Search

Rui-Yu Chang,1 Ta-Liang Chen,2– 4,* Chun-Chieh Yeh,5,6 Ching-Hsiang Chen,7 Qiao-Wen Wang,8 Thomas Toung,9 Chien-Chang Liao3,4,10– 13,* 1Department of Sport Promotion, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 2Department of Anesthesiology, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; 3Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; 4Anesthesiology and Health Policy Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 5Department of Surgery, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 6Department of Surgery, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA; 7Physical Education Office, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; 8Doctoral Program of Educational Leadership and Technology Management, Tamkang University, Taipei, Taiwan; 9Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA; 10Department of Anesthesiology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 11Research Center of Big Data and Meta-Analysis, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; 12School of Health Care Administration, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; 13School of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Chien-Chang Liao, Department of Anesthesiology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, 252 Wuxing Street, Taipei, 110, Taiwan, Email jacky48863027@yahoo.com.twObjective: To evaluate the risk of obesity in preschool children with prolonged screen time in Taiwan.Methods: Using a nationwide survey with random sampling, we collected information on 8378 preschool children aged 2– 6 years among 206 preschools in Taiwan from 2016 to 2019. Socioeconomic data, body mass index, and lifestyle of the preschool children and their caregivers were compared among the groups of preschool children who had moderate and prolonged daily screen time. We used multiple log-binomial regression models to calculate the adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of obesity associated with prolonged screen time.Results: The prevalence of obesity in the preschool children was 13.1%, and the average screen time was 104.6 minutes. Children’s age, sleep hours, outdoor play time, sugar intake, snack eating before dinner, sleep disturbance, and obesity, as well as caregiver’s sex, age, education, screen time, exercise time and parent obesity were factors related to high screen time for preschool children. Compared with children with moderate screen time, children with prolonged screen time had a higher risk of obesity (PR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.18– 1.79). With a 60-minute increase in screen time, the risk of obesity increased, with an PR of 1.10 (95% CI, 1.03– 1.17).Conclusion: Preschool children with prolonged screen time had an increased risk of obesity in Taiwan. Interventions may be needed for this very susceptible population.Keywords: digital media, obesity, preschool children, screen time, television

Purpose The purpose of this study is to use the Taguchi Method for parametric design in the early stages of product development. electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issues can be considered in the early stages of product design to reduce counter-measure components, product cost and labor consumption increases due to a number of design changes in the R&D cycle and to accelerate the R&D process. Design/methodology/approach The three EMC characteristics, including radiated emission, conducted emission and fast transient impulse immunity of power, are considered response values; control factors are determined with respect to the relevant parameters for printed circuit board and mechanical design of the product and peripheral devices used in conjunction with the product are considered as noise factors. The optimal parameter set is determined by using the principal component gray relational analysis in conjunction with both response surface methodology and artificial neural network. Findings Market specifications and cost of components are considered to propose an optimal parameter design set with the number of grounded screw holes being 14, the size of the shell heat dissipation holes being 3 mm and the arrangement angle of shell heat dissipation holes being 45 degrees, to dispose of 390 O filters on the noise source. Originality/value The optimal parameter set can improve EMC effectively to accommodate the design specifications required by customers and pass test regulations.

Giant Zeeman splitting and zero-field splitting (ZFS) are observed in 2D nanosheets that have monolayers of atomic thickness. In this study, single-crystalline CdSe(ethylenediamine)0.5 and Mn2+-doped nanosheets are synthesized via a solvothermal process. Tunable amounts of Mn2+(0.5-8.0%) are introduced, resulting in lattice contraction as well as phosphorescence from five unpaired electrons. The exciton dynamics are dominated by spin-related electronic transitions (4T1 → 6A1) with long lifetimes (20.5, 132, and 295 μs). Temperature-varied EPR spectroscopy with spectral simulation reveals large ZFS (D = 3850 MHz) due to axial distortion of substituted Mn2+ (S = 5/2). In the magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) measurements, we observed giant Zeeman splitting with large effective g values (up to 231 ± 21), which implies huge sp-d exchange interactions in 2D monolayer regimes, leading to diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) materials.

Non-destructive evaluation indices that correlate with the moisture resistance of integrated circuit packages are developed. These indices are developed from detailed studies on the functional groups in a moulding compound, and their effectiveness is verified experimentally. With these indices, one can ensure the moisture resistance of an individual package without the need of the standard humidity tests which require long test durations on limited number of samples where extrapolation with statistical uncertainty will be present.

