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The primary aim of this study was to examine the relationships between smoking status and health-related physical fitness and balance ability in older males residing in Taiwan. This investigation adopted a cross-sectional design, utilizing data from 7688 older males who took part in the 2014-2015 wave of the National Physical Fitness Survey of Taiwan. Various data sources, including a standardized structured questionnaire, anthropometric measurements, health-related physical fitness assessments, and balance ability tests, were analyzed. The participants were divided into three categories based on their smoking habits: never smokers, former smokers, and current smokers. Multiple regression analyses were performed to evaluate the linear association between cigarette smoking status and health-related physical fitness and balance ability performance. Health-related physical fitness and balance performance were significantly greater ( p < 0.05) in the never smoker group than in the current smoker group. Current smoking status was significantly negatively ( p < 0.05) associated with cardiopulmonary function, muscular endurance, flexibility, and balance performance. A history of smoking (former smoker) was significantly negatively ( p < 0.05) associated with the 2-min step test, 30-s arm curl and chair stand, as well as the 8-foot up-and-go test; however, the association was not significant for the back scratch, chair sit-and-reach, and one-leg stance with eyes open performance. These results suggest that current cigarette smoking is detrimental to health-related physical fitness and balance performance in older males. Quitting smoking may reverse the effects of smoking on overall body flexibility and static balance performance in Taiwanese older adults, thereby reducing the risk of falls and incapacity.

Granger causality provides a framework that uses predictability to identify causation between time series variables. This is important to policymakers for effective policy management and recommendations. Granger causality is recognized as the primary advance on the causation problem. The objective of this paper is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of Granger causality publications indexed in the Web of Science database. Harzing's Publish or Perish and VOSviewer were used for performance analysis and science mapping. The first paper indexed was published in 1981 and there has been an upward trend in the annual publication of Granger causality studies which are shifting towards the areas of environmental science, energy, and economics. Most of the publications are articles and proceeding papers under the areas of business economics, environmental science ecology, and neurosciences/neurology. China has the highest number of publications while the United States has the highest number of citations. England has the highest citation impact. This paper also constructed country co-authorship, co-analysis of cited references, cited sources, and cited authors, keyword co-occurrence, and keyword overlay visualization maps.

Chitosan is a biocompatible polymer with vast applications in pharmacology, medicine, paper making, agriculture, and the food industry due to its low toxicity. Chitosan also plays an important role in the sustainable environment since chitosan is able to absorb greenhouse gases, harmful organic matter, and heavy ions. Therefore, this paper conducts a bibliometric analysis of chitosan for sustainable development using the Scopus database from 1976 to 2023. A performance analysis on the 8002 documents was performed with Harzing's Publish or Perish. Science mapping was conducted using VOSviewer. The annual publication on chitosan for sustainable development showed an upward trend in recent years as the annual publication peaked in 2022 with 1178 documents with most of the documents being articles and published in journals. Material science, chemistry, and engineering are tightly related subject areas. China had the highest publication of 1560 total documents while the United States had the most impactful publication with 55,019 total citations, 68.77 citations per document, 77.6 citations per cited document, h -index 110, and g -index of 211. India had the largest international collaboration with 572 total link strength. "International Journal of Biological Macromolecules", "Carbohydrate Polymers", and "Polymers" have been identified as the top three source titles that publish the most documents on chitosan for sustainable development. The emerging trends in chitosan on sustainable development focus on the application of chitosan as an antibacterial agent and biosorbent for contaminants, especially in water treatment.

Gallium nitride (GaN) has a wide energy band gap and a high power density, efficiency, switching frequency, and electron carrier mobility, having broad applications in digitization. Because GaN has high potentials, this study performed a bibliometric analysis on the publications of GaN indexed in the Web of Science database from 1970 to 2023. A performance analysis of the 15,634 publications was performed using Harzing's Publish or Perish tool, while science mappings were performed with VOSviewer software. The results show that there has been an uptrend in the on-going research on GaN, especially in the past decade. Most of the documents are within the fields of physics, engineering, and materials science. The United States has the highest number of publications and the most impactful research. The United States is also actively collaborating with other countries to gain deeper insights into GaN. The analysis shows that the concentration of GaN research is slowly moving towards the development of high-voltage operations.

