•The present study addresses sources of error affecting the validity of mobile-based dietary assessments in a free-living setting.•A two-stage data modification process that included manual data ...cleaning and reanalyzing of prepackaged foods improved the accuracy of an image-assisted mobile nutrition app.•Stage 1 errors were commonly observed and associated with wrong food code selections, portion size estimates, misreporting, and missing condiments.•Stage 2 errors related to the mobile nutrition app were associated with prepackaged and restaurant/street foods that only provide limited micronutrient information.•Reanalyzing food codes with missing nutrients substantially improved the accuracy of micronutrient intake levels and enhanced correlations between the app and 24-h dietary recall.•Results highlight the importance of addressing errors in mobile-based dietary assessments and continually updating and expanding prepackaged food databases with full nutrient information.
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Mobile nutrition applications (apps) provide a simple way for individuals to record their diet, but the validity and inherent errors need to be carefully evaluated. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and clarify the sources of measurement errors of image-assisted mobile nutrition apps.
This was a cross-sectional study with 98 students recruited from School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University. A 3-d nutrient intake record by Formosa Food and Nutrient Recording App (FoodApp) was compared with a 24-h dietary recall (24-HDR). A two-stage data modification process, manual data cleaning, and reanalyzing of prepackaged foods were employed to address inherent errors. Nutrient intake levels obtained by the two methods were compared with the recommended daily intake (DRI), Taiwan. Paired t test, Spearman's correlation coefficients, and Bland–Altman plots were used to assess agreement between the FoodApp and 24-HDR.
Manual data cleaning identified 166 food coding errors (12%; stage 1), and 426 food codes with missing micronutrients (32%) were reanalyzed (stage 2). Positive linear trends were observed for total energy and micronutrient intake (all Ptrend < 0.05) after the two stages of data modification, but not for dietary fat, carbohydrates, or vitamin D. There were no statistical differences in mean energy and macronutrient intake between the FoodApp and 24-HDR, and this agreement was confirmed by Bland–Altman plots. Spearman's correlation analyses showed strong to moderate correlations (r = 0.834 ∼ 0.386) between the two methods. Participants’ nutrient intake tended to be lower than the DRI, but no differences in proportions of adequacy/inadequacy for DRI values were observed between the two methods.
Mitigating errors significantly improved the accuracy of the Formosa FoodApp, indicating its validity and reliability as a self-reporting mobile-based dietary assessment tool. Dietitians and health professionals should be mindful of potential errors associated with self-reporting nutrition apps, and manual data cleaning is vital to obtain reliable nutrient intake data.
This letter proposes an interleaved hybrid control for parallel three‐level (TL) LLC converters in battery charging applications. The duty cycle and the switching frequency are used to adjust the ...voltage gain; the phase shift control is adopted to realize voltage sharing of the divided capacitors. A virtual equivalent frequency‐gain control is adopted to coordinate multiple control variables. And the current ripples are reduced for the interleaved structure. Based on the performance analysis, an upper optimizer is proposed to update the upper limit frequency and interleaving arrangement in real time. Accordingly, it achieves a wide range of output voltage, and it further improves the system efficiency under light load and low output voltage conditions. A prototype is presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Dengue is endemic in over 100 countries and is an important public health problem worldwide. Dengue fever is not endemic in Taiwan; the importation of dengue viruses from neighboring countries via ...close commercial links and air travel is considered to be the cause of local outbreaks. Therefore, efforts toward disease control have focused on preventing the importation of dengue into Taiwan. In this study, we investigated the relationships between the numbers of imported and indigenous dengue cases to test the validity of this strategy.
Data on cases of dengue fever that occurred between 2013 and 2018 were obtained from the surveillance systems of the Taiwan Center for Disease Control and Kaohsiung City Health Department. Standard epidemiological data, including the monthly numbers of indigenous and imported cases of dengue, were calculated. Potential associations between the numbers of indigenous and imported cases were investigated using correlation analyses.
We identified a possible relationship between the period of disease concealment and the number of imported dengue cases, which resulted in epidemics of indigenous dengue fever within local communities. Further analysis of confirmed cases during previous epidemics in Kaohsiung City found that the risk of indigenous dengue fever may be related to the likelihood that patients with imported dengue fever will stay within local communities.