The Mississippi Canyon 280-A platform, also known as Lena Guyed Tower located in 1,000 ft water depth in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), was successfully decommissioned and reefed in-place in 2020. To meet the regulatory requirements on offshore platform decommissioning, i.e. BSEE decommissioning requirements and the LDWF artificial reef program, an environmental study and an engineering study were performed to ensure that the platform decommissioning satisfies these critical requirements on environmental protection and operational safety. The environmental study revealed the abundance of marine lives residing on the tower and rare coral species only observed in deepwater region. This justified the environmental benefit of turning the tower into an on-site artificial reef and functioning as a vibrant marine life habitat at the end of its production service life. The engineering study on Lena decommissioning, as addressed in this paper, involved three (3) stages of engineering work: tower decommissioning concepts and feasibility study; selected concept definition; and detailed tower reef-in-place laydown (toppling) plan and design. High-level tower reef-in-place criteria were set up in the early engineering stage as guidelines to the detailed laydown design, including specific project requirements on minimal environmental impact and safe offshore field operations. This engineering study relied heavily on multiple expert brainstorm sessions on various decommissioning concepts and options, and advanced structural modeling and computer simulations for assessment and design. A large number of tower structural models were developed to verify the plan and check various factors and risk scenarios that may affect the tower performance in different stages of the decommissioning operation. Advanced analytical techniques were developed and applied, which feature the driving mechanisms of the problem such as soil-structure-interaction, guyline tension, structural member contact and sliding, large displacement simulation, structural collapse, and hydrodynamics. Stringent quality assurance and testing procedures were followed to ensure the credibility of developed analytical techniques and engineering technologies. The most challenging part that differentiates the decommissioning engineering from typical structural design is how to properly estimate the platform in-situ "as-is" condition and carry out the assessment as such to make a regulatory compliant, feasible, reliable, and efficient plan. Therefore, engineering judgment had to go beyond the scope covered by existing industry codes and standards, and rely on the most recent advances in industry research and technology. This engineering study resulted in a clearly defined tower decommissioning plan and procedure, backed up with contingency plans for various risk scenarios and potential deviations in field operation due to limitations and/or uncertainties. The decommissioning plan minimized the offshore field construction scope and risk, and kept the required tower laydown pull loads within the capacity range of typical GoM offshore tugboats. As a result, the Lena tower was successfully laid down on seafloor in an anticipated reefing position, with no major deviations from the plan. Lena Guyed Tower is the first deepwater compliant structure decommissioned. This decommissioning effort may provide the most valuable information and lessons learned to the industry for similar decommissioning and abandonment operations in the future.

Transparent and flexible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates have attracted much interest for the detection of probe molecules on the curved surfaces of real samples, but a facile route to fabricate such substrates is still lacking. Herein, we present a rationally designed, high-performance flexible SERS substrate fabricated using a simple drop and peel-off technique for the ultrasensitive detection of pesticides. The proposed SERS substrate consists of a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) film anchored with plasmonic silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), which are photoreduced using chemically patterned ferroelectric templates. The photoreduced Ag NPs extracted onto the PMMA film offer strong electromagnetic enhancement and produce intensive hotspots for the effective enhancement of the Raman signal. They provide superior SERS performance for the detection of parathion (PT) and fenitrothion (FNT) at trace-level concentrations of 10-9 M and 10-10 M with excellent enhancement factors in the order of 108 and 109, respectively. Moreover, the Ag NP/PMMA SERS substrate has good spot-to-spot uniformity and batch-to-batch reproducibility with the reservation of high detection sensitivity even after the mechanical deformation of bending and torsion up to 50 cycles. The multiplex detection ability is also investigated for the simultaneous detection of PT and FNT. To ensure the practical feasibility, the in-situ, real-time detection of PT and FNT on the curved surfaces of tomato and lemon using a fiber-coupled Raman probe is performed with limits of detection of 4.24 × 10-8 M and 2.74 × 10-9 M. The proposed Ag NP/PMMA flexible SERS substrate possesses unique features, such as easy fabrication through a simple, economical, rapid process, and facilitates straightforward implementation of in-situ SERS detection on curved fruit/vegetable surfaces.

Purpose This paper aims to consider the practical production environment of electronics manufacturing industry firms, and the large quantities of information collected on machine processes, testing data and production reports, while simultaneously taking into account the properties of the processing environment, in conducting analysis to obtain valuable information. Design/methodology/approach This research constructs a prediction model of the circuit board assembly process yield. A decision tree is used to extract the key attributes. The authors also integrate association rules to determine the relevance of key attributes of undesirable phenomena. Findings The results assure the successful application of the methodology by reconfirming the rules for solder skip and short circuit occurrence and their causes. Originality/value Measures for improvement are recommended, production parameters determined and debugging suggestions made to improve the process yield when the new process is implemented.