The aim of this study was to determine the association between regular leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and various body mass index (BMI) categories in Taiwanese young adults. A total of 10,802 young adults (18−44 years) were enrolled in a national telephone survey. The questionnaire data from this survey included socio-demographic characteristics, zip code of residence, LTPA behaviors, self-reported health status, and self-evaluated anthropometric measurements, which included height, body weight, and BMI. Regular and non-regular LTPA behaviors were defined as follows: (1) Regular LTPA: participants who reported breathing quickly and sweating when participating in 150−300 min per week of moderate-intensity LTPA or 75−150 min per week of vigorous-intensity LTPA. (2) Non-regular LTPA: the rest of the participants. The various BMI categories were defined as (1) underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2), (2) normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI < 24 kg/m2), (3) overweight (24 ≤ BMI < 27 kg/m2), and (4) obese (BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2). When compared with participants with non-regular LTPA, participants with regular LTPA exhibited lower risks of being overweight (odds ratio [OR], 0.837; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.738−0.948) and underweight (OR, 0.732; 95% CI 0.611−0.876). However, there was no significant relationship between regular LTPA and obesity risk when using non-regular LTPA as the baseline after adjusting for potential confounders. The study results revealed that regular LTPA effectively reduced the risks of being underweight and overweight. However, for people with obesity, regular LTPA was unable to significantly decrease their obesity risk.

Background and Objectives : Health-related physical fitness reduces the risk of chronic disease, promotes quality of life, and has enormous economic benefits considering the global health care costs resulting from obesity. However, relatively limited information is available regarding the dose-response relationship between scientific physical fitness and obesity risk. This study aimed to determine the associations of scientific physical fitness with body mass index (BMI) distribution and overweight/obesity risk among adults aged 23-64 years in Taiwan. Materials and Methods : We conducted a cross-sectional study and reviewed data derived from the Scientific Physical Fitness Testing Program, Sports Administration, Ministry of Education, Taiwan. Responses from 16,939 participants from the database (7761 men and 9178 women, aged 23-64 years) were collected in this study. Each participant completed a series of scientific physical fitness measurements, including cardiorespiratory fitness (3 min progressive knee-up and step [3MPKS] test), muscular fitness (hand grip strength), and flexibility (sit-and-reach test). Anthropometric measurements included body height, weight, and BMI. The quartiles of scientific physical fitness results were identified as the dependent variable in the multiple linear and multiple logistic regression analysis to determine the associations of the scientific physical fitness measurements with BMI distribution and overweight/obesity risk, as well as the dose-response relationship. Results : The 3MPKS test was significantly associated with BMI (quartile 1 (Q1): β = 1.900; quartile 2 (Q2): β = 1.594; quartile 3 (Q3): β = 1.079 for men, and Q1: β = 1.454; Q2: β = 0.882; Q3: β = 0.555 for women), overweight (Q1: odds ratio (OR) = 2.117; Q2: OR = 2.056; Q3: OR = 2.063 for men, and Q1: OR = 3.036; Q2: OR = 2.542; Q3: OR = 1.959 for women), and obesity (Q1: OR = 6.530; Q2: OR = 5.747; Q3: OR = 3.557 for men, and Q1: OR = 3.238; Q2: OR = 1.431 for women) risk compared with quartile 4 (Q4) as the reference group with a dose-response relationship. In addition, relative hand grip strength was significantly associated with BMI (Q2: β = -0.922; Q3: β = -1.865; Q4: β = -3.108 for men, and Q2: β = -1.309; Q3: β = -2.161; Q4: β = -2.759 for women), overweight (Q2: OR = 0.806; Q3: OR = 0.697; Q4: OR = 0.278 for men, and Q2: OR = 0.667; Q3: OR = 0.398; Q4: OR = 0.228 for women), and obesity (Q1: OR = 0.528; Q2: OR = 0.206; Q3: OR = 0.049 for men, and Q1: OR = 0.351; Q2: OR = 0.129; Q3: OR = 0.051 for women) risk compared with Q1 as the reference group with a dose-response relationship. Conclusions : Higher levels of performance of the 3MPKS and relative grip strength tests were associated with lower BMI and overweight/obesity risk in both sexes. However, the sit-and-reach test was only partially related to BMI and overweight/obesity risk in both sexes. Cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular fitness were effective predictors of BMI distribution and overweight/obesity risk in Taiwanese adults.

