Pentacene-Based Thin-Film Transistors With a Solution-Process Hafnium Oxide Insulator

Abstract—Pentacene-based organic thin-film transistors with solution-process hafnium oxide (HfOx) as gate insulating layer have been demonstrated. The solution-process HfOx could not only exhibit a high-permittivity (κ = 11) dielectric constant but also has good dielectric strength. Moreover, the root-mean-square surface roughness and surface energy (γs) on the surface of the HfOx layer were 1.304 nm and 34.24 mJ/cm2, respectively. The smooth, as well as hydrophobic, surface of HfOx could facilitate the direct deposition of the pentacene film without an additional polymer treatment layer, leading to a high field-effect mobility of 3.8 cm2/(V · s). Index Terms—Hafnium oxide, high permittivity, organic thinfilm transistor (OTFT), solution process, surface energy

Improvement of Manik et al.¡¦s remote user authentication scheme

In 2005, Manik et al. propose a novel remote user authentication scheme using bilinear pairings which allows a valid user to login to the remote system but prohibits too many users to login with the same login-ID. It also provides a flexible password change function. In this paper, we will show that this remote user authentication scheme is not secure, an adversary can always pass the authentication

Gender-Differential Associations between Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Symptoms and Youth Health Risk Behaviors

Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the common developmental disorders that generally receives clinical attention at learning ages, and some symptoms may persist in young adulthood.1 Past research has demonstrated a consistent association between ADHD and youth health risk behaviors (e.g., cigarette smoking), which often develop during adolescence and contribute to early morbidity and mortality among young adults.2 However, ADHD symptoms are not routinely screened in adolescents and emerging adults during their visits to healthcare providers.3 The six-item Adult Self-Report Scale (ASRS-6) for ADHD has been validated in the young population for screening purposes.4 This short form is time-saving and also provides a comparable predictivity of ADHD diagnosis as that of the original long version.5 Although accumulating evidence has demonstrated the association between ADHD symptoms and youth health risk behaviors, this issue has scarcely been explored in the Taiwanese youth population.6 Therefore, this study was conducted to validate the psychometric property of the Chinese version of ASRS-6 and examine the gender-stratified association between ADHD symptoms and youth health risk behaviors

Experimental Studies of Low-field Landau Quantization in Two-dimensional Electron Systems in GaAs/AlGaAs Heterostructures

By applying a magnetic field perpendicular to GaAs/AlGaAs two-dimensional electron systems, we study the low-field Landau quantization when the thermal damping is reduced with decreasing the temperature. Magneto-oscillations following Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) formula are observed even when their amplitudes are so large that the deviation to such a formula is expected. Our experimental results show the importance of the positive magneto-resistance to the extension of SdH formula under the damping induced by the disorder.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Dementia Assessment Using Mandarin Speech with an Attention-based Speech Recognition Encoder

Dementia diagnosis requires a series of different testing methods, which is complex and time-consuming. Early detection of dementia is crucial as it can prevent further deterioration of the condition. This paper utilizes a speech recognition model to construct a dementia assessment system tailored for Mandarin speakers during the picture description task. By training an attention-based speech recognition model on voice data closely resembling real-world scenarios, we have significantly enhanced the model's recognition capabilities. Subsequently, we extracted the encoder from the speech recognition model and added a linear layer for dementia assessment. We collected Mandarin speech data from 99 subjects and acquired their clinical assessments from a local hospital. We achieved an accuracy of 92.04% in Alzheimer's disease detection and a mean absolute error of 9% in clinical dementia rating score prediction.Comment: submitted to IEEE ICASSP 202

From insulator to quantum Hall liquid at low magnetic fields

We have performed low-temperature transport measurements on a GaAs two-dimensional electron system at low magnetic fields. Multiple temperature-independent points and accompanying oscillations are observed in the longitudinal resistivity between the low-field insulator and the quantum Hall (QH) liquid. Our results support the existence of an intermediate regime, where the amplitudes of magneto-oscillations can be well described by conventional Shubnikov-de Haas theory, between the low-field insulator and QH liquid.Comment: Magneto-oscillations governed by Shubnikov-de Haas theory are observed between the low-field insulator and quantum Hall liqui

Complex Microbiome in Brain Abscess Revealed by Whole-Genome Culture-Independent and Culture-Based Sequencing.

