Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Population-Based Cohort Study on the Association of Hyperthyroidism With the Risk of Hyperlipidemia and the Effects of Anti-thyroid Drugs on Hepatic Gene Expression

There have been no reports on the association of hyperthyroidism with hyperlipidemia in patients undergoing treatment especially in Asia. To determine the association between hyperthyroidism and the risk of hyperlipidemia in patients, we conducted a retrospective cohort study using Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) from Taiwan, R.O. C. We also evaluate the influence of 6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) and methimazole (MMI) on hepatic genes to explain changes in blood lipid levels in a hepatic cell line model. The cohort study involved 13,667 patients with hyperthyroidism, and the corresponding comparison cohort had four times as many patients. Using Kaplan-Meier analysis method, the results showed that, compared to patients without hyperthyroidism, the overall incidence of hyperlipidemia was significantly higher in the hyperthyroidism patients (18.7 vs. 11.8 cases/1,000 persons-years; adjusted HR 1.5; 95% CI, 1.41–1.59). With only PTU or MMI/carbimazole (CBM) treatment, patients with hyperthyroidism showed a 1.78-fold (95% CI, 1.50–2.11) and 1.43-fold (95% CI, 1.27–1.60) higher risk of hyperlipidemia than those without hyperthyroidism, respectively. Additionally, hyperthyroidism patients that received surgery only or surgery with I131 therapy tended to have a higher risk of hyperlipidemia. Although PTU and MMI treatment decreased the expression levels of genes responsible for circulating remnant lipoproteins, they increased the levels of lipogenic gene expression in hepatic cells. Thus, treatment of hyperthyroid patients with anti-thyroid drugs (ATDs), I131, or surgery is likely to induce hyperlipidemia. ATDs downregulate the expression of genes involved in lipoproteins clearance; increases lipogenic genes expression, which may partly contribute to abnormal blood lipid profiles.
Biodiversity assessment at landscape level

Biodiversity is dynamic in nature; species and their populations are in a constant state of evolutionary change. The changes, as well as human-induced modifications of biodiversity, must be thought against the background of its 3.5 billion years history. The discrepancy between field knowledge and predictions; the applicability of the model to continual situations, where ecosystem fragmentation and consequent area loss is the important consideration and various methods for predicting biodiversity distribution have been discussed here. The utility of landscape ecological principles for biodiversity characterization has been described. Use of satellite remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS) techniques for assessing the disturbed and biologically-rich sites by many researchers have been highlighted. Satellite-derived vegetation map and various landscape ecological parameters (viz., patch shape, patch size, number of patches, porosity, fragmentation, interspersion and juxtaposition) were analyzed by various authors to characterize various habitat ecosystems. The present approach of prioritizing the biodiversity rich sites has the advantage of integrating spatial and non-spatial information with horizontal relationships and thus provides clue for conservation prioritization. Under the behest of Department of Biotechnology and Department of Space, Government of India, landscape ecological approach is being used to characterize the biologically-rich areas in six regions of the country i.e., north-east India, western Himalaya, western Ghats, Andaman and Nicobar islands, eastern and central India. A case study for the state of Arunachal Pradesh has been discussed in detail. The potential applications of the database prepared as a result of the inventory have been described. This method of biodiversity characterization has the following advantages over the traditional method of inventory e.g. (i) has an ecological basis since many ecological components are considered (ii) all the components have precise positional (locational) representation on earth surface. In the days of pilferage of bioresources and in the backdrop of intellectual property right issues, a quick and effective geospatial technique for characterizing biodiversity at landscape level will go a long way in conservation and judicious management of bioresources.
Clinical features and treatment outcomes of endogenous Klebsiella endophthalmitis: a 12-year review.

