Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influenza-related hospitalizations among children in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND It has been difficult to define the burden of influenza in children because of confounding by the cocirculation of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). In Hong Kong, China, the influenza and RSV infection seasons sometimes do not overlap, thus providing an opportunity to estimate the rate of influenza-related hospitalization in a defined population, free from the effects of RSV. METHODS In a retrospective, population-based study, we estimated the influenza-associated excess rate of hospitalization among children 15 years old or younger in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from 1997 to 1999. Data from a single hospital with intensive use of virologic analyses for diagnosis were obtained to define and adjust for underestimation of the model. RESULTS Peaks of influenza and RSV infection activity were well separated in 1998 and 1999 but overlapped in 1997. The adjusted rates of excess hospitalization for acute respiratory disease that were attributable to influenza were 278.5 and 288.2 per 10,000 children less than 1 year of age in 1998 and 1999, respectively; 218.4 and 209.3 per 10,000 children 1 to less than 2 years of age; 125.6 and 77.3 per 10,000 children 2 to less than 5 years of age; 57.3 and 20.9 per 10,000 children 5 to less than 10 years of age; and 16.4 and 8.1 per 10,000 children 10 to 15 years of age. CONCLUSIONS In the subtropics, influenza is an important cause of hospitalization among children, with rates exceeding those reported for temperate regions.
A General Cryptanalysis of Permutation-Only Multimedia Encryption Algorithms

Secrete permutations are widely used in multimedia encryption algorithms, and many permutation-only ciphers have been proposed in recent years for protection of different types of multimedia data, especially digital images and videos. Based on a normalized encryption/decryption model, this paper analyzes the security of permutation-only image ciphers working in spatial domain from a general perspective, taking a recentlyproposed permutation-only image cipher called HCIE (hierarchical chaotic image encryption) as a typical example. It is pointed out that all permutation-only image ciphers are insecure against known/chosen-plaintext attacks in the sense that only O (logL(MN)) known/chosen plain-images are enough to break the ciphers, where MN is the size of the image andL is the number of different pixel values. Also, it is found that the attack complexity is only O(n · (MN)), where n is the number of known/chosen plain-images used. Following the results, it is found that hierarchical permutation-only image ciphers such as HCIE are less secure than normal (i.e., non-hierarchical) permutationonly image ciphers. Experiments are shown to verify the feasibility of the known/chosen-plaintext attacks. The cryptanalysis result is then generalized to permutation-only image ciphers working in frequency domain and video ciphers. In conclusion, secret permutations have to be combined with other encryption techniques to design highly secure multimedia encryption sysThis research was partially supported by the AIIS Inc., NY, USA, the Applied R&D Centers of the City University of Hong Kong (under grants no. 9410011 and no. 9620004), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (under grant no. 60202002). Shujun Li and Guanrong Chen are with the Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. E-mails: hooklee@mail.com, eegchen@cityu.edu. hk. Chengqing Li is with the Department of Mathematics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, China. E-mail: swiftsheep@hotmail.com. Dan Zhang is with the College of Computer Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, China. Nikolaos G. Bourbakis is with the Information Technology Research Institute, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Wright State University, 3640 Glenn Hwy, Dayton, OH 45435, USA. tems. This paper provides for the first time theoretically and experimentally clarification of such a security principle on the design of multimedia encryption algorithms.
Cantonese verbal information verification system using GMM-based anti-model

Verbal information verification (VIV) is one of the approaches for speaker authentication. It is a process in which the spoken utterance of a claimed speaker is verified against the key information in a speaker's registered profile. VIV in English has been extensively studied and there has also been some work on Mandarin VIV. In the paper, we study the VIV for users who speak Cantonese, the most commonly used dialect in Southern China and Hong Kong. We propose a new technique for anti-modeling. It uses context independent Gaussian mixture model (GMM) instead of the conventional hidden Markov model (HMM). Experiments on 50 Cantonese native speakers show that the proposed method provides better separation of verification scores of claimant utterances from that of imposter utterances than the HMM based method. An equal error rate of 0.00% is attained with robust interval up to 15%, which manifests an excellent performance.
Genotypic Diversity and Population Structure of Vibrio vulnificus Strains Isolated in Taiwan and Korea as Determined by Multilocus Sequence Typing

