We conclude that the socio-economic gradient in survival among DM patients may be the result of differences in access to medical treatment and attributes related to individual SES.

Background Rehabilitation can improve physical activity after stroke. However, patients may be more prone to falls and fractures because of balance and gait deficits. Few reports have studied the relationship between rehabilitation and subsequent fractures after ischemic stroke. Objective To investigate whether post-stroke rehabilitation affects fracture risk. Methods We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study based on the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients with a newly diagnosed ischemic stroke between 2000 and 2012 were included. After propensity score matching, a total of 8,384 patients were enrolled. Half of the patients (4,192) received post-stroke rehabilitation within 1 month; the other half did not receive any post-stroke rehabilitation. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) for fractures among patients with and without rehabilitation within 1 year after ischemic stroke. Patients were further stratified by sex and age (20–64 and ≥65 years). Results Patients receiving post-stroke rehabilitation had a higher incidence of fracture (6.2 per 100 person-years) than those who did not (4.1 per 100 person-years) after adjustment for sociodemographic and coexisting medical conditions [HR = 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.25–1.87, p < 0.001]. The analyses performed after stratifying for sex and age showed that only older women undergoing rehabilitation had a significantly higher risk of fracture (HR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.21–2.17, p = 0.001). Conclusion Rehabilitation after ischemic stroke is associated with an increased fracture risk in older women.

Despite the rapid advances in process technology, via failure is still problematic in nanometer-scale semiconductor manufacturing. Adding redundant vias is a typical approach for improving yield and reliability. Cell-based design methodologies are widely adopted in the industry for application-specific integrated circuits. Standard cells are effective for increasing the insertion rate of redundant via1s in cell-based designs. This study proposes an efficient library check and staggered pin arrangement approach that compares redundant via1 insertion rate in different configurations such as double-via and rectangle-via. To compare the variability in standard cell (SC) libraries, accurate characterization results are provided. Moreover, the proposed SC library is easily implemented in all currently available routers. The experimental results reveal that the proposed library improves total inserted redundant vias, total inserted redundant via1s, and total run time by 20.2%, 51.9%, and 42.3%, respectively. In double-via pattern, the proposed approach improves average via1 insertion rate by 14.6%. In rectangle-via pattern, the proposed approach achieves a 100% via1 insertion rate.

We describe the preparation of vinyl-terminated benzoxazine-functionalized graphene using free radical grafting. The resulting functionalized graphene (f-graphene) was incorporated into bis(3-allyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,3-benzoxazinyl)methane (V-BF-a) monomer in order that nanocomposites could be prepared. Results of scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the sheets of f-graphene were well dispersed throughout the matrix, and there was a strong interfacial interaction between the f-graphene and polyV-BF-a. The inclusion of f-graphene into the nanocomposites resulted in a material with a high thermal stability and a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE); increasing the content of f-graphene reduced the CTE significantly more. A reduction in the CTE of up to 48% was produced by adding just 1 wt% of f-graphene; this corresponded to an increase of 12 °C in the glass transition temperature. These results suggest that f-graphene nanocomposites can be ‘tuned’ to give materials with both a low CTE and a high thermal stability, and that graphene composites of this type can thus be manufactured to withstand a wider range of temperatures.

BackgroundScabies is a global problem. Transmission of scabies is usually due to direct or indirect contact. Delay in diagnosis may result in the spread of the scabies mite. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are important.MethodsIn this study, we collected data from 52 scabies patients and analyzed the risk factors for scabies with the case-control method.ResultsOur study has revealed that the patients who were bedridden [odds ratio (OR) 6.72, p

Increasing evidence suggests that chronic, low-grade inflammation may be a common soil involving the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular disease. We examined the association between C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, an extensively studied biomarker of low-grade inflammation, and the MetS in a representative sample of Chinese adults in Taiwan. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from 4234 subjects [mean (±SD) age, 47.1 (±18.2) years; 46.4 % males] who participated in a population-based survey on prevalences of hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia in Taiwan. CRP levels were measured by the immunoturbidimetric CRP-latex high-sensitivity assay. The MetS was defined by an unified criteria set by several major organizations. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with logistic regression model. Overall, there were 938 subjects with MetS among 4,234 participants, resulting in a prevalence rate of 22.1 %. A significantly progressive increase in the prevalence of MetS across quartiles of CRP was observed (p for trend