AIM To identify the clinical features and treatment outcomes of endogenous Klebsiella pneumoniae endophthalmitis and investigate prognostic factors of poor visual outcome. METHODS The clinical records of all patients diagnosed with endogenous Klebsiella endophthalmitis between January 2007 to December 2018 in Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, China were retrospectively reviewed. Thorough ophthalmological examination findings were recorded in the case note, including visual acuity testing, slit-lamp examination, indirect ophthalmoscopy and B-scan ultrasonography if media opacity precluded fundus viewing. RESULTS A total of 18 eyes in 14 patients were identified. Bilateral involvement was noted in 4 patients (28.6%). Hepatobiliary sepsis was the source in 9 patients (64.3%). Culture of intraocular fluid was positive in 5 out of 18 eyes (27.8%). Mortality was noted in 2 patients (14.3%). Mean final visual acuity was 20/1500. Six out of 16 eyes had total loss of sight (37.5%) and 3 eyes required evisceration (18.8%). Multivariate linear regression revealed poor presenting visual acuity (P=0.031) and lack of fundus view due to vitritis (P=0.02) as prognostic factors of poor visual outcome. CONCLUSION Visual outcome of endogenous Klebsiella endophthalmitis is poor. Poor presenting visual acuity and lack of fundus view predict poor visual outcome. High index of suspicion for endophthalmitis is important in Klebsiella sepsis patients with complaints of ocular symptoms. Ophthalmological screening is recommended in non-communicable patients with Klebsiella sepsis.
Demographic change and increasing late singlehood in East Asia, 2010–2050

Background: Marriage is a central institution for social reproduction in East Asia. Until the 1970s and 1980s, marriage across much of East Asia was early and universal. In recent decades, though, this pattern has begun shifting to one of later and less marriage. Objective: We explore the long-term implications for universal marriage patterns of future demographic change in marriage markets in the context of prevailing marriage norms by projecting trends in late singlehood (ages 45 to 49) in four East Asian societies (China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan). Methods: We estimate forces of attraction to characterize marriage matching norms by age and education across these different societies by drawing on large-scale population data. Next, we develop counterfactual scenarios in which we apply contemporary norms to future population structures in these societies, as well as scenarios based on more gender-symmetrical matching norms to examine how populations who have never been married by ages 45 to 49 would evolve. Results: Our projections indicate that in the coming decades there will be a substantial increase in late singlehood across all these societies relative to their 2010 levels. These increases in singlehood are driven by forthcoming demographic changes in the marriage market that intensify the effects of prevailing matching norms. These increases are notable in Taiwan and South Korea, where recent data indicate generalized weak propensities to marry in current norms. While a shift toward greater gender symmetry in matching norms would reverse gender gaps between men and women in nonmarriage, it would have little impact on the overall projected proportions of singles by ages 45 to 49. Conclusions: If prevailing norms in each of these contexts continue, the universality of marriage will be substantially eroded in the coming decades, even if norms become more gender symmetrical. The extent to which nonmarital cohabitation and childbearing emerge in the future will determine how marriage will influence fertility trends, population growth, aging, and social reproduction. Contribution: For the first time, we project the implications for universal marriage of recent shifts in marriage norms and demographic change in East Asian countries.
Regulation, forecast errors and corporate governance: Evidence from Taiwan

This paper examines the relation between the regulatory threshold on mandatory disclosure of financial forecasts and the detachment of control rights from the cash flow rights of controlling shareholders. Using data for 2,628 forecasts issued by Taiwanese listed corporations, where the ownership structure is analogous to that of most East Asian countries, we find that the firms’ initial earnings forecasts tend to violate the regulatory threshold in the presence of the greater control divergence of controlling owners. Also, we find that firms with serious agency problems embedded in the ownership structures tend to manage forecast errors (FE) (for example, revising the forecasts and/or adjusting actual earnings) so as to meet the regulatory threshold as the end of the fiscal year approaches. Thus, our empirical evidence is consistent with the notion that weaker corporate governance is related to poor financial disclosure quality. A policy implication of these findings is that policymakers should take the ownership structure and financial practices into account before establishing a comprehensive set of rules and regulations for financial reporting. Key words: Mandatory financial forecasts, regulatory threshold, control divergence, ownership, control. INTRODUCTION In recent years, there has been a dramatic proliferation of research concerned with the quality of earnings disclo-sure (Ajinkya et al., 2005; Chin et al., 2007; Karamanou and Vafeas 2005). In East Asian nations, including Taiwan, information credibility and levels of disclosure are relatively lower than some Western countries (for example, U.S. and U.K.). In 1991, Taiwan’s regulators
A shorter post-exposure prophylaxis regimen for rabies, Pakistan

