Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bedtime routines for young children: a dose-dependent association with sleep outcomes.

BACKGROUND Establishment of a consistent bedtime routine (the activities that occur right before lights out) is often recommended as part of healthy sleep habits. However, no studies have investigated the dose-dependent association of a bedtime routine with sleep outcomes, especially in young children for whom they are particularly recommended. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the associations of a consistent bedtime routine with sleep outcomes in young children (ages 0 through 5 y) in a large global sample and assess whether there is a dose-dependent relationship between the frequency of a bedtime routine both concurrently and retrospectively with sleep outcomes. PARTICIPANTS Mothers of 10,085 children (Australia-New Zealand, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States) completed the Brief Infant/Child Sleep Questionnaire. RESULTS A consistent bedtime routine was associated with better sleep outcomes, including earlier bedtimes, shorter sleep onset latency, reduced night wakings, and increased sleep duration. Decreased parent-perceived sleep problems and daytime behavior problems were also related to institution of a regular bedtime routine. Furthermore, there was a dose-dependent relationship, with better outcomes associated with increased "doses" of having a bedtime routine, both currently and retrospectively, and was found within both predominantly Asian and predominantly Caucasian cultural regions. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that having a regular nightly bedtime routine is associated with improved sleep in young children, and suggests that the more consistently a bedtime routine is instituted and the younger started the better.
Arbitrary-sized image compression without padding

The performance of image compression is based on number of levels of wavelet transform and compression algorithm. Padding some extra pixels to the inappropriate-sized images can make them legible for many levels of conventional (or symmetric) wavelet transform. However, more pixels mean more cost in bit budget and also more computational time. The implementation of asymmetric wavelet decomposition and quadtree prediction scheme for arbitrary-size image are proposed in this paper. The main encoding algorithm used is Context Adaptive Wavelet Different Reduction (CAWDR) without list, which requires a small number of memory during the encoding process and has fast algorithm. The non-padding method yields comparable results to both the padding one and the other state-of-the-art coders in the literature.
Dynamic correlation between stock prices and exchange rates

This article examined the interaction between stock price and exchange rate and explored their dynamic correlation influenced by the stock market volatility. We used newly developed Smooth Transition Conditional Correlation–Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (STCC–GARCH) model and applied weekly data from Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand for the period 2000 to 2008 to test the dynamic correlation hypothesis. The empirical results indicated that there are significant price spillovers from stock market to foreign exchange market for Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan. Furthermore, the correlation between stock and foreign exchange markets becomes higher when stock market volatility increases in Asian emerging markets except in the Philippines. These results are important for international investors and managers to devise hedging and diversification strategies for their portfolios. The evidence suggests that investors can hedge risk between stock and foreign exchange in domestic markets when the stock market is stable. Otherwise, when the stock market becomes volatile, investors diversify their portfolio internationally for hedging risk since the correlation between stock and foreign exchange markets becomes higher.
Land Reform, Inequality, and Corruption: A Comparative Historical Study of Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines

This article presents some of the key arguments and findings of the author’s forthcoming book, Democracy, Inequality and Corruption: Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines Compared (Cambridge University Press). It explores how inequality increases corruption via electoral clientelism, bureaucratic patronage, and elite capture of policy process through a comparative historical analysis of South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines that shared similar conditions at the time of independence. It finds that success and failure of land reform, which was little affected by corruption but largely determined by exogenous factors such as external communist threats and U.S. pressures for reform, produced different levels of inequality, which in turn influenced subsequent levels of corruption through capture and clientelism. In the Philippines, failed land reform maintained high inequality and domination of the landed elite in both politics and economy, which led to persistent political clientelism, increasing patronage in bureaucracy, and policy capture by the powerful elite. In contrast, successful land reform in South Korea and Taiwan dissolved the landed class and produced egalitarian socioeconomic structure, which helped to maintain state autonomy, contain clientelism, promote meritocratic bureaucracy, and develop programmatic politics over time.
Harmony, Hierarchy and Conservatism: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Confucian Values in China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan

This study examined 1,631 college students’ endorsement of traditional Confucian values in four East Asian cultural contexts (i.e., China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan). Findings showed that young people endorsed values of interpersonal harmony the most, followed by the relational hierarchy and traditional conservatism respectively. Results also indicated that participants in China provided the highest ratings for interpersonal harmony and relational hierarchy among the four cultures. Finally, results demonstrated that Japanese females were more conservative than Japanese males and females in China and Taiwan. Results were discussed in the philosophical tradition of Confucianism, globalization and culture change in the East Asian cultures.
Anti-citrulline antibodies in psoriatic patients with and without arthritis.