Given the correlations found between imported and indigenous cases of dengue fever, as well as the relationship between the disease concealment period and the risk of indigenous dengue fever, prevention of disease importation and efficient identification of dengue cases within high-risk communities remain the major priorities for disease control.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC), as a strategy to dissipate heat through an atmospheric transparency window (ATW) to outer space without any extra energy consumption, has been recently ...considered as a novel approach for global net-zero emissions. However, limited to expensive manufacturing, poor thermal/chemical stability, or insufficient weather-resistance, the development of a PDRC building material for long-term outdoor usages still remains a challenge. Here, a scalable superhydrophobic silica metafibers (sh-SMF) was fabricated via an electrospinning process combined with the fluorosilane-modification on fiber surface. The optically engineered sh-SMF could attain an extremely high average reflectivity (∼97 %) with near-zero absorption in the solar spectral region, due to the multiple backscattering at the fiber/air interfaces. In addition, the sh-SMF possessed a high average emissivity (∼90 %) in ATW, originated from the strong phonon resonances of the abundant Si-O bonds. Thus, the optimal sh-SMF realized a sub-ambient cooling performance of 6 °C (4 °C in nighttime) and the maximum cooling power of 112 W/m2 (87 W/m2 in nighttime) under a solar irradiance of ∼790 W/m2. Besides, the temperature decline for the sh-SMF-covered building and vehicle models could also achieve 12.7 °C and 17 °C under sunlight, respectively. Noteworthily, the ceramic sh-SMF could withstand high temperatures over 1200 °C, which might effectively prolong the time for resident to evacuate from buildings in fireground situation. Moreover, the superhydrophobic surface (contact angle=155°) of sh-SMF demonstrated attractive self-cleaning and anti-mildew properties. Furthermore, the excellent weather resistance against acid rain and ultraviolet exposure endowed the sh-SMF with long-term cooling performance. Finally, the sh-SMF with above mentioned properties opens a path for future energy-efficient and sustainable architectural applications.
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•Superhydrophobic silica metafibers (sh-SMFs), fabricated through electrospinning, serving as a scalable, flexible, and flame- and weather-resistant ceramic PDRC emitter.•The optimal sh-SMFs operated with a near-zero value of Psun (<3 W/m2), and a high value of Pcooling (112 W/m2) during the daytime, resulting from high solar reflectivity (97 %) and thermal emissivity (90 %).•Maximum temperature decreases of sh-SMF–covered building and vehicle models of 12.7 and 17 °C, respectively, under sunlight.•The sh-SMFs could withstand high temperatures (>1200 °C), making them especially suitable as a building material that could effectively prolong the time available for residents to evacuate buildings in the event of fire.•The sh-SMFs display excellent self-cleaning, anti-mildew, and anti-acid abilities, combined with great UV-resistance, resulting in great weather-resistance for long-term outdoor applications.
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and tuberculosis (TB) relapse using the nationwide TB registry in Taiwan. We conducted a case-control study ...nested within a nationwide cohort of all incident cases of pulmonary TB that were notified during 2006-2007 and had completed anti-TB treatment. The relapse of TB was confirmed by bacteriological or pathological findings. For each relapse case, one control was selected from the study cohort matching by time since treatment completion. DM status was ascertained by medical chart review and cross-matching with the National Health Insurance claims database. A total of 305 cases of relapse were identified after a median follow-up of 3 years (relapse rate: 488 per 100,000 person-year; 95% confidence interval (CI): 434-546). Presence of DM during previous anti-TB treatment was 34.0% and 22.7% in cases and controls, respectively. After adjusting for other potential confounders, DM was associated with increased risk of TB relapse (adjusted odds ratio: 1.96, 95% CI: 1.22-3.15). Only one-third of the DM-TB patients in our study received glycaemic monitoring using HbA1c during anti-TB treatment. Presence of DM was independently associated with risk of TB relapse. TB programs should seriously consider rigorous glucose control in DM-TB patients.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The treatment outcomes of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients in the 1990s in Taiwan was not satisfactory. To strengthen programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis (PMDT), ...Taiwan MDR-TB Consortium (TMTC) was established in 2007. We assess the performance and epidemiologic impact of TMTC.
We analyzed the trends of proportion of TB cases with drug susceptibility testing, enrollment of MDR-TB patients into TMTC and outcomes of treatment of all MDR-TB patients in Taiwan from 2007-2016. We computed the trends of both incidence and prevalence of MDR-TB from 2007-2016. We assessed the trends of MDR-TB among both new and recurrent TB cases. The proportion of TB cases with drug susceptibility testing results increased from 24.2% in 2007 to 97.9% in 2016. Of the 1,452 MDR-TB patients who were eligible for TMTC care, 1,197 (82.4%) were enrolled in TMTC, in whom 82.9% had treatment success. MDR-TB incidence was 9.0 cases per million in 2007, which declined to 4.6 cases per million in 2016 (p<0.0001). MDR-TB prevalence decreased from 19.4 cases per million in 2007 to 8.4 cases per million in 2016 (p<0.0001). The proportion of MDR-TB among new TB cases decreased from 1.4% in 2010 to 1.0% in 2016 (p = 0.039); and that among recurrent TB cases from 9.0% in 2010 to 1.8% in 2016 (p<0.0001).
