Analysis of the Interdecadal and Interannual Variability of Autumn Extreme Rainfall in Taiwan Using a Deep-Learning-Based Weather Typing Approach

Li‑Huan Hsu,Yi‑chao Wu,Chou‑Chun Chiang,Jung‑Lien Chu,Yi‑Chiang Yu,An‑Hsiang Wang,Ben Jong‑Dao Jou 한국기상학회 2023 Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences Vol.59 No.2

This study sought to assess the interdecadal and interannual variability of autumn extreme rainfall (ER) in Taiwan from 1979to 2019. Three types of ER events were identified based on a clustering analysis augmented by a deep autoencoder-basedneural network model. This method outperforms other methods in obtaining the optimal number of clusters by extractingthe synoptic features in advance. The patterns associated with these three types include a tropical cyclone covering Taiwan(TC), a TC-like circulation in the South China Sea (SCS) accompanied by northeasterly near northern Taiwan (TC-NE), andnortheasterly near northern Taiwan (NE). The differences in the rainfall pattern caused by the three types were discernableover Taiwan. How the PDO or ENSO modulates the regional large-scale environment to favor the occurrence of these ERevents was investigated. The occurrence of TC-NE events was simultaneously correlated with the negative phases of PDO/ENSO in the interdecadal/interannual scale. In the negative phases of PDO/ENSO, a low-level anomalous cyclone overSCS accompanied by background northeasterly favored the regional TC activities and may cause more TC-NE events. Theoccurrence of NE events is simultaneously correlated with the cold phase of ENSO. An anomalous low-level anticyclone inNortheast Asia strengthened the northeasterly toward northern Taiwan, and with the seasonal background moisture, providedfavorable conditions for the occurrence of the NE events. Overall, the occurrence of the TC events did not correlate with thePDO or ENSO signals; the reasons for the lack of correlation were discussed herein.

Risks of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or invasive cancers in ASCUS women with different management: a population-based cohort study

Yi-Jou Tai,Yun-Yuan Chen,Huang-Cheng Hsu,Chun-Ju Chiang,San-Lin You,Chi-An Chen,Wen-Fang Cheng,Taiwan Cervical Cancer Control Task Force 대한부인종양학회 2018 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.29 No.4

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the progression risk of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) with different clinical managements. METHODS: Women with their first diagnosis of ASCUS cytology were retrieved from the national cervical cancer screening database and linked to the national health insurance research database to identify the management of these women. The incidences of developing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 and invasive cervical cancer (CIN3+) were calculated, and the hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using a Cox proportional hazards model. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the National Taiwan University Hospital and is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT02063152). RESULTS: There were total 69,741 women included. Various management strategies including colposcopy, cervical biopsies and/or endocervical curettage, and cryotherapy, failed to reduce the risk of subsequent CIN3+ compared with repeat cervical smears. Loop electrosurgical excision procedure/conization significantly decreased risk of subsequent CIN3+ lesions (HR=0.22; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.07–0.68; p=0.010). Women in their 40s–50s had an approximately 30% risk reduction compared to other age groups. Women with a previous screening history >5 years from the present ASCUS diagnosis were at increased risk for CIN3+ (HR=1.24; 95% CI=1.03–1.49; p=0.020). CONCLUSION: In women of first-time ASCUS cytology, a program of repeat cytology can be an acceptable clinical option in low-resource settings. Caution should be taken especially in women with remote cervical screening history more than 5 years.

A case study of damage detection in four-bays steel structures using the HHT approach

Hsu, Wen-Ko,Chiou, Dung-Jiang,Chen, Cheng-Wu,Liu, Ming-Yi,Chiang, Wei-Ling,Huang, Pei-Chiung Techno-Press 2014 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.14 No.4