This study presents the defectless zinc oxide nano-hexagonrods (ZnO-NH) structure decorated by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and its enhancement due to the tunable plasmonic field for photoluminescence sensor. The ZnO-NHs were grown on ITO glass substrate via a low-cost hydrothermal method followed by annealing at different seeding temperatures, respectively. A correlation has been established between annealing temperature and the defect level concerning the diameter and density of ZnO-NH verified by Raman and FE-SEM images analysis. A further coating of the gold layer over ZnO-NH via thermal evaporator exhibits the plasmonic field enhancement in visible range which revives after short rapid annealing treatment. The enhancement is due to the large surface area of the sensing area on the haxagonrods shape and robust plasmonic coupling between metal and ZnO which efficiently detects fluorescence signal of Rhodamine 6G(R6G) molecules. A drastic change of tunable enhanced signal was resulted by AuNPs size and morphology and elucidated by suitable energy diagram observed from quenching to highly enhanced signal using photoluminescence spectrum and its related linearity plot. Carried out in three different thicknesses of AuNPs spotting on ZnO-NH, 3, 5 and 7 nm, it was observed that 3 nm AuNPs resulted in six times higher enhancement of output signal at seeding temperature of 500o than the 5 and 7 nm gold NPs spotted ZnO-NH at same experimental conditions. By the proposed structure, a significant photoluminescence and plasmonics enhancement, the ease of tunability, and higher uniformity were achieved by the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) from the AuNPs-decorated ZnO-NH and annealing process. Overall, the AuNPs- ZnO-NH hybrid offers a low-cost and simple fabrication potentially applied in a high-sensitive smart surface plasmonic optical sensor applications and can be a representative of new generations of photodiodes, solar cells, and metamaterials.

Background: Stroke, a medical condition that causes physical disability and mental health problems, impacts negatively on quality of life. Post-stroke rehabilitation is critical to restoring quality of life in these patients. Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of a mind–body interactive qigong intervention on the physical and mental aspects of quality of life, considering bio-physiological and mental covariates in subacute stroke inpatients. Methods: A randomized controlled trial with repeated measures design was used. A total of 68 participants were recruited from the medical and rehabilitation wards at a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan and then randomly assigned either to the Chan-Chuang qigong group, which received standard care plus a 10-day mind–body interactive exercise program, or to the control group, which received standard care only. Data were collected using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Short Form-12, stroke-related neurologic deficit, muscular strength, heart rate variability and fatigue at three time points: pre-intervention, halfway through the intervention (day 5) and on the final day of the intervention (day 10). Results: The results of the mixed-effect model analysis showed that the qigong group had a significantly higher quality of life score at day 10 ( p0.05). Conclusions: This study supports the potential benefits of a 10-day mind–body interactive exercise (Chan-Chuang qigong) program for subacute stroke inpatients and provides information that may be useful in planning adjunctive rehabilitative care for stroke inpatients.

Microplastics (MPs) pollution has become a serious environmental issue worldwide, but its potential effects on health remain unknown. The administration of polystyrene MPs (PS-MPs) to mice for eight weeks impaired learning and memory behavior. PS-MPs were detected in the brain especially in the hippocampus of these mice. Concurrently, the hippocampus had decreased levels of immediate-early genes, aberrantly enhanced synaptic glutamate AMPA receptors, and elevated neuroinflammation, all of which are critical for synaptic plasticity and memory. Interestingly, ablation of the vagus nerve, a modulator of the gut-brain axis, improved the memory function of PS-MPs mice. These results indicate that exposure to PS-MPs in mice alters the expression of neuronal activity-dependent genes and synaptic proteins, and increases neuroinflammation in the hippocampus, subsequently causing behavioral changes through the vagus nerve-dependent pathway. Our findings shed light on the adverse impacts of PS-MPs on the brain and hippocampal learning and memory.

Fixed offshore platform pile foundation design and assessment in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has been based on API RP 2A [1] and current (2014) API/ISO RP 2GEO 1st edition [2] recommendations. Over the years, post-hurricane observations of the platform performance in the GOM have shown that these standards tend to underestimate soil lateral stiffness and capacity. Research work has been carried out for years to understand this conservatism and define the best-estimate soil lateral reaction for pile foundation design. These efforts culminated in a proposed draft of API/ISO RP 2GEO 2nd edition, which re-defines the clay soil lateral reaction formulations (p-y curves) for piles under monotonic, cyclic, and fatigue loads. This paper summarizes a study performed to determine the effect of the new clay soil p-y curves on the structural responses of offshore platforms. In this study, three (3) featured fixed offshore platforms in the GOM were selected as representative structures for structural analysis and comparison. The selected platforms are actual platforms in operation in the GOM. The predicted platform responses from analyses were directly compared with measured and observed platform performance in field, including platform damage in hurricanes. Analysis results demonstrate that structural models using the soil reaction formulations of the proposed 2GEO 2nd edition (draft), in combination with the best-estimate soil profiles interpreted based on the standard direct simple shear (DSS) tests, adequately predicted the platform responses observed in field. The clay soil p-y reaction formulations (monotonic, cyclic, and fatigue) proposed for the update of 2GEO, as included in Appendix A, show significant improvement over the formulations in older editions of 2GEO and RP 2A, and are endorsed and recommended for pile foundation design and assessment. Complete documentation of the study can be found in [3].

