Characterization of Al-Doped ZnO Transparent Conducting Thin Film Prepared by Off-Axis Magnetron Sputtering

The off-axis sputtering technique was used to deposit Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films on glass substrates at room temperature. For the illustration of the sample position in the sputtering chamber, the value of R/r is introduced. Here, r is the radius of AZO target and R is the distance between the sample and the center of substrate holder. A systematic study for the effect of deposition parameters on structural, optical, and electrical properties of AZO films has been investigated in detail. As the sample position of R/r is fixed at 1.8, it is found that the as-deposited AZO film has relatively low resistivity of 2.67 × 10−3 Ω-cm and high transmittance above 80% in the visible region. Additionally, after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 600°C with N2 atmosphere, the resistivity of this AZO film can be further reduced to 1.19 × 10−3 Ω-cm. This indicates the AZO films prepared by off-axis magnetron sputtering and treated via the appropriate RTA process have great potential in optoelectronic applications

Radius Margin Bounds for Support Vector . . .

An important approach for ecient support vector machine (SVM) model selection is to use differentiable bounds of the leave-one-out (loo) error. Past efforts focused on finding tight bounds of loo, for example, radius margin bounds, span bounds, etc. However, their practical viability is still not very satisfactory. In (Duan et al., 2003), it has been shown that radius margin bound gives good prediction for L2-SVM. In this paper, through the analyses why this bound performs well for L2-SVM, we show that finding a bound whose minima are in a region with small loo values may be more important than its tightness. Based on this principle we propose modi ed radius margin bounds for L1-SVM where the original bound is only applicable to the hard-margin case. Our modi cation for L1-SVM achieves comparable performance to L2-SVM. To study whether L1- or L2-SVM should be used, we further analyze other properties such as their differentiability, number of support vectors, and number of free support vectors. In this aspect, L1-SVM possesses the advantage of having fewer support vectors. Their implementations are also dierent so we discuss related issues in detail

Millimeter Wave Antennas Using Gap Waveguides with Beam Steerability at Fixed Frequencies for Beyond 5G Mobile Communications

In this paper, we design a 60 GHz millimeter-wave gap waveguide antenna for beam steering applications. Implemented on the premise of a waveguide slot-array, radiated beams can be shone towards designated directions by sliding the pin lattice that makes up one of the walls, thereby altering the modal resonance and thus the phase pattern across the radiating aperture. The array consists of six staggered longitudinal slots. Designs by simulations indicate the ability to steer the main beam through 10 degrees in the elevation plane. The simulated realized gain is 12 dB and the bandwidth is from 54 to 62 GHz (13% fractional bandwidth). The main advantages of this antenna are that it can tailor the main beam with one simple mechanical motion, thereby circumventing the need for complicated electronic networks such as phase shifters, switches or diodes, thus lowering the costs and complexities

Intestinal metaplasia in follow-up endoscopies among Asian patients with short-segment Barrett's esophagus: Regression, sampling error, and associated factors

Background: The percentage of and factors associated with the regression of Barrett's esophagus (BE) or its characteristic intestinal metaplasia (IM) remain unclear, and conflicting results have been reported because of diverse regression and sampling error definitions. Thus, we investigated the rates of IM regression, sampling error, and associated factors. Methods: Forty-two patients with proven short-segment BE with IM who underwent two follow-up endoscopies with biopsies of Barrett's mucosa were retrospectively analyzed. Additional Alcian blue and MUC2 staining were done on the biopsy specimens without IM in hematoxylin–eosin staining. Only patients with negative hematoxylin–eosin, Alcian blue, and MUC2 staining for IM in both follow-up endoscopies were considered to have true regression. When all three stains were negative for IM in the first, but positive in the second follow-up endoscopy, we considered IM persisting and declared sampling error. Results: Among the 18 patients without IM at the first follow-up endoscopy, only five (11.9%) were judged to have true regression. Prolonged proton-pump inhibitor use was significantly associated with regression. Limited experience of the endoscopist, and insufficient biopsy number were significantly related to sampling error. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed the best cut-off value of the biopsy number/maximal-length (cm) ratio to predict sampling error was 2.25. Conclusion: In our patients with short-segment BE, 11.9% experienced regression of IM. Prolonged proton-pump inhibitors treatment was associated with regression. An insufficient biopsy number was related to a missed IM, which may be eliminated by maintaining biopsy number/maximal-length (cm) ratio ≥2.25

7-Day Nonbismuth-Containing Concomitant Therapy Achieves a High Eradication Rate for Helicobacter pylori in Taiwan

Background. Ten-day concomitant therapy achieves a high eradication rate in Taiwan. Whether shortening the duration of concomitant therapy can still keep a high eradication rate remains unclear. Aim. To assess the eradication rate of 7-day pantoprazole-containing concomitant therapy in Taiwan and to investigate factors influencing the eradication outcome. Methods. From March 2008 to March 2012, 319 H. pylori-infected patients receiving a 7-day pantoprazole-containing concomitant regimen (pantoprazole 40 mg, amoxicillin 1 g, clarithromycin 500 mg, and metronidazole 500 mg twice daily for 7 days) were included. Patients were asked to return at the second week to assess drug compliance and adverse effects. Repeated endoscopy or urea breath test was performed at 8 weeks after the end of eradication therapy. Results. The eradication rates according to intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses were 93.7% (299/319) and 96.4% (297/308), respectively. Adverse events occurred in 13.2% (42/319) of the patients. The compliance rate was 98.4% (314/319). Multivariate analysis disclosed that poor compliance was the only independent factor influencing the efficacy of anti-H. pylori therapy with an odds ratio of 0.073 (95% confidence interval, 0.011–0.483). Conclusion. 7-day concomitant therapy achieved a very high eradication rate for H. pylori infection in Taiwan. Drug compliance was the only clinical factor influencing treatment efficacy

The Impact of Higher Protein Intake in Patients with Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation

Prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) is associated with poor outcomes and a high economic cost. The association between protein intake and PMV has rarely been investigated in previous studies. This study aimed to investigate the impact of protein intake on weaning from mechanical ventilation. Patients with the PMV (mechanical ventilation ≥6 h/day for ≥21 days) at our hospital between December 2020 and April 2022 were included in this study. Demographic data, nutrition records, laboratory data, weaning conditions, and survival data were retrieved from the patient’s electronic medical records. A total of 172 patients were eligible for analysis. The patients were divided into two groups: weaning success (n = 109) and weaning failure (n = 63). Patients with daily protein intake greater than 1.2 g/kg/day had significant shorter median days of ventilator use than those with less daily protein intake (36.5 vs. 114 days, respectively, p p = 0.033), daily protein intake ≥1.2 g/kg/day (odds ratio: 89.07, p = 0.001), improvement of serum albumin (odds ratio: 3.68, p = 0.027), and BMI (odds ratio: 1.235, p = 0.014) were independent predictor for successful weaning. The serum creatinine level in the 4th week remained similar in patients with daily protein intake either >1.065 g/kg/day or >1.2 g/kg/day (p = 0.5219 and p = 0.7796, respectively). Higher protein intake may have benefits in weaning in patients with PMV and had no negative impact on renal function