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Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an incurable pulmonary disease that might result in right heart failure and death. Treatment guidelines recommend upfront or sequential combination therapy for patients with PAH. Recently, several PAH-targeted medications have been approved in Taiwan. This study aimed to investigate treatment patterns and medication adherence in real-world settings.Method: This was a new-user design study on patients treated with PAH-specific medication between 1 January 2014, and 31 December 2019. Data were extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Database. Medication adherence was evaluated by the proportion of days covered (PDC). Adherence was defined as PDC ≥ .8. Statistical analyses were performed to compare the study outcomes. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the association between baseline characteristics and adherence. P < .05 indicated statistical significance.Results: A total of 1,900 patients with PAH were identified, and 75.3% of them were females. The mean (standard deviation (SD)) age was 57.2 (17.5) years. Only 23 (1.2%) patients began the initial combination therapy. A total of 148 (7.8%) patients switched their initial treatment to another treatment, and 159 (8.4%) patients had sequential combination therapy. The most common combination therapy was endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA) plus phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5i), mostly macitentan plus sildenafil, for initial or sequential combination. The mean (SD) PDC was .71 (.33), and 1,117 (58.8%) patients were adherent. A significant difference in mean PDC was observed between initial ERA users and PDE5i users (p < .0001). No factor was significantly associated with medication adherence.Conclusion: Patients with PAH mostly initiated sildenafil as monotherapy, and macitentan was added as a sequential combination therapy. The initial ERA and combination groups showed higher medication adherence. Further investigations are needed to identify other factors associated with adherence.

This paper investigates the influence of various sintering temperatures on the microstructure and photoluminescence properties of KSr 0.99 PO 4 :Eu 0.01 3+ phosphors prepared by microwave-assisted sintering. The package properties of KSr 0.99 PO 4 :Eu 0.01 3+ phosphors combined with a n-UV InGaN chip are also investigated. To achieve maximum luminescence, the optimum sintering temperature for KSr 0.99 PO 4 :Eu 0.01 3+ phosphors prepared by microwave assisted-sintering is 1200 °C due to the pure phase and uniform and large particles (as identified by XRD and SEM). The results of the package properties showed that KSr 1−x PO 4 :xEu 3+ (x = 0.01) phosphor sintered at 1200 °C by microwave-assisted sintering could emit orange-red light via the n-UV InGaN chip.

For this study, different alkali carbonates (Li2CO3, Na2CO3, and K2CO3) were added to a Eu3+ activated YInGe2O7 phosphor synthesized using conventional sintering and microwave-assisted sintering. The morphology and photoluminescence properties of YInGe2O7:Eu3+ phosphors were investigated and discussed. When the alkali ions were introduced into YInGe2O7:Eu3+ phosphors, the excitation peaks of phosphors were shifted to a short wavelength because the addition of alkali ions may increase the oxygen vacancy in YInGe2O7:Eu3+ phosphors. Additionally, the best enhanced luminescent properties in YInGe2O7:Eu3+ phosphors were obtained through the addition of Li+ ion.

LiBaPO 4 :Dy 3+ phosphors were synthesized by microwave-assisted and conventional sintering. XRD analysis confirmed the phase formation of all the LiBaPO 4 :Dy 3+ phosphors. PL results showed that the optimum concentration of Dy 3+ for LiBaPO 4 :Dy 3+ prepared by microwave-assisted sintering is 7 mol%. The phosphors were efficiently excited by the UV–vis light region from 300 to 400 nm, and exhibited blue (483 nm), yellow (576 nm) and red (671 nm) emission corresponding to 4 F 9/2 → 6 H 15/2 , 6 H 13/2 , and 6 H 11/2 transitions, respectively. The microwave-assisted sintering improves the sintering behavior and provides a more uniform particle morphology of LiBa 0.03 PO 4 :0.07Dy 3+ phosphors so as to obtain a luminescence intensity greater than that obtained by conventional sintering even at the same sintering temperature. Moreover, all the chromaticity ( x , y ) of the LiBa 0.03 PO 4 :0.07Dy 3+ phosphors are located in the white region (0.33, 0.37) even on using microwave-assisted sintering as the heat treatment did not influence the purity of LiBa 0.03 PO 4 :0.07Dy 3+ phosphors.

Zn 2 SiO 4 : x Eu 3+ phosphors were synthesized with different concentrations of Eu 3+ ions ( x = 0.001, 0.003, 0.005, 0.007 and 0.01) by using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) solution as silicate source. The samples were sintered at 1200 °C for 2 h in air using solid-state sintering. The XRD results showed the prepared Zn 2 SiO 4 :Eu 3+ phosphors have a small impurity phase of SiO 2 when the Eu 3+ concentration is less than x = 0.005. However, the SEM results showed the prepared particles of Zn 2− x SiO 4 : x Eu 3+ phosphor have spherical shape, and fine size powder morphologies. The PL results showed the intensity of the emission spectra of Zn 2− x SiO 4 : x Eu 3+ phosphor increased first and reached a maximum value at x = 0.005, and then decrease due to concentration quenching effect. Moreover, the intensity of the emission spectra of Zn 2− x SiO 4 : x Eu 3+ ( x = 0.005) phosphor via TEOS solution as silicate source is stronger than that using SiO 2 powder as silicate sources, which may be attributed to the uniform particle size distribution. Moreover, all the chromaticity ( x , y ) of Zn 2− x SiO 4 : x Eu 3+ phosphors are located in the red region (0.63, 0.36) even if adopted TEOS solution as silicate source that would not influence the purity of Zn 2− x SiO 4 : x Eu 3+ phosphor.

An investigation of the photoluminescent properties and crystalline morphology of blue emitting LiBa1−xPO4:xTm3+ phosphors with various concentrations (x = 0.005–0.030) of Tm3+ ions were synthesized by microwave sintering. For comparison, the LiBa1−xPO4:xTm3+ powders sintered at the same sintering condition but in a conventional furnace were also investigated. LiBaPO4 without second phase was formed no matter which furnace was used. More uniform grain size distributions are obtained by microwave sintering. When the concentration of Tm3+ ion was x = 0.015, the luminescence intensity reached a maximum value, and then decreased with the increases of the Tm3+ concentration due to concentration quenching effect. The microwave sintering significantly enhanced the emission intensity of LiBa1−xPO4:xTm3+ phosphors. Additionally, the d-d interaction is the key mechanism of concentration quenching for LiBaPO4:Tm3+. The chromaticity (x, y) for all LiBa1−xPO4:xTm3+ phosphors are located at (0.16, 0.05), which will be classified as a blue region.

Green emitting LiBa 1-x PO4:xTb 3+ up-conversion phosphors with various concentrations (x=0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) of Tb 3+ ions were synthesized by solid state reaction method at 1300 □ for 3 hour in air. The impure phases were appeared as Tb 3+ ion concentration was further increased (x more than 0.2). The luminescence intensity reached a maximum when the concentration of Tb3+ ion was x = 0.2, and then decreased with the increases of the Tb 3+ concentration due to concentration quenching effect. In addition, it is identified that the d-d interaction plays a major role in the mechanism of concentration quenching of LiBaPO 4 :Tb 3+ and all the chromaticity (x, y) of LiBa 1-x PO 4 :xTb 3+ phosphors are located in the green region (0.33, 0.56 ).