The Relationship Between Night Shift Work and the Risk of Abnormal Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone: A Hospital-Based Nine-Year Follow-up Retrospective Cohort Study in Taiwan

Chen, Hsin-Hao,Chiu, Hsiao-Hui,Yeh, Tzu-Lin,Lin, Chi-Min,Huang, Hsin-Yi,Wu, Shang-Liang Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute 2021 Safety and health at work Vol.12 No.3

Background: Health-care providers typically undergo shift work and are subjected to increased stress. Night shift work may induce disturbed sleep cycles and circadian rhythm. The objective of this study was to explore if night shift workers (NSWs) show an increased risk of abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 574 employees without thyroid disease and abnormal TSH at baseline who underwent annual check-ups between 2007 and 2016 in a medical center. NSWs were defined as those with working time schedules other than daytime hours. We calculated the incidence rate and estimated the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for incident abnormal TSH and subclinical hypothyroidism compared with non-NSWs using a Cox regression model. Results: A total of 56 incident abnormal TSH cases and 39 subclinical hypothyroidism cases in NSWs were identified during 3000 person-years of follow-up. In models adjusted for age, sex, obesity, and working departments, we found no increased relative risk for incident abnormal TSH (HR: 0.72, 95% confidence interval: 0.33-1.60) or subclinical hypothyroidism (HR: 0.52, 95% confidence interval: 0.19-1.45) when comparing NSWs to non-NSWs; nor were incidence rates significantly different among exclusively medical employees after excluding administrative staff. Conclusion: In this hospital-based nine-year follow-up retrospective cohort study, NSWs were not associated with increased relative risk of incident abnormal TSH and subclinical hypothyroidism, in contrast to previous cross-sectional studies.

A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach for Identifying Critical Factors of Chinese Students’ Learning in Study Abroad

Hsin-I LEE,Tzu-Yu LIN,Silin WU,Sheng-Hsiung CHIU 한국유통과학회 2018 KODISA ICBE (International Conference on Business Vol.2018 No.-

China is the largest international students exporting country in the world. Base on the economic globalization and trade liberalization, the international talents cultivation, and how to assure their quality of higher education are important to China. This paper aims at finding out the dimensions influencing the quality of studying abroad. To obtain the weight and influential degree of the dimensions, we identify four criteria and sub-criteria mainly from the literatures related to learning quality in higher education and cross-cultural communication. To handle the inter-relations among the identified criteria and sub-criteria, we proposed a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach based on Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory based Analytic Network Process (DANP). This paper established how the obtained results will help the teachers in higher education system and Ministry of Education to optimize their improvement plans.

Research on the WIP-based Dispatching Rules for Photolithography Area in Wafer Fabrication Industries

Lin, Yu-Hsin,Tsai, Chih-Hung,Lee, Ching-En,Chiu, Chung-Ching The Korean Society for Quality Management 2007 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.8 No.2

Constructing an effective production control policy is the most important issue in wafer fabrication factories. Most of researches focus on the input regulations of wafer fabrication. Although many of these policies have been proven to be effective for wafer fabrication manufacturing, in practical, there is a need to help operators decide which lots should be pulled in the right time and to develop a systematic way to alleviate the long queues at the bottleneck workstation. The purpose of this study is to construct a photolithography workstation dispatching rule (PADR). This dispatching rule considers several characteristics of wafer fabrication and influential factors. Then utilize the weights and threshold values to design a hierarchical priority rule. A simulation model is also constructed to demonstrate the effect of the PADR dispatching rule. The PADR performs better in throughput, yield rate, and mean cycle time than FIFO (First-In-First-Out) and SPT (Shortest Process Time).

