Intelligent Robust Control Design with Closed-Loop Voltage Sensing for UPS Inverters in IoT Devices.

High-performance UPS inverters prevent IoT devices from power outages, thus protecting critical data. This paper suggests an intelligent, robust control technique with closed-loop voltage sensing for UPS (uninterruptible power supply) inverters in IoT (internet of things) devices. The suggested control technique synthesizes a modified gray fast variable structure sliding mode control (MGFVSSMC) together with a neural network (NN).

A New and Improved Sliding Mode Control Design Based on a Grey Linear Regression Model and Its Application in Pure Sine Wave Inverters for Photovoltaic Energy Conversion Systems.

A new and improved sliding mode control (NISMC) with a grey linear regression model (GLRM) facilitates the development of high-quality pure sine wave inverters in photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion systems. SMCs are resistant to variations in internal parameters and external load disturbances, resulting in their popularity in PV power generation. However, SMCs experience a slow convergence time for system states, and they may cause chattering.

The Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and ischemic stroke (IS) are intricately linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Patients who suffer from both COPD and AF demonstrate a 2.85-fold greater risk of IS.

Evaluation of the immunological functions of placental alkaline phosphatase using ALPP transgenic mice.

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is a ubiquitously expressed dephosphorylating enzyme and its level in blood is widely used as a diagnosis marker of liver damage or bone disorders in human patients. ALP is also considered as an anti-inflammatory protein due to its ability to dephosphorylate and inactivate inflammation-triggering molecules such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Placental alkaline phosphatase (ALPP) is one of tissue-specific ALP isozymes expressed mostly during pregnancy, however it was found to be differentially upregulated in certain hepatocellular carcinomas by us recently.

Diabetes Mellitus and Gynecological and Inflammation Disorders Increased the Risk of Pregnancy Loss in a Population Study.

(1) Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) induces oxidative stress and inflammation with negative effect on pregnancy outcomes. This study aimed to determine whether DM increases the risk of pregnancy loss and to identify other potential risk factors; (2) Methods: We identified female patients diagnosed with DM from 2000-2015 in the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database according to the , Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-9 CM) code 250. The event was pregnancy loss, defined as ICD-9 CM codes 630-639, which was tracked until 31 December 2015.

The Influence of Fine Particulate Matter and Cold Weather on Emergency Room Interventions for Childhood Asthma.

(1) Background: Children are the most vulnerable to pollution due to their decreased stature, heightened respiratory rate, and frequent outdoor engagement. PM, nitrogen dioxide (NO), ozone, and cold weather are associated with pediatric asthma. In this study, we investigated the nexus between air pollution, climate factors, and pediatric asthma emergency room visits (ERVs).

Increased risk of psychiatric disorder in patients with hearing loss: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Background: Hearing loss has been shown to be a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. In addition, long-term hearing loss is associated with increased hospitalization and mortality rates; however, the increased risk and duration of effect of hearing loss in combination with other chronic diseases on each psychiatric disorder are still not clearly defined. The purpose of this article is to clarify the risk of hearing loss for each disorder over time.

Impact of Foodborne Disease in Taiwan during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the first case diagnosed since January 2020 in Taiwan. The study about the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on event, location, food source, and pathogens of foodborne disease (FBD) is limited in Taiwan. Our aim in this study is to investigate FBD in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Analyzing COVID-19 and Air Pollution Effects on Pediatric Asthma Emergency Room Visits in Taiwan.

(1) Background: An asthma exacerbation that is not relieved with medication typically requires an emergency room visit (ERV). The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began in Taiwan in January of 2020. The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric ERVs in Taiwan was limited.

Underestimated Subsequent Sensorineural Hearing Loss after Septicemia.

: Hearing loss after septicemia has been found in mice; the long-term risk increased 50-fold in young adults in a previous study. Hearing loss after septicemia has not received much attention. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between septicemia and subsequent hearing loss.

The Effect of the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes from Nurse Training Using In Situ Simulation in an Intensive Care Unit.

Background: In situ simulation is the practice of using simulated scenarios to improve skill implementation, train critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, and enhance self-efficacy. This study aimed to enhance nursing knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward clinical work by applying in situ simulation training to improve the healthcare of critically ill patients.

Methods: This study was conducted from a medical center in northern Taiwan and included 86 trainees who received intensive care training courses from 1 June 2017 to 31 May 2019.

An Input-Current Shaping and Soft-Switching Drive Circuit Applied to a Piezoelectric Ceramic Actuator.

