Noise Reduction in Double‐Panel Structures by Cavity and Panel Resonance Control

This paper presents an investigation of the cavity and the panel resonance control in a double‐panel structure. The double‐panel structure, which consists of two panels with air in the gap, is widely adopted in many applications such as aerospace due to its light weight and effective transmission‐loss at high frequency. However, the resonance of the cavity and the poor transmission‐loss at low frequency limit its noise control performance. Applying active control forces on the panels or utilizing loudspeakers in the cavity to reduce the noise prob-lem have been discussed in many papers. In this paper, the resonance of the cavity and the panels are considered simultaneously to increase the noise transmission‐loss. A structur-al‐acoustic coupled model is developed to investigate the vibration of the two panels, the acoustic resonance in the air cavity, and the control performance. The control design can be optimized through the model. Finally, the results will be presented and discussed

Development of dynamic loudspeakers modified as incident pressure sources for noise reduction in a double panel structure

This paper presents a modified loudspeaker source for decentralized feedback cavity control in a double panel structure to reduce the noise transmission. The double panel structure con-sists of two panels with air in between and offers the advantages of low weight, low sound transmission at high frequencies, and thermal insulation. The main issues of the double panel structure are the resonance of the cavity and the high noise transmission at low frequencies. Many papers have discussed applying active structural acoustic control to the panels or active noise control to the cavity. In our previous study, we considered the resonance of the panels and the cavity simultaneously and numerically compared various decentralized structural and cavity feedback control strategies basing on identical control stability margins. Cavity control by loudspeakers, which are modified to operate as incident pressure sources, was found to-provide the largest noise reduction. The incident pressure source loudspeaker can be realized by using a dynamic loudspeaker, a microphone, and a velocity sensor with a feedforward controller. In this paper, experimental results of a one dimensional realization with a feed-forward controller are presented

Adjuvant chemotherapy and survival outcomes in rectal cancer patients with good response (ypT0-2N0) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery: A retrospective nationwide analysis

BackgroundFor rectal cancer, it remains unclear how to incorporate tumor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) when deciding whether to give adjuvant chemotherapy. In this study, we aim to determinate the survival benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy for rectal cancer patients with good response (ypT0-2N0) after nCRT and surgery.MethodsThe study cohort included 720 rectal cancer patients who had good response (ypT0-2N0) after nCRT and surgery, who did or did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy between January 2007 and December 2017, from the Taiwan Cancer Registry and National Health Insurance Research database. The Kaplan–Meier method, log-rank tests, and Cox regression analysis were performed to investigate the effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).ResultsOf 720 patients, 368 (51.1%) received adjuvant chemotherapy and 352 (48.9%) did not. Patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy were more likely to be female, younger (≤ 65), with advanced clinical T (3-4)/N (1-2) classification and ypT2 classification. No significant difference in 5-year OS (p=0.681) or DFS (p=0.942) were observed by receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy or not. Multivariable analysis revealed adjuvant chemotherapy was not associated with better OS (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.03; 95% Confidence Interval [CI], 0.88-1.21) or DFS (aHR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.89-1.24). Stratified analysis for OS and DFS found no significant protective effect in the use of adjuvant chemotherapy, even for those with advanced clinical T or N classification.ConclusionAdjuvant chemotherapy may be omitted in rectal cancer patients with good response (ypT0-2N0) after nCRT and surgery

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

La preeclàmpsia

Treballs Finals de Grau de Farmàcia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, 2015, Tutora: Pelegrí i Gabaldà, CarmeLa preeclàmpsia és una patologia de l’embaràs que es diagnostica quan la dona gestant presenta pressió arterial elevada i proteïnúria, habitualment després de la 20ª setmana d’embaràs. És la causa principal de mortalitat i morbiditat perinatals i maternals a nivell mundial, amb una incidència anual del 3 - 5% del total d’embarassos. Una invasió trofoblàstica incompleta de l’endometri durant la formació de la placenta, que es tradueix en anomalies en la remodelació de les artèries espirals maternes, sembla ser la causa principal de l’aparició de la malaltia. S’ha demostrat el paper d’una sèrie de factors en el desenvolupament de la preeclàmpsia, entre els quals destaquen alteracions en la via de senyalització NOTCH, en el gen STOX1, en el sistema immunitari fetal i maternal, en el sistema renina – angiotensina – aldosterona i en l’endotelina, així com un augment de l’estrès oxidatiu. Durant la passada dècada es va descobrir que el desequilibri entre una sèrie de factors proangiogènics i antiangiogènics sintetitzats per la placenta porta a la disfunció endotelial sistèmica característica de la preeclàmpsia. L’únic tractament eficaç descrit fins al moment per al tractament de la malaltia és la inducció del part. Tot i així, existeixen una sèrie de fàrmacs per pal·liar la simptomatologia i prevenir i tractar les convulsions associades a l’eclàmpsia, que és la complicació més important de la patologia descrita. Aquesta, juntament amb altres possibles complicacions, pot portar a la mort, tant de la pacient com del fetus, i és per això que es considera un problema de salut pública arreu del món

Control source development for reduction of noise transmitted through a double panel structure