Sir, Psoriatic arthritis (PSA) is a manifestation of psoriasis present in up to 20% of patients with psoriasis. Five variants have been described: asymmetrical acute oligoarthritis, distal interphalangeal joint arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis-like symmetrical polyarthritis (which is the commonest form), spondylitis and arthritis mutilans. In the absence of typical cutaneous or nail lesions, PSA is easily confused with other forms of arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, antibodies directed to a citrullinated cyclic peptide (anti-CCP) have been proposed as a specific marker for RA (1, 2). We addressed the question as to whether anti-CCP antibodies may help to distinguish PSA from RA.
Detection of DEHP in beverages sold in Canada using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Phthalates are a class of plasticizing chemicals used to improve the flexibility of soft plastics (1, 6, 12, 15). As such, they have drawn increased attention as food contact substances (1, 10, 14), mostly entering food items from packaging materials (1, 8, 10, 14). Even though they had been approved as indirect food additives in Europe and the U.S. (1), the discovery of high concentrations of di(2-ethyl-hexyl) phthalate (DEHP), also known as bis 2-ethylhexyl phthalate (BEHP) (12, 15), in a probiotic food product by a scientist from Taiwan in April 2011 initiated the world’s greatest health safety efforts (7). Investigators found that DEHP, along with other phthalates, were deliberately added to food products in replacement of the approved food additives, which would normally be added to emulsify the components in the drinks to achieve a natural and appealing appearance (7, 12, 15). This contamination event has been known as the 2011 Taiwan Food Scandal, where processed food items such as sports drinks, concentrated juice beverages, tea drinks, jam or jelly and food supplements were adulterated with phthalates, a harmful class of chemical compounds. Consequently, ingestion of these harmful compounds may result in adverse health affects such as endocrine disruption, malformation of reproductive organs, infertility and abnormal neurodevelopment (12). Many products made it across the border to 22 different countries (15, 17) including Canada and U.S. (17). Since then, the Taiwanese government made improvements to the food industry regulations (15, 17). This study was aimed to determine if DEHP was present, and compared to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) DEHP tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.05 mg/kg body weight (bw)/day (12, 17), in 30 different drinks of imported and domestic brands sold in Canada. For comparison purposes, the author completed calculations based on the average adult (over 18 years old) body weight of 70 kg, according to EFSA (41). Using liquid/liquid extraction followed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), 30 beverages were tested and analyzed for the presence of DEHP. Low concentrations of DEHP was detected in 3 of the beverages and none in the other 27 beverages tested on a calibrated instrument. The concentrations detected for the 3 beverages were lower than the TDI for a 70 kg body weight. Control samples were used to ensure method validity.
Microbiological characterization of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae belonging to the international epidemic clone ST258 in Asia: a systematic review

Klebsiella pneumoniae infection because of international epidemic clone ST258 constitutes a major health threat because of limiting efficient therapies. Hence, this study aimed to analyze the microbiological profiles of circulating of K. pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing K. pneumoniae belonging to ST258 clone in Asia. A systematic search was prepared and reported through searching the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar electronic databases to find all available articles that are pertinent to our design from January 2000 to December 2019. Afterward, 10 publications meeting the inclusion criteria were included for data extraction and analysis. The majority of included studies were from the eastern region including China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and only one report from the western region was reported in Turkey. The earliest report was in 2010 from Korea and the late one in 2017 from China. All of those studies that performed a carbapenemase detection method indicated positive results. Except for one isolate, which containing blaKPC–3, all of the isolates harbor blaKPC–2. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of colistin against ST258 isolates was estimated ranging from 0.094 to 4 μg/ml. The plasmid investigation showed a marked heterogeneity toward the studied isolates; however, IncFII type plasmids were the most prevalent plasmid. Our findings highlighted that despite the growing concern regarding the potential distribution of KPC-producing K. pneumoniae in Asia, strains belonged to the ST258 clone are not the main suspects. However, more clinical studies should be performed in the future to support our findings.
Comparative Analysis of Stock Prices, Abnormal Return, Cumulative Abnormal Return, and Trading Volume Activity in the Indonesia Stock Exchange: An Event Study of the Russia-Ukraine War

