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While the philosophy of deterrence has long been rooted in the criminal justice system and has informed policy and programming, the results of such strategies have been mixed. A handful of research efforts have focused on the relationship between various deterrence perspectives and cyberbullying; however, few address this issue in a non-Western context. To develop a more comprehensive assessment of cyberbullying deterrence and perceptions of punishment among adolescents, this study utilizes a large-scale data set collected from Taiwan. Results indicate a negative association between cyberbullying and a sense of the certainty of punishment from authorities. Moreover, perceptions of the severity of punishment decrease the propensity for cyberbullying behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to discuss how the government and society of Taiwan have appropriated the heritage from Japanese colonial rule into the discourse of Taiwanese culture to bolster the national identity of Taiwan. The interconnected theoretical concepts of 'imagined communities' and 'nationalising the past' ground the analytical framework of this study. With a focus on the 'selective' presentations of the colonial heritage in historic Tainan City, this study explores how the official and social discourses have trivialised, reorganised, simplified, and recontextualised the historical intricacies of legacies of the Japanese colonial era through the process of heritagisation. The research results suggest that the meaning of colonial legacies has been shaped and reshaped from being a mark of the dark past and deprivation to constitute a glorious contribution fulfilling the discourse of multi-faceted Taiwanese culture. This case also suggests the possibility for a post-colonial society to extricate itself from a mimicking mentality and to redevelop their culture discourse as a buttress of the national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of cybercrimes has presented new global challenges to law enforcement agencies that traditionally operate within designated geographical jurisdictions and patrol territories. The borderless nature of cyberspace has brought substantial opportunities-both legal and illegal-to its users, and many local law enforcement agencies have encountered motivated offenders taking advantage of the globally connected Internet and causing damage locally and transnationally. This study examines a high-profile case of European criminals who hacked into a Taiwanese financial institution-First Commercial Bank (FCB)-and programmed its ATMs to "spit out" cash netting the thieves $2.6 million US dollars in 2016 summer. Before the incident of FCB, this European criminal group committed more than a hundred similar ATMs hackings, victimizing dozens of financial institutions across several European countries, and profiting over one billion Euros. FCB is the only case revealing specific details about the modus operandi of ATM hacking thus far, in addition to disclosing reactions from law enforcement. By analyzing qualitative data collected from different branches of law enforcement involved in the investigations, this unique case study underscores the importance of national-local law enforcement collaboration in fighting transnational cybercrime. Empirical implications are particularly valuable in the law enforcement context of "turf jealousies" when defending homeland security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study investigated whether patients with a history of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection are at increased risk of developing psoriasis.Methods: We enrolled 66 274 patients with HPV infection between 1997 and 2013 from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, and compared them with control individuals who had never been diagnosed with HPV infection (at a 1:4 ratio matched by age, sex and index year) in relation to the risk of developing psoriasis. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), with the control group as reference.Results: The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) was 1.177 (95% CI, 1.010-1.373) after adjusting for demographic characteristics, comorbidities, dermatology-related outpatient visits and medications. The HPV group had an increased risk of psoriasis compared with the control group in all of the different age groups. The P-value for interaction between age and exposure of HPV is 0.009 in our sub-group analysis.Conclusions: A higher risk of psoriasis was found after HPV infection, and age acted as an effect modifier between the HPV infection and risk of psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of all the Proteus spp., Proteus mirabilis is the most common species identified in clinical specimens and is a leading agent of complicated urinary tract infection. This study was undertaken to understand the antimicrobial susceptibility, prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes, and molecular typing of P. mirabilis isolates collected from three hospitals in northern Taiwan. The results showed that the collected isolates of P. mirabilis were susceptible to most antibiotics except cefazolin and tigecycline. Many