The genetic diversity and population structure of Vibrio vulnificus isolates from Korea and Taiwan were investigated using PCR-based assays targeting putative virulence-related genes and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). BOX-PCR genomic fingerprinting identified 52 unique genotypes in 84 environmental and clinical V. vulnificus isolates. The majority (> 50%) of strains had pathogenic genotypes for all loci tested; moreover, many environmental strains had pathogenic genotypes. Although significant (p < 0.05) inter-relationships among the genotypes were observed, the association between genotype and strain source (environmental or clinical) was not significant, indicating that genotypic characteristics alone are not sufficient to predict the isolation source or the virulence of a given V. vulnificus strain and vice versa. MLST revealed 23–35 allelic types per locus analyzed, resulting in a total of 44 unique sequence types (STs). Two major monophyletic groups (lineages A and B) corresponding to the two known lineages of V. vulnificus were observed; lineage A had six STs that were exclusively environmental, whereas lineage B had STs from both environmental and clinical sources. Pathogenic and nonpathogenic genotypes predominated in MLST lineages B and A, respectively. In addition, V. vulnificus was shown to be in linkage disequilibrium (p < 0.05), although two different recombination tests (PHI and Sawyer’s tests) detected significant evidence of recombination. Tajima’s D test also indicated that V. vulnificus might be comprised of recently sub-divided lineages. These results suggested that the two lineages revealed by MLST correspond to two distinct ecotypes of V. vulnificus.
Asian Power and Politics: The Cultural Dimensions of Authority.

Preface 1. Asia and Theories of Development 2. The Evolution of Asian Concepts of Power 3. East Asia: Varieties of Confucian Authority 4. Southeast Asia: From God-Kings to the Power of Personal Connections 5. The South Asian Subcontinent: Hindu and Muslim Power and the Rewards of Narcissism 6. The Riddle of Japan: The Combining of Competition and Consensus 7. China: The Illusion of Omnipotence 8. Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam: Forms of Aggressive Confucianism 9. Malaysia: Confrontation of Two Incompatible Cultures 10. Islamic Power: The Pulls of Reformism and Fundamentalism 11. The Substance of Asian Power: Formal Structures and Informal Relations 12. Paternalistic Authority and the Triumph of Dependency Notes Index
Somatic comparisons at four ages of South Korean females and females of other Asian groups

Somatic data were collected during April 1997 on 156 females ages 6, 9, 13, and 15 years, residing in urban Pusan, South Korea, and on 158 age peers residing in rural regions surrounding the city. Comparisons were made between urban and rural groups for measures of body size and form, skinfold thicknesses, the body mass index (BMI), and estimated arm muscle area (ARM). Age at menarche was retrospectively reported by the 13‐ and 15‐year‐olds. The data were analyzed in 2 (urban‐rural) × 3 (age) analyses of variance with an alpha level of P < 0.05. Age differences were evident for all dimensions. A significant main effect for urban–rural differences was found for stature, lower limb height, upper limb height, shoulder width, hip width, triceps skinfold, ARM, skelic index, and the trunk width index. Regardless of age, urban children were larger than rural children. Similar means were obtained for the BMI in urban and rural girls. Age at menarche was consistent with recent results; however, the rural sample (12.4 years) was significantly earlier than the urban sample (13.1 years). Compared with data collected four decades ago, present‐day 6‐, 9‐, 13‐, and 15‐year‐old females are taller and heavier at every age, indicating secular gains. Pusan females are similar in stature to age peers in Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong, and taller than the Chinese. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 11:735–744, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Young Australian adults' reactions to viewing personalised UV photoaged photographs.

