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SUMMARY Background Multidrug-resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacterial (GNB) infections remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among surgical patients. The objective of our study was to recognize the risk factors for MDR GNB infection in patients with abdominal surgery and determine the predictors independently associated with death. Methods From 2010 to 2017, a retrospective cohort study was conducted among patients with abdominal surgery admitted in surgical intensive care unit (ICU). Patients with GNB infections were included for analyses. Results A total of 364 patients with abdominal surgery experienced GNB infections, among them, 117 (32.1%) were MDR GNB infection. Of 133 MDR GNB isolates, the most frequent isolate was Escherichia coli (45.1%). Patients with MDR GNB infection had significantly longer ventilator days and hospital stay, as well as higher 30-day and in-hospital mortality compared to non-MDR GNB patients. Multivariable analysis showed longer length of pre-ICU stay, surgical re-exploration, receipt of group 2 carbapenems (e.g. imipenem, meropenem and doripenem) and fluoroquinolones, and higher total bilirubin were independent risk factors for the acquisition of MDR GNB infection. Predictors for 30-day mortality among patients with MDR GNB infection were chronic kidney disease, receipt of group 2 carbapenems and inappropriate empirical antimicrobial therapy. Conclusions This study provides important information about the risk factors for subsequent MDR GNB infection and 30-day mortality among the patients with abdominal surgery.

Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacterial (GNB) infections remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among surgical patients. The objective of our study was to recognize the risk factors for MDR GNB infection in surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients with abdominal surgery and determine the predictors independently associated with death.Methods: From 2010 to 2017, a retrospective cohort study was conducted among patients with abdominal surgery admitted in SICU. Patients with GNB (MDR and non-MDR) infections were included for analyses. Results: A total of 364 patients with abdominal surgery experienced GNB infections, among them, 117 (32.1%) were MDR GNB infections. Of 133 MDR GNB isolates, the most frequent isolate was Escherichia coli (45.1%). Patients with MDR GNB infection had significantly longer ventilator days and hospital stay, as well as higher 30-day and in-hospital mortality compared to non-MDR GNB patients. Multivariable analysis showed longer length of pre-ICU stay, surgical re-exploration, received anti-pseudo carbapenems and fluoroquinolones, and higher total bilirubin were independent risk factors for the acquisition of MDR GNB infection. Predictors for 30-day mortality among patients with MDR GNB infection were chronic kidney disease, received anti-pseudo carbapenems and inappropriate empirical antimicrobial therapy.Conclusions: This study provides important information about the risk factors for subsequent MDR GNB infection and 30-day mortality among the patients with abdominal surgery. Given the increasingly MDR GNB infection and mortality, implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs in critical care unit is crucial to reduce MDR pathogens and optimize antimicrobial therapies.

Green synthesis of zerovalent copper nanoparticle (Cu-GT NPs) has been introduced and compared with the physico-chemical properties of chemically produced zerovalent copper (ZVC) nanoparticle. Herein, we demonstrate the catalytic ability of both Cu-GT-NPs and sodium borohydride synthesized ZVC (Cu-SB) towards the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). Green tea extract was also used to reduce and stabilize the as-synthesized copper nanoparticles. The surface and particle size of Cu-GT-NPs and Cu-SB were characterized and compared by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) which were found to be 10 ± 5 and 200 ± 20 nm, respectively. Cu-GT NPs and Cu-SB particles were further analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to confirm the possible crystallization and chemical environment. The degradation efficiency was optimized for the most suitable pollutant concentration. Highest degradation efficiency was recorded during 5 days reaction (incubation time) with kinetic rate constant of 0.697 min− 1 g− 1, when pollutant concentration was under 7.5 ppm, with catalyst dose of 2 g L− 1, pH = 6.2 and the 25 °C reaction temperature. The activation energy of 29.65 kJ mol− 1 was calculated for feasible 2,4-DCP degradation by Cu-SB particles in this study. These research findings help to understand the differences in characteristics and the degradation ability of copper nanoparticles synthesized by different methods and also paves the way to synthesize low-cost and environmentally friendly metal nanomaterials.

This work presents a novel artificial data assisted machine learning modelling approach to guarantee the correct physical gain signs between manipulated variables (MV)/controlled variable (CV) in a multi-input-single-output (MISO) model predictive control system (MPC). These industrial systems, such as polymerization reacting systems, are basically controlled based on the operators’ experiences due the lack of the trustworthy models. The purpose of this work is to provide an implementable machine learning model for MPC purposed by the aid of artificial data. This approach is shown valid through a numerical problem, real plant test data and plant test.

this study presented a competitive electrochemical mechanism of the hydrogen and carbon monoxide to describe the real electrochemical reactions in SOFC. The SOFC models employed the competitive electrochemical mechanism was validated with a variety of fuels as the feedstocks, such as methane, mixing gas of H2 and CO, blast furnace gas (BFG), and coke oven gas (COG), via pilot-scale SOFC modules of 1 kW and 50 kW. The models were implemented on Aspen Custom Modeler platform to simulate steady-state results. Further, the SOFC of the 50 kW pilot simulation considering the whole pilot process including pre-reformers, heat exchangers, and fuel recycling. The results showed the SOFC employed the competitive electrochemical mechanism has the better performances of the power generation and voltage predictions regardless of the what fuel used in SOFC of the 1 kW scale, compared to the SOFC only employed hydrogen electrochemical mechanism. The mean voltage error of the SOFC with the competitive electrochemical mechanism using various fuels was 1.52%. the minimum error was 0.73% using COG as the feedstock. The validation of the SOFC model of the 50 kW scale showed that only a 5% error with the experiment in steady-state and 6.91% error in transition.