resistance genes were detected in the collected isolates, of which TEM genes were the most common. Resistance to third- or fourth-generation cephalosporins was related to the presence of at least one of the tested extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) or AmpC genes. The presence of the VEB-1 gene seemed to be a good predictor for both cefepime and ceftazidime resistance, which was further supported by quantitative polymerase chain reaction results. Of the four imipenem-resistant P. mirabilis isolates, three isolates could hydrolyze imipenem by mass spectrometry analysis. Molecular typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that the pulsotyping of the selected P. mirabilis isolates was heterogeneous. By analyzing the relationship of antimicrobial resistance and the presence of resistance genes, revision of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute cefepime and ceftazidime MIC breakpoints for Enterobacteriaceae to predict ESBL producers might possibly be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies the multiple-regime panel smooth transition regression (MR-PSTR) estimation to investigate the non-linear dynamic relationship between a firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm growth in the food industry under the size threshold, using a panel of 30 Taiwanese food firms during 2007-2017. Our empirical results reveal that firm growth and firm size present a non-linear relationship, and that firm growth is different under the size threshold value and the control variables of firm age, CSR, R&D innovation, and finance policy. Corporate social responsibility helps reduce business risk. Regardless of the type and size, for many food industries, CSR is no longer an arbitrary choice, but an essential requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stigma affects patients with schizophrenia and may influence perceptions of the illness, whic hmay affect how family members interact with and care for these patients. Purpose: The aims of this study were to (a) explore the relationship between perceptions of schizophrenia and the negative emotions of family members within the context of an affiliate stigma model, and (b) validate the proposed affiliate stigma model. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. Eligibility for participation was limited to the relatives of patients with schizophrenia. The participants were recruited from two regional psychiatric hospitals in central Taiwan. The study was approved by an Institutional Review Board, and all potential participants signed informed consent before enrollment. Sixty-two participants completed the set of self-administered questionnaires, including (a) a demographic questionnaire, (b) Affiliate Stigma Scale, and (c) the Illness Perception Questionnaire for Schizophrenia-Relatives version. Canonical correlations and structural equation modeling in STATISTICA 6.0 were used to validate the model of illness perceptions and negative emotions. Results: (a) There were three domains of perception regarding schizophrenia for the relatives of patients: disease chronicity, disease in control, and disease treatability. The correlation between these dimensions and negative emotion was r = .42. (b) The adjusted goodness of fit for the proposed affiliate stigma model was .79. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the affiliate stigma model is an appropriate resource for developing practical disease management strategies for the relatives of patientswith schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) was up to 30% between 2014 and 2016 in the study hospital. Of these 77 CRKP isolates, 22 isolates with sequence type ST11 carried the new p KPC_P16 plasmid, a p KPC_LK30 variant, and were widely disseminated between 2014 and 2015 in northern Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reminiscence therapy has been utilized for many years in the treatment of dementia in older people. Purposes of the research included examining different methods of promoting interactivity, social participation, cognitive function improvement in those with dementia, and the effectiveness in reducing symptoms of depression following group treatment. This study used pretest and posttest electroencephalography (EEG) measurements to test reminiscence therapy efficacy on participants. This research organized a social group work with 12 elderly clients with dementia (mild to moderate stage) selected from among 90 residents of an older persons care facility in Pingtung. Eleven agreed to join the study, and 10 completed successfully all treatment sessions. Eight sessions of reminiscence cooking lessons were conducted. The effectiveness of interventions was evaluated by comparing presession and postsession EEG, mental health status, depression scale, and feeling of participation scale scores. Significant differences in values, particularly for EEG, were found between the two sets of scores. The average value of participants' fast waves rose from 43.88 to 55.12, whereas average slow-wave values fell from 56.12 to 44.13. After analysis using the Wilcoxon matched paired signed rank test, significant differences were noted. Findings and suggestions include the following: (a) The