Statistical information theory is a method for quantifying the amount of stochastic uncertainty in a system. This theory originated in communication theory. The application of information theoretic approaches has been extended to different fields. This paper aims to perform a bibliometric analysis of information theoretic publications listed on the Scopus database. The data of 3701 documents were extracted from the Scopus database. The software used for analysis includes Harzing's Publish or Perish and VOSviewer. Results including publication growth, subject areas, geographical contributions, country co-authorship, most cited publications, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and citation metrics are presented in this paper. Publication growth has been steady since 2003. The United States has the highest number of publications and received more than half of the total citations from all 3701 publications. Most of the publications are in computer science, engineering, and mathematics. The United States, the United Kingdom, and China have the highest collaboration across countries. The focus on information theoretic is slowly shifting from mathematical models to technology-driven applications such as machine learning and robotics. This study highlights the trends and developments of information theoretic publications, which helps researchers to understand the state of the art of information theoretic approaches for future contributions in this research domain.

In terms of public health, obesity and overweight have become major concerns worldwide. Nevertheless, regarding body composition, it is important to have a more precise understanding of the fat-to-muscle ratio. Hence, this study aimed to adopt bioelectrical impedance measurements to test body fat percentage (BF%) and to determine the associations between health-related physical fitness and both body fat (BF) distribution and BF obesity risk in Taiwanese adults. We conducted a cross-sectional study and reviewed data derived from Taiwan’s Scientific Physical Fitness Survey. From the database, responses from 17,970 participants aged 23−64 years were collected in this study. Each participant completed a series of health-related physical fitness measurements, including cardiorespiratory fitness (3 min of a progressive knee-up and step (3MPKS) test), muscular fitness (hand-grip strength), and flexibility (sit-and-reach test). The BF% of each participant was assessed using the bioelectrical impedance analysis method. BF% was negatively associated with low performance on the 3MPKS (β = 11.314, p < 0.0001 for men; β = 12.308, p < 0.0001 for women), hand-grip strength (β = 2.071, p < 0.0001 for men; β = 0.859, p < 0.0001 for women), and sit-and-reach (β = 0.337, p = 0.008 for women) tests but was positively associated with sit-and-reach (β = −0.394, p = 0.004 for men). A risk of BF obesity for low performance of 3MPKS (odds ratio (OR) = 26.554, p < 0.0001 for men; OR = 25.808, p < 0.0001 for women), hand-grip strength (OR = 1.682, p < 0.0001 for men; OR = 1.234, p < 0.0001 for women), and sit-and-reach (OR = 1.142, p = 0.007 for women) tests was observed. These results suggest that low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, and flexibility are associated with an increased risk of BF obesity.

The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship between regular LTPA (i.e., 150-300 min of moderate-intensity or 75-150 min of high-intensity physical activity) and happiness among middle-aged and older adults in Taiwan. The cross-sectional study data were obtained from the Taiwan National Physical Activity Survey, a nationally representative survey of the Taiwanese population. A total of 12,687 middle-aged and older adults (45-108 years) were ultimately enrolled in this study. The questionnaire data obtained through this national telephone survey included sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported health status, self-evaluations (comprising height, body weight, and happiness), and zip code of residence. The results suggest a significant positive relationship between regular LTPA and happiness scores; that is, the middle-aged adults who engaged in more LTPA may report higher happiness occurrence than others. This study suggests that regular LTPA is an essential factor influencing happiness. LTPA is an essential form of physical activity that helps middle-aged and older people to relax.

Population aging is creating critical issues in Taiwan, and adults are being forced to maintain productivity at work; in other words, they need to work longer. Therefore, their fitness and health warrant immediate attention. Although the association between health and anthropometric characteristics has been reported, few profiles on Taiwanese adults can be found. The purpose of this study was to provide a suitable reference on the anthropometric data of Taiwanese adults. We recruited 60,056 anthropometric measurements from a representative database. Significant differences were found in every measurement for each gender and age group. Statistically, our results indicated anthropometric differences in different ages. However, CVs showed that the dispersions are minor. This study presents a sufficient profile on Taiwanese adults from a representative database to practitioners and other potential users.