Brain abscess is a severe infectious disease with high mortality and mobility. Although culture-based techniques have been widely used for the investigation of microbial composition of brain abscess, these approaches are inherent biased. Recent studies using 16S ribosomal sequencing approaches revealed high complexity of the bacterial community involved in brain abscess but fail to detect fungal and viral composition. In the study, both culture-independent nanopore metagenomic sequencing and culture-based whole-genome sequencing using both the Illumina and the Nanopore platforms were conducted to investigate the microbial composition and genomic characterization in brain abscess. Culture-independent metagenomic sequencing revealed not only a larger taxonomic diversity of bacteria but also the presence of fungi and virus communities. The culture-based whole-genome sequencing identified a novel species in Prevotella and reconstructs a Streptococcus constellatus with a high GC-skew genome. Antibiotic-resistance genes CfxA and ErmF associated with resistance to penicillin and clindamycin were also identified in culture-based and culture-free sequencing. This study implies current understanding of brain abscess need to consider the broader diversity of microorganisms

Clinical Study Analgesic Effects of Intra-Articular Bupivacaine/Intravenous Parecoxib Combination Therapy versus Intravenous Parecoxib Monotherapy in Patients Receiving Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized, Double-Blind Trial

Objectives. The purpose of this double-blind, randomized study was to investigate whether the addition of intra-articular bupivacaine to intravenous parecoxib could improve pain relief in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Methods. A total of 36 patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty were enrolled into our study. These patients were randomly allocated either to a placebo-controlled group or study group. Postoperative pain scores and analgesic consumption were evaluated. Results. Numeric rating scale (NRS) data of bupivacaine group in postoperative room were significantly lower than that of control group (control group versus bupivacaine group, 7.9 (6.7-9.1) (mean and 95% confidence interval) versus 4.5 (3.2-5.8) (mean and 95% confidence interval), = 0.001). NRS data of bupivacaine group in ward were also significantly lower than that of control group. A significantly lower dose of meperidine was used in the study group postoperatively during the first 24 hours (control group versus bupivacaine group, 3.08 ± 0.80 mg/Kg versus 2.34 ± 0.42 mg/Kg, = 0.001). Conclusion. Intra-articular bupivacaine in combination with intravenous parecoxib may improve pain relief and reduce the demand for rescue analgesics in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. The trial is registered with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12615000463572)

In Vitro

Infection with Helicobacter pylori is strongly associated with gastric cancer and gastric adenocarcinoma. WHO classified H. pylori as a group 1 carcinogen in 1994. Impatiens balsamina L. has been used as indigenous medicine in Asia for the treatment of rheumatism, fractures and fingernail inflammation. In this study, we isolated anti-H. pylori compounds from this plant and investigated their anti- and bactericidal activity. Compounds of 2-methoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (MeONQ) and stigmasta-7,22-diene-3β-ol (spinasterol) were isolated from the pods and roots/stems/leaves of I. balsamina L., respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) for MeONQ were in the ranges of 0.156–0.625 and 0.313–0.625 μg mL−1, respectively, and in the ranges of 20–80 μg mL−1 both of MICs and MBCs for spinasterol against antibiotic (clarithromycin, metronidazole and levofloxacin) resistant H. pylori. Notably, the activity of MeONQ was equivalent to that of amoxicillin (AMX). The bactericidal H. pylori action of MeONQ was dose-dependent. Furthermore, the activity of MeONQ was not influenced by the environmental pH values (4–8) and demonstrated good thermal (121°C for 15 min) stability. MeONQ abounds in the I. balsamina L. pod at the level of 4.39% (w/w db). In conclusion, MeONQ exhibits strong potential to be developed as a candidate agent for the eradication of H. pylori infection