The Russia-Ukraine war has captured international attention and raised concerns about its potential implications on global financial markets. This study aimed to investigate the interplay between geopolitical events, market reactions within the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), and the market efficiency of the IDX. The study employed event study methodology and analyzed changes in stock prices, abnormal returns, cumulative abnormal returns, and trading volume activity. The sample comprised 53 companies in the energy sector and 57 companies in the food and beverage sector listed on the IDX. The analysis focused on data from 10 days before and after three Russia-Ukraine conflict-related events, namely (1) the announcement of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022, (2) the announcement of an oil import embargo on Russia by the European Union on the 31st of May 2022, and (3) the announcement of the first wheat export ship’s departure from the port of Odesa on the 1st of August 2022. Both paired sample t-tests and paired sample Wilcoxon signed rank tests were conducted to assess the statistical significance of differences in the means of paired samples. The findings revealed significant differences in average stock prices before and after all three events in the energy sector. However, only events 2 and 3 displayed significant differences in average abnormal returns and cumulative abnormal returns. Moreover, events 1 and 3 exhibited significant differences in average trading volume activity. In the food and beverage sector, a significant difference in average stock prices was observed before and after event 2, while all three events presented significant differences in average abnormal returns and cumulative abnormal returns. Furthermore, event 3 showed a significant difference in average trading volume activity. These findings indicated that the IDX displayed varying reactions to different Russia-Ukraine conflict-related events. Notably, events involving multiple countries or entities exerted a greater impact on the energy and food and beverage sectors within the IDX, leading to more pronounced market reactions. Additionally, the findings suggested that the IDX exhibited a semi-strong form of market efficiency.
The Impact of The Russia-Ukraine War on The Dynamics of The Asean-5 Stock Market

The capital market can be defined as activities related to public offerings, securities trading, public companies, institutions, and certain professions. One of the factors considered in stock investment is the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The Efficient Market Hypothesis is a financial theory that discusses how asset prices in the market already reflect all available information. This study employs an approach to detect market reaction and market efficiency based on the event of the world oil price decline due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on March 10, 2022, through excess or abnormal return, price impact, and fluctuation patterns observed using a multifractal model. The research results on the abnormal return of the ASEAN-5 stock index showed a significant negative reaction at t-5 and t-3 during the event of the world oil price decline due to the Ukraine and Russia war in 2022 and a significant positive reaction at t-0 during the event. The average abnormal return before and after the announcement of the world oil price decline due to the Ukraine and Russia war in 2022 showed a significant negative reaction, but there was no significant difference in price impact between before and after the event. The efficiency level of the stock index in ASEAN-5 did not show a significant difference after the announcement of the world oil price decline due to the Ukraine and Russia war in 2022.
The Role of Citrullinated Protein Antibodies in Predicting Erosive Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

Background. Autoantibodies to citrullinated peptides have been shown to be valuable in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The expanding repertoire of antibodies to citrullinated peptide antigens (ACPA) has been a topic of great interest in recent reviews and research studies, as has the ability of these autoantibodies to predict disease outcome. Objectives. The aim of this review was to provide an update on the relevance of ACPA as prognostic markers in RA. The ability to identify patients predisposed to an aggressive outcome at the time of initial diagnosis greatly facilitates the selection of appropriate and cost-effective treatment. Methods. A systematic review of the literature was carried out. Studies from 1967 up to June 2014 with data on prognostic value of ACPA were included. Quality assessment was done by using the modified Hayden list for prognostic studies. Meta-analysis was performed using BioStat software. Results. The results of 25 studies were selected for the final review. A total of 6421 patients with RA were included, mainly in inception cohorts, with follow-up duration ranging from one year to ten years. All studies carried prognostic data on all available isotypes of anticyclic citrullinated protein (CCP), while four had data on antimutated citrullinated vimentin (MCV). There was a single relevant study each on anticitrullinated enolase peptide 1 (CEP1) and antichimaeric fibrin/filaggrin citrullinated peptide 1 (CFFCP1). All studies showed ACPA to be strong predictors of joint erosions in RA. Other factors, particularly baseline erosions, showed an additive effect. Anti-MCV appeared to be a marker of a more aggressive form of disease. Ten studies had data on which a meta-analysis could be performed. This gave an overall odds ratio of 4.85 for ACPA (anti-CCP/MCV) positivity being predictive for the development of joint erosions. Two studies with data on anti-CEP1 and anti-CFFCP1 also showed this positive predictive role of ACPA for joint erosions. Conclusions. ACPA are strong predictors of severity in RA. Their use should be part of routine rheumatology practice.
Blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in the Asia Pacific region

