Understanding Health Information Intent via Crowdsourcing: Challenges and Opportunities

Social Q&A sites have been emerging as a platform for people to seek information and social supports around health topics. Identifying users’ information needs from the questions can significantly help social Q&A sites serve their users better. Prior research had attempted to understand askers’ intentions and implicit needs by classifying hidden intent from questions, while the non-trivial categorization was only able to be conducted with a limited size of data. In this study, we aim to develop a scalable categorization method that can categorize the askers’ intent in a large set of health-related questions via crowdsourcing. We conducted a preliminary experiment on Amazon Mechanical Turk to evaluate our categorization method. Our results suggests both challenges and opportunities for understanding health information intent via crowdsourcing.ye

Recent Development of Graphene-Based Cathode Materials for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted extensive attention for serving as potential low-cost alternatives to silicon-based solar cells. As a vital role of a typical DSSC, the counter electrode (CE) is generally employed to collect electrons via the external circuit and speed up the reduction reaction of I3- to I- in the redox electrolyte. The noble Pt is usually deposited on a conductive glass substrate as CE material due to its excellent electrical conductivity, electrocatalytic activity, and electrochemical stability. To achieve cost-efficient DSSCs, reasonable efforts have been made to explore Pt-free alternatives. Recently, the graphene-based CEs have been intensively investigated to replace the high-cost noble Pt CE. In this paper, we provided an overview of studies on the electrochemical and photovoltaic characteristics of graphene-based CEs, including graphene, graphene/Pt, graphene/carbon materials, graphene/conducting polymers, and graphene/inorganic compounds. We also summarize the design and advantages of each graphene-based material and provide the possible directions for designing new graphene-based catalysts in future research for high-performance and low-cost DSSCs

Ultraquantum magnetoresistance in Kramers Weyl semimetal candidate β\beta-Ag2Se

The topological semimetal $\beta$-Ag2Se features a Kramers Weyl node at the origin in momentum space and a quadruplet of spinless Weyl nodes, which are annihilated by spin-orbit coupling. We show that single crystalline $\beta$-Ag2Se manifests giant Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the longitudinal magnetoresistance which stem from a small electron pocket that can be driven beyond the quantum limit by a field less than 9 T. This small electron pocket is a remainder of the spin-orbit annihilatedWeyl nodes and thus encloses a Berry-phase structure. Moreover, we observed a negative longitudinal magnetoresistance when the magnetic field is beyond the quantum limit. Our experimental findings are complemented by thorough theoretical band structure analyses of this Kramers Weyl semimetal candidate, including first-principle calculations and an effective k*p model.Comment: A new version based on arXiv:1502.0232

Impact Analysis of Earthquake-Induced Cracks in Deep Geological Repositories for Nuclear Waste Fuel

Based on the concept of deep geologic repositories, high-level radioactive waste will be stored in deep deposition holes away from the ground surface. The heat generated by the waste will induce both significant stress increments and ground water seepage in a multiple geologic barrier system. The long-term ability of a barrier system is significantly impacted by coupling between the thermal, hydrological, and mechanical processes. The stability of a system may also depend particularly upon unanticipated factors such as the development of post-earthquake macrocracks. Therefore, this study investigates the three-dimensional transient and long term thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of a barrier system. The results can be used for future reference in practical engineering design.高放射性用過核燃料所產生之長期衰變熱會對生物圈造成極大衝擊，目前國際上多傾向以深層地質處置作為最終處置之方式。處置過程中，極可能因為地震或地層變動等不可預期之因素，在天然障壁中產生大形裂縫，由此伴隨的災損效應將會加速障壁之劣化。本研究依據我國深層地質處置的初步設計概念，針對天然障壁系統長期之熱-水力-力學耦合效應，利用依序耦合分析方法，考慮不同的裂縫尺寸，針對其可能引致之熱應力與地下水影響進行評估

The impact of active community-based survey on dementia detection ratio in Taiwan: A cohort study with historical control

BackgroundAlthough early dementia detection is crucial to optimize the treatment outcomes and the management of associated symptoms, the published literature is scarce regarding the effectiveness of active screening protocols in enhancing dementia awareness and increasing the rate of early detection. The present study compared the detection ratio of an active community-based survey for dementia detection with the detection ratio of passive screening during routine clinical practice. Data for passive screening were obtained from the National Health Insurance (NHI) system, which was prospectively collected during the period from 2000 to 2003.DesignA population-based cohort study with historical control.SettingTaiwan.ParticipantsA total of 183 participants aged 65 years or older were involved in a community-based survey. Data from 1,921,308 subjects aged 65 years or older were retrieved from the NHI system.MeasurementsAn adjusted detection ratio, defined as a ratio of dementia prevalence to incidence was used.ResultsThe results showed that the dementia prevalence during the 2000–2003 period was 2.91% in the elderly population, compared with a prevalence of 6.59% when the active survey was conducted. The incidence of dementia in the active survey cohort was 1.83%. Overall, the dementia detection ratio was higher using active surveys [4.23, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.68–6.69] than using passive detection (1.45, 95% CI: 1.43–1.47) for those aged 65–79 years. Similar findings were observed for those aged 80 years and older.ConclusionThe implementation of an active community-based survey led to a 3-fold increase in the detection rate of early dementia detection compared to passive screening during routine practice