Background and objectives: Respiratory muscle fatigue is one of the important factors limiting sports performance due to the metaboreflex. This reflex will cause a decrease in blood flow to the extremities and accelerate exercising limb fatigue. Previous studies found that inspiratory muscle training (IMT) can effectively enhance the respiratory muscle endurance and reduce fatigue during long-duration exercise or aerobic exercise, thereby enhancing athletic performance. However, the mechanism between inspiratory muscle strength, change of limb blood flow and sports performance still requires investigation, especially in short-duration exercise, anaerobic or both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 4-week inspiratory muscle training on respiratory muscle strength, limb blood flow change rate and sports performance in recreational 800-m college runners. Materials and Methods: Twenty healthy 800-m college runners randomized into the IMT group (11 subjects) and control group (9 subjects). IMT consisted of 30 inspiratory efforts twice daily, 5 days a week, with intensity at 50%, 60%, 70% and 80% of maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) for 4 weeks, while a control group kept 50% of MIP for 4 weeks. An 800-m trial test, limb blood flow change rate by using Impedance Plethysmography, and MIP were as the outcome measured variables and be evaluated. All measured variables were assessed before and after 4-week IMT training. Two-way ANOVA was conducted for statistical analysis. Results: The results showed significantly interaction between groups and pre-posttest. IMT group significantly decreased limb blood flow change rate from 19.91 ± 11.65% to 9.63 ± 7.62% after received the IMT training program ( p < 0.05). The MIP significantly improved from 112.95 ± 27.13 cmH 2 O to 131.09 ± 28.20 cm H 2 O in IMT group, and the 800-m trial test also shorted the running time from 162.97 ± 24.96 s to 156.75 ± 20.73 s. But the control group no significantly changed in MIP and 800-m trial test. Conclusions: Our results indicated that the 4-week IMT training (twice a day, 5 days a week) significantly improves participants' inspiratory muscle strength, 800-m running performance and decreases the limb blood flow change rate.

The relationships between different functional fitness performance and abdominal obesity among the elderly have not been widely discussed in the literature. The present study aimed to investigate the associations between functional fitness test performance and abdominal obesity in Taiwanese elderly people. A total of 22,399 items of data from the National Physical Fitness Survey Databases in Taiwan (NPFSD 2014-15) were reviewed and analyzed. The quartiles of functional fitness test results were identified as the dependent variable in the multiple linear regression analysis to examine the association between functional fitness and abdominal obesity status. The results showed that body balance (odds ratios (ORs) listed from 1.18 to 2.29, p < 0.05) and flexibility (ORs listed from 1.23 to 2.16, p < 0.05) were critically associated with abdominal obesity. However, measurements related to muscle strength revealed the limited effect sizes for abdominal obesity. From a disability prevention perspective, the development of muscle strength in the elderly should be emphasized and encouraged to maintain their daily capabilities instead of satisfaction with a lean body., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the association between health-related physical fitness (HRPF) performance and perceived happiness status among adults in Taiwan. A cross-sectional study was conducted, and data derived from the National Physical Fitness Survey in Taiwan 2014-2015 were reviewed. The participants included 27,930 men and 30,885 women, aged 23 to 64 years. Each participant completed a standardized, structured questionnaire and underwent anthropometric variable and HRPF measurements. The happiness outcome of an individual was obtained using the questionnaire, and the results were stratified into happy (very happy, quite happy, and fair) and unhappy (unhappy and not at all happy) groups for perceived happiness status. HRPF measurements were evaluated using cardiorespiratory endurance (3 min step test), muscle strength and endurance (1 min sit-up test), flexibility (sit-and-reach test), and body composition (body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio). To determine the existence of a dose-response relationship between HRPF component levels and happiness status, four quartiles of HRPF components were analyzed using multiple logistic regression models. Multiple logistic regression results indicated that with the worst performance level of HRPF components as a baseline, significant associations were observed for the sit-and-reach test (third level: OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.02-1.49) and BMI (second level: OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.64-0.95) among men. For women, significant associations were observed for the 1 min sit-up test (second level: OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.03-1.60; third level: OR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.04-1.67; fourth (the best) level: OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.12-1.95) and BMI (third level: OR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.58-0.92). The current study suggested that higher values in flexibility and body composition, happiness-related factors, potentially improve the occurrence of happiness among men. Moreover, this positive effect of higher values of muscle strength, endurance, and BMI was observed for the occurrence of happiness in women. However, the relevant mechanism underlying this phenomenon must be further explored., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between different levels of health-related physical fitness measurements and obesity status in Taiwanese adults. A cross-sectional study was conducted by reviewing the National Physical Fitness Survey in Taiwan (HPFSIT) database. Responses from 60,056 participants, aged 23-64 years from the database were collected in the present study. Data from a standardized structured questionnaire and health-related physical fitness tests were analyzed. The quartiles of each physical fitness measurement were used for unconditional logistic regression analyses. Our results indicated clear trends in the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and overweight/obesity. Overweight and obesity were associated with a 10% to 60% increased risk of low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness in men and a 10% to almost 30% increased risk in women. However, the association between muscle strength/endurance and obesity status as well as flexibility and obesity status needs further investigation.

