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The molecular template growth of the heterojunction was studied to tailor neuroplasticity that exhibits a high pair-pulse facilitation index of ~206%, and ultralow energy consumption of 0.54 fJ to mimic human-like optical synapse and memory functions.

Metal halide perovskite nanocrystals (PVSK NCs) are generally unstable upon their transfer from colloidal dispersions to thin film devices. This has been a major obstacle limiting their widespread application. In this study, we proposed a new approach to maintain their exceptional optoelectronic properties during this transfer by dispersing brightly emitting cesium lead halide PVSK NCs in polysaccharide-based maltoheptaose

Tremendous research efforts have been dedicated into the field of photoresponsive nonvolatile memory devices owing to their advantages of fast transmitting speed, low latency, and power-saving property that are suitable for replacing current electrical-driven electronics. However, the reported memory devices still rely on the assistance of gate bias to program them, and a real fully photoswitchable transistor memory is still rare. Herein, we report a phototransistor memory device comprising polymer/perovskite quantum dot (QD) hybrid nanocomposites as a photoresponsive floating gate. The perovskite QDs offer an effective discreteness with an excellent photoresponse that are suitable for photogate application. In addition, a series of ultraviolet (UV)-sensitive insulating polymer hosts were designed to investigate the effect of UV light on the memory behavior. We found that a fully photoswitchable memory device was fulfilled by using the independent and sequential photoexcitation between a UV-sensitive polymer host and a visible light-sensitive QD photogates, which produced decent photoresponse, memory switchability, and highly stable memory retention with a memory ratio of 10

Background To compare the risks of major osteoporotic, vertebral, and non-vertebral fractures between patients who discontinued anti-osteoporosis medications. Methods We conducted a comparative effectiveness study with a nationwide population-based cohort study design. Patients aged ≥50 years admitted between 2012 and 2015 for incident hip fractures and receiving denosumab or bisphosphonates with sufficient compliance for at least one year were included. Patients were categorized into persistent or non-persistent denosumab or bisphosphonates users based on their subsequent use pattern. The main outcomes were subsequent hospitalizations for a major osteoporotic, vertebral or non-vertebral fracture. Multivariate, time-varying Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the risk of major outcomes. Results Compared with persistent denosumab users, non-persistent denosumab users had a significantly higher risk of major osteoporotic fractures (Hazard ratio (HR) = 1.60; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.20 to 2.14),vertebral fractures (HR = 2.18; 95% CI, 1.46 to 3.24) and death (HR = 3.57; 95%CI, 2.63-4.84). However, the increased risk of fracture was not found in both persistent and non-persistent bisphosphonates users. Noteworthy, the increased risk of vertebral fractures in non-persistent denosumab users was more pronounced within one-year post discontinuation (HR = 2.90, 95% CI, 1.77 to 4.74) and among patients who discontinued from 2-year denosumab therapy (HR = 3.58; 95% CI, 1.74 to7.40). Discussion Discontinuation of denosumab resulted in an increased risk of major osteoporotic fractures, especially vertebral fractures. The increased risk tends to reveal within one-year post discontinuation and be greater after a longer treatment duration. Notably, only fracture with hospitalization was identified as our research outcome, the real risk of osteoporotic fracture post discontinuation is believed to be higher, especially for vertebral fracture. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The mechanical properties and structural design flexibility of charge-trapping polymer electrets have led to their widespread use in organic field-effect transistor (OFET) memories. For example, in the electrets of polyfluorene-based conjugated/insulating block copolymers (BCPs), the confined fiberlike polyfluorene nanostructures in the insulating polymer matrix act as effective hole-trapping sites, leading to controllable memory performance through the design of BCPs. However, few studies have reported intrinsically stretchable charge-trapping materials and their memory device applications, and a practical method to correlate the thin-film morphology of BCP electrets with their charge-trapping ability has not yet been developed. In this study, a series of new conjugated/insulating BCPs, poly(9,9-di-n-hexyl-2,7-fluorene)-block-poly(δ-decanolactone)s (PF-b-PDLx, x = 1-3), as stretchable hole-trapping materials are reported. The linear and branched PDL blocks with comparable molecular weights were used to investigate the effect of polymer architecture on morphology and device performance. Moreover, the coverage area of the polyfluorene nanofibers on the BCP films was extracted from atomic force microscopy images, which can be correlated with the trapping density of the polymer electrets. The branched PDL segments not only improve stretchability but also tailor crystallinity and phase separation of the BCPs, thus increasing their charge-trapping ability. The OFET memory device with PF-b-PDL3 as the electret layer exhibited the largest memory window (102 V) and could retain its performance at up to 100% strain. This research highlights the importance of the BCP design for developing stretchable charge-trapping materials.

