Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with tubo-ovarian abscess at a tertiary care hospital in Northern Taiwan

Background/PurposeControversy exists regarding the need for surgical intervention in patients with tubo-ovarian abscess (TOA). This study was aimed at investigating the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes in patients with TOA at a tertiary care hospital in Taiwan.MethodsThe medical records of 83 patients who presented at the hospital with TOA between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2007, were retrospectively reviewed. Outcomes of patients who received medical treatment alone or underwent surgical intervention were analyzed using univariate and logistic regression analyses.ResultsAmong the 83 patients with TOA, 13 patients (15.7%) underwent surgical intervention, and 70 patients (84.3%) received medical treatment alone. Significant variables related to surgical treatment in the univariate analysis were length of stay (short vs. long; t = −2.267, p = 0.026), department of admission (emergency room vs. outpatient department; χ2 = 7.459, p = 0.006), number of live births (nulliparous vs. multiparous; χ2 = 18.202, p = 0.001), and C-reactive protein (CRP) level (high vs. low; t = −2.250, p = 0.028). Logistic regression analysis performed to determine influential factors for surgical treatment showed that the operation odds ratio of three to four live births versus no live births was 33.995 (p = 0.043) and that of two live births versus no live births was 13.598 (p = 0.026).ConclusionPatients with TOA who underwent surgery had a longer duration of hospitalization. Among the patients who underwent surgical intervention, those admitted to the emergency room had higher CRP levels and were more likely to be multiparous

Evidence for formation of multi-quantum dots in hydrogenated graphene.

We report the experimental evidence for the formation of multi-quantum dots in a hydrogenated single-layer graphene flake. The existence of multi-quantum dots is supported by the low-temperature measurements on a field effect transistor structure device. The resulting Coulomb blockade diamonds shown in the color scale plot together with the number of Coulomb peaks exhibit the characteristics of the so-called 'stochastic Coulomb blockade'. A possible explanation for the formation of the multi-quantum dots, which is not observed in pristine graphene to date, was attributed to the impurities and defects unintentionally decorated on a single-layer graphene flake which was not treated with the thermal annealing process. Graphene multi-quantum dots developed around impurities and defect sites during the hydrogen plasma exposure process.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Carrier Mobility, Charge Trapping Effects on the Efficiency of Heavily Doped Organic Light-Emitting Diodes, and EU(lll) Based Red OLEDs

Transient electroluminescence (EL) was used to measure the onset of emission delay in OLEDs based on transition metal, phosphorescent bis[3,5-bis(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazolato] platinum(ΙΙ) and rare earth, phosphorescent Eu(hfa)3 with 4'-(p-tolyl)-2,2":6',2" terpyridine (ttrpy) doped into 4,4'-bis(carbazol-9-yl) triphenylamine (CBP), from which the carrier mobility was determined. For the Pt(ptp)2 doped CBP films in OLEDs with the structure: ITO/NPB (40nm)/mcp (10nm)/65% Pt(ptp)2:CBP (25nm)/TPBI (30nm)/Mg:Ag (100nm), where NPB=N, N'-bis(1-naphthyl)-N-N'-biphenyl-1, 1'-biphenyl-4, MCP= N, N'-dicarbazolyl-3,5-benzene, TPBI=1,3,5-tris(phenyl-2-benzimidazolyl)-benzene, delayed recombination was observed and based on its dependence on frequency and duty cycle, ascribed to trapping and de-trapping processes at the interface of the emissive layer and electron blocker. The result suggests that the exciton recombination zone is at, or close to the interface between the emissive layer and electron blocker. The lifetime of the thin films of phosphorescent emitter Pt(ptp)2 were studied for comparison with rare earth emitter Eu(hfa)3. The lifetime of 65% Pt(ptp)2:CBP co-film was around 638 nanoseconds at the emission peak of 572nm, and the lifetime of neat Eu(hfa)3 film was obtained around 1 millisecond at 616 nm, which supports the enhanced efficiency obtained from the Pt(ptp)2 devices. The long lifetime and narrow emission of the rare earth dopant Eu(hfa)3 is a fundamental factor limiting device performance. Red organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on the rare earth emitter Eu(hfa)3 with 4'-(p-tolyl)-2,2":6',2" terpyridine (ttrpy) complex have been studied and improved with respect performance. The 4.5% Eu(hfa)3 doped into CBP device produced the best power efficiency of 0.53 lm/W, and current efficiency of 1.09 cd/A. The data suggests that the long lifetime of the f-f transition of the Eu ion is a principal limiting factor irrespective of how efficient the energy transfer from the host to the dopant and the antenna effect are