The present study aims to investigate the associations between physical fitness performance and abdominal obesity risk among Taiwanese adults. We conducted a cross-sectional study and reviewed the data derived from the National Physical Fitness Survey in Taiwan (HPFSIT). Data from a total of 62,486 respondents aged 23-64 years were collected in this study. The participants completed a standardized structural questionnaire and a series of anthropometric characteristics (body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio) and physical fitness (3-min step tests, 1-min sit-up tests, and sit-and-reach tests) assessments. Waist circumference was used to define abdominal obesity status. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted. Our results presented almost entirely significant associations (except for women) on the 3-min step test. Moreover, the results suggest that muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility may be effective predictors of abdominal obesity among men and women, whereas cardiorespiratory fitness predicted abdominal obesity only in men. According to the results of this study, the fitness-abdominal obesity associations are minor based on a mixed population analysis. However, dose-response relationships have been observed. The present study provides a new perspective by using different types of fitness performance to predict abdominal obesity.

Research on relationships between physical fitness and sleep duration among older adults is scarce, especially in Taiwanese representative samples of elderly people who undergo physical fitness measurements. This study aimed to determine the associations between physical fitness and short and long sleep durations among older adults in Taiwan. We conducted a cross-sectional study and reviewed data derived from the National Physical Fitness Survey in Taiwan. A total of 24,125 Taiwanese adults aged 65 years and older participated in this study between October 2014 and March 2015. Each individual's sleep duration was recorded with a standard questionnaire method. Sleep duration data were stratified into short (≤5 h), normal (6-7 h), and long (≥8 h) sleep duration groups. Physical fitness was assessed by five components: aerobic endurance (2 min step test), muscle strength and endurance (30 s arm curl and 30 s chair stand tests), flexibility (back scratch and chair sit-and-reach tests), body composition (body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)), and balance (one-leg stance with eye open and 8-foot up-and-go tests). To understand whether a dose-response relationship exists between physical fitness and short or long sleep duration, we analyzed four levels of performance on the basis of quartiles of physical fitness measurements by using logistic regression. The first quartile of physical fitness performance was the baseline level. The odds ratio (OR) for short sleep duration for the third quartile of BMI was 0.8031 times (95% CI, 0.7119-0.9061) lower than the baseline. For the fourth quartile of BMI, the OR was 0.8660 times (95% CI, 0.7653-0.9800) lower than the baseline. The adjusted OR for long sleep duration significantly decreased in the second, third, and fourth quartiles of the 30 s chair stand, back scratch, chair sit-and-reach test, one-leg stance with one eye open, and BMI. The adjusted OR was increased in the third and fourth quartiles of the 8-foot up-and-go and WHR. The results of the current study suggest that physical fitness performance may influence sleep duration as an associated factor, and the relationship is much stronger for long sleep duration than for short sleep duration., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.