The development of a π-conjugated polymer with hydrogen-bonding moieties has aroused great attention because of the improved molecular stacking and the hydrogen-bonding network. In this study, PDPPTVT (diketopyrrolopyrrole-thiophenevinylenethiophene) and PDPPSe (diketopyrrolopyrrole-selenophene) alkylated with a carbosilane (SiC8) side chain and poly(acryl amide) (PAM)-incorporated alkyl side chain were prepared, and their structure-performance and structure-stretchability correlation were evaluated. By incorporating the DPPTVT backbone and 0, 5, 10, or 20% PAM-incorporated alkyl side chain, the μh value could reach 2.0, 0.97, 0.74, and 0.42 cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively (P1 to P4). The polymer with the PDPPSe backbone and 5% PAM-incorporated alkyl side-chain (P5) exhibited the maximum μh value of 0.96 cm2 V-1 s-1. By extending the PAM moiety from the backbone with alkyl spacers, the solid-state packing and edge-on orientation can be properly maintained. Surprisingly, the PAM-incorporated alkyl side-chain can provide a hydrogen-bonding network serving as sacrificial bonding to mechanical deformation. Therefore, the relevant changes in the crystallographic parameters including the crystalline size and the in-plane π-π stacking distance with a 100% external strain were less than 4 and 0.8%, respectively, from P1 to P3. Therefore, P3 achieved an excellent stretchability while maintaining its molecular orientation and charge-transporting performance. Even with 100% external strain, P3 still provided an orthogonal μh over 0.1 cm2 V-1 s-1. Moreover, by substituting the TVT moiety with the Se moiety, the ductility of the backbone can be further increased when the elastic modulus decreases from 0.80 to 0.36 GPa for P2 to P5. The achieved high μh retention is over 20% after 500 stretching-releasing cycles with a 60% external strain perpendicular to the channel direction for the polymer composed of PDPPSe and 5% PAM content. The results manifest that our newly designed DPP with the PAM-incorporated alkyl side chain provides a promising approach to promote the intrinsic stretchability of the π-conjugated polymers.

The appealing advantage of using an electrospinning technique to improve the elastomeric properties of conjugated polymers is demonstrated in this study. It is revealed that the electrospinning process can strengthen the low-crystalline feature of the prepared nanofibers. By combining the use of a polymer with low glass transition temperature, extremely stretchable nanofibers can be successfully prepared. P-type poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) electrospun (ES) nanofibers show a low Young's modulus of 0.448 GPa and still exhibit a high hole mobility of >10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1 even under an external strain of 500%. Based on these prepared P3HT ES nanofibers, a fully stretchable field-effect transistor (FET) and photomemory are realized. Besides, stretchable n-type poly{[N,N′-bis(2-octyldodecyl)naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5′-(2,2′-bithiophene)} (N2200) ES nanofibers are also successfully prepared with strain tolerance up to 400% strain, showing the general applicability of our proposed method.

Smart Artificial Retina In article number 2100742, Chih‐Chien Hung, Wen‐Chang Chen and co‐workers propose an organic optical sensing inverter (OOSI) based on the N and P‐type field‐effect transistors, presenting dual‐mode functions for red/green/blue photoreceptors and blue‐ray surveillance within a single cell. Through the bilayer configurations, the device exhibits a light‐triggered broadband response, low energy consumption (±5 V), and an ultrafast response (

Carbosilane side chain-equipped isoindigo–bithiophene semiconducting polymers (PII2T) have been designed and synthesized for stretchable electronics applications. Systematically tailoring the lengt...

