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Cervical cancer, a major health concern among women worldwide, is closely linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. This study explores the evolving landscape of HPV molecular epidemiology in Taiwan over a decade (2010–2020), where prophylactic HPV vaccination has been implemented since 2007. Analyzing data from 40,561 vaginal swab samples, with 42.0% testing positive for HPV, we reveal shifting trends in HPV genotype distribution and infection patterns. The 12 high-risk genotypes, in order of decreasing percentage, were HPV 52, 58, 16, 18, 51, 56, 39, 59, 33, 31, 45, and 35. The predominant genotypes were HPV 52, 58, and 16, accounting for over 70% of cases annually. The proportions of high-risk and non-high-risk HPV infections varied across age groups. High-risk infections predominated in sexually active individuals aged 30-50 and were mixed-type infections. The composition of high-risk HPV genotypes was generally stable over time; however, HPV31, 33, 39, and 51 significantly decreased over the decade. Of the strains, HPV31 and 33 are shielded by the nonavalent HPV vaccine. However, no reduction was noted for the other seven genotypes. This study offers valuable insights into the post-vaccine HPV epidemiology. Future investigations should delve into HPV vaccines' effects and their implications for cervical cancer prevention strategies. These findings underscore the need for continued surveillance and research to guide effective public health interventions targeting HPV-associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a significant threat to the safety of residents in long-term care facilities, and the staff of long-term care facilities are essential in the care and prevention of major infectious diseases and therefore require good health literacy to ensure the health of residents. The main objective of this study was to examine the health literacy of staff in long-term care facilities and analyze the factors associated with their COVID-19 health literacy in Taiwan to provide a basis for the response mechanism to emerging infectious diseases. Methods: A cross-sectional survey with a structured questionnaire by a convenience sample method and to assess the COVID-19 health literacy of caregivers working in long-term care facilities in this study. The COVID-19 health literacy scale was a self-administered scale designed to combine the concept of "health literacy" with the 3 levels and 5 stages of preventive medicine. A total of 385 workers from 10 long-term care facilities were surveyed as the study sample, and the validated questionnaires were statistically analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 statistical software. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to establish the associated factors of the COVID-19 health literacy level. Results: Overall, the mean COVID-19 health literacy score was 88.7 ± 10.4 (range: 58–105). Using a quartile scale, 92 (23.9%) of the study participants had low health literacy (health literacy score < 82), 190 (49.3%) had average health literacy (health literacy score 82–98), and the remaining 103 (26.8%) had good health literacy (health literacy score 99–105). Statistical analysis revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) in the COVID-19 health literacy score by demographic variables (education, job category, number of daily service users, and training related to infectious disease prevention and control) of the study population. The logistic regression analysis of the COVID-19 health literacy level (> 82 vs. ≤82) showed a significant difference in the study sample by gender (male vs. female, OR = 2.46, 95% CI = 1.15–5.26), job category (nurse practitioner vs. caregiver, OR = 7.25, 95% CI = 2.46–21.44), monthly service hours (> 160 h vs. 40–79 h, OR = 0.044, 95% CI = 0.07–0.97), experience caring for confirmed COVID-19 patients (yes vs. no, OR = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.02–0.98), and training related to infectious disease prevention and control (yes vs. no, OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.52–5.15). Conclusions: This study recommends that facilities provide immediate updated COVID-19 information to staff, especially frontline caregivers, and specifically enhance COVID-19 infection control education training for all facility staff to eliminate health literacy disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particulate matter (PM) pollution has become a major problem worldwide, with significant adverse health impacts, but the climatology of annual variations in and the effect of climate change on PM levels are still not comprehensively evaluated. Here we show that the vertical motions of the East Asian winter and summer monsoons regulate the annual variation in PM over Taiwan. The PM pollution season starts and ends earlier during El Niño episodes than during La Niña episodes. Furthermore, the onset, active, break, revival, and retreat phases of the PM pollution lifecycle are innovatively defined. Our results demonstrate that the annual seasonal cycle dominates wintertime PM pollution climate development during the active phase with a minor modulation by El Niño and La Niña episodes, whereas October and March, the seasonal transition periods, are