rise in Mini-Mental State Examination and reduction in depression scale scores, although noted, were not significant, and (b) the self-achievement, emotional stability, family atmosphere, and physical needs of participants were met. The authors recommend that reminiscence group work be promoted in the home for older persons and that childhood cooking sessions twice each week may be the ideal format for reminiscence group work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Taiwan's population is aging rapidly. Taiwan has met the criteria for an “aged society" in 2018, with more than 14 percent of the population aged 65 years of age or older. The rapid growth of the elderly population results in a great need for long-term care services and a heavy burden on families and the whole society. Taiwan's government launched the new “10-year long-term care 2.0 plan" in 2016 to establish a comprehensive community care service system that promoted “aging in place". Home based, instead of institutional based long-term care services were encouraged. However, the difference of the health care utilization and mortality of the patients between the two services were not fully investigated. National Health Insurance program in Taiwan reimburses skilled nursing services for patients living in home or institutions who have limited activities of daily living, receive palliative care for terminal illness or are dependent on ventilators. The policy gives us a chance to compare the clinical impact on the patients living in home and institutions. Objects: The aim of the study was to investigate the difference of health care utilization and one- year mortality between patients receiving home care and nursing home care. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. 678 home care patients and 84 nursing home residents receiving skilled nursing services from 2015 to 2017 at National Taiwan UniversityHospital, Bei-Hu Branch were enrolled. We applied Cox regression and Poisson regression models for data analysis. Results: In comparison with nursing home residents, patients living at home significantly had higher educational level, were more in married status, with religion, higher ratio to sign do not resuscitation (DNR) directives, had more pressure ulcer and higher utilization of outpatient clinic, emergency room services, hospitalization with longer hospital length of stay (LOS). The ratio of nasogastric (NG) tube use is lower for home care cases. Patients who had higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), not used NG tube and signed DNR directives were independently associated with 1-year mortality. Conclusion: In comparison with nursing home residents, patients receiving our nursing care at home had higher utilization of outpatient clinic, emergency room services, hospitalization and longer hospital LOS. The place they lived was not related to patients' one-year mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the earliest noticeable manifestation and diagnosis in patients diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) epididymitis/epididymo-orchitis incidentally and to analyze their responses to surgical and medical treatment.Methods: Patients who underwent surgery for the preliminary impression of chronic epididymitis/epididymo-orchitis or epididymal/testicular tumor from 2000 to 2019 were included in the study. The clinical presentations, laboratory data, radiological examinations, and operative findings were analyzed retrospectively. The outcomes were assessed by the responses to anti-TB chemotherapy and post treatment radiographic evaluations.Results: All of our 25 patients with a mean age of 60.6 years were diagnosed incidentally with TB epididymitis (48.0%) and TB epididymo-orchitis (52.0%) according to the histopathological findings from their surgeries. The presence of a palpable scrotal mass (76.0%), was the major presentation. Nineteen (76.0%) patients had undergone complete chemotherapy after the surgery and 15 (78.9%) patients showed complete recovery. Four (21.1%) patients had unfavorable outcomes, 3 had TB autonephrectomies and 1 required re-surgery years after complete chemotherapy. Of the 3 (12.0%) patients who did not receive chemotherapy after their surgeries, 1 had a TB relapse in the spine and lung and 1 developed bladder cancer years later.Conclusion: Tuberculosis epididymitis/epididymo-orchitis is difficult to diagnose. However, some clinical clues can assist including aged patients, extragenital TB histories, poor responses to antibiotic treatment and scrotal skin lesion. Complete anti-TB chemotherapy is mandatory even after the total removal of TB lesion. Supplemental surgical interventions can be considered when the symptoms are not relieved after chemotherapy. Lifespan follow-up is recommended due to high relapse rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged recently as a major cause of health care-associated infections due to the extent of its antimicrobial resistance and its propensity to cause large nosocomial outbreaks. Here we report the genome sequence of Acinetobacter baumannii TYTH-1 isolated in Taiwan during 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To report outcomes for localized prostate cancer patients treated