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The purpose of this study is to understand the learning outcomes of students who participate in interdisciplinary hands-on advanced technology courses and the factors influencing their outcomes as well as to determine whether learning outcomes and cognitive development are affected by students' motivation for selecting the course with regard to their learning abilities. The subjects of this study are students who were enrolled in interdisciplinary advanced technology courses at a university located in Northern Taiwan from 2020 to 2021. We recruited 171 students to complete measures of their motivation for selecting the course and to complete a prelearning outcome scale during the first week; a learning abilities scale was completed during the ninth week; and a postlearning outcomes scale was completed during the sixteenth week. We recruited 96 students to participate in interviews after they completed the course to determine their cognitive development. The results showed that participants' average learning outcomes scores on the posttest were significantly higher than those on the pretest. After students participated in the course, 66.7% of them were in the "Apply" stage, indicating they could apply the knowledge they learned to other situations, while 25% were in the "Analyze" stage, indicating they could deconstruct the course knowledge based on its structure and understand the correlations among various items of course knowledge. Participants' interdisciplinary abilities were found to mediate the relationship between their autonomous motivation and cognitive development.

The global pandemic has disrupted virtually all countries on health, psychological functioning, and economies, to name a few. Accurate information has also fallen victim to the pandemic, which has been rife with misinformation and conspiracy theories. The current study investigated Covid-19 deceptions related to employment. With complete anonymity via MTurk, 389 participants from the United States rated their likelihood of deception regarding hypothetical four workplace scenarios. The first set of analyses examined differences between high and low risk of deceptions for each scenario based on participants' self-appraisals. The largest differences were found for general conspiracy beliefs and affective disorders, specifically major depression and generalized anxiety. The second set of analyses focused across the workplace scenarios on two operationalized groups with Likely-Deceptive (n = 189) vastly outnumbering Likely-Genuine (n = 55). Personal experiences with Covid-19 dramatically increased deceptions. Testing positive for Covid-19 increased the odds of being in the Likely-Deceptive by twelve-fold. Two discriminant models examined cognitive misbeliefs and psychological functioning. When both were combined, depression and Covid-19 misinformation produced the strongest structure coefficients followed closely by general conspiracy beliefs and generalized anxiety. The far-ranging implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting programs are the most common intervention for preventing the lethal form of child maltreatment, abusive head trauma (AHT). However, certain results of the effects of these programs have not yet been compared across studies. A systematic review with meta-analysis is warranted to quantitively synthesize the available evidence to identify effective elements and strategies of the programs for preventing AHT. This review aims to estimate AHT preventive parenting programs' pooled effect on the reduction of AHT incidence, the improvement of parental knowledge, and the increased use of safe strategies in response to infants' inconsolable crying. Studies published in English and Mandarin were searched and retained if they were randomized control trials (RCTs) or with a quasi-experimental design, included an AHT preventive parenting program, and provided data that quantified targeted outcomes. Eighteen studies were included in this review. AHT preventive parenting programs had a pooled effect on improving parents' knowledge and increasing the use of safe coping strategies in response to inconsolable crying but not on the incidence of AHT and parents' emotional self-regulation. Subgroup analyses showed that the intervention effects were mostly present across study designs or measurements and emerged in the reduction of AHT incidence compared with historical controls. The findings suggest that AHT preventive parenting programs enhance parenting knowledge and skills to provide safe care for infants. Further efforts to evaluate AHT parenting programs on the reduction of AHT incidence are necessary for decision-making on allocating and disseminating interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US population of immigrants and refugees has steadily increased, as have efforts to curtail their numbers via detention and deportation. Critically, forensic evaluations for immigration courts have reflected a burgeoning specialty of both empirical scholarship and professional practice. In recognizing the growing role of forensic practitioners in immigration-related evaluations, the current article examines legal and professional issues facing the field. Specifically, the empirical landscape regarding "immigration trauma" is introduced as a salient backdrop to all other professional issues. Building on this framework, advancements and developing areas of empirical work concerning these specialized evaluations are reviewed. Moreover, this article has examined recently established guidelines and ethical considerations informing immigration evaluations. To illustrate, a substantive analysis of competency in immigration proceedings