BACKGROUND Despite two nationwide sun-protection awareness campaigns, young Australian adults continue to sunbathe. Since their primary motivation for tanning is appearance enhancement, it may well be that campaigns that highlight the negative effects of tanning on appearance are more effective than campaigns that emphasise the health risks associated with sun exposure. AIMS This study aims to explore young adults' reactions to viewing a photoaged photograph of the sun damage already visible in their facial image. METHOD Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven females and three males aged 20-30 years. The interview transcripts were transcribed verbatim and were then subjected to Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). RESULTS Three themes and eight sub-themes emerged from the analysis. Collectively they revealed that participants' fear-based reaction to their photoaged photographs triggered in them feelings of unattractiveness, which in turn motivated them to change to their existing sun-tanning behaviours. CONCLUSION Although media-popularised representations of suntanned skin being the desired norm were identified as a barrier to skin-protective behavioural change, personalised ultraviolet (UV) photoaged photographs, when accompanied by an explanation of the skin damage that unprotected ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure causes, were effective in changing young adults' sun-tanning intentions. Hence, a need exists for positive non-tanning appearance-related messages to be incorporated into sun exposure education campaigns.
Synergistic interaction between aflatoxin B1 and hepatitis B virus in hepatocarcinogenesis

Abstract: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and dietary exposure to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), two of the major risk factors in the multifactorial aetiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), co‐exist in those countries with the highest incidences of and the youngest patients with this tumour, raising the possibility of a synergistic carcinogenic interaction between the two agents. Experimental studies in HBV‐transgenic mice and woodchucks infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus were the first to show a synergistic hepatocarcinogenic effect between hepadnaviral infection and AFB1 exposure. With the availability of urinary and serum biomarkers that more accurately reflect dietary exposure to AFB1 than did the initially used food sampling and dietary questionnaires, cohort studies of patients with HCC in China and Taiwan have provided compelling evidence for a multiplicative or sub‐multiplicative interaction between HBV and AFB1 in the genesis of human HCC. A number of possible mechanisms for the interaction have been suggested. Chronic HBV infection may induce the cytochrome P450s that metabolise inactive AFB1 to the mutagenic AFB1‐8,9‐epoxide. Hepatocyte necrosis and regeneration and the generation of oxygen and nitrogen reactive species resulting from chronic HBV infection increase the likelihood of the AFB1‐induced p53 249ser and other mutations and the subsequent clonal expansion of cells containing these mutations. Nuclear excision repair, which is normally responsible for removing AFB1–DNA adducts, is inhibited by HBV×protein, favouring the persistence of existing mutations. This protein also increases the overall frequency of DNA mutations, including the p53 249ser mutation, and may contribute to uncontrolled cell cycling when p53 is non‐functional.
Octanoyl-Homoserine Lactone Is the Cognate Signal for Burkholderia mallei BmaR1-BmaI1 Quorum Sensing

