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Poly(p-dioxanone) (PPDO) is crystallized with amorphous poly(p-vinyl phenol) (PVPh) and tannic acid (TA) as co-diluents to regulate and induce dendritic-ringed PPDO spherulites, with spoke- or sector-bands, aiming for convenience of analyses on interior lamellar assembly. Morphologies and interior lamellar arrangement leading to the peculiar rings on individual dendrites are evaluated by using polarized-light microscopy (PLM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Combinatory microbeam small-/wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) analyses further confirm the unique assembly patterns in periodic cycles. Alternate gratings are packed with periodic ridges composed of feather-like branches and the valley is featured with some embossed textures. The periodic gratings in the ringed spokes resemble those in nature's structured coloration and are proven to display light-interference iridescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present Mask2Hand, a self-trainable method for predicting 3D hand pose and shape from a single 2D binary silhouette. Without additional manual annotations, our method uses differentiable rendering to project 3D estimations onto the 2D silhouette. A tailored loss function, applied between the rendered and input silhouettes, provides a self-guidance mechanism during end-to-end optimization, which constrains global mesh registration and hand pose estimation. Our experiments show that Mask2Hand, using only a binary mask input, achieves accuracy comparable to state-ofthe- art methods requiring RGB or depth inputs on both unaligned and aligned datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Screening for osteoporosis is crucial for early detection and prevention, yet it faces challenges due to the low accuracy of calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and limited access to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans. Recent advances in AI offer a promising solution through opportunistic screening using existing medical images. This study aims to utilize deep learning techniques to develop a model that analyzes chest X-ray (CXR) images for osteoporosis screening. This study included the AI model development stage and the clinical validation stage. In the AI model development stage, the combined dataset of 5122 paired CXR images and DXA reports from the patients aged 20 to 98 years at a medical center was collected. The images were enhanced and filtered for hardware retention such as pedicle screws, bone cement, artificial intervertebral discs or severe deformity in target level of T12 and L1. The dataset was then separated into training, validating, and testing datasets for model training and performance validation. In the clinical validation stage, we collected 440 paired CXR images and DXA reports from both the TCVGH and Joy Clinic, including 304 pared data from TCVGH and 136 paired data from Joy Clinic. The pre-clinical test yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.940, while the clinical validation showed an AUC of 0.946. Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.88. The model demonstrated an overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 89.0%, 88.7%, and 89.4%, respectively. This study proposes an AI model for opportunistic osteoporosis screening through CXR, demonstrating good performance and suggesting its potential for broad adoption in preliminary screening among high-risk populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the similarities and differences in American and Taiwanese children's perspectives of tidy-up time. The participants consisted of 25 American kindergarteners in the southeastern US, and 25 Taiwanese kindergarteners from central Taiwan. Children were asked to respond to five questions regarding tidy-up time. Qualitative analysis of the data yielded four themes: transitions, clean and safe environments, work, and cooperation. All participants associated tidy-up time with transitions. They considered tidy-up as the notion of maintaining clean environments, but only Taiwanese children perceived it to be keeping the classroom safe. Also, all participants viewed such time as work, and as time to cooperate with each other. More Taiwanese children's responses indicated how they and their teachers cooperate during cleaning as compared to their American counterparts.