Experience in Professional Resilience for Nurses Caring for Patients with COVID-19: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Chiu Pai-En,Lin Shu-Chuan A.,Li Ya-Ping,Huang Chiao-Hsin,Shu Ying-Mei,Chen Chi-Wen 한국간호과학회 2024 Asian Nursing Research Vol.18 No.1

Purpose During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses have faced many professional and ethical dilemmas and challenges along with bearing physical, mental, and emotional stress resulting from worrying about themselves or their family being infected and stigmatized. This stress can potentially lead to burnout and resignation. Professional resilience is crucial for nurses to cope with these adverse situations. This study aimed to investigate the process by which nurses adapt, change, and overcome challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and ultimately demonstrate professional resilience. Methods Descriptive phenomenology was applied. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 nurses working in COVID-19 wards and intensive care units to collect data. Giorgi's phenomenological analysis method was employed. Results Based on the interview responses, four major themes were identified: 1) balancing patient care, self-protection, and passing on experience; 2) providing timely pandemic team resources and social support; 3) nurses' perseverance amid social discourse and constrained lives; and 4) selfless dedication shaping nursing's pinnacle experiences. Conclusions In the face of a sudden pandemic, frontline nurses play a critical role in maintaining medical capacity. Consequently, they must balance their families, lives, and work while adapting to the impact of the pandemic and changing practices and procedures based on the development of the pandemic and policy demands. The study findings provide insights into the challenges and emotional experiences encountered by nurses during a sudden pandemic outbreak and can serve as a reference for developing strategies to help nurses overcome these challenges and enhance their professional resilience.

Reinforcement Learning Based Electricity Price Controller in Smart Grids

Yi-Hsin Lin,Wei-Yu Chiu 제어로봇시스템학회 2021 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2021 No.10

Striking a balance between power supply and demand is the most imperative target for any electricity grid system. In order to address variability of renewable energy in the modern grid, a robust and elastic balancing scheme is required. Conventional model-based approaches can suffer from great performance degradation given the uncertainty induced by the renewable energy. As such, this study explores a model-free approach by proposing a reinforcement learning based pricing scheme that balances the power supply and demand. A price signal is considered as the control signal for the balance management. Case studies involving different market parameters and different time resolutions were conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

Research on the WIP-based Dispatching Rules for Photolithography Area in Wafer Fabrication Industries

( Yu Hsin Lin ),( Chih Hung Tsai ),( Ching En Lee ),( Chung Ching Chiu ) 한국품질경영학회 2007 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.8 No.2

Constructing an effective production control policy is the most important issue in wafer fabrication factories. Most of researches focus on the input regulations of wafer fabrication. Although many of these policies have been proven to be effective for wafer fabrication manufacturing, in practical, there is a need to help operators decide which lots should be pulled in the right time and to develop a systematic way to alleviate the long queues at the bottleneck workstation. The purpose of this study is to construct a photolithography workstation dispatching rule (PADR). This dispatching rule considers several characteristics of wafer fabrication and influential factors. Then utilize the weights and threshold values to design a hierarchical priority rule. A simulation model is also constructed to demonstrate the effect of the PADR dispatching rule. The PADR performs better in throughput, yield rate, and mean cycle time than FIFO (First-In-First-Out) and SPT (Shortest Process Time).

Influence of doping iron ions into Cu(In,Ga)Se2 films in the morphology and photovoltaic properties of thin-film solar cells

Guan-Lin Chiu,T. Subburaj,Sudipta Som,Chang-Ying Ou,Chung-Hsin Lu 한양대학교 세라믹연구소 2017 Journal of Ceramic Processing Research Vol.18 No.10

The iron-ion doped Cu(In, Ga)Se2 thin films were prepared on flexible stainless steel substrates via a non-vacuum spin-coatingprocess. The influence of iron-ion doping in the morphology and properties of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 solar cells was investigated indetail. When the molar ratio of iron ions to the total amount of indium and gallium ions in Cu(In, Ga)Se2 was increased, thegrain sizes of the Cu(In, Ga)Se2 thin films were reduced and the grain morphology became angular. Iron-ion doping in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films substantially facilitated the formation of grain boundaries and additional shunt paths, leading to highprobability of electron-hole recombination. As a result, the conversion efficiency of the prepared Cu(In, Ga)Se2 solar cellsdecreased dramatically due to iron-ion doping.