highlights salient similarities and crucial distinctions between due process rights in criminal and civil courts. Concluding remarks highlight salient future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution creates significant challenges, particularly in countries undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization. Wind, a strong agency in moving polluting to and away, however, does not attract sufficient attention from the social science literature on urban health and air pollution. This article fills this gap by proposing the concept of wind–human resonance, referring to both the capacity and intensity of the wind as two kinds of human–wind relationships in the weather-world. On the one hand, certain cleaning and blocking practices are carried out by residents, corresponding to the wind's carrying capacity of air pollutants; fishing activities are altered according to the wind capacity in the atmo-oceanic dynamic. On the other hand, the intensity of the wind envelops an industrialized coastal village where community members engage with the oceanic wind that shapes the community identity (and affect). This framework of an entangled human–wind relationship is empirically examined through the case of the coastal Dalinpu area of Kaohsiung in southwestern Taiwan, a community that has successfully organized a campaign in the name of "southwest wind preservation" to terminate an industrial zone construction project. By revealing how wind is physically and affectively entangled into urban politics, this article aims to foreground the air flow study in volume geography in particular and the human–environment relationship in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) and its revised edition (SIRS-2) are frequently used in forensic psychological evaluations for assessing response style. The present research investigated the utility of this instrument in Taiwan Region adults. In a simulation design, 143 nonclinical volunteers were randomly assigned to either simulating or honest-responding groups. Results indicated that the primary scales of the Chinese SIRS-2 possessed acceptable internal consistency and generated large to very large effect sizes (1.39–2.17) in differentiating simulators and genuine respondents. The convergent validity of the Chinese SIRS-2 was supported by the correlations of its scales with the Chinese MMPI-2 validity scales. Confirmatory factor analysis results showed a one-factor model. The decision models of both the SIRS and SIRS-2 resulted in few to no false positives, while the SIRS had greater sensitivity than the SIRS-2. The SIRS-2 total score generated discrimination rates comparable to the published manual in detecting feigning or honest responding. Results supported the use of the Chinese SIRS-2 in Taiwan Region adults. However, as the research methodology inflates both effect sizes and specificity estimates, further research is needed to examine the clinical utility of the Chinese SIRS-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An artificial zinc porphyrin-myoglobin-based photo-chemical energy conversion system, consisting of ZnPP-Mb or ZnPE1-Mb as a photosensitizer, NADP+ as an electron acceptor, and triethanolamine as an electron donor, has been constructed to mimic photosystem I. The photoirradiated product is able to reduce a single-electron acceptor protein cytochrome c, but cannot catalyze the two-electron reduction of acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase, thus demonstrating a single electron transfer mechanism. Furthermore, the artificial system can bifunctionally promote oxidoredox reactions, depending on the presence or absence of a sacrificial electron donor, thus suggesting its potential application in electrochemical regeneration steps involved in chemical transformation and/or energy conversion.

With the growing global awareness of sustainable development, the impact of "fast fashion" on the environment has drawn much attention. This study investigated 365 fast fashion consumers with higher-than-average spending on fast fashion garments in Taiwan and analyzed the data with the analytic network process. From the perspective of social responsibility theory, the triple bottom line framework, and the concept of cradle-to-cradle, this study conducted in-depth interviews with 10 experts in the field of clothing. Based on the results, this study constructed a model with 4 core dimensions and 12 key criteria of sustainable clothing design, with the enterprise, design, and consumer sides as the decision-making options. Moreover, it was found that consumers believe that the first decision-making key that affects sustainable design is the enterprise side, and the most important green item that affects sustainable design is "cherishing". The findings of this study can provide an important reference standard for sustainable design in the apparel industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accuracy of performance validity tests (PVTs) with culturally diverse populations has increasingly been questioned. High false positive rates have been found in some PVTs in culturally and linguistically diverse individuals within the U.S. and internationally. No study to date has investigated the accuracy of PVTs with Chinese-speaking immigrants (CSI) in the U.S. The current study aimed to evaluate two PVTs, the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) and Dot Counting Test (DCT), to determine their accuracy in a community sample of CSI with limited English proficiency. These two measures were used in a simulation design, contrasting 52 participants who were instructed to respond honestly to 22 participants instructed to feign incompetency to stand trial. Results demonstrated