The targeted delivery of therapeutic agents is a promising approach to enhance the efficacy and reduce the toxicity of cancer treatments. Understanding the intracellular endocytic mechanisms of a cell penetrating peptide (CPP) in an acidic environment is important for targeted delivery of macromolecules to tumours. In this study, we constructed a pH-sensitive CPP-based delivery system for the intracellular delivery of macromolecules. A pH-sensitive CPP, HBHAc, was fused with a model protein, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), through recombinant DNA technology. We found that is essential that negatively charged proteoglycans on the cell surface interact with HBHAc-EGFP prior to the cellular uptake of HBHAc-EGFP. The uptake was significantly restricted at 4 °C under pH conditions of both 6.5 and 7.5. The increased positive charge of HBHAc-EGFP under the acidic condition leads to a pH-dependent cellular uptake, and we observed that the internalisation of HBHAc-EGFP was significantly higher at pH 6.5 than at pH 7.5 (

With shrinking process technology, decreasing supply voltage, and increasing clock frequency, noise reduction becomes more and more crucial to the success of modern mixed-signal system-on-chip design. To eliminate the switching noise due to crosstalk coupling between analog and digital signals, it is essential to fully separate the routing paths of analog and digital nets when generating mixed-signal layouts. Different from previous works which cannot fully separate analog and digital routing paths, this paper presents a novel hierarchical deterministic mixed-signal layout synthesis approach with the separation of analog and digital signal paths for switching noise elimination. Experimental results based on a third-order $ {\Sigma \Delta }$ modulator show that the proposed approach can result in various layouts with separated analog and digital signal paths while achieving better signal-to-noise and distortion ratio, and overall performance specifications.

Decoding high code rate Turbo codes by their reciprocal dual trellis has been shown to be potentially beneficial in implementation due to the simpler trellis structures. However, reciprocal dual trellis decoders' complexity grows significantly when the code rate is less than 1/2. Further, designing a multicode rate reciprocal dual trellis decoder is even more challenging if periodical puncturing patterns is not always available. In this paper, a radix-4 hybrid-trellis LTE-A turbo decoder with a controller switching between the conventional trellis and the reciprocal dual trellis is presented. To accommodate all the rates defined in LTE-A, a zero patching scheme is proposed to create the periodical puncturing patterns required by the reciprocal dual trellis decoding. The implementation of the proposed decoder supports all the code rates, from 1/3 to 0.95, and all the 188 block lengths. Fabricated in TSMC TN28HPM process, the post-layout simulations show the proposed decoder could achieve 333Mbps at 6 iterations under 263MHz operating frequency. The core area is 1.08 mm2, and the decoder draws 295.57 mW of power with energy efficiency of 0.148(nJ/bit/iter).

In this study, polymer nanocomposites of isobutylene–isoprene rubber blended with sodium–montmorillonite were prepared using latex and co-coagulating methods and their influence on thermal, mechanical, and gas barrier if isobutylene–isoprene rubber composites were compared. The dispersion of the layered silicates in the matrix of the obtained nanocomposites was investigated using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The transmission electron microscopy images revealed both partially exfoliated and intercalated structures for the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/montmorillonite nanocomposite prepared using the latex method and a purely intercalated structure for the sample prepared using the co-coagulating method. The surfactant used in the latex method played an important role in determining the interlayer distance within the silicates in the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/montmorillonite composites, in which the interlayer d-spacing in the silicates increased relative to that for the co-coagulating method after the curing process. The tensile and thermal properties of the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/montmorillonite nanocomposites improved with respect to those of the neat isobutylene–isoprene rubber. The tensile strength and decomposition temperature of the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/montmorillonite composites (5 parts per hundred resin (phr) montmorillonite blended with latex) increased by 100% and 20℃, respectively. The gas-barrier properties of the obtained composites (10 phr montmorillonite blended with latex) even increased by 60% compared with those of the neat isobutylene–isoprene rubber. For the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/clay composites prepared using the co-coagulating method, an observable improvement of the tensile properties was achieved only if the content of the blended clay was greater than 10 phr.