significantly modulated by these two episodes. The findings suggest a new dimension of PM pollution research—the lifecycle evolution effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Terminally ill patients often experience exacerbations of diseases that render mainstream medicine ineffective in relieving symptoms, prompting attempts at complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This study collected data from terminally ill patients and their relatives to determine differences between CAM use, behavioral patterns, and perceptions of health information about CAM. Methods: A cross-sectional design using a self-administered questionnaire was adopted. Eight medical institutions in Taiwan with inpatient hospice palliative care units were chosen. Ninety-two terminally ill patients and 267 relatives met the inclusion criteria. The questions concerned the experience of CAM use, the kinds of products/services CAM provided, the purpose of CAM use, the source of CAM information, and the perceptions and attitudes toward CAM. Results: Both terminally ill patients and their relatives have a high proportion of lifetime and one-year prevalence of CAM use (88.0% vs. 88.4%; p = 0.929). CAM use for musculoskeletal and neurological discomfort is higher among terminally ill patients than among their relatives. Relatives/friends are the most frequent sources of information on CAM (53.3% vs. 62.2%; p = 0.133). The percentage of terminally ill patients who discontinued mainstream medical treatment because of CAM use was higher than that of their relatives (18.5% vs. 9.3%; p = 0.026). More than half the terminally ill patients and their relatives had never been asked about CAM by medical staff (64.1% vs. 66.7%), nor had they informed medical professionals about the use of CAM products and services (63% vs. 66.9%). Random inquiries by medical professionals may be associated with increased disclosure of CAM use (terminally ill patients: odds ratio, 9.75; 95% confidence interval, 1.97–48.35 vs. relatives: odds ratio, 5.61; 95% confidence interval, 2.66–11.83). Conclusions: The high prevalence and concealment of CAM use in terminally ill patients should be considered. Medical professionals should establish a friendly and barrier-free communication model, encourage patients to share CAM experiences, and provide evidence-based information on the use of CAM products and services, to reduce the potential damage caused by harmful use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether a new revenue recognition standard, namely International Financial Reporting Standard 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (IFRS 15), incentivizes Taiwanese semiconductor companies to employ channel stuffing (CS) to meet or beat their earnings targets. By using a sample comprising 1399 firms listed on the Taiwanese Stock Exchange and over-the-counter markets between 2013 and 2019, we find that compared with Taiwanese firms in other sectors, semiconductor companies in Taiwan are more likely to employ CS to meet their earnings targets. Moreover, Taiwanese semiconductor companies have become more likely to use CS to meet their earnings targets since the implementation of IFRS 15. The obtained results pass a series of robustness checks and may help the potential driving forces for CS to be understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the existence of quarterly accrual anomalies in Taiwan's stock market. Our empirical results indicate that the arbitrage portfolios formed by the accounting accruals of the fourth‐quarter financial reports could result in abnormal returns, and thus, inferred that quarterly accrual anomalies exist. We further examined the causes of the accrual anomalies and determined that the manager conduct earnings management behavior during the fourth quarter. Managers execute discretionary accruals for management earnings forecast to meet previously issued financial forecasts, which leads to the fourth‐quarter accrual anomalies. The portfolios formed by using discretionary accruals and management earnings forecasts produce arbitrage portfolios with optimal return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality service is a potential advantage for hotels in the competitive hotel industry; moreover, leadership style plays an important role in determining service quality. Some researchers have suggested that innovation behaviour directly affects service quality, while others contend that quality improves with greater job standardisation. These contentions are somewhat contradictory; as such, we used Hackman and Oldham's job characteristics model and W. R. Scott's institutional theory to explore the influencing route of the effect of leadership style on service quality through the enrichment or depletion processes related to the linking roles of innovation behaviour and job standardisation. A survey was conducted across 52 international tourist hotels and 52 standard hotels in Taiwan. Our findings reveal that in international tourist hotels, transformational leadership enriched service quality through innovation behaviour but depleted service quality through job standardisation; in standard hotels, transactional leadership enriched service quality through job standardisation but depleted service quality through innovation behaviour. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), is a highly polyphagous fruit fly which, in the last 15 years, has invaded (with or without establishment) Africa, Europe and North America. As a direct result of these invasions, there is increasing research interest in the invasion history and spread patterns of this fly. A statement being repeatedly used in the B. dorsalis invasion literature is that the species was first identified from Taiwan in 1912 and that it subsequently spread through South‐East and South Asia during the 20th century. This assumption is incorrect and stems from: (a) an incomplete knowledge of B. dorsalis taxonomic history; and (b) a confounding of first taxonomic record with first invasion record. Rather than being first detected in Taiwan in 1912, the first record of oriental fruit fly was from "East India" (India orientali) under the synonymous name of Musca ferruginea by Fabricius in 1794, and in the 1910s, it was known not only from Taiwan, but widely across tropical Asia with records from India, Burma, Bengal, Sri Lanka (as Ceylon), Singapore and Indonesia (multiple islands). The taxonomic literature is very clear that oriental fruit fly has not invaded the rest of Asia from Taiwan since 1912, and this error should not continue to be repeated in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yield-per-recruit and spawning- biomass-per-recruit models, are commonly used for evaluating the status of a fishery. In practice, model parameters are themselves usually estimates that are subject to both bias (uncertainty in the mean) and imprecision (uncertainty in the standard deviation). Using Monte Carlo simulation with data for female Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) from the Kao-Ping River in Taiwan, we examined the sensitivity of such models to different degrees of bias and imprecision in the life history parameters. Positive biases in natural mortality and the von Bertalanffy growth coefficient led to larger relative changes in the mean and standard deviation of estimated fishing-mortality-based biological reference points (FBRPs) than did changes under negative biases. Higher degrees of imprecision in parameters did not affect the means of FBRPs, but their standard deviations increased. Composite risks of overfishing depended mainly on the changes in the means of FBRPs rather than on their standard deviations. Therefore, reducing the biases in key life history parameters, as well as the bias and imprecision in the current rate of fishing mortality, may be the most relevant approach for obtaining correct estimates of the risks of overfishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/purpose: Oral mucosal lesions and developmental anomalies are frequently observed in dental practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions and developmental anomalies in dental patients in a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. Materials and methods: The study group comprised 2050 consecutive dental patients. From January 2003 to December 2007, the patients received oral examination and treatment in the dental department of the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (Taipei, Taiwan). Results: Only 7.17% of dental patients had no oral mucosal lesions or developmental anomalies. Twenty-three different types of oral mucosal lesions or developmental anomalies were diagnosed. The most common lesion was Fordyce granules (82.8%), followed by buccal exostosis (34.1%), torus mandibularis (24.2%), torus palatinus (21.1%), lingual varices (16.2%), and recurrent aphthous ulcerations (4.3%). Fordyce granules, lingual varices, and buccal exostosis were the three most common oral developmental anomalies in elderly patients. Fordyce granules, buccal exostosis, torus mandibularis, lingual varices, and oral submucous fibrosis were more prevalent in men than in women. Fordyce granules occurred more commonly in adults than in children and were more commonly present in the labial and buccal mucosae than in any other oral mucosal sites. The anterior region of the jaws frequently contained buccal exostoses. Torus palatinus occurred more frequently in female patients than in male patients. Recurrent aphthous ulcerations were more common in patients under 18 years old. Conclusion: This study provides important data about the types and prevalence of oral mucosal lesions and developmental anomalies in dental patients in a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Landslide erosion is a dominant hillslope process and the main source of stream sediment in tropical, tectonically active mountain belts. In this study, we quantified landslide erosion triggered by 24 rainfall events from 2001 to 2009 in three mountainous watersheds in Taiwan and investigated relationships between landslide erosion and rainfall variables. The results show positive power-law relations between landslide erosion and rainfall intensity and cumulative rainfall, with scaling exponents ranging from 2·94 to 5·03. Additionally, landslide erosion caused by Typhoon Morakot is of comparable magnitude to landslide erosion caused by the Chi-Chi Earthquake ( MW = 7·6) or 22-24 years of basin-averaged erosion. Comparison of the three watersheds indicates that deeper landslides that mobilize soil and bedrock are triggered by long-duration rainfall, whereas shallow landslides are triggered by short-duration rainfall. These results suggest that rainfall intensity and watershed characteristics are important controls on rainfall-triggered landslide erosion and that severe typhoons, like high-magnitude earthquakes, can generate high rates of landslide erosion in Taiwan. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer is a common cancer worldwide, and chemotherapy is a mainstream approach for advanced and recurrent cases. Development of effective complementary drugs could help improve tumor suppression efficiency and control adverse effects from chemotherapy. The aqueous extract of Solanum nigrum leaves (AE-SN) is an essential component in many traditional Chinese medicine formulas for treating cancer, but there is a lack of evidence verifying its tumor suppression efficacy in colorectal cancer. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the tumor suppression efficacy of AE-SN using DLD-1 and HT-29 human colorectal carcinoma cells and examine the combined drug effect when combined with the chemotherapeutic drugs cisplatin, doxorubicin, docetaxel, and 5-fluorouracil. The results indicated that AE-SN induced autophagy via microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 A/B II accumulation but not caspase-3-dependent apoptosis in both cell lines. The IC50s after 48 hours of treatment were 0.541 and 0.948 mg/ml AE-SN in DLD-1 and HT-29, respectively. AE-SN also demonstrated a combined drug effect with all tested drugs by enhancing cytotoxicity in tumor cells. Our results suggest that AE-SN has potential in the development of complementary chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the literature on household work, "gender display" refers to the hypothesis that in order to compensate for their deviation from gender norms women who outearn their husbands tend to do more household work than women whose earnings are similar to those of their husbands. Much of the prior literature on this topic has debated whether or not gender display exists in the United States and other developed countries. However, the extent to which the gender display hypothesis is confirmed may depend on social context. Capitalizing on comparisons of mainland China and Taiwan, this study reexamines the gender display hypothesis in terms of varying social contexts. Our results show that (1) there is some evidence for gender display in rural China and Taiwan, but not in urban China, and (2) the evidence for gender display is more pronounced in Taiwan than in rural China. These results reveal not only that gender display is context-specific, but that the contextual variation of gender display may depend more on gender ideology than on macro-level economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Registering a 7.3 magnitude on the Richter scale, the 921 Chi-Chi Earthquake that struck central Taiwan on September 21, 1999 left the island nation with fragile soils, frequent floods, and debris flow, further weakening homeland resources. Taiwan's dense population had forced its residents to use mountain hills for agriculture and development. The 92-Flood in 2004, which incurred vast monetary losses and human casualties, caused the government to rethink its strategy for land use. In order to use land in a more efficient and in an eco-friendly manner, the Council for Economic Planning and Development, Executive Yuan of the Taiwanese government proposed the 'Land Recovery Strategy and Action Plan' in 2006. Its core concept was aimed at 'respecting, and adapting to, nature.' To achieve this goal, a hillside watershed management and flood mitigation policy was proposed. Factors of safety, economy, and ecology were included in the policy. Both strategies and practical measures to be implemented were organized in a chart for better understanding and for reference by other countries with similar conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Yield-per-recruit (YPR) and spawning stock biomass-per-recruit (SPR) models were used to investigate the impact of fisheries on the yellow and silver eels of the local stock of Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) in the Kao-Ping River (southwestern Taiwan). The current fishery status and uncertainty of biological reference points (e.g., F max, F 0.1, F 40%, and F 50%) were assessed using Monte Carlo simulation. Probabilities of the current fishing mortality rate for yellow and silver eels (F cur) being higher than F max ranged 15–20%, and being higher than F 0.1 ranged 58–66%. The probabilities of F cur being higher than F 40% and F 50% ranged 26–93% and 73–99%, respectively. The Japanese eel in the lower reaches of the Kao-Ping River appeared to be fully exploited in terms of YPR. This local stock is also subject to a high risk of recruitment overfishing because the contribution of the SPR of the local stock to the entire Japanese eel stock is possibly below a minimal acceptable level (40%). Estimates of F 0.1 and F max, and to a lesser extent those of F 40% and F 50%, were relatively robust, but estimates of the maximal YPR and SPR at F cur were highly sensitive to the uncertainty of the input parameters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose -- A literature review has revealed that a sales manager's