This study aims to investigate the relationship between structural damage and sensitivity indices using the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) method. Two damage detection indices are proposed: the ratio of bandwidth (RB), and the ratio of effective stiffness (RES). The nonlinear four bays multiple degree of freedom models with various predominant frequencies are constructed using the SAP2000 program. Adjusted PGA earthquake data (Japan 311, Chi-Chi 921) are used as the excitations. Next the damage detection indices obtained using the HHT and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) methods are evaluated based on the acceleration responses of the structures to earthquakes. Simulation results indicate that, the column of the 1 st floor is the first yielding position and the RB value is changed when the RES<90% in all cases. Moreover, the RB value of the 1 st floor changes more sensitive than those from the top floor. In addition, when the structural response is nonlinear (i.e., RES<100%), the RB and the RES curves indicate the incremental change in the HHT spectra. However, the same phenomenon can be found from FFT spectra only when the stiffness reduction is large enough. Therefore, the RB estimated from the smoothed HHT spectra is an effective and sensitive index for detecting structural damage.

A case study of damage detection in four-bays steel structures using the HHT approach

Wen-Ko Hsu,Cheng-Wu Chen,Dung-Jiang Chiou,Ming-Yi Liu,Wei-Ling Chiang,Pei-Chiung Huang 국제구조공학회 2014 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.14 No.4

This study aims to investigate the relationship between structural damage and sensitivity indices using the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) method. Two damage detection indices are proposed: the ratio of bandwidth (RB), and the ratio of effective stiffness (RES). The nonlinear four bays multiple degree of freedom models with various predominant frequencies are constructed using the SAP2000 program. Adjusted PGA earthquake data (Japan 311, Chi-Chi 921) are used as the excitations. Next, the damage detection indices obtained using the HHT and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) methods are evaluated based on the acceleration responses of the structures to earthquakes. Simulation results indicate that, the column of the 1st floor is the first yielding position and the RB value is changed when the RES<90% in all cases. Moreover, the RB value of the 1st floor changes more sensitive than those from the top floor. In addition, when the structural response is nonlinear (i.e., RES<100%), the RB and the RES curves indicate the incremental change in the HHT spectra. However, the same phenomenon can be found from FFT spectra only when the stiffness reduction is large enough. Therefore, the RB estimated from the smoothed HHT spectra is an effective and sensitive index for detecting structural damage.

Synthesis, Characterization and Properties of Novel Blue Light Emitting Discrete π-Functional Polymer Consisting of Carbazole and Anthracene Units and Their Applications in Polymer Light Emitting Diodes

Ram Gopal,Yi-Chiang Huang,Hsu-Feng Lee,Ming-Sien Chang,Wen-Yao Huang 대한금속·재료학회 2017 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS LETTERS Vol.13 No.3

A new novel blue light emitting polymer containing carbazole andanthracene derivatives has been successfully synthesized via polycondensationchemical reaction of diol and difluoro monomers. An effort has been madeto raise the band gap of blue light emitter by lowering the conjugation extentin the backbone. The synthesized blue polymer exhibits decent solubility,good process ability, high thermal stability, high glass transition temperature(272 °C) and the decomposition temperature of 358 °C. The UV-visabsorption spectra and photoluminescence spectra depict that the lightemission lies in blue region. The solid state photoluminescence (PL) spectraof the polymer (λPL = 456 nm) shows red shift (Δλ = 37 nm) as comparedwith the corresponding solution PL spectra, presumably due to lowerintermolecular distance in solid state. The multi-layered polymer lightemitting diode was fabricated, using blue polymer with ITO/PEDOT: PSS/BP/LiF/Al architecture. The luminance-voltage (L-V) and current densityvoltage(J-V) curves show a maximum luminance of 7544 cd m−2, amaximum emission efficiency of 4.2 cd A−1, a maximum current density of453 mA cm−2 at a turn-on voltage of 4.5 V. Moreover, the PLED instigatepure blue EL emission, stable at 436 nm with outstanding CIE coordinates of(x = 0.15, y = 0.08), which is close to the pure NTSC blue coordinates of(0.14, 0.08).