We concluded that effective PMDT have had a significant impact on the epidemic of drug-resistant TB in Taiwan.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Cisplatin (cis-Dichlorodiammine platinum, CP), as the first-line chemotherapy drug of choice for many cancers such as urogenital system tumors and digestive tract tumors, also causes toxicity and ...side effects to the kidney. Previous studies have shown that Pulsatilla chinensis has significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, but the mechanism of cisplatin induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in vivo has not been thoroughly studied. The purpose of this study is to investigate the protective effect of pulchinenoside B4 (PB4), a representative and major component with a content of up to 10% in root of P. chinensis, on AKI induced by CP in mice. Our results indicated the significant protective effect of PB4 by evaluating renal function indicators, inflammatory factor levels and renal histopathological changes. In addition, PB4 may mainly act on NF-κB signaling pathway to reduce the levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the kidney after CP exposure, thus exerting anti-inflammatory activity. Furthermore, PB4 regulated MAPK signaling pathway and its downstream apoptotic factors to inhibit the occurrence of apoptosis, such as Bax, Bcl-2, caspase 3 and caspase 9. Notably, the activations of caspase 3 induced by cisplatin were strikingly reduced in PB4-treated mice. Therefore, the above evidence suggested that PB4 is a potential renal protectant with significant anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects.
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•PB4 alleviated renal function damage induced by CP in AKI mice.•PB4 blocked the NF-κB signaling pathway and reduced the inflammatory level in mice.•PB4 inhibited the MAPK signaling pathway and improved the level of apoptosis.
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•Argininyl-fructosyl-glucose (AFG), a unique compound from red ginseng, exerted significant neuroprotective and anti-aging properties.•AFG alleviated the senescence and oxidative ...stress on D-galactose induced cell injury via inhibiting PERK signaling pathway in N2a cells.•AFG reduced intracellular Ca2+ concentration, mitigates cell apoptosis, and enhanced mitochondrial function in N2a cells.
Argininyl-fructosyl-glucose (AFG), a distinctive non-saponin compound isolated from red ginseng (Panax ginseng. C.A. Meyer), demonstrates neuroprotective effects. However, the molecular mechanism underlying AFG's anti-aging properties remains unclear. This study established an in vitro D-galactose-induced N2a cells subacute aging model to investigate AFG's anti-aging activity and potential mechanisms. Results indicated that AFG treatment (8 μM) significantly reduces the overexpression of aging-related proteins (p53/p21/p16) induced by D-galactose, highlighting its anti-aging efficacy. AFG concurrently diminishes ROS accumulation, lowering extracellular lactate dehydrogenase and alleviating intracellular oxidative stress. Notably, AFG suppresses the PERK/CHOP/caspase 12 pathway, reducing intracellular Ca2+ concentration and mitigating endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Additionally, AFG decreases Bax and caspase 3 expression, elevates Bcl-2 and mitochondrial membrane potential, mitigating apoptosis. NAC with 4-PBA validated the results. Overall, AFG protects N2a cells from aging by reducing ER stress and apoptosis, suggesting its potential as a key substance for treating aging and neurodegenerative diseases.
To describe the epidemiology and outcome of the first 100 COVID-19 cases in Taiwan.
We included the first 100 patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in Taiwan. Demographic, clinical, ...epidemiological and laboratory data were extracted from outbreak investigation reports and medical records.
Illness onset of the 100 patients was during January 11 to March 16, 2020. Twenty-nine (29%) had at least one underlying condition and ten (10%) were asymptomatic. Seventy-one were imported, including four clusters. Twenty-nine were locally-acquired, including four clusters. The median days from onset to report was longer in locally-acquired cases (10 vs 3 days). Three patients died (case fatality rate 3%) and all of them had underlying conditions. As of May 13, 2020, 93 had been discharged in stable condition; the median hospital stay was 30 days (range, 10–79 days).
The first 100 cases of COVID-19 in Taiwan showed the persistent threat of imported cases from different countries. Even though sporadic locally-acquired disease has been identified, through contact investigation, isolation, quarantine and implementation of social distancing measures, the epidemic is contained to a manageable level with minimal local transmission.
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