the scores of TOMM Trial 1 and Trial 2 were effective in classifying honest responders from simulators, whereas the DCT E-score did not differentiate the groups better than chance. However, false positive rates for the TOMM Trial 1, Trial 2, and the DCT E-score were relatively low. Only one honest responder (1.9%) was classified as exerting insufficient effort in TOMM Trial 1 and DCT E-score, and the TOMM Trial 2 did not misclassify any honest responders. Implications and cautionary statements are provided and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In transpacific and Asian/American studies, islands often gain decolonial meaning via their explicit ties to US and Japanese military imperialisms. This article inquires how islands express the decolonial beyond US‐centric anti‐imperial critique, and how they complicate the fields' geopolitical imagination largely defined by the category of independent nation‐states. To that end, the author turns to Taiwanese writer Wu Ming‐Yi's The Man with the Compound Eyes and develops "archipelagic optics" as a transpacific interpretive framework—one that includes the decontinental in its decolonial thesis. Archipelagic optics takes liminal islands such as Taiwan and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as its epistemic grounds; it advances a multicentered epistemology in order to articulate inter‐ and intra‐island contradictions; and it foregrounds "interdependence" rather than "independence" as an ontopolitical premise of archipelagic lives. Archipelagic optics indexes a form of decolonial sensing by refuting the impersonal, monocular eye of military cameras used by multiple empires to surveil Pacific islands. As this article will demonstrate, the decolonial goes beyond the deconstruction of military intercolonialism. It also means tracing noninnocent multiplicity, decontinental seeing, and immanent dependencies emerging from formerly "obscure" sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preserving the marginal bone level (MBL) is essential for the long-term success of dental implant therapy, and bone remodeling around dental implants is considered to vary with time. Numerous studies comparing the platform-switching (PS) and platform-matching (PM) dental implants have indicated that PS dental implants showed a lesser reduction for the MBL, and the majority of them had a relatively short period. This study aimed to evaluate vertical and horizontal bone defects by using digital periapical radiographs to examine the changes in MBL around PM and PS dental implants over 5 years after functional loading. The vertical MBL (vMBL) was measured from the implant–abutment junction to the first bone-to-implant contact. The horizontal MBL (hMBL) was measured from the implant–abutment junction to the bone crest. All data were presented as means ± standard errors. Paired and independent t-tests with Welch's correction were used to analyze the data. A total of 61 dental implants in 38 patients after 5 years of functional loading were evaluated. Over time, PS dental implants were more likely to gain bone; by contrast, PM dental implants were more likely to lose bone during the observation time. Changes in vMBL for PS dental implants were significantly less than those for PM dental implants at 1-year (p = 0.045), 3-year (p = 0.021), and 5-year (p = 0.010) loading. Likewise, changes in hMBL for PS dental implants were significantly smaller than in those for PM dental implants at 3-year (p = 0.021) and 5-year (p = 0.006) loading; however, the changes were minimal in both approaches. PS dental implants had a significant increment in the percentage of bone integration, whereas that for PM dental implants dropped over time, with no significance. In PS dental implants that occlude with natural teeth, vertical and horizontal bone gain was observed, and it was significant at 3 years (p = 0.023). A significant horizontal bone gain was observed in the opposing natural teeth at 3-year (p = 0.002) and 5-year loading (p = 0.002). The PS concept appears to preserve more MBL around dental implants by stabilizing the vMBL and hMBL over a 5-year period. A minimal marginal bone change was detected in both concepts. The opposing natural teeth at PS dental implants showed a favorable effect on marginal bone tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of cotadutide in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease. Materials and Methods: In this phase 2a study (NCT03550378), patients with body mass index 25‐45 kg/m2, estimated glomerular filtration rate 30‐59 ml/min/1.73 m2 and type 2 diabetes [glycated haemoglobin 6.5‐10.5% (48‐91 mmol/mol)] controlled with insulin and/or oral therapy combination, were randomized 1:1 to once‐daily subcutaneous cotadutide (50‐300 μg) or placebo for 32 days. The primary endpoint was plasma glucose concentration assessed using a mixed‐meal tolerance test. Results: Participants receiving cotadutide (n = 21) had significant reductions in the mixed‐meal tolerance test area under the glucose concentration‐time curve (–26.71% vs. +3.68%, p <.001), more time in target glucose range on continuous glucose monitoring (+14.79% vs. –21.23%, p =.001) and significant reductions in absolute bodyweight (–3.41 kg vs. –0.13 kg, p <.001) versus placebo (n = 20). In patients with baseline micro‐ or macroalbuminuria (n = 18), urinary albumin‐to‐creatinine ratios decreased by 51% at day 32 with cotadutide versus placebo (p =.0504). No statistically significant difference was observed in mean change in estimated glomerular filtration rate between treatments. Mild/moderate adverse events occurred in 71.4% of participants receiving cotadutide and 35.0% receiving placebo. Conclusions: We established the efficacy of