Integration of Social Media News Mining and Text Mining Techniques to Determine a Corporate’s Competitive Edge

Market globalization have triggered much more severe challenges for corporates than ever before. Thus, how to survive in this highly fluctuating economic atmosphere is an attractive topic for corporate managers, especially when an economy goes into a severe recession. One of the most consensus conclusions is to highly integrate a corporate’s supply chain network, as it can facilitate knowledge circulation, reduce transportation cost, increase market share, and sustain customer loyalty. However, a corporate’s supply chain relations are unapparent and opaque. To solve such an obstacle, this study integrates text mining (TM) and social network analysis (SNA) techniques to exploit the latent relation among corporates from social media news. Sequentially, this study examines its impact on corporate operating performance forecasting. The empirical result shows that the proposed mechanism is a promising alternative for performance forecasting. Public authorities and decision makers can thus consider the potential implications when forming a future policy

Physics-data hybrid dynamic model of a multi-axis manipulator for sensorless dexterous manipulation and high-performance motion planning

We report on the development of an implementable physics-data hybrid dynamic model for an articulated manipulator to plan and operate in various scenarios. Meanwhile, the physics-based and data-driven dynamic models are studied in this research to select the best model for planning. The physics-based model is constructed using the Lagrangian method, and the loss terms include inertia loss, viscous loss, and friction loss. As for the data-driven model, three methods are explored, including DNN, LSTM, and XGBoost. Our modeling results demonstrate that, after comprehensive hyperparameter optimization, the XGBoost architecture outperforms DNN and LSTM in accurately representing manipulator dynamics. The hybrid model with physics-based and data-driven terms has the best performance among all models based on the RMSE criteria, and it only needs about 24k of training data. In addition, we developed a virtual force sensor of a manipulator using the observed external torque derived from the dynamic model and designed a motion planner through the physics-data hybrid dynamic model. The external torque contributes to forces and torque on the end effector, facilitating interaction with the surroundings, while the internal torque governs manipulator motion dynamics and compensates for internal losses. By estimating external torque via the difference between measured joint torque and internal losses, we implement a sensorless control strategy which is demonstrated through a peg-in-hole task. Lastly, a learning-based motion planner based on the hybrid dynamic model assists in planning time-efficient trajectories for the manipulator. This comprehensive approach underscores the efficacy of integrating physics-based and data-driven models for advanced manipulator control and planning in industrial environments.Comment: 26 pages, 16 figure

AMiBA: Broadband Heterodyne CMB Interferometry

The Y. T. Lee Array for Microwave Background (AMiBA) has reported the first science results on the detection of galaxy clusters via the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect. The science objectives required small reflectors in order to sample large scale structures (20') while interferometry provided modest resolutions (2'). With these constraints, we designed for the best sensitivity by utilizing the maximum possible continuum bandwidth matched to the atmospheric window at 86-102GHz, with dual polarizations. A novel wide-band analog correlator was designed that is easily expandable for more interferometer elements. MMIC technology was used throughout as much as possible in order to miniaturize the components and to enhance mass production. These designs will find application in other upcoming astronomy projects. AMiBA is now in operations since 2006, and we are in the process to expand the array from 7 to 13 elements.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, ApJ in press; a version with high resolution figures available at http://www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/~keiichi/upfiles/AMiBA7/mtc_highreso.pd

AMiBA Wideband Analog Correlator

A wideband analog correlator has been constructed for the Yuan-Tseh Lee Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy. Lag correlators using analog multipliers provide large bandwidth and moderate frequency resolution. Broadband IF distribution, backend signal processing and control are described. Operating conditions for optimum sensitivity and linearity are discussed. From observations, a large effective bandwidth of around 10 GHz has been shown to provide sufficient sensitivity for detecting cosmic microwave background variations.Comment: 28 pages, 23 figures, ApJ in press

AMiBA: scaling relations between the integrated Compton-y and X-ray derived temperature, mass, and luminosity

We investigate the scaling relations between the X-ray and the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect (SZE) properties of clusters of galaxies, using data taken during 2007 by the Y.T. Lee Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) at 94 GHz for the six clusters A1689, A1995, A2142, A2163, A2261, and A2390. The scaling relations relate the integrated Compton-y parameter Y_{2500} to the X-ray derived gas temperature T_{e}, total mass M_{2500}, and bolometric luminosity L_X within r_{2500}. Our results for the power-law index and normalization are both consistent with the self-similar model and other studies in the literature except for the Y_{2500}-L_X relation, for which a physical explanation is given though further investigation may be still needed. Our results not only provide confidence for the AMiBA project but also support our understanding of galaxy clusters.Comment: Accepted by ApJ; 8 pages, 3 figures, 5 table