transformational leadership has a positive impact on the job satisfaction of salespeople, while job satisfaction has significant influence on salespeople's work behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the transformational leadership of sales managers and the job satisfaction of salespeople. Design/methodology/approach -- The research was designed as a quantitative study, and the population was identified as salespeople in the consumer product industry in Taiwan, resulting in 123 individual surveys for analysis. Findings -- The findings supported the hypothesis that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between sales managers' transformational leadership and sales associates' job satisfaction. The result identified the predictors of sales managers' transformational leadership on the sales associates' job satisfaction through regression analysis. Originality/value -- The balanced scorecard (BSC) was originally intended to solve problems related to the historical nature of financial measures in accounting approaches. The purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to this literature by focusing on a major issue that has been less investigated, namely, the linking of the BSC perspective to the empirical investigation of leadership behaviors using statistical and technical tools and to predict employee satisfaction. The paper suggests applying Kaplan and Norton's BSC, which includes the perspectives of financial, customer, internal business, and innovation and learning measures to consider the effects of leadership behaviors on employee job satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a study which examined fishing and natural mortality rates for the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica in the Kaoping River, Taiwan. The study investigated both wild eels and cultured eels and used 1-phenoxyethanol to anesthetize the eels. It showed a difference in fishing and natural mortality rates between pectoral fin clipping and microchips in wild eels. It also revealed higher mortality rates of wild eels marked by pectoral fin clipping due to a size-related rate or behavioral changes.

The age of Japanese eels ( Anguilla japonica) is often estimated from otoliths, but this method has not been fully validated, particularly in tropical areas where the annulus in otolith is considered to be less distinct than in temperate areas. To validate the annuli in Japanese eel otoliths from southern Taiwan, known-age (2 year-old) cultured eels from an eel farm and wild eels from Kao-Ping River were collected. It was found that 26 out of 31 cultured eels (83.9%) showed two clear annuli and the remained 5 eels showed either one or three annuli. The mean (± SD) age of the cultured eels was 1.97 ± 0.4 years. Meanwhile, a clear peak in the mean monthly marginal increment ratio of the otolith in wild yellow and silver eels occurred once a year during winter (November to March). The annual deposition of presumed annuli in otoliths of Japanese eel was validated and the age and growth rate estimation for Japanese eels in the tropical southern Taiwan is deemed feasible. The growth rate of cultured eels was significantly faster than that of wild eels, but it did not differ significantly between sexes for wild silver, yellow or cultured eels. The von Bertalanffy Growth Function parameters ( K, $$L_\infty $$ and t 0 ) of the wild eels were estimated as 0.114 ± 0.028 year−1, 1178 ± 171 mm and −0.8 ± 0.2 years, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study of soil erosion in the reservoir watershed, the main source of reservoir sedimentation that affects the reservoir’s lifespan and capacity, is of vital importance for watershed management. Due mainly to the lack of data, empirical formulas are commonly used to estimate reservoir sedimentation. However, these estimations are far from accurate. Field measurements data of discharge and suspended sediment were collected during three typhoon events in Shihmen Reservoir watershed, Taiwan. Temporal variations of water surface elevation, discharge, and concentration of suspended sediment were measured. A numerical model, Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF), developed by the USEPA was adopted to simulate the sediment yield. However, as calibration and verification data are not always available and the parameter-calibration process is complicated and tedious for novice users of the model, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was proposed. Significant amount of the synthetic data from the calibrated HSPF model were first generated to train the ANN model, which in turn was used to estimate the sediment yield. Comparisons of the sediment yield using both the HSPF and ANN model give correlation coefficients of 0.96 for training and 0.93 for validation. Without the complicated parameter calibration process, the ANN model was faster and easier to use than the HSPF model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Taiwanofungus camphoratus is a parasitic mushroom found in the heartwood of Cinnamomum kanehirai and is used as a nutritional supplement. It has an anticancer action, both alone and synergistically with amphotericin B (AmB).Objective: The study intended to assess the efficacy of a T camphoratus ethanol extract (TCEE) combined