cotadutide in this patient population, with significantly improved postprandial glucose control and reduced bodyweight versus placebo. Reductions in urinary albumin‐to‐creatinine ratios suggest potential benefits of cotadutide on kidney function, supporting further evaluation in larger, longer‐term clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is not only associated with one's adverse health outcomes in adulthood but also increases the risk of child developmental problems in offspring. However, the mechanisms involved in the transmission of the effects of maternal ACEs to the offspring largely remain unexplored. This study sought to identify possible psychosocial pathways of intergenerational effects of maternal ACEs on child development at 6 months. Data from a longitudinal study on maternal childhood adversity and maternal psychosocial risk during pregnancy as well as maternal mental health problems and child development at 6 months postnatal were used. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapping was used to estimate the indirect effects of maternal ACEs on child development at 6 months. The model showed that maternal ACEs indirectly influenced offspring's development via maternal stressful events during pregnancy and pre- and postnatal mental health problems. This finding highlights the possible interventions at the prenatal and postnatal periods. Early identification of women who have ACEs or who are at psychosocial risk during pre- and postnatal periods is critical to provide interventions to buffer those negative effects on offspring's development. Future studies are needed to longitudinally assess the effects of maternal ACEs on child development over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. It has been reported that harmonics of radial pulse is related to coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It is still unclear whether or not the first harmonics of the radial pulse spectrum is an early independent predictor of silent coronary artery disease (SCAD) and adverse cardiac events (ACE). Objectives. To measure the risk of SCAD in patients with T2DM and also to survey whether or not an increment of the first harmonic (C1) of the radial pulse increases ACE. Methods. 1968 asymptomatic individuals with T2DM underwent radial pulse wave measurement. First harmonic of the radial pressure wave, C1, was calculated. Next, the new occurrence of ACE and the new symptoms and signs of coronary artery disease were recorded. The follow-up period lasted for 14.7 ± 3.5 months. Results. Out of 1968 asymptomatic individuals with T2DM, ACE was detected in 239 (12%) of them during the follow-up period. The logrank test demonstrated that the cumulative incidence of ACE in patients with C1 above 0.96 was greater than that in those patients with C1 below 0.89 (P<0.01). By comparing the data of patients with C1 smaller than the first quartile and the patients with C1 greater than the third quartile, the hazard ratios were listed as follows: ACE (hazard ratio, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.55–3.37), heart failure (hazard ratio, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.21–4.09), myocardial infarction (hazard ratio, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.51–3.93), left ventricular dysfunction (Hazard ratio, 2.01; 95% CI, 0.86–4.70), and new symptoms and signs for coronary artery disease (hazard ratio, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.45–2.84). As C1 increased, the risk for composite ACE (P<0.001 for trend) and for coronary disease (P<0.001 for trend) also increased. The hazard ratio and trend for cardiovascular-cause mortality were not significant. Conclusions. This study showed that C1 of the radial pulse wave is correlated with cardiovascular events. Survival analysis showed that C1 value is an independent predictor of ACE and SCAD in asymptomatic patients with T2DM. Thus, screening for the first harmonic of the radial pulse may improve the risk stratification of cardiac events and SCAD in asymptomatic patients although they had no history of coronary artery disease or angina-related symptom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as novel diagnostic markers of prostate cancer (PCa) and new determinants of castration-resistant PCa (CRPC), an aggressive and metastatic form of PCa. In addition to androgen receptor (AR) signaling, neuroendocrine differentiation (NED) is associated with CRPC. Recent reports demonstrate that the downregulation of repressor element-1 silencing transcription factor (REST) protein is a key step in NED of PCa cells. Here, we report HOTAIR as a novel REST-repressed lncRNA that is upregulated in NED PCa cells and in CRPC. HOTAIR overexpression is sufficient to induce, whereas knockdown of HOTAIR suppressed NED of PCa cells. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of differentially expressed genes under HOTAIR overexpression and in CRPC versus benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) suggests that HOTAIR may participate in PCa progression. Taken together, our results provide the first evidence of lncRNA HOTAIR as a driver for NED of PCa cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The delta-connected cascaded H-bridge converter has been applied to compensate flicker and unbalance load to meet power quality requirement. Based on the detailed power analysis, this paper presents a dc capacitor voltage-balancing technique for the converter. This paper also proposes a current limit control technique to avoid overstressing the power semiconductor devices of the converter. The control techniques in this paper are verified in a 220-V, 1-kVA laboratory test bench. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]