ABSTRACT Acyl-homoserine lactones (HSLs) serve as quorum-sensing signals for many Proteobacteria. Members of the LuxI family of signal generators catalyze the production of acyl-HSLs, which bind to a cognate receptor in the LuxR family of transcription factors. The obligate animal pathogen Burkholderia mallei produces several acyl-HSLs, and the B. mallei genome has four luxR and two luxI homologs, each of which has been established as a virulence factor. To begin to delineate the relevant acyl-HSL signals for B. mallei LuxR homologs, we analyzed the BmaR1-BmaI1 system. A comparison of acyl-HSL profiles from B. mallei ATCC 23344 and a B. mallei bmaI1 mutant indicates that octanoyl-HSL synthesis is BmaI1 dependent. Furthermore, octanoyl-HSL is the predominant acyl-HSL produced by BmaI1 in recombinant Escherichia coli. The synthesis of soluble BmaR1 in recombinant E. coli requires octanoyl-HSL or decanoyl-HSL. Insoluble aggregates of BmaR1 are produced in the presence of other acyl-HSLs and in the absence of acyl-HSLs. The bmaI1 promoter is activated by BmaR1 and octanoyl-HSL, and a 20-bp inverted repeat in the bmaI1 promoter is required for bmaI1 activation. Purified BmaR1 binds to this promoter region. These findings implicate octanoyl-HSL as the signal for BmaR1-BmaI1 quorum sensing and show that octanoyl-HSL and BmaR1 activate bmaI1 transcription.
Evaluation of anti-CCP antibody for diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND Rheumatoid arthritis is a common, world wide, systemic disease that affects mainly joints. Rheumatoid factor is the only marker to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis; however these antibodies are present in other disorders and even in up to 15% of the healthy population. Many auto antibodies have been reported to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis e.g. APF and AKA, etc. but they are not specific and due to tedious laboratory procedure, they have not been generally adopted. Anti-CCP antibodies have been reported for their high sensitivity and specificity. This study was planed to determine the prevalence of anti-CCP antibodies and RA factor in clinically diagnosed patients of rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS Anti-CCP antibody was determined by ELISA technique and RA-factor was done by latex agglutination method. RESULTS Forty five patients, 36 female and 9 male, were recruited for this study. Twenty-five (55.6%) patents were positive for anti-CCP antibodies while 20 patients were negative for anti-CCP antibodies and comparison between anti-CCP positive and anti-CCP negative was statistically significant (p = < 0.01). Thirty-one (68%) patients were seropositive (SPRA) for RA while 14 (31%) patients were seronegative (SNRA). Among SPRA patients, 18 were positive for anti-CCP antibody and among 14 SNRA patients, 7 patients had anti-CCP antibody and the difference between these two groups was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Anti-CCP antibody and RA-factor should be used concomitantly to diagnose RA.
Prevention of venous thromboembolism.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major health problem, with at least 201,000 first-lifetime cases per year in the United state^. ^,^' Of these patients, 25% die within 7 days of VTE onset, and for 20% death is so rapid that there is insufficient time for inter~ention. ~~ Thus, for a substantial percentage of patients, the initial clinical presentation of VTE (e.g., pulmonary embolism [PE]) is ”sudden death. ” Even for those patients surviving at least 1 week, however, observed survival after either deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or PE is significantly less than expected (Fig. 1). Moreover, after controlling for other comorbid diseases, survival after PE is significantly reduced for up to 3 months compared with survival after DVT al0ne.2~ Thus, VTE is a cause of death that is independent of other frequently present diseases (e.g., cancer, trauma, or paresis). Prevention of VTE is essential to improve survival. Despite improved prophylaxis regimen^,'^ however, the incidence of VTE has been relatively constant at about 1 per 1000 since 1979 (Fig. 2). 50 The failure to reduce the incidence of VTE may be caused by several factors, including an increased number of persons at risk, failure to recognize persons at risk, and failure to modify risk factors or provide prophylaxis. *, This article outlines the risk factors for VTE among hospitalized patients, reviews the efficacy and safety of alternative prophylaxis regimens, and provides recommendations regarding the most suitable prophylaxis regimens based on the estimated risk. The primary goal of VTE prophylaxis is to prevent fatal PE. It is important to appreciate the relationship between
Long memory in stock returns: some international evidence

Recent empirical studies suggest that long horizon stock returns are forecastable. While this phenomenon is usually attributed to time varying expected returns, or speculative fads, it may also be due to long memory in the returns series. Long range dependence is investigated using parametric and semiparametric estimators in a sample of nine international stock index returns. The results provide evidence of long memory in the German, Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese markets.
Recommend Guideline on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in China in 2020