with AmB for patients with metastatic cancer whose cancer did not respond to multiline chemotherapy or who were unwilling to receive chemotherapy.Design: The research team performed a retrospective analysis as a pilot study.Setting: The study took place at a single hospital (Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan).Participants: Participants were 9 patients at the hospital who were terminally ill with metastatic cancer.Interventions: The participants had received daily doses of 2-3 g of the TCEE in combination with a weekly dose of 20-25 mg of AmB in 500 cc of 5% glucose water, given intravenously in 4-6 h.Outcome Measures: Outcome measures included (1) a primary evaluation index measuring the efficacy of the treatment; (2) a measure of tumor burden that was estimated using the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST 1.1), (3) a secondary evaluation index measuring survival duration, and (4) safety.Results: The mean treatment time was 54.4 ± 18.3 wk. At the end of the study, 2 patients showed a continued complete response, 1 patient had a continued partial response, and 1 patient showed a stable disease. The other 5 participants had times to progression ranging from 24 to 48 wk, with a mean of 35.6 wk. The mean survival time was 57.8 ± 18.5 wk, and 5 patients were still alive at the end of the study.Conclusions: For patients whose metastatic cancer did not respond to multiline chemotherapy or who were unwilling to receive chemotherapy, the use of TCEE as an adjuvant therapy to AmB resulted in tumor suppression and a delay in time to disease progression. The preliminary results reported here can be used to guide a future, more extensive clinical study of the combination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight carbonaceous fractions from aerosols were resolved using the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) protocol (Chow et al., 1993). The aerosols were collected at the Mountain Lulin Atmospheric Background Station (Mt. Lulin, 2862 m a.s.l.) in Central Taiwan from April 2003 to April 2012. The monthly and yearly levels of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) varied consistently with PM2.5 mass concentrations during biomass burning (BB) period. The highest monthly carbonaceous content was observed in March and the highest yearly carbonaceous concentration was observed in 2007. This finding is consistent with the BB activity in Indochina and indicates that carbonaceous content is a major component of BB aerosols. Lee et al. (2011) classified four trajectory groups from the air masses transported to Mt. Lulin during the aerosol collection period. For the air masses transported from the BB area (the BB group) in Indochina, the carbonaceous content was greater than the water-soluble ions in PM2.5, and the OC/EC ratio (4.8 ± 1.5) was high. With EC as the indicator of primary emission sources, the air masses of the BB group were found to contain more primary than secondary OC. The Anthropogenic group (from the local and free troposphere below the 700-hPa pressure level over the Asian continent) probably contained more secondary than primary OC or the sources of OC and EC could be quite diverse. The average char-EC/soot-EC (low-temperature EC/high-temperature EC) ratios were 3.9 ± 3.5, 0.4 ± 0.4, 0.9 ± 0.8, and 0.3 ± 0.4 for the trajectory groups BB, SNBB (from BB source areas during the non-BB period), Anthropogenic, and FT (from the oceanic area and the free troposphere above the 700-hPa pressure level over the Asian continent), respectively. The presence of a high char-EC/soot-EC ratio confirmed the correct classification of the BB group, whereas the low ratios from the other groups indicated the strong influence of vehicle exhaust. It is noted that higher OC and EC levels were obtained at Mt. Lulin as compared with those obtained at other high-elevation sites. This difference suggested that the Indochina BB plume exhibited a more serious climatic impact on the background air in East Asia than in other places in Asia and Europe. On the basis of the carbonaceous levels of the SNBB and FT groups, the background OC and EC levels of approximately 3000 m in the West Pacific are around 1.33 μg m−3 and 0.35 μg m−3, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Landslides have both immediate and extended-duration effects on sediment discharge. Examining the role of post-failure soil loss/sediment yield of landslides is essential for basin management purposes. The comprehensive measurement of sediment production of existing landslides could provide a better understanding in this aspect. This study investigated the post-failure sediment yield of 13 landslide sites in the Shihmen reservoir watershed, Taiwan, during the rainy seasons of 2006 and 2007 using a total station. Our study showed that soil loss is mainly controlled by rainfall conditions, and the geometric and geographic characteristics of each landslide can significantly influence the efficiency of sediment delivery. We also observed that rainfall is important in determining landslide retrogression/enlargement, although vegetation in the landslide area increases with time. We obtained a large amount of landslide measurement data, which could be useful for future landslide modeling. We suggest two regression models for