We report the synthesis, morphology, and electronic properties of intrinsically stretchable AB-type, ABA-type, and BAB-type block copolymers (BCPs) of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT: A block) and elastic poly(octylene oxide) (POO: B block). By incorporating the soft coils, all BCP thin films exhibited clear self-assembled fibrillary nanostructures and largely improved stretchable mechanical properties within the films. The results from the absorption spectra and AFM images indicated that the self-assembled structures of the P3HT blocks in the block copolymers were related to the backbone sequences. Also, the phased-separated morphology of the AB-, ABA-, and BAB-block copolymers from GI-SAXS showed the average nanofibril d-spacing ranging from 17.9, 21.6, and 13.9 nm, respectively, which led to the same order on the formed nanofibril density. Among all the BCPs, only the ABA-type BCP thin film remains perfectly smooth and no wrinkle or crack is observed even up to the strain of 100%. These results indicate the significance of the conjugated/elastic block sequence for the morphology and physical properties of the prepared block copolymers. The resistive memory devices fabricated in the configuration of PDMS (substrates)/CNTs (bottom electrode)/BCP thin films (active layer)/Al (top electrode) exhibited non-volatile flash characteristics. In particles, the as-fabricated resistive memory device with the ABA-type BCP could endure up to 80% strain and an excellent ON/OFF current ratio was also achieved after 500 continuous stretching/releasing cycles under 50% strain. This work highlights the importance of molecular architectures on the conjugated/elastic ratios of BCPs for stretchable devices.

Background: Since 2011, Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) issued a regulation on the reimbursement to anti-osteoporosis medications (AOMs). This study aimed to evaluate the impact of this regulation in reimbursement on the utilization of AOMs, clinical outcomes and associated medical expenditures of patients with incident hip fractures. Methods: By using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), patients with incident hip fracture from 2006 to 2015 were identified as our study cohort. Patients younger than 50 years old or prescribed with AOMs within one year prior to incident fracture were excluded. Outcomes of interest were quarterly estimates of the proportion of patients who received bone mineral density (BMD) examination, who were prescribed AOMs, as well as who encountered subsequent osteoporotic fracture-related visits and associated medical expenditures. Particularly, age- and gender specific estimates were reported. An interrupted time series study design with segmented regression model was used to quantitatively explore the impact of the changes of the reimbursement criteria on the level (immediate) and trend (long-term) changes of these outcomes. Results: Our study enrolled 118 493 patients with incident hip fracture with those patients aged older than 80 years old accounting for the largest proportion. A significantly decreased trend of AOMs prescription rates was observed immediately post regulation except for female aged between 65 and 80, while the long-term pattern showed no significant difference. However, the percentage of patients encountered subsequent osteoporotic fracture-related visit was not statistically different between pre- and post-regulation periods. Noteworthy, the policy regulation was associated with an increasing trend of osteoporotic fracture associated medical expenditures, especially for patients older than 80 years old. Conclusion: The regulation on the reimbursement for AOMs decreased the prescribing rate of AOMs immediately although the effect did not sustain thereafter. However, higher subsequent osteoporotic fracture-related medical expenditures were introduced, especially among those very old population.

We report the synthesis, morphology, and photophysical properties of new conjugated rod-coil block copolymers consisting of poly[2,7-(9,9-dihexylfluorene)] (PF) conjugated rods and soft poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PBA) coils for stretchable light-emitting device applications. The PF-b-PBA thin films could form obvious self-assembled nanofibrillar structures after the solvent annealing treatment. Besides this, both the deformability and optical properties of block copolymers were controllable by varying the PF/PBA ratio. The annealed PF4k-b-PBA7k thin film exhibited pure blue emission with a high photoluminescence quantum yield of over 22.5% under 100% strain, validating the excellent stretchability and promising stability. Furthermore, a stretchable and fluorescent PF-b-PBA based microporous template with tunable regularity can be fabricated through the breath figure method. These results demonstrated that the novel intrinsically deformable and luminescent rod-coil block copolymers could have versatile applications in stretchable light-emitting devices.

Poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) side chain equipped isoindigo-bithiophene (II2T) conjugated polymers have been designed and synthesized for stretchable electronic applications. The PBA segment possesses low glass transition temperature and high softness, offering a great opportunity to improve the mechanical property of semiconducting polymer thin films that typically contain lots of rigid conjugated rings. Polymers with 0, 5, 10, 20 and 100% of PBA side chains, named PII2T, PII2T-PBA5, PII2T-PBA10, PII2T-PBA20, and PII2T-PBA100, were explored, and their polymer properties, surface morphology, electrical characteristics, and strain-dependent performance were investigated systematically. The series polymers showed a charge carrier mobility of 0.06–0.8 cm2 V–1 s–1 with an on/off current ratio over 105 dependent on different amounts of PBA chains as probed using a top-contact transistor device. Moreover, we can still achieve a mobility higher than 0.2 cm2 V–1 s–1 even if 10% of PBA side chains were added (i.e., P...