Trimetallic nanostructures have received considerable attention in recent years, due to their widespread use in photonics, catalysis, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection. Nanoparticles consisting of multiple (n ≥ 3) noble metal components, synthesized under controlled conditions, show better SERS-active stability than mono- or bimetallic nanoparticles. In this work, a simple and novel protocol was used for the synthesis of hollow or porous Ag/Au/Pt trimetallic nanocages, based on a galvanic replacement reaction and co-reduction of the corresponding ions. The nanocages were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM, and X-ray diffraction. It was also demonstrated that the Ag/Au/Pt trimetallic nanocages were both extremely SERS-active and stable. Our results show that Rhodamine 3B, used as a fluorescent marker, could be detected over a wide concentration range from 10−15 to 10−8 M, with the lower limit of detection being 10−15 M.

Roughing the metallic surface via oxidation-reduction cycles (ORC) to integrate the surface plasmon resonance and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is predominant in developing sensor systems because of the facile preparation and uniform distribution of nanostructures. Herein, we proposed a distinctive ORC process: the forward potential passed through the oxidation of Au and reached the oxygen evolution reaction, and once the potential briefly remained at the vertex, the various reverse rates were employed to control the reduction state. The created hybrid Au-AuO x possessed electromagnetic and chemical enhancements concurrently, wherein the rough surface provided the strong local electromagnetic fields and significant interaction between AuO x and molecule to improve the charge transfer. The synergistic effects significantly amplified the intensity of Raman signal with an enhancement factor of 5.5 × 106 under the optimal conditions. Furthermore, the prepared SERS substrate can simultaneously identify and quantify the mixed edible pigments, Brilliant Blue FCF and Indigo Carmine, individually. This result suggested that the development of SERS sensor based on the proposed SERS-activated methodology is feasible and reliable.

Functionalization of a plasmonic substrate circumvents inadequate analyte localization within the sensing volume, which often threatens the sensitivity of a SERS method. Often nanoplasmonic substrates are functionalized by direct attachment to the host molecule, which affects their SERS activity. Herein, we report 3D-amino-functionalized Ag@SiO2 nanocubes with ultra-thin silica shell for the detection of small molecules in a flexible platform. The amino groups are introduced by silanizing the ultra-thin silica layer using different aminoslanes which improves sensitivity without sacrificing the colloidal and chemical stability of the core Ag nanocubes. Ag-SHINs functionalized with shorter chain length aminosilanes shows better SERS activity. The amino-functionalization effects a 3-fold SERS signal enhancement enabling label-free aspartame detection down to 71 μg mL−1 which is 1.5 times lower LOD than the non-functionalized Ag-SHINs. Analysis of spiked soft drink, as well as a mixture of aspartame and glucose, shows a robust performance signaling the selectivity and sensitivity of the substrate. The improved SERS performance is attributed to the hydrogen bonding induced localization of the analyte within the sensing volume. Added to this, the miniaturized paper platform with its 3D fibrous structure enhances the hotspot density and sample collection efficiency. This substrate can also be extended to other small molecules with the carboxylic group and amino acids as well, replacing the complicated bio-labeled detection schemes.

Cadmium selenide is a II–VI semiconductor model system known for its nanoparticle preparation, growth mechanism, luminescence properties, and quantum confinement studies. For the past 2 decades, various thermodynamically stable “magic-size nanoclusters (MSCs)” of CdSe have been observed, isolated, and theoretically calculated. Nevertheless, none of the proposed structures were experimentally confirmed due to the small crystal domains beyond the diffraction limit. With a combination of nondestructive SAXS, WAXS, XRD, XPS, EXAFS, and MAS NMR techniques, we were able to verify the phase transformation, shape, size dimension, local bonding, and chemical environments of (CdSe)13 nanoclusters, which are indicative of a paired cluster model. These experimental results are consistent with the size, shape, bond lengths, dipole moment, and charge densities of the proposed “paired-tubular geometry” predicted by computational approaches. In this article, we revisit the formation pathway of the mysterious (CdSe)13 nan...

In this article, we introduce the theory and instrumentation that is relevant to nanospectroscopy imaging techniques, including near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) and tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) imaging. We also demonstrate the NSOM and TERS imaging functions in emiconductor samples. Our findings support the view that NSOM and TERS imaging techniques can increase the space resolution and emphasize the surface information for the target surface layer. Thus, these techniques are applicable to the studies of materials with nanoscale patterns in the future.