Abstract Objective To assess the cost and effectiveness of the two-site, 1-week, intradermal rabies post-exposure prophylaxis regimen recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018. Methods We compared the number of rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin ampoules consumed at The Indus Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan and their cost before and after implementing WHO’s 2018 recommendations. In 2017, patients with suspected rabies-infected bites were treated using the two-site, 4-week, Thai Red Cross regimen, which involved administering four rabies vaccine doses intradermally over 4 weeks and infiltrating immunoglobulin into serious wounds, with the remainder injected into a distant muscle. In 2018, patients received three vaccine doses intradermally over 1 week, with a calculated amount of immunoglobulin infiltrated into wounds only. Remaining immunoglobulin was saved for other patients. The survival of patients bitten by apparently rabid dogs was used as a surrogate for effectiveness. Findings Despite treating 8.5% more patients in 2018 (5370 patients) than 2017 (4948 patients), 140 fewer ampoules of rabies vaccine and 436 fewer ampoules of rabies immunoglobulin were used, at a cost saving of 4202 United States dollars. Of 56 patients bitten by apparently rabid dogs, 50 were alive at 6-month follow-up. The remaining six patients could not be contacted but did not present to any hospital with rabies. Conclusion The new regimen was more economical than the two-site, 4-week regimen and was equally effective. This regimen is recommended for preventing rabies in countries where the disease is endemic and rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin are in short supply.
Multicenter Study of Whole Breast Stiffness Imaging by Ultrasound Tomography (SoftVue) for Characterization of Breast Tissues and Masses

We evaluated whole breast stiffness imaging by SoftVue ultrasound tomography (UST), extracted from the bulk modulus, to volumetrically map differences in breast tissues and masses. A total 206 women with either palpable or mammographically/sonographically visible masses underwent UST scanning prior to biopsy as part of a prospective, HIPAA-compliant multicenter cohort study. The volumetric data sets comprised 298 masses (78 cancers, 105 fibroadenomas, 91 cysts and 24 other benign) in 239 breasts. All breast tissues were segmented into six categories, using sound speed to separate fat from fibroglandular tissues, and then subgrouped by stiffness into soft, intermediate and hard components. Ninety percent of women had mammographically dense breasts but only 11.2% of their total breast volume showed hard components while 69% of fibroglandular tissues were softer. All smaller masses (<1.5 cm) showed a greater percentage of hard components than their corresponding larger masses (p < 0.001). Cancers had significantly greater mean stiffness indices and lower mean homogeneity of stiffness than benign masses (p < 0.05). SoftVue stiffness imaging demonstrated small stiff masses, mainly due to cancers, amongst predominantly soft breast tissues. Quantitative stiffness mapping of the whole breast and underlying masses may have implications for screening of women with dense breasts, cancer risk evaluations, chemoprevention and treatment monitoring.
The Content of Contemporary, Mainstream Pornography: A Literature Review of Content Analytic Studies

Abstract This paper provides a narrative review of recent studies (2005–2020) into the content of contemporary, mainstream pornography. Sex acts, such as vaginal sex, fellatio, and external ejaculation are ubiquitous within mainstream pornography. Cunnilingus, solo masturbation, or masturbation of a partner are all also relatively common. Condom use is infrequently depicted. While extreme sexual violence (e.g., rape) is rare, acts which some would consider to be violent (e.g., spanking) are common. Women in pornography typically enthusiastically engage in all sexual requests. Findings around the degradation of women are mixed. On some measures, men in pornography are more agentic than women; on other measures, the reverse is true.
SFB 649 Discussion Paper 2011-003 Mean Volatility Regressions