estimating gross soil loss using cumulative rainfall. The estimated gross soil loss values of 0.78 to 1.06myr−1 are equivalent to 18,096 to 24,592tha−1 yr−1. Using these estimates, we assessed the sources of sediment in the watershed, and found that the ratio of landslide erosion, soil loss after landsliding, and soil erosion from other parts of the watershed was approximately 66:31:3. This study implies that remedying existing landslides is more effective than any other solution in reducing sediment production in the watershed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ischemic stroke is featured with high incidence, mortality, and disability. The aim of this study is to use Global Burden of Disease database to describe and compare the burden of ischemic stroke in mainland China and Taiwan province and to further predict the expected changes in the next 11 years using statistical modeling methods. Information on ischemic stroke incidence and mortality in China (mainland and Taiwan province) during 1990-2019 was obtained from the Global Burden of Disease database to analyze the effects of region, gender, and age on the incidence and mortality of ischemic stroke in China. The autoregressive integrated moving average model was used to predict the age-standardized incidence rate and age-standardized mortality rate of ischemic stroke in males and females in mainland China and Taiwan province in the next 11 years. The period from 1990 to 2019 witnessed an overall upward trend in the number of incidence and deaths in mainland China and Taiwan province. In 2019, there were nearly 2.87 million ischemic incidence cases with stroke in mainland China, with more female patients than male in the age group of over 60 years. Among the nearly 1.03 million deaths, the death toll of men under the age of 85 years was higher than that of women, while in Taiwan province, the number of incidence was 28 771, with more female patients of all ages than male. Among the 6788 deaths, the death toll of men under the age of 80 years was higher than that of women. In 2019, the age group with the highest number of patients in the two regions was 65-69 years, while the highest number of deaths was found in people aged 85 years and above. As our autoregressive integrated moving average model predicted, the age-standardized incidence rate value of ischemic stroke is expected to be 163.23/100 000 persons in mainland China by 2030, which would continue to increase, while the age-standardized mortality rate value of ischemic stroke is expected to be 16.41/100 000 persons in Taiwan province by 2030, which showed a decreasing trend. Disease burden of ischemic stroke is still increasing in mainland China and Taiwan province, and health resources should be deployed to implement effective prevention and control strategies, taking into account region, gender, and age., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Food residuals (FR) were anaerobically biotransformed to produce biogases (e.g. methane and hydrogen), and different pre-treatment conditions, including particle size, oil content, pH and salt content, were controlled in this study. The bio-solids of a municipal solid waste (MSW) from a wastewater treatment plant were added to assess its effect on anaerobic transformation efficiency and gas yields., Results: The breaking of FR and the application of MSW were effective in enhancing the transformation efficiency and yield of biogases. The energy transfer efficiency value of the combined FRs used in this study was probably 23%. However, it can be very cost effective to apply arbitrary proportions to treat two types of FR in the anaerobic digestion tank of a wastewater treatment plant. It was also found that the alkalinity and pH value were two major parameters that controlled the success of the transformation. About 0.16-0.17 kg of alkalinity was needed during the anaerobic digestion of 1 kg dry FR, but this requirement was decreased by the treatment applying MSW. Olive oil had higher reducing rates when used as a substitute for heat-oxidized oil to study the effect of oil content on methylation., Conclusion: The conditions for anaerobic digestion established in this study were practical for the digestion of FR in wastewater treatment plants in Taiwan. However, we nonetheless found that it was cost effective to use arbitrary proportions for both types of FR and integrate the anaerobic digestion process used in wastewater treatment plants. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is an important pleiotropic hormone that exerts neuroprotective and neuroreparative effects after a brain injury. However, the roles of IGF-1 variants in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are not yet fully understood. This study attempted to elucidate the effects of IGF-1 variants on the risk and neuropsychiatric outcomes of mTBI., Methods: Based on 176 recruited mTBI patients and 1517 control subjects from the Taiwan Biobank project, we first compared the genotypic distributions of IGF-1 variants between the two groups. Then, we analyzed associations of IGF-1 variants with neuropsychiatric symptoms after mTBI, including anxiety, depression, dizziness, and sleep disturbances. Functional annotation of IGF-1 variants was also performed through bioinformatics databases., Results: The minor allele of rs7136446 was over-represented in mTBI patients compared to community-based control subjects. Patients carrying minor alleles of rs7136446 and rs972936 showed more dizziness and multiple neuropsychiatric symptoms after brain injury., Conclusions: IGF-1 variants were associated with the risk and neuropsychiatric symptoms of mTBI. The findings highlight the important role of IGF-1 in the susceptibility and clinical outcomes of mTBI.