This work studies the interdiffusion effect of Er ions in Er 2 O 3 and Si ions in SiO 2 on the photoluminescent (PL) properties of Er 2 O 3 /SiO 2 films. Er 2 O 3 layers are deposited on thermally oxidized Si substrates by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. Different interdiffusion behaviors are observed by thermally treating films with rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and tube furnace annealing (TFA) at 900–1200 °C. Surface morphological and compositional properties are measured by optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Surface roughness of composite films increases with the annealing temperature due to growth in grain size. The Er/Si interdiffusion across the Er 2 O 3 /SiO 2 interface is observed when the annealing temperature exceeds 1000 °C for RTA and 900 °C for TFA. Thermal annealing effects in the oxygen ambient include the Er doping in the SiO 2 layer, the formation of erbium silica, and the reduction of defect density. These three factors facilitate the increase of active Er ions and the enhancement of PL intensity. The PL intensity increases with the Er/Si interdiffusion thickness for RTA- and TFA-treated films. Enhancement of PL intensity with the annealing temperature is attributed to the Er/Si interdiffusion and the reduction of defect density.

The rapid and reliable detection of a diverse set of biomolecules, such as metabolites, pharmaceuticals, nucleic acids, amino acids, proteins, and peptides, requires analytical techniques capable of label-free chemical identification. Inelastic light scattered by a molecule, a quantized vibrational signature, is the physical phenomenon behind Raman spectroscopy [1]. Despite the rich information offered by regular Raman spectroscopy, it has not been the primary choice as a handy analytical tool comparable to Fourier-transform infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy due to its inherently small scattering cross section. The signal is weak for most molecules except in some special cases of resonating molecular structures. For example, the benzene molecule, which is relatively strong for Raman scattering, exhibits a scattering cross section of 2.6 x 10-29 cm2?molecule-1?sr-1. This value is 12-14 orders of magnitude lower than a typical fluorescence cross section [2].

Impact of electromagnetic waves and fields on neighboring devices may lead to product malfunctioning and system failures, which, in turn, may result in unexpected incidents and/or even major public safety issues. This study combines measures of shielding, filtering, and grounding to design parameters at the beginning of product design by taking industrial panel PC as an example. It employs the Taguchi method to plan and conduct experiments. The control factors are PCB and mechanic design related parameters while the noise factors considered are peripherals connected to the device for its operation. The optimal parameters combination is identified as: number of grounding screw holes at 14 and with cooling aperture of casing at diameter of 3 mm and of staggered layout. The aforementioned optimal design can reduce electromagnetic interference noises down to the tune of 23 dB (at frequency of 406.36 MHz) which is way below the 47 dB limits given by international specification.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and fluorescence microscopy are a widely used biological and chemical characterization techniques. However, the peak overlapping in multiplexed experiments and rapid photobleaching of fluorescent organic dyes is still the limitations. When compared to Ag nanocubes (NCs), higher SERS sensitivities can be obtained with thin shelled silica Ag@SiO2 NCs, in contrast metal-enhanced photoluminescence (MEPL) is only found with NCs that have thicker silica shells. A 'dual functionality' represented by the simultaneous strengthening of SERS and MEPL signals can be achieved by mixing Ag@SiO2 NCs, with a silica shell thickness of ~1.5nm and ~4.4nm. This approach allows both the Ag@SiO2 NCs SERS and MEPL sensitivities to be maintained at ~90% after 12weeks of storage. Based on the distinguished detection of creatinine and flavin adenine dinucleotide in the mixture, the integration of SERS and MEPL together on a stable single plasmonic nanoparticle platform offers an opportunity to enhance both biomarker detection sensitivity and specificity.

A one-step process combining chemical modification and exfoliation for obtaining a graphene (Gs) derivative from pristine graphite is conducted through Friedel–Crafts chemical acylation. This electrophilic substitution reaction results in the carboxylic group (–COOH) of niacin transforming into an acylium ion (–C+ O), which is an active species that replaces the sp2 C H of graphite. In addition, highly viscous polyphosphoric acid under mechanical stirring was used to exert strong shear stress on and consequently exfoliate the graphite layers. Raman spectra and absorption spectra demonstrate that the obtained graphene-1-one-pyridine (GsNc) has a highly conjugated structure that facilitates electron transfer in electrochemical processes. This novel GsNc possess high sensitivity toward H2O2 (1157.1 μA mM−1 cm−2) within a linear concentration range of 1 μM to 5 mM. The proposed enzyme-free H2O2 sensor exhibits high selectivity and excellent stability. Furthermore, a choline biosensor is developed for detecting H2O2 released in bioreactions. In this biosensor, positively charged GsNc provides optimal conditions for immobilizing choline oxidase (ChOx) through electrostatic interactions. This immobilization retains 83.4% of ChOx bioactivity and is thus excellent for choline determination. This modified electrode has high potential for application in oxidase-based biosensors.

