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Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between periodontitis, dental scaling (DS) and pyogenic liver abscesses (PLAs). Material and Methods: A nationwide population‐based case‐control study was applied using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. We identified and enrolled 691 PLA patients, who were individually matched by age and sex to 2764 controls. Results: Conditional logistic regression was applied to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) in patients with exposure to periodontitis and DS before PLA. After adjusting for other confounding factors, periodontitis remained a risk factor for PLA among patients aged 20‐40 years, with an aOR of 2.31 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.37‐3.90, P = .0018). In addition, the average aOR for PLA was significantly lower among patients with one DS (aOR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.59‐0.96) and more than one DS (aOR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.39‐0.95) within 1 year before the index date. Conclusion: According to these results, we concluded that adult patients with periodontitis aged <50 years old are more at risk for PLA than controls, particularly when they have no DS. Moreover, from 20 years of age, non‐periodontal patients subjected to at least 2 DS per year are less at risk for PLA than controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary goal of this study is to create and test a lecture-capture system that can rearrange visual elements while recording is still taking place, in such a way that student performance can be positively influenced. The system we have devised is capable of integrating and rearranging multimedia sources, including learning content, the instructor and students' images, into lecture videos that are embedded in a website for students to review after school. The present study employed a two-group experimental design, with 153 participants (145 females and 8 males) making up an experimental group in which lecture courses were recorded using the new lecture-capture system, and 149 participants (140 females and 9 males) forming a control group whose lectures were recorded by traditional means. All participants were in the freshman college and studying Introduction to Computer and Information Science in one of six classes, and were randomly assigned to one of the two groups. The participants' midterm examination and final examination scores were collected as indicators of their academic performance, with their mathematics entrance scores used as a pre-test. The findings obtained from analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) suggest that appropriate rearrangement of visual elements in lecture videos can significantly impact students' learning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Whether there is a difference in survival after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy plus surgery (CRT-S) compared with definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) in patients with locally advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) remains controversial., Methods: Patients with SCC who underwent curative treatment from 2008 to 2014 were identified from the Taiwan Cancer Registry. Propensity score matching was undertaken to balance pretreatment clinical variables. Overall survival was compared between patients undergoing CRT-S or dCRT. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors for overall survival., Results: A total of 5832 patients with clinical stage II and III oesophageal SCC receiving CRT-S (1754) or dCRT (4078) were included. After propensity score matching, each group included 1661 patients. The 3-year overall survival rate for patients treated with CRT-S was 41·1 per cent compared with 17·9 per cent for those who had dCRT (P < 0·001). In multivariable analysis, treatment modality was an independent prognostic factor in the overall cohort before propensity score matching: hazard ratio 0·45 (95 per cent c.i. 0·40 to 0·51) for CRT-S versus dCRT (P < 0·001). In separate analyses of patients with clinical stage II and those with stage III disease, CRT-S was associated with significantly better overall survival than dCRT., Conclusion: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and oesophagectomy is associated with better overall survival than dCRT in patients with stage II and III oesophageal SCC., (© 2018 BJS Society Ltd Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This study investigated the carcase composition of Taiwan simulated native chickens at different stages of growth. The results indicated that the carcases of male chickens exhibited significantly larger protein mass and water mass than those of females during weeks 7 to 20; as was the ash mass during weeks 8 to 20. However, the fat mass of the carcases of female chickens was larger than that of males during weeks 14 to 20. Separate regression equations were derived for the relationship between protein mass, fat mass, ash mass and water mass and both carcase weight and age of both male and female chickens.