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the regulatory elements of a gene can alter gene expression, making these SNPs of prime importance for candidate gene association studies. We aimed to determine whether such regulatory variants are associated with clinical outcomes in three cohorts of patients with prostate cancer. We used RegulomeDB to identify potential regulatory variants based on in silico predictions and reviewed genome-wide experimental findings. Overall, 131 putative regulatory SNPs with the highest confidence score on predicted functionality were investigated in two independent localized prostate cancer cohorts totalling 458 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy. The statistically significant SNPs identified in these two cohorts were then tested in an additional cohort of 504 patients with advanced prostate cancer. We identified one regulatory SNPs, rs1646724, that are consistently associated with increased risk of recurrence in localized disease (P = .003) and mortality in patients with advanced prostate cancer (P = .032) after adjusting for known clinicopathological factors. Further investigation revealed that rs1646724 may affect expression of SLC35B4, which encodes a glycosyltransferase, and that down-regulation of SLC35B4 by transfecting short hairpin RNA in DU145 human prostate cancer cell suppressed proliferation, migration and invasion. Furthermore, we found increased SLC35B4 expression correlated with more aggressive forms of prostate cancer and poor patient prognosis. Our study provides robust evidence that regulatory genetic variants can affect clinical outcomes., (© 2018 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine.)

The prognostic implication of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) substages in Asian patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still obscure.The aim to this study is to compare the prognoses among HCC patients in different substages of the BCLC stage 0 and A.We enrolled 1265 treatment-naive HCC patients with BCLC stage 0 or A from 2007 to 2014. Factors in terms of prognoses were analyzed by multivariate analysis.There were 184, 446, 271, 92, and 272 patients in substage 0, A1, A2, A3, and A4, respectively. After a median follow-up period of 21.0 months, patients in stages 0 and A1 had comparable prognoses (P = 0.136). Both of them had significantly higher overall survival rates than those in stages A2-A4 (all P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the factors associated with mortality were serum albumin ≤3.5 g/dL (hazard ratio [HR] 1.459), alpha-fetoprotein >20 ng/mL (HR 1.863), tumor size >3 cm (HR 1.542), BCLC stage A2-A4 (HR 1.488), and treatment modality. Surgical resection had the highest overall survival rate followed by radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (HR 1.598), transarterial chemoembolization (HR 2.224), and other treatments (HR 3.707). Verus patients receiving RFA, those who underwent resection had a higher overall survival rate and lower recurrence rate especially in BCLC stages A2-A4.The BCLC-staging system provided good prognostic stratification for early-stage HCC. Patients with a single tumor >2 cm but without portal hypertension or jaundice had similar prognosis to those in BCLC stage 0. Curative therapies-especially hepatic resection-are suggested in early-stage HCC.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Most stroke patients are classified as having ischemic stroke. The causes of ischemic stroke are very diverse. Atherosclerosis resulting in cerebral or carotid arterial stenosis/occlusion plays the most important role in the occurrence of ischemic stroke. Inflammatory processes or immune responses are involved in the formation of atherosclerosis. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a member of the toll-like receptor (TLR) family. TLRs are pattern-recognition receptors, which initiate innate immune responses after interaction with pattern-specific ligands. A polymorphism of the TLR4 gene, Asp299Gly, is associated with an increased risk for coronary heart diseases in Caucasian populations. In this study, we explored the complete coding regions of TLR4 by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), and sequencing and found obvious ethnic differences. There was no Asp299Gly polymorphism among the ethnic Chinese examined in this study. We found only one polymorphism on intron 1 (A119C) among our samples. The allele frequencies of 119A were 0.0256 and 0.0022 among the patients and controls, respectively. The odds ratio of 119A of TLR4 in ischemic stroke was 11.71 (95% CI: 1.52-90.01). This polymorphism was significantly associated with ischemic stroke. These data possibly implicate TLR4 as an important genetic factor for stroke in ethnic Chinese populations despite the rarity of the Asp299Gly polymorphism.