This study, part of the NCHRP 9–45 Project, analyzed the effect of mineral filler properties on asphalt mastic and the rutting potential of asphaltic mixture. The mineral filler properties were characterized by four tests: Rigden voids (RV), fineness modulus (FM), calcium oxide (CaO) content, and methylene blue value. The rheological properties of asphalt binder and mastic were characterized with the use of apparent viscosity and multiple stress creep recovery tests. Dynamic modulus and flow number tests were conducted to examine the asphaltic mixture rutting potential. The tested mixtures included several variables: four asphalt binder types, including virgin and polymer modified; two aggregate gradations; and a selected group of fillers. The study concluded that asphalt mastic performance was significantly affected by the fractional voids in the filler and possibly by the CaO content and FM. This effect, however, depended on binder type. On the one hand, the styrene–butadiene–styrene modified binder showed the strongest effect as a result of the mineral filler inclusion when tested as mastic. On the other hand, RV and CaO content showed relatively greater correlation with the mixture rutting potential, as compared with other filler properties. Addition of RV improved the prediction models for dynamic modulus and flow number. The effect of RV on the mixture rutting potential was more pronounced for the coarse mixture than for the fine mixture.

Background. To use sonography (US) to measure the interscapular soft-tissue thickness and to determine any correlation with anthropometric indices. Methods. Fifty-five healthy young adults (21 men and 34 women) with a mean age of 22.1 ± 3.0 years (range, 18–35) were enrolled. High-resolution US was used to measure the bilateral soft-tissue thickness near the medial border of the scapula. Anthropometric indices, including body weight, height, and circumferences of chest, waist, and hip, were also measured. Results. On the right side, mean values ± standard deviation for the thickness of the trapezius, rhomboid, and posterior serratus muscles in millimeters were 4.9 ± 1.0, 6.3 ± 2.3, and 3.5 ± 1.4, respectively, for men and 3.4 ± 0.8, 3.8 ± 1.7, and 2.2 ± 1.5, respectively, for women. The thickness of each muscle was significantly greater in men than in women (p < 0.05). For both genders, no significant differences in the soft-tissue thicknesses were found between both sides. Based on the anthropometric indices, body weight was the only significant contributor to the soft-tissue thickness. Conclusions. US is a practical tool for measuring soft-tissue thickness in the interscapular region. Body weight and soft-tissue thickness are closely associated. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound, 2010

This work describes amorphous fluorinated polymer films deposited by pulsed plasma polymerizations of octafluorotoluene (PPP‐OFT) monomers on ITO glass as the hole‐injection layer of organic electroluminescent (EL) devices, in order to study the influence of sample position and duty cycle on PPP‐OFT film characteristics, and also to find a good process to yield a higher retention degree of monomers and lower roughness of PPP‐OFT fluorocarbon films. Experimental results revealed that PPP‐OFT films deposited at positions far away from the RF coil and close to the monomer inlet showed less roughness than films deposited near the high RF‐flux regions. In addition, the retention of the monomers in the PPP‐OFT layer will be high if the deposition is conducted near the monomer inlet but some distance away from the RF electrode. Moreover, amorphous fluorinated polymer films can be deposited with higher fluorine to carbon (F/C) ratios and CF2 contents at proper substrate positions by means of different st...

To understand the behavior of hot-poured bituminous-based crack sealants at low service temperatures and to predict their field performance, a constitutive stress-strain relationship must be described. This would allow predicting in situ crack sealant response to both thermal and traffic loading. This paper verifies the linear viscoelastic behavior of crack sealants. Ten sealants having high polymer contents were tested at −4 to −40°C using a Crack Sealant Bending Beam Rheometer (CSBBR). The convolution integral principle was used to obtain relaxation moduli from measured creep compliance data. A Prony series viscoelastic model was used to characterize mechanical behavior of crack sealant at low temperatures. The sealant’s linear response was checked by implementing two conditions of linearity described by Marasteanu and Anderson. Simulation for the sealant linear viscoelastic deflection response during the loading and unloading was conducted using a three-dimensional finite-element model. This study conc...

Tunability and stability in the electrical properties of 2D semiconductors pave the way for their practical applications in logic devices. A robust layered indium selenide (InSe) field-effect transistor (FET) with superior controlled stability is demonstrated by depositing an indium (In) doping layer. The optimized InSe FETs deliver an unprecedented high electron mobility up to 3700 cm2 V-1 s-1 at room temperature, which can be retained with 60% after 1 month. Further insight into the evolution of the position of the Fermi level and the microscopic device structure with different In thicknesses demonstrates an enhanced electron-doping behavior at the In/InSe interface. Furthermore, the contact resistance is also improved through the In insertion between InSe and Au electrodes, which coincides with the analysis of the low-frequency noise. The carrier fluctuation is attributed to the dominance of the phonon scattering events, which agrees with the observation of the temperature-dependent mobility. Finally, the flexible functionalities of the logic-circuit applications, for instance, inverter and not-and (NAND)/not-or (NOR) gates, are determined with these surface-doping InSe FETs, which establish a paradigm for 2D-based materials to overcome the bottleneck in the development of electronic devices.