Trough Melatonin Levels Differ between Early and Late Phases of Alzheimer Disease

Chieh-Hsin Lin,Chih-Chiang Chiu,Hsien-Yuan Lane 대한정신약물학회 2021 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.19 No.1

Objective: Melatonin has been considered to have an essential role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for its regulatory function on circadian rhythm and interaction with glutamate for the modulation of learning and memory. Previous studies revealed that melatonin levels decreased in patients with AD. However, melatonin supplement didn’t show promising efficacy for AD. This study compared trough melatonin levels among elderly people with different severities of cognitive deficits. Methods: We enrolled 270 elder individuals (consisting four groups: healthy elderly, amnestic mild cognitive impairment [MCI], mild AD, and moderate-severe AD) in the learning cohort. Trough melatonin levels in plasma were measured using ELISA. Cognitive function was evaluated by Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). An independent testing cohort, also consisting of four groups, was enrolled for ascertainment. Results: In the learning cohort, trough melatonin levels decreased in the MCI group but elevated in the mild and moderate to severe AD groups. Trough melatonin levels were associated with CDR and MMSE in MCI or AD patients significantly. In the testing cohort, the results were similar to those in the learning cohort. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that trough melatonin levels in the peripheral blood were decreased in MCI but increased with the severity of AD. The finding supports the trials indicating that melatonin showed efficacy only in MCI but not in AD. Whether trough melatonin level has potential to be a treatment response biomarker for AD, especially its early phase needs further studies.

Design of Drug-Delivery Micro-Wheel and Auto-Rolling Control by Change of Gravity Center

Jing-Yao Lai,Nan-Chyuan Tsai,Hsin-Lin Chiu 한국정밀공학회 2014 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol. No.

A micro-dosing system of overall size 5×5×4.2 mm3 for drug delivery is proposed and presented. The drug delivery system mainlyconsists of a micro-wheel and a micro-drug release mechanism. The motion of the micro-wheel is controlled by its center of gravityvia a running disk, which is placed within the hollow micro-wheel and attracted by the actuated micro-solenoids fabricated on theinner wall of micro-wheel in shift. In addition, the micro-wheel is controlled to roll forwards/backwards to the designated locationby two sliding mode control strategies: one for long-distance motion (to transport the drug to the vicinity of the spots under disease)and the other for short-distance motion (to decelerate down and stop at the exact drug-release location). On the other hand, the microdrugrelease mechanism is composed by a cantilever beam and a chamber filled up by medicine. The pyramid tip of the cantileverbeam deflected by the applied electrostatic force is designed to penetrate the micro-film which seals the chamber so that the medicinecan be released at the specified spot.

To Prevent Crack for Thin-wall Workpieces during Milling Process by Torque Feedback

Mu-Ping Tsai,Nan-Chyuan Tsai,Chun-Chi Lin,Hsin-Lin Chiu 제어로봇시스템학회 2015 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2015 No.10

Thin-wall tubular-geometry workpieces have been widely applied in aircraft and medical industries. Though numerous research reports are available that the tool path can be planned on the basis of preset surface profile before actual milling operation is performed, it is still difficult to predict the real-time surface profile errors for peripheral milling of thin-wall tubular workpieces. This research is focused on how to real-time formulate the appropriate applied cutting torque via feedback of spindle motor current. A few suitable cutting conditions which are able to prevent potential break/crack of thin-wall workpieces and enhance productivity but almost retain the same cutting quality is proposed. To achieve this goal, estimated surface profile error on machined parts due to deflections caused by both tool and workpiece is studied. The torque estimation approach by spindle motor current feedback and the corresponding fuzzy logic controller are employed. Compared with constant cutting torque during milling operation in tradition manner, it is observed that the time consumption of milling cycle by aid of the aforesaid fuzzy logic controller is greatly shortened while the resulted cutting accuracy upon finish of workpiece can be almost retained.