Motivated by increment process modeling for two correlated random and non-random systems from a discrete-time asset pricing with both risk free asset and risky security, we propose a class of semiparametric regressions for a combination of a non-random and a random system. Unlike classical regressions, mean regression functions in the new model contain variance components and the model variables are related to latent variables, for which certain economic interpretation can be made. The motivating example explains why the GARCH-M of which the mean function contains a variance component cannot cover the newly proposed models. Further, we show that statistical inference for the increment process cannot be simply dealt with by a two-step procedure working separately on the two involved systems although the increment process is a weighted sum of the two systems. We further investigate the asymptotic behaviors of estimation by using sophisticated nonparametric smoothing. Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to examine finite-sample performance, and a real dataset published in Almanac of The research described here was supported by NBRP (973 Program 2007CB814901) of China, NNSF project (10771123) of China, RFDP (20070422034) of China and NSF project (ZR2010AZ001) of Shandong Province of China, and a grant from Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Support by CRC649 “Economic Risk”, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is gratefully acknowledged L. Lin School of Mathematics, Shandong University, Jinan, China E-mail: linlu@sdu.edu. cn F. Li Zhengzhou Institute of Aeronautical Industry Management, Zhengzhou, China E-mail: lifengsta@gmail.com L. Zhu Department of Mathematics, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China E-mail: lzhu@hkbu.edu. hk W. K. Härdle CASE-Center for Applied Statistics & Economics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany and CDA Centre Complex Data Analysis. National Central University, Taiwan. E-mail: haerdle@wiwi.hu-berlin.de
A comparison study of realtime fatality rates: severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Toronto and Beijing, China

Summary. In an outbreak of a completely new infectious disease like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), estimation of the fatality rate over the course of the epidemic is of clinical and epidemiological importance. In contrast with the constant case fatality rate, a new measure, termed the ‘realtime’ fatality rate, is proposed for monitoring the new emerging epidemic at a population level. A competing risk model implemented via a counting process is used to estimate the realtime fatality rate in an epidemic of SARS. It can capture and reflect the time‐varying nature of the fatality rate over the course of the outbreak in a timely and accurate manner. More importantly, it can provide information on the efficacy of a certain treatment and management policy for the disease. The method has been applied to the SARS data from the regions affected, namely Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, Taiwan and Beijing. The magnitudes and patterns of the estimated fatalities are virtually the same except in Beijing, which has a lower rate. It is speculated that the effect is linked to the different treatment protocols that were used. The standard estimate of the case fatality rate that was used by the World Health Organization has been shown to be unable to provide useful information to monitor the time‐varying fatalities that are caused by the epidemic.
Silicosis-Associated Tuberculosis: Management and Control

Silica-associated diseases, including tuberculosis and other related diseases, such as COPD, lung cancer, autoimmune diseases, renal diseases, etc. remain an important public health concern in the 21th century. Silica exposures and silicosis increase the risk of active tuberculosis development by approximately 30-40 times, compared to populations without silica exposure. Workers with periods of silica exposure longer than 10 years should be provided tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis. Although evidences of silicosis are not detected, the risk of active tuberculosis can increase. However, further studies are urgently needed to identify the best chemoprophylaxis regimen for tuberculosis.
Machine Learning Prediction Models for Chronic Kidney Disease Using National Health Insurance Claim Data in Taiwan