In this study, three novel star‐shaped small molecules HYC‐oF, HYC‐mF, and HYC‐H are designed and synthesized and are applied in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) as efficient hole‐transporting materials (HTMs). Compared with non‐fluorinated HYC‐H, F‐substituted analogs HYC‐oF and HYC‐mF exhibited enhanced hole mobility, suitable energy level alignment, improved interfacial contact and hole extraction/transport capability, better passivation effect, as well as increased hydrophobicity. PSC fabrication by spin‐coating this series of HYC‐oF, HYC‐mF, and HYC‐H molecules on a bar‐coated perovskite layer yielded PCEs values of 19.64%, 18.38%, and 16.98%, respectively. In order to realize a fully scalable PSC preparation process, sequential coating of HYC‐oF layer on perovskite layer all by thermal‐assisted bar‐coating (TABC) method was carried out on 10 × 10 cm2 area. The TABC‐based HYC‐oF layer had a compact and uniform morphology with full surface coverage on the TABC‐based perovskite film. Under optimized condition, the PSCs fabricated from such film exhibited a PCE of 18.49% as compared with a lower power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.51% from the reference cell using TABC‐based spiro‐OMeTAD. This work demonstrates the potential of fluorinated star‐shaped cyclopenta[2,1‐b;3,4‐b′]dithiophene (CPDT)‐based molecule as HTM for achieving efficient PSC in both small and large scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study aims to explore the impact of shared book reading (SBR) on child development beyond language and literacy at the very beginning of children’s lives. Utilizing the latent growth curve model, the study analyzed data collected from 4,441 Taiwanese children at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months old. The results revealed that, on average, parents spent 13 min per week reading books to their 3-month-old children. This reading time increased from 3 to 24 months, at an approximate rate of 5 min every 3 months. Notably, parents with higher educational levels, better occupations, and higher family incomes tended to spend more time reading at the 3-month mark and exhibited higher growth rates in the time allocated to reading. Additionally, the study provides evidence that engaging in SBR during the infant stage significantly contributes to children’s cognitive, language, social, and emotional development in the toddler stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine similarities and differences of American, Japanese, and Taiwanese kindergarten teachers' perspectives about clean-up time. The participants consisted of two female American kindergarten teachers in the southeastern US, two female Japanese kindergarten teachers on the main island, and two female Taiwanese kindergarten teachers from central Taiwan, all of whom teach four-year-olds. Qualitative analysis of the data yielded four themes regarding teachers' views of clean-up time: teaching cleaning-up methods, the developmental stages, the extension of play, and reflection of one's own practical knowledge and skills. These teachers perceived clean-up time was more than just a transitional time. The implications for early childhood education are presented.

PurposeMethodResultsConclusionsThis study aimed to develop a fine-grained measure for evaluating syntactic abilities in Mandarin-speaking children for educational and clinical purposes as a supplement to MLU.In total, 99 typically developing children, aged 2;0 to 5;11, living in Taipei, Taiwan, participated in this study. Spontaneous language samples were elicited in free-play situations. The first 100 intelligible utterances were coded with a newly developed scheme: the Mandarin Assessment of Productive Syntax-Revised (MAPS-R). For the examination of concurrent validity, MLU was also computed.Significant age-related differences were observed in both MLU and MAPS-R scores. Strong correlations were found between MLU and MAPS-R scores, confirming the validity of MAPS-R as a measure of syntactic development. MAPS-R further revealed that Mandarin-speaking children expanded noun phrases with the general classifier ‘GE’ very early on, followed by a locative expression. Verb expansions began with resultative complements and aspect markers. Sentences with complex predication structures, such as serial verbs/pivotal sentences, were still not widely used when the MLU value is below 4.5.The study showed that MAPS-R is a reliable and valid measure that can provide a rich profile of the syntactic development of Mandarin-speaking children. It can be a useful reference for speech therapists to set a baseline for developing language intervention plans and to monitor their outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Frailty often results from deteriorating muscle strength and decreased physical function in older adults. Frailty includes not only physical components, but also psychological and social aspects. Previous research has shown that exercise programs, especially resistance exercises combined with nutritional care, can reduce frailty. Objectives: This study aimed to develop a Frailty Prevention Care Management Program that prevents frailty and improves physical activity and nutrition compared to usual care for community-dwelling older adults. Methods: A quasi-experimental and single-blinded trial with a non-equivalent control group using a before-after design will be performed involving Frailty Prevention Care Management Program interventions, taking place both at the communities. Participants will be divided into two different intervention groups and two control groups. All groups will be assessed three times: at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months post intervention. A total of 72 community-dwelling older adults are recruited. This intervention includes an exercise program (design TRX program) and nutritional education. The control group will not receive any specific exercise training. The primary outcome shall comprise the effect of the Frailty Prevention Care Management Program on frailty using the Taiwanese version of the Tilburg frailty indicator. Secondary outcomes include the effect of physical activity using the Senior Fitness Test and nutrition measures using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form. A generalized estimating equation is constructed to analyze the effects of the intervention. Conclusions: This trial will provide vital information to guide interventions to improve outcomes (frailty, physical activity, and nutrition) and inform the integration of nutrition and TRX exercises in community-dwelling older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new light-emitting organic materials used in OLEDs[1,2] belong to a type of charge injection, and our team has conducted a series of fluorescence studies. The dye-sensitized solar cell is currently the most discussed technology. The equipment that converts light energy into electrical energy is certainly worth studying. Our research on nano porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanomaterials is consistent with related research, in which titanium dioxide acts as an electron transport layer and AAO acts as a template. When the two are combined, their new properties are due to the higher mechanical strength of Al2O3 nanotubes and the electronic conductivity of TiO2 nanorods, which will increase the surface area of the DSSC anode to absorb dyes and enhance the anode The structural strength of the membrane. Finally, using different dyes, we noticed an increase in the efficiency of using AAO.