Novel red–green–blue (RGB) switchable probes based on fluorescent porous electrospun (ES) nanofibers exhibiting high sensitivity to pH and mercury ions (Hg2+) were prepared with one type of copolymer (poly(methyl methacrylatete-co-1,8-naphthalimide derivatives-co-rhodamine derivative); poly(MMA-co-BNPTU-co-RhBAM)) by using a single-capillary spinneret. The MMA, BNPTU, and RhBAM moieties were designed to (i) permit formation of porous fibers, (ii) fluoresce for Hg2+ detection, and (iii) fluoresce for pH, respectively. The fluorescence emission of BNPTU (fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) donor) changed from green to blue as it detected Hg2+. The fluorescence emission of RhBAM (FRET acceptor) was highly selective for pH, changing from nonfluorescent (pH 7) to exhibiting strong red fluorescence (pH 2). The full-color emission of the ES nanofibers included green, red, blue, purple, and white depending on the particular pH and Hg2+-concentration combination of the solution. The porous ES nanofibers ...

Isoindigo-based conjugated polymers, PII2T-C6 and PII2T-C8, with carbosilane side chains have been designed and synthesized for stretchable electronic applications. The carbosilane side chains offerred a simple synthetic pathway to evaluate long and branched side chains in high yields and were prepared with a six or eight linear spacer plus two hexyl or octyl chains after branching. The studied polymers showed a high charge carrier mobility of 8.06 cm2 V–1 s–1 with an on/off current ratio of 106 as probed using a top-contact transistor device with organized solid state molecular packing structures, as investigated through grazing-incidance X-ray diffreaction (GIXD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique systematically. The studied polymers, more attractive, exhibited superior thin film ductility with a low tensile modulus in a range of 0.27–0.43 GPa owing to the branched carbosilane side chain, and their mobility was remained higher than 1 cm2 V–1 s–1 even under a 60% strain along parallel or perpend...

In this study, we successfully synthesized water/methanol soluble random copolymers with a high dielectric constant, poly(n-(hydroxymethyl) acrylamide-co-5-(9-(5-(diethylamino)pentyl)−2-(4-vinylphenyl)−9H-fluorene(P(NMA-co-F6NSt)), which contained chemical crosslinkable segment (NMA) and hole trapping building block (F6NSt). The feeding molar ratios of two monomers (NMA:F6NSt) were set as 100:0, 95:5, 80:20, and 67:33 for the copolymers of P1, P2, P3, and P4, respectively. The crosslinked P(NMA-co-F6NSt) thin film could serve as both dielectric and charge storage layers in organic field-effect transistor (OFET) memory device and exhibited high k (i.e., 4.91–6.47) characteristics, leading to a low voltage operation and a small power consumption. Devices based on the P1-P4 dielectrics showed excellent insulating properties and good charge storage performance under a low operating voltage in a range of ±5V because of tightly network structures and well-dispersed trapping cites. In particular, P3-based memory device exhibited a large memory window of 4.13 V with stable data retention stability over 104 s, a large on/off ratio of 104, and good endurance characteristics as high as 200 cycles. The above results suggested that a high-performance OFET memory device could be facilely achieved using the novel crosslinkable high-k copolymers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016, 54, 3224–3236