Objectives To estimate age-, sex- and region-specific associations of blood pressure with cardiovascular diseases. Design Relative risk estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated from Cox models, stratified by sex and cohort, and adjusted for age at risk on individual participant data from 37 cohort studies. Repeat measurements of blood pressure were used to adjust for regression dilution bias. Setting Studies included in the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration from Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Participants A total of 425 325 study participants. Main outcomes measures Stroke, ischaemic heart disease, total cardiovascular death. Results During over 3 million person-years of follow-up, 5178 strokes, 3047 ischaemic heart disease events and 6899 cardiovascular deaths were observed. Continuous log-linear associations were seen between systolic blood pressure and the risks of all three endpoints down to at least 115 mmHg. In the age groups < 60, 60–69, and ⩾ 70 years, a 10 mmHg lower usual systolic blood pressure was associated with 54% (95% CI 53–56%), 36% (34–38%) and 25% (22–28%) lower stroke risk, and 46% (43–49%), 24% (21–28%) and 16% (13–20%) lower ischaemic heart disease risk, respectively. All associations were similar in men and women. Blood pressure was at least as strongly associated with cardiovascular events in Asian populations compared to Australasian populations. Conclusions About half of the world's cardiovascular burden is predicted to occur in the Asia Pacific region. Blood pressure is an important determinant of this burden, with considerable potential benefit of blood pressure lowering down to levels of at least 115 mmHg systolic blood pressure.
Risk of osteoporosis and pathologic fractures in cancer patients who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a nationwide retrospective cohort study

Background Long-term data on post-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) osteoporosis and fracture are limited. This study evaluated the long-term risk of osteoporosis and fracture in cancer patients who underwent HSCT. Results The incidence density rate of osteoporosis was 12.5 per 1000 person-years in the HSCT group, which was significantly higher than that in the non-HSCT group (5.65 per 1000 person-years) after adjustment for associated factors and consideration of competing risk factors (adjusted subhazard ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–2.07). The incidence density rate of fracture was 4.89 per 1000 person-years in the HSCT group, and the risk of fracture was 1.40 times higher in the HSCT group than in the non-HSCT group (95% confidence interval, 0.83–2.40). The vertebra was the most common site of fracture after HSCT (68.4%). The risk of osteoporosis and fracture significantly increased in post-HSCT patients with both hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Both autologous and allogeneic HSCTs increased the risk of osteoporosis, whereas only autologous HSCT recipients had an increased risk of fracture. Materials and Methods This nationwide retrospective cohort study analyzed data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. We identified an HSCT group comprising 1040 cancer patients who underwent HSCT during 2000–2008 and a non-HSCT group comprising 4160 propensity score-matched cancer patients who did not undergo HSCT. All patients were followed up until the occurrence of osteoporosis; fracture; December 31, 2011; or withdrawal from the insurance program. Conclusions HSCT recipients have an increased risk of osteoporosis.
A Phylogenetic Analysis of the Evolution of Wind Pollination in the Angiosperms

Wind pollination is predominantly a derived condition in angiosperms and is thought to evolve in response to ecological conditions that render animal pollination less advantageous. However, the specific ecological and evolutionary mechanisms responsible for transitions from animal to wind pollination are poorly understood in comparison with other major reproductive transitions in angiosperms, including the evolution of selfing from outcrossing and dioecy from hermaphroditism. To investigate correlations between wind pollination and a range of characters including habitat type, sexual system, floral display size, floral showiness, and ovule number, we used a large‐scale molecular phylogeny of the angiosperms and maximum likelihood methods to infer historical patterns of evolution. This approach enabled us to detect correlated evolution and the order of trait acquisition between pollination mode and each of nine characters. Log likelihood ratio tests supported a model of correlated evolution for wind pollination and habitat type, floral sexuality, sexual system, flower size, flower showiness, presence versus absence of nectar, and ovule number. In contrast, wind pollination and geographical distribution and number of flowers per inflorescence evolve independently. We found that in wind‐pollinated taxa, nectar is lost more often and ovule number is reduced to one. We also found that wind pollination evolves more frequently in lineages already possessing unisexual flowers and/or unisexual plants. An understanding of the ecological and life‐history context in which wind pollination originates is fundamental to further investigation of the microevolutionary forces causing transitions from animal to wind pollination.