Rule-based classifier based on accident frequency and three-stage dimensionality reduction for exploring the factors of road accident injuries.

Road accidents are one of the primary causes of death worldwide; hence, they constitute an important research field. Taiwan is a small country with a high-density population. It particularly has a considerable number of locomotives.

A Seasonal Time-Series Model Based on Gene Expression Programming for Predicting Financial Distress.

The issue of financial distress prediction plays an important and challenging research topic in the financial field. Currently, there have been many methods for predicting firm bankruptcy and financial crisis, including the artificial intelligence and the traditional statistical methods, and the past studies have shown that the prediction result of the artificial intelligence method is better than the traditional statistical method. Financial statements are quarterly reports; hence, the financial crisis of companies is seasonal time-series data, and the attribute data affecting the financial distress of companies is nonlinear and nonstationary time-series data with fluctuations.

A Time-Series Water Level Forecasting Model Based on Imputation and Variable Selection Method.

Reservoirs are important for households and impact the national economy. This paper proposed a time-series forecasting model based on estimating a missing value followed by variable selection to forecast the reservoir's water level. This study collected data from the Taiwan Shimen Reservoir as well as daily atmospheric data from 2008 to 2015.

Influence of the drug distribution in electrospun gliadin fibers on drug-release behavior.

Drug distribution within its carrier in a solid dosage form often generates a profound influence on its release profile, particularly when the physicochemical properties of the carrier are exploited to manipulate drug release behavior. In this job, two different types of distributions of a model drug ibuprofen (IBU) within a protein gliadin in their electrospun nanofibers were intentionally created. One was homogeneous distribution in the monolithic fibers fabricated using a modified coaxial process, and the other one was heterogeneous distribution in the core/shell fibers prepared through a traditional coaxial process.

Nanosized sustained-release drug depots fabricated using modified tri-axial electrospinning.

Unlabelled: Nanoscale drug depots, comprising a drug reservoir surrounded by a carrier membrane, are much sought after in contemporary pharmaceutical research. Using cellulose acetate (CA) as a filament-forming polymeric matrix and ferulic acid (FA) as a model drug, nanoscale drug depots in the form of core-shell fibers were designed and fabricated using a modified tri-axial electrospinning process. This employed a solvent mixture as the outer working fluid, as a result of which a robust and continuous preparation process could be achieved.

Influence of Working Temperature on The Formation of Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers.

Temperature is an important parameter during electrospinning, and virtually, all solution electrospinning processes are conducted at ambient temperature. Nanofiber diameters presumably decrease with the elevation of working fluid temperature. The present study investigated the influence of temperature variations on the formation of polymeric nanofibers during single-fluid electrospinning.

Synthesis of high-purity, layered structured K2Ta4O11 intermediate phase nanocrystals for photocatalytic water splitting.

High-purity K2Ta4O11 (kalitantite) intermediate phase with a layered structure, as a new family member of alkali-metal tantalate semiconductors, was successfully prepared via a simple and cost-effective flux growth technique using potassium chloride (KCl) at a low temperature of 800 °C for only 4 h. The as-synthesized K2Ta4O11 was characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, STEM/EDS, and UV-Vis DRS, etc. It was found that the K2Ta4O11 single nanocrystals were non-stoichiometric in the size range of 100-500 nm, and the indirect band gap of K2Ta4O11 was correctly determined to be 4.

Nanofibers Fabricated Using Triaxial Electrospinning as Zero Order Drug Delivery Systems.

A new strategy for creating functional trilayer nanofibers through triaxial electrospinning is demonstrated. Ethyl cellulose (EC) was used as the filament-forming matrix in the outer, middle, and inner working solutions and was combined with varied contents of the model active ingredient ketoprofen (KET) in the three fluids. Triaxial electrospinning was successfully carried out to generate medicated nanofibers.

Liposomes self-assembled from electrosprayed composite microparticles.

Composite microparticles, consisting of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), naproxen (NAP) and lecithin (PC), have been successfully prepared using an electrospraying process and exploited as templates to manipulate molecular self-assembly for the synthesis of liposomes in situ. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations demonstrate that the microparticles have an average diameter of 960 ± 140 nm and a homogeneous structure. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) results verify that the building blocks NAP and PC are scattered in the polymer matrix in a molecular way owing to the very fast drying of the electrospraying process and the favorable secondary interactions among the components.

Solid dispersions in the form of electrospun core-sheath nanofibers.

Background: The objective of this investigation was to develop a new type of solid dispersion in the form of core-sheath nanofibers using coaxial electrospinning for poorly water-soluble drugs. Different functional ingredients can be placed in various parts of core-sheath nanofibers to improve synergistically the dissolution and permeation properties of encapsulated drugs and to enable drugs to exert their actions.

Methods: Using acyclovir as a model drug, polyvinylpyrrolidone as the hydrophilic filament-forming polymer matrix, sodium dodecyl sulfate as a transmembrane enhancer, and sucralose as a sweetener, core-sheath nanofibers were successfully prepared, with the sheath part consisting of polyvinylpyrrolidone, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and sucralose, and the core part composed of polyvinylpyrrolidone and acyclovir.

Polyacrylonitrile nanofibers prepared using coaxial electrospinning with LiCl solution as sheath fluid.

A modified coaxial electrospinning process including an electrolyte solution as sheath fluid was used for preparing high quality polymer nanofibers. A series of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers were fabricated utilizing a coaxial electrospinning containing LiCl in N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) as the sheath fluid. FESEM results demonstrated that the sheath LiCl solutions have a significant influence on the quality of PAN nanofibers.