Novel multifunctional fluorescent electrospun (ES) nanofibers exhibiting high sensitivity for various metal ions were prepared from binary blends of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-N-methylolacrylamide) (poly(HEMA-co-NMA)) and 9,9-dihexylfluorene-2,7-bipyridine (bpy-F-bpy) by using a single-capillary spinneret. Different compositions of poly(HEMA-co-NMA) were synthesized through free-radical polymerization. The HEMA moieties were designed to exhibit hydrophilic properties, and the NMA content substantially affected the stability of the ES nanofibers in water. Experimental optical spectra and simulation results demonstrated that the fluorescent sensing probe bpy-polyfluorene-bpy could detect various metal ions. ES nanofibers prepared from copolymers with a 77:23 HEMA:NMA ratio blended with 5% bpy-F-bpy (P2–5) exhibited apparent color change from blue to green, color change from blue to blue-green and fluorescence quenching when detecting Zn2+, Hg2+ and Cu2+, respectively. The P2–5 ES nanofibers exhibited ultrasensitivity for Zn2+ (10−7–10−3 m) because of the 70 nm red shift of the emission maximum, and high reversibility because of their on–off switchable fluorescence emission upon the sequential addition of Zn2+ and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid cycled several times. These results and a microfluidics system study indicated that the nanofibers, which have a high surface-to-volume ratio, can be used as ‘naked eye’ sensors for sensing various metal ions and as efficient multifunctional chemosensor-filtering devices. The chemosensor-filter based on novel multifunctional fluorescent electrospun (ES) nanofibers exhibiting high sensitivity for various metal ions were prepared from binary blends poly(HEMA-co-NMA) and bpy-F-bpy by using a single-capillary spinneret. It shows apparent color change from blue (blank) to green, to blue-green and to be fluorescence quenching when detecting Zn2+, Hg2+ and Cu2+, respectively, and high reversibility. A microfluidics system study indicated that these nanofibers can be used as ‘naked eye’ sensors for sensing various metal ions and as efficient multifunctional chemosensor-filtering devices.

A novel approach for using conjugated rod-coil materials as a floating gate in the fabrication of nonvolatile photonic transistor memory devices, consisting of n-type Sol-PDI and p-type C10-DNTT, is presented. Sol-PDI and C10-DNTT are used as dual functions of charge-trapping (conjugated rod) and tunneling (insulating coil), while n-type BPE-PDI and p-type DNTT are employed as the corresponding transporting layers. By using the same conjugated rod in the memory layer and transporting channel with a self-assembled structure, both n-type and p-type memory devices exhibit a fast response, a high current contrast between "Photo-On" and "Electrical-Off" bistable states over 105 , and an extremely low programing driving force of 0.1 V. The fabricated photon-driven memory devices exhibit a quick response to different wavelengths of light and a broadband light response that highlight their promising potential for light-recorder and synaptic device applications.

Mechanical failure of π‐conjugated polymer thin films is unavoidable under cyclic loading conditions, due to intrinsic defects and poor resistance to crack propagation. Here, the first tear‐resistant and room‐temperature self‐healable semiconducting composite is presented, consisting of conjugated polymers and butyl rubber elastomers. This new composite displays both a record‐low elastic modulus (

We synthesized a series of new intrinsically stretchable block copolymers (BCPs) in linear AB-type, ABA-type, and star-shaped architectures composed of oligosaccharide (MH) and flexible poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PBA) blocks for the application in field-effect transistor memory. The BCP thin films are used as the charge trapping layers in the memory devices where the BCPs phase separate into ordered MH microdomains in soft PBA matrices. The MH microdomain works as the charge-trapping sites while the soft PBA matrix provides a stretchability. In particular, the BCPs of the ABA-type and star-shaped architectures with the end MH blocks not only show superior memory performances but also form physical networks that impart mechanical resilience to the thin films such that they can endure 100% strain without formation of cracks. The mobilities and the memory windows of the devices are nearly constant even when the charge trapping layers are stretched and released at 50% strain for 1000 cycles. This work highlights...

This nationwide cohort study examined the potential disease-modifying effect of anti-osteoporosis medication on hip osteoarthritis. The results revealed that the usage of anti-osteoporosis medication is not associated with decreased risk in undergoing total hip arthroplasty in patient with hip osteoarthritis. This study aimed to assess the association between use of anti-osteoporosis medications (AOMs) and the risk of undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) in patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA). Using the 2008–2013 National Health Insurance Research Database, we identified patients who were first diagnosed as having hip OA. All identified patients were followed until THA, death of any cause, or December 31, 2013, whichever occurred first. All AOM exposures were divided into three categories: bisphosphonates use, non-bisphosphonates use, and no use of AOMs and assessed in a time-varying manners. The primary outcome was THA. The secondary outcome was the differences in the longitudinal utilization of NSAIDs between AOM users and non-users. Time-dependent Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate the effect of AOM use on the risk of THA. We identified 35,870 patients who were first diagnosed as having hip OA and had no history of AOM use between 2009 and 2012. Among them, 3162 and 1667 patients had their first prescription of bisphosphonates and other non-bisphosphonates AOMs during the follow-up period. Mean age of bisphosphonates users, non-bisphosphonates users, and non-users was 75.62, 76.84, and 67.39 years, respectively. Bisphosphonates or non-bisphosphonates users did not show significant change when compared to non-users in terms of risk of undergoing THA [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.972, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.743–1.273; aHR 0.926, 95% CI 0.672–1.277]. Our results showed that the use of AOMs is not associated with decreased risk of THA in patients with hip OA.