The Antiproliferation Activity of Ganoderma formosanum Extracts on Prostate Cancer Cells

( Cheng-yen Chiang ),( Kai-di Hsu ),( Yen-yi Lin ),( Chang-wei Hsieh ),( Jui-ming Liu ),( Tze-ying Lu ),( Kuan-chen Cheng ) 한국균학회 2020 Mycobiology Vol.48 No.3

Androgen-independent prostate cancer accounts for mortality in the world. In this study, various extracts of a medical fungus dubbed Ganoderma formosanum were screened for inhibition of DU145 cells, an androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line. Results demonstrated that both hexane (GF-EH) and butanol (GF-EB) fraction of G. formosanum ethanol extract inhibited DU145 cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. GF-EH induced cell-cycle arrest in G1 phase of DU145 cells via downregulation of cyclin E2 protein expression. In addition, GF-EB triggered extrinsic apoptosis of DU145 cells by activating caspase 3 gene expression resulting in programed cell death. Above all, both GF-EH and GF-EB show lower toxicity to normal human fibroblast cell line compared to DU145 cell, implying that they possess specific drug action on cancer cells. This study provides a molecular basis of G. formosanum extract as a potential ingredient for treatment of androgen-independent prostate cancer.

The Proton Dissociation Constant of Additive Effect on Self-Assembly of Poly(3-hexyl-thiophene) for Organic Solar Cells

Po-Hsun Wang,Hsu-Feng Lee,Yi-Chiang Huang,Yi-Jiun Jung,Fang-Lin Gong,Wen-Yao Huang 대한금속·재료학회 2014 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS LETTERS Vol.10 No.4

In the decision on the pros and cons of the optical and electrical properties of organic solar cells, the morphology has proven to be very important. Easy to change the morphology via adding a small amount of additive, because proton dissociation constant is the main reason for their application. In this study, the use of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester as the donor and acceptor materials, and were subsequently doped with different quantity of 4,4'-sulfonyldiphenol, 4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl, biphenyl-4,4'-dithiol. When the proton dissociation constant is higher and lower respectively, the morphology reveals earthworms-like and fiber-like. For the reason that when the additive is biphenyl-4,4'-dithiol, it can improve the power conversion efficiency of about 27% and the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency of about 12%.

Ovarian cancer risk score predicts chemo-response and outcome in epithelial ovarian carcinoma patients

Hsiao-Yun Lu,Yi-Jou Tai,Yu-Li Chen,Ying-Cheng Chiang,Heng-Cheng Hsu,Wen-Fang Cheng 대한부인종양학회 2021 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.32 No.2

Objective: Cytoreductive surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy is a standard frontlinetreatment for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). We aimed to develop an ovarian cancer riskscore (OVRS) based on the expression of 10 ovarian-cancer-related genes to predict thechemoresistance, and outcomes of EOC patients. Methods: We designed a case-control study with total 149 EOC women including 75chemosensitives and 74 chemoresistants. Gene expression was measured using thequantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. We tested for correlation between theOVRS and chemosensitivity or chemoresistance, disease-free survival (DFS), and overallsurvival (OS), and validated the OVRS by analyzing patients from the TCGA database. Results: The chemosensitive group had lower OVRS than the chemoresistant group (5 vs. 15, p≤0.001, Mann-Whitney U test). Patients with disease relapse (13 vs. 5, p<0.001, Mann Whitney U test) or disease-related death (13.5 vs. 6, p<0.001) had higher OVRS than thosewithout. OVRS ≥10 (hazard ratio=3.29; 95% confidence interval=1.94–5.58; p<0.001) was theonly predictor for chemoresistance in multivariate analysis. The median DFS (5 months vs. 24 months) and OS (39 months vs. >60 months) of patients with OVRS ≥10 were significantlyshorter than those of patients with OVRS <9). The high OVRS group also had significantlyshorter median OS than the low OVRS group in 255 patients in the TCGA database (39 vs. 49months, p=0.046). Conclusions: Specific genes panel can be clinically applied in predicting the chemoresistanceand outcome, and decision-making of epithelial ovarian cancer.