Abstract In China, a pilot project for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of the HIV was initiated in 2001. For the PMTCT of HIV, the Chinese government has released versions of the guidelines since 2004. In 2014, the World Health Organization released guidance on global processes and criteria for the validation of elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. To promote the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B virus in China, the Chinese government updated the Guideline for PMTCT of HIV, Syphilis, and Hepatitis B in 2020 (briefly as Guideline-2020). The Guideline-2020 comprises 5 parts: goals, interventions, support measures, duties and cooperation of departments, and definition indicators for PMTCT of HIV and corresponding calculation formulas. Compared with the previous versions, the key points updated in the Guideline-2020 are that the goals are set again, and health education and promotion, the procedure of HIV testing for pregnant women, and the antiretroviral therapy regimen for HIV-positive pregnant women and antiretroviral) prophylaxis regimen for infants are all updated. The antiretroviral prophylaxis regimen as zidovudine-lamivudine-nevirapine/lopinavir/ritonavir twice per day for 6 weeks is recommended for infants at high exposure risk to HIV, whereas the third antiretroviral therapy regimen as tenofovir-lamivudine-lopinavir/ritonavir is recommended for HIV-positive pregnant women, and indicators for PMTCT of HIV and corresponding calculation formulas are defined.
The Evolution of Pro-Kremlin Propaganda From a Machine Learning and Linguistics Perspective

In the Russo-Ukrainian war, propaganda is produced by Russian state-run news outlets for both international and domestic audiences. Its content and form evolve and change with time as the war continues. This constitutes a challenge to content moderation tools based on machine learning when the data used for training and the current news start to differ significantly. In this follow-up study, we evaluate our previous BERT and SVM models that classify Pro-Kremlin propaganda from a Pro-Western stance, trained on the data from news articles and telegram posts at the start of 2022, on the new 2023 subset. We examine both classifiers’ errors and perform a comparative analysis of these subsets to investigate which changes in narratives provoke drops in performance.
The future of technology: Lessons from China

ABSTRACT As the competition between the US and China heats up in the realm of technology, the US media has been increasingly portraying it as a simplistic battle between democracy and authoritarianism. This article, however, argues that the reality is that people everywhere—including in China and the United States—are all living in an increasingly digital world where surveillance has become ubiquitous, and accountability for human rights abuses more challenging. It presents five solutions which the United States needs to take to address these challenges, and make for a more fair and equitable future.
Fertilizer response on the growth and biomass of a common timber species of Arunachal Pradesh, Terminalia myriocarpa (hollock) seedlings.

Inorganic Fertilizer application is known to augment the fertility of soils depleted of nutrients due to various reasons. An experiment to study the response of N, P and K fertilizers on the growth and biomass yield of Terminalia myriocarpa (Hollock) seedlings, which is a common timber species of Arunachal Pradesh was conducted in greanhouse conditions. It is seen that applications of 336 kg/ha of nitrogen, 336 kg/ha of phosphorus and 112 kg/ha of potash increases the growth (height and diameter) and also biomass production (fresh weight and dry weight). This dosage is recommended for application in fields with similar soil conditions as in the experimental soil types.
Fertility Intentions under the Shock Conditions: the Case of Russian Exodus

The paper is devoted to the fertility intentions of the migrants from Russia belonging to the recent wave of so called ‘Exodus’ caused by Russia’s invasion in Ukraine in 2022 and its social impact on Russian society. The authors use the disruption hypothesis and predict the drop in the fertility intentions of new-wave Russian migrants in comparison with the old-wave Russian migrants and stayers, matching and controlling for their socio-economic status. Although the new-wave migrants are in the active reproductive age, partnered and in many cases childless, the authors find a strong intention to the fertility postponement and even cancellation among them. The research is based on two on-line surveys organized in April – October 2023 via online social media and by the snowball method. The first survey provided authors with empirical data on old-wave and new-wave migrants, the second one – on stayers, who have close socio-economic characteristics to the migrants. As a result not only the lower birth intentions of the new-wave migrants was observed, but the positive effect on fertility intentions of the subjective income and willingness to stay in the host country. Especially it is obvious for the countries beyond the EU (mainly for post-Soviet and the Balkan ones). On the other hand for the countries of EU (welfare states) the fertility intentions are the highest.