Summary: Objective: Femoral neck shortening is a common complication after surgical treatment for intracapsular femoral neck fractures. This study investigated whether fully-threaded Headless Compression Screw (FTHCS) can be a more length-stable implant than partially-threaded cannulated screw (PTCS) in reducing femoral neck shortening. Methods: A total of 50 patients with undisplaced femoral neck fractures (17 treated by internal fixation with three FTHCS, and 33 treated by three PTCS) from 2011 to 2014 were enrolled in this study. The radiography of the hips and medical records were reviewed for proximal femur geometry and complications. Results: Significant shortening of the femoral neck length until union were noted in both group (FTHCS group: −2.5 mm, p = 0.045; PTCS group: −2.4 mm, p = 0.011). There was no significant difference in the length of femoral neck shortening between groups (p = 0.855). Age was the only significant risk factor for >5 mm of femoral neck shortening (p = 0.041). The femoral neck-shaft angle tended to reduce and become more varus in both groups (FTHCS: −2.7°, SD = 4.5, p = 0.028; PTCS: −5.0°, SD = 8.3, p = 0.002), but the differences between groups were nonsignificant (p = 0.577). The complication rates were similar between FTHCS and PTCS (17.6% and 21.2%, p > 0.999). Conclusion: The FTHCSs may be a substitute for PTCSs, but it cannot prevent femoral neck shortening and varus collapse after fracture fixation. Future studies should focus on how to preserve femoral neck length and hip function after femoral neck fractures. Keywords: Cannulated screw, Femoral neck shortening, Femoral neck fractures, Headless compression screw, Thread

High Performance organic field-effect transistor (OFET) memory devices were successfully prepared using new dielectric materials, poly(N-(hydroxymethyl)acrylamide-co-5 -(9-(5-(diethylamino)pentyl)-2-(4-vinylphenyl)-9H-fluorene (P(NMA-co-F6NSt)), which contained chemical cross-linkable segment (NMA) and hole trapping building block (F6NSt). The high k characteristics of P(NMA-co-F6NSt)) led to a low voltage operation, a small power consumption, and a good digital information storage capacity. Such P(NMA-co-F6NSt) dielectrics in OFET memories with variant NMA/F6NSt molar ratios (100/0 (P1), 95/5 (P2), 80/20 (P3), and 67/33 (P4)) showed excellent insulating properties and good charge storage performance under a low operating voltage below ±5V, due to the tightly network structures after crosslinking and well-dispersed trapping cites (i.e. fluorene moieties). P3-based memory device, in particular, exhibited largest memory window of 4.13 V among the studied polymers, and possessed stable data retention stability over 104 s with a high on/off current ratio (i.e. 104) and good endurance characteristics of more than 200 write-read-write-erase (WRER) cycles. The above results suggested that a high-performance OFET memory device could be facilely achieved using the novel synthesized high-k copolymers.

AIMS Recent clinical guidelines have suggested that patients experience an osteoporotic fracture should initiate anti-osteoporosis medications (AOMs). However, whether clinical guidelines translate well in "real-world" practices remain questioned. This study aimed to evaluate the "real-world" prescription pattern of AOMs and visualise the unmet treatment needs in different geographical areas in Taiwan. METHODS Using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, we identified patients diagnosed with a hip or vertebral fracture between 2009 and 2012. The treatment rate was defined as the proportion of patients receiving AOMs within 1 year after their index fracture. The qualitative geographical information systems approach was adopted to visualise the treatment needs of postfracture patients in different geographical areas. RESULTS Our study included 276,492 patients diagnosed with a hip or vertebral fracture between 2009 and 2012. The proportion of patients who received AOMs within 1 year after their index fracture increased with age and differed with fracture types and sex. For patients with hip fractures, the treatment rate ranged from 3.43% to 20.88% for female patients and from 0.69% to 10.04% for male patients in different age groups. For patients with vertebral fractures, the treatment rate ranged from 3.23% to 37.08% for female patients and from 1.85% to 23.05% for male patients. Cities in the mid-northern and southern areas of Taiwan had the highest unmet treatment need, with a treatment rate of less than 15%. CONCLUSION The treatment rate of osteoporotic fractures with AOMs was diverse and suboptimal in Taiwan, especially among male patients. This study used a visualisation technique to display information about the treatment status in different geographical areas and help policymakers allocate resource appropriately.