Purpose Differing from previous studies trying to solve the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issue by addressing single factor, this study aims to combine measures of shielding, filtering and grounding to design parameters with the Taguchi method at the beginning of product design to come up with the optimal parameter combination. Design/methodology/approach EMC-related performance such as radiated emission, conduction interference and electrical fast transient/burst immunity (EFT) are response variables, whereas the printed circuit board and mechanic design-relevant parameters are considered as control factors. The noise factors are peripherals used together with the tablet. Findings The optimal design parameter matrix based on results from the application and integration of multivariate analysis method of principal component grey relation and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution suggests 14 grounding screw holes, cooling aperture of casing at diameter of 3 mm and staggered layout and 300O filter located at source of noise. Validation of this matrix shows around 10, 1 and 8 per cent improvement in radiation, conduction interference and EFT immunity. Originality/value The multivariate quality parameters’ design method proposed by this study improves EMC characteristics of products and meets the design specification required by customer, accelerating electronic product research and development process and complying with electromagnetic interference test regulations set forth by individual country.

Organolead halide perovskites are an impressive and relatively recent class of light-absorbing materials for solar cells and light-emitting devices. It has been reported that exposure of perovskite materials to light has negative impacts on device performance. Also, surface recombination has been reported as a major obstacle to the total carrier lifetime in perovskite polycrystalline thin films. Herein, we explored the role played by nanosecond pulsed UV laser-irradiation in carrier dynamics in perovskite thin films. Steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements revealed the interplay of disorder and heterogeneity on photoexcited carrier dynamics, while in situ micro Raman spectroscopy and angle dispersive X-ray diffraction showed the mechanisms of crystal phase reconstruction. Exposure to laser light leads to rapid crystal phase reconstruction and hence, unexpectedly, extends the PL lifetime by fourfold instead of promoting degradation. This verifies that nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation plays a beneficial role in improving optoelectronic material parameters. Our findings reveal that pulsed laser irradiation is a new approach to the reconstruction of the microstructure and offers beneficial effects in the manufacture of perovskite solar cells. Moreover, this work provides a clear insight towards identifying the physical origin behind the disorder, heterogeneity, film reconstruction and nano-structuring as well as their correlation with improved PL lifetimes.

A robust flexible paper-plasmonic hybrid SERS substrate is reported by exploiting the intrinsic properties of filter paper and anisotropic Ag@SiO2 nanocubes. The fibrous structure of paper promotes the assemblage of sharp-edged nanostructures which significantly improved the SERS activity. An inexpensive sensing platform with reasonable distribution and interparticle spacing of nanocubes was obtained by filtering Ag@SiO2 through a miniaturized filter paper. The thin silica shell improved the stability and interparticle spacing of silver nanocubes in the sensing platform, rendering enhanced SERS activity through the plasmon-coupling effect as compared to a conventional rigid substrate. Assessment of the analytical performance of the substrate for melamine quantification showed a good linearity (R2 = 0.9948) up to 1 mg L−1 with a limit of detection of 0.06 mg L−1. The detection limit in liquid milk was down to 0.17 mg L−1, which is below the permissible residue limit signifying adequate sensitivity for real sample analysis with less sample treatment.

The interaction of plasmonic nanoparticles with a dielectric platform gives rise to unique optical behaviors and this can be maneuvered to improve the plasmonic/SERS performances of a substrate. Herein, dielectric modified plasmonic-paper SERS substrate is developed by assembling Ag@SiO2 nanocubes on Fe-TiO2 nanosheets (NS) modified paper. The Fe-TiO2 NS being visible light responsive significantly alters the optical property of the paper and serves as a dielectric underlay for the Ag nanocubes. Hence, the incident light reflected back from the dielectric nanosheets couples with the scattered light from the Ag nanocubes leading to spatially enhanced electromagnetic field improving the SERS enhancement. The prepared dielectric modified plasmonic-paper has an average enhancement factor (EF) of 1.49 × 107 using R6G as a probe molecule. This value is superior to unmodified plasmonic-paper highlighting the coupling effect of the dielectric nanosheets. The substrate shows robust detection performance for thiabendazole and achieves a limit of detection (LOD) of 19 μg/L, which is 4-fold more sensitive than unmodified plasmonic paper. Direct swabbing test of thiabendazole sprayed apple fruit shows a discernible Raman signal down to 15 ppb indicating the utility of the substrate for point-of-need applications in food safety.