This study synthesized and characterized a novel series of polyurethanes containing nonlinear optic (NLO) chromophores, which possess different dimensional or various isolation-groups. These chromophores are based on 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(p-(dimethylamino)styryl)-4H-pyran (DCM-typed dye). The NLO polyurethane containing a one-dimensional isolation-group of chromophores efficiently enhances thermal stability, but poling efficiency is not always improved as the size of isolation-group increases. The enormous isolation group restrained the mobility of chromophore in the polymer matrix and shows a worsening SH intensity. The maximum second harmonic coefficient (d(33) = 68.7 pm/V) is displayed as benzene is attaching to chromophore moieties as isolation-group in this study. Polyurethane containing two-dimensional chromophore shows superior thermal stability due to the large volume required to rotate the chromophore in the polymer matrix. Two-dimensional system exhibits lower SH intensity due to the rigid polymer main chain and twisted conjugated plane. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 4937-4949, 2009

Water resources in Taiwan are unevenly distributed in spatial and temporal domains. Effectively utilizing the water resources is an imperative task due to climate change. At present, groundwater contributes 34% of the total annual water supply and is an important fresh water resource. However, over-exploitation has decreased groundwater availability and has led to land subsidence. Assessing the potential zone of groundwater recharge is extremely important for the protection of water quality and the management of groundwater systems. The Chih-Pen Creek basin in eastern Taiwan is examined in this study to assess its groundwater resources potential. Remote sensing and the geographical information system (GIS) are used to integrate five contributing factors: lithology, land cover/land use, lineaments, drainage, and slope. The weights of factors contributing to the groundwater recharge are derived using aerial photos, geology maps, a land use database, and field verification. The resultant map of the groundwater potential zone demonstrates that the highest recharge potential area is located towards the downstream regions in the basin because of the high infiltration rates caused by gravelly sand and agricultural land use in these regions. In contrast, the least effective recharge potential area is in upstream regions due to the low infiltration of limestone.

Based on the asymmetric information and complete market hypotheses, this article attempts to explain the impact of listing stock options on the abnormal return, volatility, trading volume and market depth of the underlying securities in Taiwan. The empirical results find that positive abnormal returns exist, the degree of volatility decreases, trading volume increases and market depth also increases following the introduction of the stock options. The empirical results for the sub-sample are found to be consistent with those for the full sample, but not all parameters are significant. It appears that the Taiwan stock market has become more efficient, and ever since the stock options were introduced information has been disseminated more rapidly due to the investors' self-interested behaviour.

A new strategy for the self-polymerization of chromophores is investigated to develop a 2,7-carbazole-based nonlinear optical (NLO) conjugated polymer with an increasing conjugation length of chromophores. Elongation of the conjugation-path length in chromophores has established engineering guidelines to enhance optical nonlinearity. Compared with the traditional synthesis of an NLO polymer, the chromophores should be well-designed at a limited conjugation spacer, and then incorporated into a polymer matrix. In this research, the π-conjugation spacer of chromophores extended perpendicularly to the dipole of chromophores during the polymerization process. Furthermore, this study marks the first research of integrating the π-electrons of chromophores and conjugated polymers. These conjugated backbones promote a bulk-polarization response, leading to large NLO coefficients.

The vision system of our autonomous robot possessing the text plate detection and recognition abilities is the main equipment to capture surrounding information. By virtue of a PTZ camera, we can obtain the sequential images of indoor environments. As the autonomous robot moving forward, the obtained sequential images are fed to execute text plate detection. We analyze the color information in these images to determine candidate regions, and observe the edge points in each candidate region after edge detection. Some regions will be filtered out if they have too few edge points. We will recognize the text plate by means of the linear discriminant analysis method. When the recognition result matches with the predefined target, the autonomous robot will carry out the corresponding actions. In the experiments, for uniform contrast text plates, the average text plate detection rate is more than 90%, and the average text plate recognition rate is more than 91% in two different office environments. The robot vision system works by 2 frames per second on an average, and there contains 640×480 pixels per frame captured by our camera.

In this study, two nonlinear optic hybrid materials with different dimensional alkoxysilane dyes were prepared and characterized. One NLO silane (Cz2PhSO 2OH- TES), a two-dimensional structure based on carbazole, had a larger rotational volume than the other (DR19-TES). Second harmonic ( d 33) analysis verified there is an optimum heating process for the best poling efficiency. The maximum d 33 value of NLO hybrid film containing Cz2PhSO 2OH was obtained for 10.7 pm/V after precuring at 150 degrees C for 3 h and poling at 210 degrees C for 60 min. The solid-state (29)Si NMR spectrum shows that the main factor influencing poling efficiency and thermal stability was cross-linking degree of NLO silane, but not that of TMOS. In particular, the two-dimensional sol-gel system has a greater dynamic and temporary stability than the one-dimensional system due to Cz2PhSO 2OH-TES requiring a larger volume to rotate in the hybrid matrix after cross-linking.

Lots of literature discusses Information System/Information Technology adoption or diffusion. However, few studies research the initiation stage of organisational innovation process. Without entering into agenda, organisational innovations issues are not legitimated for further organisational action. Therefore, this study explored factors affecting Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs) issue placement into organisational agenda, based on perspectives of issue selling and agenda building. The quantitatively testified results verified the impact of perceived issue salience and the relatedness between agenda placement of KMSs issue and KMSs adoption. For practical KMSs proponents in organisations, to facilitate KMSs adoption is first to understand how the innovational issue is perceived.