The sol–gel method was used to grow nano-particles with the aid of iron catalyst, which was in advance uniformly spread over a silicon substrate by the spin coating technique. The well-aligned bamboo-like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown on the Si wafer surface by microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition (MPCVD) method with the composition-controlled gaseous mixture of CH 4 , H 2 , and N 2 . By the HR-TEM technique, we have found that CNTs exhibit bamboo-like structure. Raman spectroscopy and XPS techniques were used to characterize as-grown bamboo-like CNTs. The results show that the base growing mode of CNTs predominates in sol–gel-prepared catalyst and nitrogen can enhance the formation of bamboo-like CNTs.

The study is made on synthesizing diamond films using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) method, the kinetic energy uniformity of particles just above substrate surface are found to be improved as the substrate moved toward the plasma core. However, the deposition of non-diamond carbons will form if the substrate is placed close enough to the plasma core. It shows that the diamond characteristic qualities of the diamond film can be significantly promoted by adequately adjusting the working distance. A large area diamond film with consistent diamond qualities over various surface regions can thus be successfully synthesized using lower power plasma.

It is discovered that the memory-type behaviors of novel carbohydrate-block-polyisoprene (MH-b-PI) block copolymers-based devices, including write-once-read-many-times, Flash, and dynamic-random-access-memory, can be easily controlled by the self-assembly nanostructures (vertical cylinder, horizontal cylinder, and order-packed sphere), in which the MH and PI blocks, respectively, provide the charge-trapping and stretchable function. With increasing the flexible PI block length, the stretchability of the designed copolymers can be significantly improved up to 100% without forming cracks. Thus, intrinsically stretchable resistive memory devices (polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)/carbon nanotubes(CNTs)/MH-b-PI thin film/Al) using the MH-b-PI thin film as an active layer is successfully fabricated and that using the MH-b-PI12.6k under 100% strain exhibits an excellent ON/OFF current ratio of over 106 (reading at −1 V) with stable V set around −2 V. Furthermore, the endurance characteristics can be maintained over 500 cycles upon 40% strain. This work establishes and represents a novel avenue for the design of green carbohydrate-derived and stretchable memory materials.

DDR3 memory interface (I/F) with single-end signals is very sensitive to external environments, such as chip package type and system board design. In order to guarantee the system performance, IP providers often define the package and PCB design constraints to reduce product risks [1]. These design constraints may increase the package size and DDR3 PCB area to cost, increasing the whole system cost. Therefore, our DDR3 memory I/F design addresses this problem, relaxing the external environment requirements, especially relating to power integrity, and achieves 2.667Gb/s operation in a wirebond package and singleside mounted PCB. The difference between double-side and single-side mounted PCB is shown in Fig. 26.6.1. The capacitor on the PCB cannot be mounted directly near the SOC on the back side of PCB. This external environment increases the distance of the current return loop and also increases the inductance of power decouple capacitance equivalently.