Generating a sustainable energy source through photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting requires a suitable photocatalyst. A [101]-oriented rutile TiO2 nanorod (NR) array in heterojunction with anatase on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate is successfully prepared using a facile single-step hydrothermal process. The presence of anatase phase over the predominant rutile NRs’ surface is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Solar water-splitting performances of anatase–rutile heterojunction with low energy (101) and high energy (001) rutile facets are compared. The low energy (101) facet rutile–anatase heterojunction shows higher photoconversion efficiency of 1.39% at 0.49 VRHE than the high energy (001) facet rutile–anatase heterojunction (0.37% at 0.73 VRHE). The mechanism for enhanced photocatalytic activity of the low energy (101) facet rutile–anatase heterojunction has been proposed. The role of NaCl in tuning the anatase portion, morphology, and P...

A simple, low-temperature hydrothermal method and atomic layer deposition (ALD) were used to fabricate ZnO nanostructures as subwavelength-structure antireflection layers (SWS ARLs) on Si solar cells. ZnO seed layers with wafer-scale uniformity were prepared, and ALD was used to reproduce two types of ZnO-based structures, nanorod arrays (NRAs) and nanotip arrays (NTAs). The study examined diammonium phosphate concentrations during growth, conducted simulations based on three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain and reflection analyses, performed X-ray diffractometer, field-emission scanning electron microscope, and high-resolution transmission electron microscope characterizations, measured total reflectance spectra by using a spectrophotometer with integrated spheres, and ran solar simulations to determine the efficiency of the Si solar cells. Coating the ZnO NTAs on the Si solar cells yielded a low total reflectance over a broad band range and produced omnidirectional light scattering on the cells, causing incident light to have a shallow penetration depth near the p–n junction and leading to an increase in short current density ( Jsc ). Coating the ZnO NTAs with an Al 2 O 3 shell induced continuous variation in the refractive index, further decreasing the total reflectance to approximately 5.5%, and protected the ZnO NTAs from the harmful acidic environment. Significantly increasing the J sc and η levels of the Si solar cells, the Al 2 O 3 @ZnO-NTA antireflection structure produced a high efficiency of 17.79%. Its superior performance, including low and wideband reflectance, a low process temperature, and a significant increase in efficiency, indicates the potential of this antireflective structure for enhancing solar cell efficiency in photovoltaic devices.

Purpose This paper aims to propose an innovative parametric design for artificial neural network (ANN) modeling for the multi-quality function problem to determine the optimal process scenarios. Design/methodology/approach The innovative hybrid algorithm gray relational analysis (GRA)-ANN and the GRA-Entropy are proposed to effectively solve the multi-response optimization problem. Findings Both the GRA-ANN and the GRA-Entropy analytical approaches find that the optimal process scenario is a stencil aperture of 57 per cent and immediate processing of the printed circuit board after exposure to a room environment. Originality/value A six-week confirmation test indicates that the optimal process has improved quad flat non-lead assembly yield from 99.12 to 99.78 per cent.

Potassium hydroxide solution was used to etch un-doped GaN grown on the sapphire substrate at 180 and 260 °C. We illustrated the etching phenomenon in detail and probed its mechanism in the wet etching process. By multiplying the planar density and the number of dangling bonds on the N atom, we proposed the etching barrier index (EBI) to describe the difficulty degree of each lattice facet. The raking of EBI will be +c-plane > a-plane > m-plane > −c-plane > (10-1-1) plane > r-plane. Combining the EBI with SEM results, we thoroughly studied the whole etching process. We confirmed that in our research, KOH wet etching on GaN starts from the r-plane instead of the +c-plane or −c-plane, which differs from other studies. We also found that during the high-temperature etching process, there are two etching approaches. In one, the etching begins vertically from the top to the bottom, then horizontally, and finally reversely from the bottom to the top. In the other, etching pits will develop into a hexagonal hole of the sidewall of m-plane.

In this study, the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction is investigated over Cu/SiO2 catalysts with and without an iron promoter. By adding a small amount of iron, the catalytic activity and stability of Cu/SiO2 are effectively improved. The oxidation of Cu/SiO2 catalysts is considered to be the major factor for the deactivation of Cu catalysts. Fe oxides in Cu–Fe/SiO2 catalysts surprisingly inhibit the oxidation of Cu and increase the catalytic stability of Cu–Fe/SiO2 catalysts. The role of the Fe promoter in Cu/SiO2 catalysts in the WGS is thoroughly investigated using a variety of experiments, such as H2-temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), IR spectroscopy, temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). For the Cu–Fe/SiO2 catalysts, both reactants, CO and H2O, prefer to adsorb on the defect sites on the Cu surface and on Fe oxides, respectively. The higher performance and stability of the Cu–Fe/SiO2 catalyst for the WGS reaction is explained based on the rapid dissociation of H2O on the Fe promoter.