Piezoelectric ceramic actuators utilize an inverse piezoelectric effect to generate high-frequency vibration energy and are widely used in ultrasonic energy conversion circuits. This paper presents a novel drive circuit with input-current shaping (ICS) and soft-switching features which consists of a front AC-DC full-wave bridge rectifier and a rear DC-AC circuit combining a stacked boost converter and a half-bridge resonant inverter for driving a piezoelectric ceramic actuator. To enable ICS functionality in the proposed drive circuit, the inductor of the stacked boost converter sub-circuit is designed to operate in boundary-conduction mode (BCM).

Semantic Visualization in Functional Recovery Prediction of Intravenous Thrombolysis following Acute Ischemic Stroke in Patients by Using Biostatistics: An Exploratory Study.

(1) Background: Intravenous thrombolysis following acute ischemic stroke (AIS) can reduce disability and increase the survival rate. We designed a functional recovery analysis by using semantic visualization to predict the recovery probability in AIS patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis; (2) Methods: We enrolled 131 AIS patients undergoing intravenous thrombolysis from 2011 to 2015 at the Medical Center in northern Taiwan. An additional 54 AIS patients were enrolled from another community hospital.

Short-Term Exposure Effect of Ambient Fine Particulate Matter, Ozone and Cold Temperature on Emergency Room Visits for Asthma Patients.

(1) Background: The acute effects of ozone, cold temperature and particulate matter less than 2.5 μm (PM) in size related to asthma attacks are well known worldwide. The adverse effects of ozone and cold temperature on asthma morbidity in Taiwan are still inconclusive.

Study and Implementation of a High-Quality True Sine Wave DC-to-AC Inverter for Solar Power Generation Systems.

True sine wave DC-to-AC inverters are becoming more and more important in solar power generation in order to raise the system's efficiency. A high-quality true sine wave DC-to-AC inverter can be built with a robust intelligent control method. This robust intelligent control method is comprised of improved sliding mode reaching law (ISMRL) and particle swarm optimization (PSO)-catfish effect (CE).

A High-Gain and High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Grid-Connected Inverter with Magnetic Coupling.

Conventional photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected systems consist of a boost converter cascaded with an inverter, resulting in poor efficiency due to performing energy processing twice. Many pseudo DC-link inverters with single energy processing have been proposed to improve system efficiency and simplify circuits. However, their output voltage gain is limited by the non-ideal characteristics of the power diode, making them difficult to apply in high-output voltage applications.

Underestimated Ischemic Heart Disease in Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events after Septicemia Discharge.

: Sepsis increases cardiovascular disease and causes death. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) without acute myocardial infarction has been discussed less, and the relationship between risk factors and IHD in septicemia survivors within six months is worthy of in-depth study. Our study demonstrated the incidence of IHD and the possible risk factors for IHD in septicemia patients within six months.

Females with Diabetes Mellitus Increased the Incidence of Premenstrual Syndrome.

Background: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a multifactorial disorder caused by hormone and autonomic imbalance. In our study, hyperglycemia-induced insulin secretion increased progesterone secretion and progressive autonomic imbalance. The young patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) revealed hypo-parasympathetic function and hypersympathetic function compared with nondiabetic controls.

High-Efficiency Flicker-Free LED Driver with Soft-Switching Feature.

A novel interleaved DC-DC buck converter is proposed to drive high-brightness light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The circuit configuration mainly consists of two buck converters, which are connected in parallel and use interleaved operation. Through interleaved operation, the power capability of the converter is doubled.

Air Pollution Exposure and the Relative Risk of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Taipei.

(1) Background: The etiologies of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) remain unclear. The level of mean particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.

Robust Optimal Control Design for Performance Enhancement of PWM Voltage Source Inverter.

PWM (pulse-width modulation) voltage source inverters are used in a wide range of AC power systems where the output voltage must be controlled to follow a sinusoidal reference waveform. In order to achieve precision and fast-tracking control, restrictive sliding mode control (RSMC) provides a fast system state convergence time. However, the RSMC still suffers from the chattering problem, which leads to high harmonic distortion and slow response of the inverter output state.

New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation Is a Risk Factor of Ischemic Stroke in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) induces atrial fibrillation (AF) and stroke, and COPD with AF increased ischemic stroke (IS) in a cross-sectional study. Therefore, healthcare providers must be concerned and well-informed about this particular situation. For this study, inpatient data were obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database in 2010.

Restricted use of copy and paste in electronic health records potentially improves healthcare quality.

The copy-and-paste feature is commonly used for clinical documentation, and a policy is needed to reduce overdocumentation. We aimed to determine if the restricted use of copy and paste by doctors could improve inpatient healthcare quality.Clinical documentation in an inpatient dataset compiled from 2016 to 2018 was used.