Background and Objective: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) represent a heavy burden on the healthcare system because of the increasing number of patients, high risk of progression to end-stage renal disease, and poor prognosis of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to develop a machine-learning model that uses the comorbidity and medication data, obtained from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, to forecast whether an individual will develop CKD within the next 6 or 12 months, and thus forecast the prevalence in the population. Methods: A total of 18,000 people with CKD and 72,000 people without CKD diagnosis along with the past two years of medication and comorbidity data matched by propensity score were used to build a predicting model. A series of approaches were tested, including Convoluted Neural Networks (CNN). 5-fold cross-validation was used to assess the performance metrics of the algorithms. Results: Both for the 6 month and 12-month models, the CNN approach performed best, with the AUROC of 0.957 and 0.954, respectively. The most prominent features in the tree-based models were identified, including diabetes mellitus, age, gout, and medications such as sulfonamides, angiotensins which had an impact on the progression of CKD. Conclusions: The model proposed in this study can be a useful tool for the policy-makers helping them in predicting the trends of CKD in the population in the next 6 to 12 months. Information provided by this model can allow closely monitoring the people with risk, early detection of CKD, better allocation of resources, and patient-centric management.
A New Host Record for Tritetrabdella taiwana (Hirudinida: Arhynchobdellida: Haemadipsidae) from the Asian Painted Frog Kaloula pulchra (Anura: Microhylidae) in Hong Kong, China, with a Taxonomic Note on T. taiwana

ABSTRACT: Two individuals of Tritetrabdella taiwana that attached to a microhylid Asian painted frog, Kaloula pulchra, were collected in Hong Kong, China. This finding represents a new microhylid host record for T. taiwana. Additionally, molecular phylogenetic analyses were conducted based on COI sequence data. The present phylogenies indicated that further taxonomic studies are needed to clarify the taxonomic status of the species of Tritetrabdella.
In the Eyes of the Beholder: Analyzing Social Media Use of Neutral and Controversial Terms for COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, "Chinese Virus" emerged as a controversial term for coronavirus. To some, it may seem like a neutral term referring to the physical origin of the virus. To many others, however, the term is in fact attaching ethnicity to the virus. While both arguments appear reasonable, quantitative analysis of the term's real-world usage is lacking to shed light on the issues behind the controversy. In this paper, we attempt to fill this gap. To model the substantive difference of tweets with controversial terms and those with non-controversial terms, we apply topic modeling and LIWC-based sentiment analysis. To test whether "Chinese Virus" and "COVID-19" are interchangeable, we formulate it as a classification task, mask out these terms, and classify them using the state-of-the-art transformer models. Our experiments consistently show that the term "Chinese Virus" is associated with different substantive topics and sentiment compared with "COVID-19" and that the two terms are easily distinguishable by looking at their context.
Surface plasmon resonance sensors for real-time detection of cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies

ABSTRACT Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors have been used for detection of various biomolecules because of their simplicity, high specificity and sensitivity, real-time detection, low cost, and no requirement of labeling. Recently, molecularly imprinted polymers that are easy to prepare, less expensive, stable, have talent for molecular recognition and also are used for creation selective binding sites for target molecule on the SPR sensors. Here, we show that preparation of cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP) imprinted SPR sensor to detect CCP antibodies. For this purpose, anti-CCP/AAm pre-complex was synthesized by interacting acrylamide (AAm) monomer with anti-CCP. Then, anti-CCP imprinted (anti-CCP/PAAm) SPR sensor was obtained by reacting with anti-CCP/AAm pre-complex in the presence of the crosslinker, and initiator/activator pair. Besides this, non-imprinted (PAAm) SPR sensor was also prepared without using anti-CCP template. The SPR sensors were characterized and then adsorption-desorption studies were performed with pH 7.0 phosphate buffer (10 mM) and acetic acid (10%) with Tween 20 (1%) in pH 7.0 phosphate buffer. Selectivitiy of sensors was investigated by using immunoglobulin M (IgM) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). To determine the adsorption model of interactions between anti-CCP solutions and anti-CCP/PAAm SPR sensor, different adsorption models were performed. The calculated maximum reflection, detection limit, association and dissociation constants were 1.079 RU/mL, 0.177 RU/mL, 0.589 RU/mL and 1.697 mL/RU, respectively. Repeatability experiments of anti-CCP/PAAm SPR sensor was performed four times with adsorption-desorption-regeneration cycles without any performance losing. Results showed that anti-CCP/PAAm SPR sensor had high selectivity and sensitivity for detection of CCP antibodies.