Enhanced Performance of Pseudo-Bilayer Organic Photovoltaic Devices via Small Molecule Doping

Syu, Yu-Wei,Huang, Peng-Yi,Li, Husan-De,Hsu, Ching-Ling,Chiu, Kuan-Cheng,Kim, Choongik,Chen, Ming-Chou,Chao, Yu-Chiang American Chemical Society 2014 The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C Vol.118 No.19

<P>Controlling both the film crystallinity of the active layer for better charge transport and the interdiffusion between donor and acceptor materials for optimal bicontinuous networks is essential in producing pseudo-bilayer polymer solar cells. In this work, we investigated the influence of a doping solution-processable small molecule with high carrier mobility, 5,11-bis(triethylsilylethynyl) anthradithiophene (TES-ADT), on the performance of pseudo-bilayer polymer solar cells made of an underlayer of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and an upper layer of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). By analysis of the X-ray diffraction and UV–vis absorbance spectra of P3HT:TES-ADT blend films it was demonstrated that the film crystallinity was enhanced by TES-ADT doping in the P3HT underlayer. The hole mobility extracted from the current density–voltage curves of hole-only devices based on P3HT:TES-ADT demonstrated an optimized value with proper TES-ADT doping and thermal annealing. An intermixed photoactive layer was observed for the annealed device, indicating the occurrence of interdiffusion with a large interfacial area. With improved film crystallinity and interdiffusion, the optimal device performance was obtained when 5% TES-ADT was blended with P3HT and a thermal annealing treatment at 150 °C for 1 min was conducted. At that optimal condition, the mean crystallite size was increased by 35%, and hence the enhancement of 8% and 14% in power conversion efficiency and short-circuit current density was observed, respectively.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/jpccck/2014/jpccck.2014.118.issue-19/jp502331x/production/images/medium/jp-2014-02331x_0007.gif'></P><P><A href='http://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/jp502331x'>ACS Electronic Supporting Info</A></P>

Treatment outcomes of patients with stage II pure endometrioid-type endometrial cancer: a Taiwanese Gynecologic Oncology Group (TGOG-2006) retrospective cohort study

Hung-Chun Fu,Jen-Ruei Chen,Min-Yu Chen,Keng-Fu Hsu,Wen-Fang Cheng,An Jen Chiang,Yu-Min Ke,Yu-Chieh Chen,Yin-Yi Chang,Chia-Yen Huang,Chieh-Yi Kang,Yuan-Yee Kan,Sheng-Mou Hsiao,Ming-Shyen Yen 대한부인종양학회 2018 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.29 No.5

Objective: Choice of hysterectomy and adjuvant treatment for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2009 stage II endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC) is still controversial. Aims of this study were to evaluate survival benefits and adverse effects of different hysterectomies with or without adjuvant radiotherapy (RT), and to identify prognostic factors. Methods: The patients at 14 member hospitals of the Taiwanese Gynecologic Oncology Group from 1992 to 2013 were retrospectively investigated. Patients were divided into simple hysterectomy (SH) alone, SH with RT, radical hysterectomy (RH) alone, and RH with RT groups. Endpoints were recurrence-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), adverse effects and prognostic factors for survival. Results: Total of 246 patients were enrolled. The 5-year RFS, OS, DSS and recurrence rates for the entire cohort were 89.5%, 94.3%, 96.2% and 10.2%, respectively. Patients receiving RH had more adverse effects including blood loss (p<0.001), recurrent urinary tract infections (p=0.013), and leg lymphedema (p=0.038). Age over 50-year (HR=9.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2–70.9) and grade 3 histology (HR=7.28; 95% CI, 1.45–36.6) were independent predictors of OS. Grade 3 histology was an independent predictor of RFS (HR=5.13; 95% CI, 1.38–19.1) and DSS (HR=5.97; 95% CI, 1.06–58.7). Patients receiving adjuvant RT had lower locoregional recurrence (p=0.046), but no impact on survival. Conclusion: Different treatment modalities yield similar survival outcomes. Patients receiving SH with RT had lower locoregional recurrent with acceptable morbidity. Age and tumor grading remained significant predictors for survival among patients with FIGO 2009 stage II EEC.