A double panel structure, which consists of two panels with air in between,\ud is widely adopted in many applications such as aerospace, automotive industries,\ud and buildings due to its low sound transmission at high frequencies, low\ud heat transmission, and low weight. Nevertheless, the resonance of the cavity\ud and the poor sound transmission loss at low frequencies limit the double\ud panel’s noise control performance. Applying active structural acoustic control\ud to the panels or active noise control to the cavity has been discussed in\ud many studies. In this thesis, the resonances of the panels and the cavity are\ud considered simultaneously to further reduce the transmitted noise through an\ud existing double panel structure. Various control strategies have been compared\ud and developed to improve the noise control performance. Both numerical and\ud experimental studies are presented

Flat acoustic sources with frequency response correction based on feedback and feed-forward distributed control

This paper presents an acoustic source with a small thickness and high bending stiffness. The high bending stiffness is obtained with a sandwich structure in which the face of the sandwich structure internal to the source is perforated to increase the acoustic compliance, thereby leading to increased electroacoustic conversion efficiency. Multiple actuators are used to drive the moving component of the acoustic source. Control of the acoustic resonances and structural resonances is required to obtain an even frequency response. The use of collocated decentralized feedback control based on velocity sensing was found to be ineffective for controlling these resonances due to the destabilizing asymmetric modes caused by the coupling of the internal acoustic cavity and the rigid body vibration of the moving component. Resonances can be controlled by a set of independent combinations of symmetric driving patterns with corresponding velocity feedback controllers such that the fundamental mass-air resonance is effectively controlled, as is the lowest bending mode of the moving component. Finally, a compensation scheme for low frequencies is used which enables a flat frequency response in the range of 30 Hz to 1 kHz with deviations smaller than 3 dB

Semiconductor Tool Petri Net Modeling for Sequence Optimization: Furnace and PVD Cluster Tool Cases

半導體晶圓廠購置設備的花費約佔建廠總額的七成以上，生產設備作業運用的效能因此攸關晶圓廠投資收益。本論文研究針對晶圓廠製程設備，以爐管(Furnace)和物理氣象沉積(PVD)兩類為案例，探討如何協助設備工程師有效建構設備機台作業順序模型、並進行效能分析與驗證，以做為設備作業順序最佳化之用。研究主要的挑戰在提供一套系統方法與工具環境，讓一般設備工程師有模組（module）及導引規則(guidelines)可容易地重覆運用，來(i) 描述半導體設備作業流程與觀察到的內部/外部控制邏輯， (ii)快速進行模擬驗證、追蹤修改所描述的模型，以及(iii)轉換所建模型為設備機台作業順序最佳化的限制條件(constraints)。 對於上述三項挑戰，本論文分別研發設計了解決方案：(1) 利用邱顯強2010年碩士論文以PⅤD機台為案例所研發的模組化斐式網建模方法、設備控制邏輯以語意式描述與功能性拆解的方法、及所建出的模型模組，推展至 Furnace內部及外部控制邏輯、出入口傳輸邏輯等(2) 利用CPN tools斐式網模擬軟體分析效能並比對各項效能及作業模式的差異找出了模型是否需要調整或修改，(3)以及藉由斐式網模型轉換為最佳化求解所需限制式模型的說明。 在模型驗證的部分，本文利用線上所使用的機台配置與規則建構其對應的斐式網模型，並且以實際的使用狀況比對模型模擬得到的結果，驗證模型之真實性以及有效性；在行為的驗證上，採用了PVD的推式控制邏輯，以及Furnace的外部邏輯。以晶圓產出之間隔時間以及資源占用時間作為主要驗證的指標並說明如何比對其操作上的差異以快速追蹤模型不足之處。 驗證後的斐式網模型可經由系統化的最佳化限制式模型轉換。藉由定義最佳化之目標函式，便可利用套裝軟體求解。得到的結果將可提供業者量化的效能指標，諸如晶圓產出間隔時間、使用率、製程完成時間等，及發現可能的作業順序控制邏輯選用或設計所能帶來的改善空間，進而提升半導體設備整體作業生產效能。In the construction of a semiconductor fab., the cost of equipment is above 70% of the total cost. Therefore the production equipment performance is directly reflexes in the invest reward in the industry. This paper is focus on "semiconductor fab.", using the case of Furnace Tools and PVD Cluster tools as example to discuss how to assist equipment engineer to efficiently construct the tool sequence model and validate the significance of model. In the end, the model should be able to provide the optimal or near optimal sequence. Designing a systematic guideline for tool sequence modeling method, that a general equipment engineers can construct reusable, modules to fast up the tool sequence modeling process. For this propose, the key challenges is (i) to describe the observed internal/external control logic and (ii) to validate, and quick localize error and revise the just constructed module or complete model and (iii) to convert the constructed model into the constraint form for optimization package usage. In respect of these challenges, in this paper suggested following methods, (1) Adopt the method designed by S.C.Chiou Petri Net PVD Cluster tool robot control logic modeling, which consists in the syntax description and function decomposition methodology. This method helps engineers efficiently construct modules; in this paper we enriched this method to specific furnace such as internal/external control logic, Queue time consideration. (2) Applying the software CPN tools to simulate the constructed models, by token flow and variable design to obtain the necessary information for behavior and performance analysis, as Petri Net has a graphic structure; the error can be located easily. (3) Using the method cooperated designed by Inotera, University of Connecticut and National Taiwan University to module and systematically convert the math form PN model into its constraint form. In this paper, a PVD real fabric operation data is used to validate the constructed model, the error is within 1 sigma (about 2%), and the optimized sequence has the same behavior and performance as real data, it shows that this method can result an optimal sequence of fab. tools, and the real operation sequence is near optimal