with the combination of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). Methods: Eighty-five Stage T1c to T3b prostate cancer patients treated with HDR brachytherapy plus EBRT were included. An HDR dose of 16.5 Gy in 3 fractions over 24 hours was given 2 weeks before EBRT. An EBRT dose of 50.4 Gy was administered to the prostate and seminal vesicles. Younger patients (aged less than 75 years) with greater than 15% risk of nodal metastasis received whole-pelvis RT (45 Gy in 25 fractions) as part of EBRT. Results: Fifty percent of patients belonged to the high-risk (T3a or Gleason score 8–10 or prostate-specific antigen greater than 20 ng/mL) or very-high-risk (T3b) groups. After a median follow-up of 49 months (range, 24 to 70 months), 4-year biochemical control survival (less than nadir + 2) was 86% (100%, 91%, and 81% for patients in the low, intermediate, and high-risk groups, respectively. Three of four T3b patients experienced early biochemical failure. Four patients (5%) had grade 3 implant-related urinary retention. Chronic gastrointestinal toxicities were limited, but four grade 3 chronic genitourinary toxicities (5%) were noted in relation to urethral stricture and severe hematuria. Whole-pelvis EBRT was a major contributing factor to acute but not to chronic gastrointestinal toxicities. Among 60 patients with pretreatment sexual potency, 17 (26%) retained capability after 4 years. Six patients (10%) lost potency merely as a result of salvage hormone therapy. Conclusions: High-dose-rate brachytherapy plus EBRT can achieve satisfactory biochemical control with acceptable complications for T1c to T3a prostate cancer patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Both polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and psoriasis are associated with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Nonetheless, the incidence of psoriasis in patients with PCOS is unclear. We used the Longitudinal Health Insurance Research Database (LHID) in Taiwan from 2000 to 2012 to perform a retrospective population-based cohort study to elucidate the occurrence of psoriasis in PCOS patients. Patients with PCOS without psoriasis in the index year (the year of PCOS diagnosis) were recruited as the PCOS group. Those without PCOS nor psoriasis (control group) were selected using propensity score matching at a ratio of 4:1. Hazard ratios (HRs) were obtained using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. In total, 4707 and 18,828 patients were included in the PCOS and control groups, respectively. The incidence rates of psoriasis in the control and PCOS groups were 0.34 and 0.70 per 1000 person-years, respectively. The risk of psoriasis was higher in the PCOS group by an HR of 2.07 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.25–3.43) compared with the control group. In conclusion, the incidence of psoriasis in the PCOS group was higher than that in the control group. Further studies should be conducted to investigate the mechanism underlying the association, and to benefit the long-term management of patients with PCOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine if aromatherapy could reduce preoperative anxiety in ambulatory surgery patients. A total of 109 preoperative patients were randomly assigned to experimental (bergamot essential oil) and control (water vapor) conditions and their responses to the State Trait Anxiety Inventory and vital signs were monitored. Patients were stratified by previous surgical experience, but that did not influence the results. All those exposed to bergamot essential oil aromatherapy showed a greater reduction in preoperative anxiety than those in the control groups. Aromatherapy may be a useful part of a holistic approach to reducing preoperative anxiety before ambulatory surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Food hazards can appear at any stage of global food supply chains, making it essential to define critical control points to capture the data about ingredients, manufacture and dates-certain (sell-by, use-by), etc., and provide it in a transparent manner to supply chain participants and consumers. The government of Taiwan has appointed a non-profit research organization to conduct a pilot project to launch a potential national-wide food traceability system to increase the intangible value of purchased food and to enhance food safety. This paper discusses a financially viable business model for a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) application to a food traceability system. We conduct a case study of RFID implementation in the chain of convenience stores in Taiwan. The Taiwanese experiment may have implications for policy-makers, industry and public health officials elsewhere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We investigated the molecular epidemiology and OXA-type carbapenemase genes of 83 imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter spp. collected from 2 university hospitals (hospitals A and B) and a regional hospital (hospital C) during 2007 in Taiwan. Genotyping by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis identified 51 pulsotypes. None of the pulsotypes established predominance throughout the 3 hospitals. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction of blaOXA genes showed that 100% (18/18), 91%(31/34), and 100% (31/31) of the Acinetobacter spp. collected from hospital A, B, and C, respectively, possessed blaOXA-51–like genes. None of the strains carrying blaOXA-23–like and blaOXA-24–like genes were found in hospital A. The coexistences of blaOXA-51–like/blaOXA-23–like and blaOXA-51–like/blaOXA-24–like genes detected in hospitals B and C were 26% (9/34) and 12% (4/34) and 58% (18/31) and 3% (1/31), respectively. Among blaOXA-23–like gene-carrying isolates collected from hospitals, clonal spread of strains carrying the blaOXA-23 gene was detected in the regional hospital but not the other 2 university hospitals. The results suggest that interhospital dissemination of imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter spp. was not found in these hospitals. The increasing percentage of OXA-23 in OXA-type carbapenemases in Acinetobacter spp. from the regional hospitals to medical centers deserves further attention in Taiwan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduction. A number of literature has now identified the role of impaired nitric oxide synthase/nitric oxide pathway in the endothelium as the central to the development of erectile dysfunction (ED) and benign prostate hyperplasia-related lower urinary tract symptoms (BPH/LUTS). Recently a few studies have reported the associations between endothelial nitric oxide synthase ( eNOS) G894T gene polymorphisms and ED. However, there has been no report investigating the eNOS G894T genetic susceptibility factor for both ED and BPH/LUTS. Aim. To investigate the possible associations among eNOS G894T polymorphism, ED, and BPH/LUTS in a Taiwanese population. Main Outcome Measures. Patients with ED were defined as those having a 5-item International Index of Erectile Function-5 <21. Methods. In all, 372 Taiwanese men underwent a free health screening were enrolled. All the men had complete clinical data and questionnaires taken. The eNOS G894T polymorphisms were determined using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Results. Three hundred seventy-two men had a mean (standard deviation) age of 60.2 (8.8) years. With multivariate analysis, our data identified that aging, diabetes mellitus (DM), and eNOS G894T gene polymorphism were three independent common risk factors for both ED and BPH/LUTS ( P < 0.001, P = 0.036, and P = 0.039 for ED; P = 0.034, P = 0.004, and P = 0.016 for BPH/LUTS, respectively). The eNOS 894T allele carriers had significantly higher prevalence of ED (77.9% vs. 60.4%, P = 0.012) and higher International Prostate Symptom score (IPSS) (13.3 ± 10.7 vs. 9.3 ± 7.8, P = 0.001) than G allele carriers. Conclusions. Our results showed that aging, DM, and eNOS 894T allele carrier gene polymorphism were the three independently common risk factors for both ED and BPH/LUTS in the Taiwanese population. The eNOS 894T allele carriers had significantly higher frequencies of ED and higher IPSS, suggesting that eNOS G894T gene polymorphisms may play an implication as a genetic susceptibility factor for both ED and BPH/LUTS. Lee YC, Wu WJ, Liu CC, Wang CJ, Li WM, Huang CH, Yeh HC, Ke HL, and Huang SP. The associations among eNOS G894T gene polymorphism, erectile dysfunction, and benign prostate hyperplasia-related lower urinary tract symptoms. J Sex Med 2009;6:3158–3165. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the correlation between a history of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and alopecia areata risk. The study cohort comprised 30,001 patients with newly diagnosed HPV infection between 2000 and 2012; and with use of computer-generated randomly numbers, patients not had HPV infection were randomly selected as the comparison cohort. HPV infection cohort were matched to comparison individuals at a 1:1 ratio by age, gender and index year. All study individuals were followed up until they developed alopecia areata, withdraw from the insurance program, lost to follow-up, or until the end of 2013. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to analyze the risk of alopecia areata with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between the HPV and control cohort. The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of alopecia areata for HPV patients relative to controls was 2.55 (95% C.I. = 1.88–3.47) after adjusting sex, age and comorbidities. Subgroup analysis indicated that patients with HPV infections had a significantly greater risk of alopecia areata for both genders, all age subgroups, and those with mental disorder diseases. A history of HPV infection is associated with the development of subsequent alopecia areata in Taiwanese subjects. • This study reveals the association between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and alopecia areata (AA). • Patients with HPV are at higher risk of developing AA than those without HPV infection. • HPV may be a potential trigger for AA via COX-2 and IFN-γ overproduction. • A massive data analysis containing approximately 99% of Taiwan's population of 23 million people. • The results increase awareness regarding the connection between HPV and immune mediated skin diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]