This paper reports the combined plasmon coupled - surface energy transfer (PC-SET) and a distance-dependent model constructed by gold nanoparticles (GNPs) over zinc oxide nanorod (ZnO-NR) as a robust and tunable plasmontronic fluorescence regime for the detection of rhodamine 6G (R6G). Further, the deposition of metal created extraordinary contact through ZnO-NR utilizing a rapid thermal process (RTP) allowing the interaction of plasmon-coupled nature and surface energy transfer from the donor (R6G) to the acceptor (ZnO). The percentage of energy transfer efficiency continuously decreased with the increment of GNPs size, shown by 72.93, 67.52 and 47.86%, corresponding to the increase of the distance between the donor and acceptor of 63.03, 67.25, and 82.49 A, respectively. In other words, the efficiency of PC-SET complied the 1/d4 distance dependence model between donor and acceptor molecules with the detection of long-distance ranges from 46.95 to 120 A. These findings suggest that PC-SET process has a more realistic agreement with experimental outcomes and highly supports quenching efficiency impacts related to the size of GNPs, in which the smaller size of NPs causes’ greater effectiveness towards challenges in light harvest enhanced sensing system.

Background: In Taiwan, the majority of chronic hepatitis C carriers with HIV co-infection are intravenous drug users and inmates in correctional facilities. Peginterferon and ribavirin (PegIFN/RBV) have been the standard-of-care for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection more than decades. We evaluated the estimated cost-effectiveness of PegIFN/RBV from the National Health Insurance Research Database, covering the population of Taiwan from 1998 to 2013. Materials and methods: This is an observational study, and study during was 2010–2016 and a total of 239 patients were treated with PegIFN/RBV. Of them, 156 patients were treated in the correctional facilities of Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Taitung prisons, and 83 patients were treated in communities. The cost-effectiveness was analyzed in regimens of PegIFN/RBV and direct-acting antiviral agents. Results: By multivariate analysis, the patients completed PegIFN/RBV in prison (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 4.56, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.58–13.12, p = 0.005), HCV RNA level

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

We demonstrate semiconducting polymer-based thin-film transistors (PTFTs) with fast switching performance and an uncommon nondecaying feature. These PTFTs based on widely studied poly(3-hexylthiophene) are developed by incorporating the insulating polymer into the active channel and subjecting the compound to specific, spontaneous multiple-scale phase separation (MSPS). An in-depth study is conducted on the interfacial and phase-separated microstructure of the semiconducting/insulating blending active layer and its effect on the electrical characteristics of PTFTs. The polyblends exhibit a confined crystallization behavior with continuously semiconducting crystalline domains between scattered insulator-rich domains. The insulator-rich domains can block leakage current and strengthen the gate control of the channel. A small amount of the insulating polymer penetrates the bottom of the active channel, resulting in effective interface modification. We show specific MSPS morphology of the present blending films to reduce charge trapping effects, enhance charge accumulation, and create a high-seed switching channel. The findings enable us to develop the required morphological conceptual model of the ideal-like field-effect-modulated polymer-based active channel. The polyblend-based PTFTs with MSPS morphology also have promising sensing functions. This study offers an effective approach for overcoming the major drawbacks (instability and poor switching) of PTFTs, thus allowing such transistors to have potential applications.

This paper studies the design analysis and debugging mechanism against electrical product electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). The aim is to employ an effective electromagnetic interference suppression solution based on the integration of quality function deployment (QFD) and TRIZ during the early development phase of electronic products to reduce both unit cost and launch time. The QFD relationship matrix displays potential contradictions in technical requirements, and the TRIZ contradiction matrix methodology helps to suggest generic solutions which then serve as solution triggers. This paper takes the example of reducing a Notebook PC’s EMC to meet customer specification demands and with QFD applications. It then proposes an innovative approach in solving EMC contradictions including: (1) QFD-based case analysis for Notebook PC computer products, (2) key EMC issues derived out of QFD analysis, (3) innovative design solutions solving EMC issues by way of TRIZ, and (4) evaluation of multiple solution eff...

The polarization and surface reactivity of the ZnO nanorods (NRs) grown on the (0001) N-polar GaN substrate and the (0001) Ga-polar GaN substrate by hydrothermal process were studied. We found tha...

SiO2 coated silver nanocubes Ag@SiO2 with enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and metal enhanced photoluminescence (MEPL) sensitivity were synthesized and characterized. The silver nanocubes (NCs) were synthesized by the polyol method and modified, first with different coupling agents, such as 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) and 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS), and secondly with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) to improve their SERS and photoluminescence (PL) performances. The SERS and PL intensity of rhodamine 6G (R6G) can be manipulated by tuning the Ag nanocube's SiO2 shell thickness. Modified Ag NCs (with a 2 nm silica layer) were prepared using 1 mM APS and 1 mM TEOS and found to have a SERS intensity 3 fold higher than bare Ag NCs. Additionally, it was found that APS modified Ag@SiO2 NCs possessed both enhanced SERS and PL intensities.