Diblock copolymers consisting of electron-donating poly[2,7-(9,9-dihexylfluorene)] (PF) rods and electron-withdrawing poly(pendent isoindigo) (Piso) coils were designed and synthesized through a click reaction. The electronic properties and interchain organization of the copolymers could be tuned by varying the PF/Piso ratio (PF14-b-Pison (n=10, 20, 60 and 100)). The highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels of the studied polymers were progressively reduced as the length of Piso increased, affecting the charge trapping and intramolecular charge transfer environment between PF and Piso domains. Thermally treated PF14-b-Pison thin films exhibited a clear nanofibrillar structure, and the d-spacing was enhanced systematically as the Piso chain length increased. Resistive memory characteristics were explored with a sandwich indium tin oxide/PF14-b-Pisons/Al device configuration. The enhanced conjugated PF conducting channels led to stable resistance switching behavior, exhibiting volatile SRAM (static random access memory) (PF14-b-Piso10) and nonvolatile WORM (write-once-read-many-times) (PF14-b-Piso20, PF14-b-Piso60, PF14-b-Piso100) characteristics with a large ON/OFF ratio (106) and a stable retention time (104 s). A more appealing feature is that such memory cells were integrated on a soft poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrate, allowing for the development of a stretchable data storage device. Reliable and reproducible electrical characteristics, including SRAM- and WORM-type memories, could be explored as the device was stretched under an applied tensile strain ranging from 0 to 50%. The studied donor–acceptor copolymers indeed showed great potential for stretchable electronic applications with controllable digital information storage characteristics. A copolymer whose electrical properties can be tuned by varying the ratio of its two blocks is promising for wearable data storage devices. Polymer–based memory devices have excited much interest because of their flexibility, low cost and printability, but so far no stretchable memory devices based on copolymers made up of electron–donating and –accepting blocks have been made. Now, Wen–Chang Chen of National Taiwan University and co–workers have fabricated a series of copolymers made of electron-donating rods and electron–accepting coils. The rods impart the copolymer with superior electrical properties, while the coils give it flexibility. Varying the ratio of the rods to coils allows the copolymer's properties to be varied. The researchers demonstrated that reproducible electrical characteristics can be obtained even when tensile strains of up to 50% are applied. Stretchable resistive memories were created using donor–acceptor rod-coil diblock copolymers, poly(polyfluorene)-b-poly(pendent isoindigo), with different block ratios. Reliable and reproducible electrical characteristics of volatile SRAM- and nonvolatile WORM-type memories were exhibited under applied tensile strains ranging from 0 to 50 %, demonstrating the potential to serve as promising candidates for high-performance wearable devices.

This paper presents the design of a 2.5Gb/s serial link transceiver with a power consumption of 70mW. With IV supply voltage, the transceiver achieves the bit error rate of 10-14. A supply regulated PLL is shared by the transmitter and the receiver to facilitate the low-power and low-voltage design. The output jitter of the transmitter is 53.9ps peak-to-peak and the chip area is approximately 0.54 mm2

A new reticle inspection system with three parallel scanning laser beams for UV imaging for both contamination and pattern inspection has been developed to detect defects on advanced reticles for DUV steppers and low k1 lithography for .13 mm and extensions to .10 mm design rules. The development of the new three beam architecture at UV wavelength has significantly increased system throughput while improving the resolution of the imaging optics for inspecting advanced reticles including Attenuating, Tri-Tone, and Alternating PSM's and reticles with aggressive OPC. The system is capable of running multiple inspection algorithms simultaneously in transmitted and reflected light to achieve concurrent pattern and STARlightTM inspection, thus improving both sensitivity and inspection thoroughness with a single inspection. These improvements enable fast inspections of reticles for 4X lithography design rules at 0.18 mm, 0.15 mm and 0.13 mm. Initial simulations were performed to optimize performance of optical components and a new defect detection algorithm. The simulations identified that with the optics changes to achieve three beam scans and with new algorithms, the inspection was more sensitive to all defect types including on edge contamination defects, which can be particularly difficult to detect. Using both PSL and programmed defect test masks and real production reticles, initial observations of the nature and the frequency of defects detected with this 100nm sensitivity instrument will be presented. With more defects to review, the system software provides concurrent or remote defect review so time to disposition defects does not effect system inspection capacity. With smaller defects to review the quality of defect review images has a direct impact on the effectiveness and ease-of-use of reticle inspections systems. The smaller review pixel with the system combined with a suite of review imaging tools, yields high quality images for defect dispositioning.

The polyimide technology has bene used extensively for semiconductor industry, includes buffer coating, interlayer dielectric and passivation, Alpha ray shielding and protective/insulating films. The features of the polyimide material for the new generation of advanced semiconductor products must have excellent properties and high performances to meet various demands in the microelectronics application. The requirements include high resolution, low internal stress, process cost reduction, environment safety, excellent process stability and window in the future. Three kinds of heat-resistant base polymers had been widely applied on wafer-coating processing microelectronic device including polyamic acids, ring-closure type soluble polyimides with hydroxyl groups, and PBO precursors. In this work, we had evaluated positive-tone photosensitivity with aqueous developed polyimide consisting of previous base resins, and compared the difference of process conditions, cured-film properties, adhesion properties, etching recipes as one mask process and reliability test, etc.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.