Teachers' perspectives of play differ widely because of social and cultural influences that can be seen in their values and beliefs about play in different countries. In a global community, sharing educators' knowledge of play and their perspectives of how to educate children through the use of play would be appropriate and complementary in understanding early childhood education in different countries. To understand the meaning of play, American, Japanese and Taiwanese early childhood pre-service teachers' perceptions of play were examined. The participants consisted of 25 American pre-service teachers, 25 Japanese pre-service teachers, and 25 Taiwanese pre-service teachers. Qualitative analysis of the data yielded four themes for play: learning and development; social skills; creativity; and children's work. There were three themes regarding the meaning of adults' play: being both similar to and different from child's play; preventing stress; and enjoying interacting with others. One theme of enjoyment emerged for the understanding of playfulness. More American and Taiwanese participants agreed that play relates to learning and development than their Japanese counterparts. Japanese and Taiwanese participants viewed play as being more than learning and development, while none of their American counterparts did. Both Japanese and Taiwanese participants claimed that although play can support children's development and learning, children should enjoy play for the sake of playing. One theme that differentiated the groups was the notion that play is children's work. While several American and Taiwanese participants mentioned this slogan, this was not the case for the Japanese.

A non-experimental, a quantitative SPSS research design (independent sample t-test, two-way ANOVA, multiple regression analysis) was used to examine the statistically significant difference existing among Taiwan college early childhood education students for the students with blended learning, background demographic characteristics, music emotion, learning styles, technology acceptance, and students' satisfaction. The purpose of this quantitative research study is to examine the statistically significant difference existing among Taiwan college early childhood education students for students with blended learning, background demographic characteristics, music emotion, learning styles, technology acceptance, and students' satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Familial tooth agenesis (FTA) is one of the most common craniofacial anomalies in humans. Loss‐of‐function mutations in PAX9 and WNT10A have been known to cause FTA with various expressivity. In this study, we identified five FTA kindreds with novel PAX9 disease‐causing mutations: p.(Glu7Lys), p.(Val83Leu), p.(Pro118Ser), p.(Ser197Argfs*23), and c.771+4A>G. Concomitant PAX9 and WNT10A pathogenic variants found in two probands with severe phenotypes suggested an effect of mutational synergism. All overexpressed PAX9s showed proper nuclear localization, excepting the p.(Pro118Ser) mutant. Various missense mutations caused differential loss of PAX9 transcriptional ability. PAX9 overexpression in dental pulp cells upregulated LEF1 and AXIN2 expression, indicating a positive regulatory role for PAX9 in canonical Wnt signaling. Analyzing 176 cases with 63 different mutations, we observed a distinct pattern of tooth agenesis for PAX9‐associated FTA: Maxillary teeth are in general more frequently affected than mandibular ones. Along with all second molars, maxillary bicuspids and first molars are mostly involved, while maxillary lateral incisors and mandibular bicuspids are relatively less affected. Genotypically, missense mutations are associated with fewer missing teeth than frameshift and nonsense variants. This study significantly expands the phenotypic and genotypic spectrums of PAX9‐associated disorders and reveals a molecular mechanism of genetic synergism underlying FTA variable expressivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]