Abstract
We use machine-learning techniques to classify galaxy merger stages, which can unveil physical processes that drive the star formation and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activities during ...galaxy interaction. The sample contains 4690 galaxies from the integral field spectroscopy survey SDSS-IV MaNGA and can be separated into 1060 merging galaxies and 3630 nonmerging or unclassified galaxies. For the merger sample, there are 468, 125, 293, and 174 galaxies (1) in the incoming pair phase, (2) in the first pericentric passage phase, (3) approaching or just passing the apocenter, and (4) in the final coalescence phase or post-mergers. With the information of projected separation, line-of-sight velocity difference, Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
gri
images, and MaNGA H
α
velocity map, we are able to classify the mergers and their stages with good precision, which is the most important score to identify interacting galaxies. For the two-phase classification (binary; nonmerger and merger), the performance can be high (precision > 0.90) with
LGBMClassifier
. We find that sample size can be increased by rotation, so the five-phase classification (nonmerger, and merger stages 1, 2, 3, and 4) can also be good (precision > 0.85). The most important features come from SDSS
gri
images. The contribution from the MaNGA H
α
velocity map, projected separation, and line-of-sight velocity difference can further improve the performance by 0%–20%. In other words, the image and the velocity information are sufficient to capture important features of galaxy interactions, and our results can apply to all the MaNGA data, as well as future all-sky surveys.
Association between endometriosis and ovarian cancer has been well established. Nonetheless, endometriosis may also be associated with endometrial cancer because of shared etiological mechanisms of ...both estrogen stimulation and chronic inflammation; however, the association between these 2 disorders has rarely been investigated.
The National Health Insurance Research Databases in Taiwan were retrieved and analyzed. The case cohort consisted of patients with a diagnosis of endometriosis between January 1997 and December 2000 (N = 15,488). For the construction of control cohort, 8 age- and sex-matched control patients for every patient in the case cohort were selected using a random sampling method (n = 123,904). All subjects were tracked for 10 years from the date of entry to identify whether they had developed endometrial cancer. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to evaluate 10-year event occurrence of endometrial cancer.
During the 10-year follow-up period, 392 participants developed endometrial cancer, with 104 (0.7%) distributed in the case cohort and 288 (0.2%) in the control cohort. Multivariable Cox regression modeling demonstrates a higher risk for developing endometrial cancer in the case cohort than in the control cohort (adjusted hazard ratio aHR, 2.83; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.495.35; P < 0.01). Age at diagnosis of endometriosis shows a moderator effect: when 40 years or younger, the risk for developing endometrial cancer was comparable between the case cohort and the control cohort (aHR, 1.42; 95% CI, 0.55-3.70; P = 0.226), whereas when older than 40 years, the risk for developing endometrial cancer was higher in the former group than in the latter group (aHR, 7.08; 95% CI, 2.33-21.55; P = 0.007).
Patients diagnosed with endometriosis may harbor an increased risk for developing endometrial cancer in their later life. Closer monitoring is advised for this patient population.
Sleep apnea (SA) is a common sleep disorder characterized by chronic intermittent hypoxia (IH). Chronic IH induces systemic inflammatory processes, which can cause tissue damage and contribute to ...prostatic enlargement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and SA in a Taiwanese population.
The study population was identified from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and contained 202 SA patients and 1010 control patients. The study cohort consisted of men aged ≥ 30 years who were newly diagnosed with SA between January 1997 and December 2005. Each patient was monitored for 5 years from the index date for the development of BPH. A Cox regression analysis was used to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs) for BPH in the SA and control patients.
During the 5-year follow-up, 18 SA patients (8.9%) and 32 non-SA control patients (3.2%) developed BPH. The adjusted HR for BPH was 2.35-fold higher in the patients with SA than in the control patients (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.28-4.29, P<.01). We further divided the SA patients into 4 age groups. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the highest adjusted HR for BPH in the SA patients compared with the control patients was 5.59 (95% CI = 2.19-14.31, P<.001) in the patients aged between 51 and 65 years.
Our study results indicate that patients with SA are associated with increased longitudinal risk of BPH development, and that the effects of SA on BPH development are age-dependent.
Background
Cognitive reserve (CR) involves an individual’s ability to maintain cognitive vitality over their lifespan. Glucocerebrosidase (
GBA
) gene mutations contribute to additional effects on ...cognitive function in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, but the interplay between
GBA
mutations and CR remains unclear. We investigated the interactions among CR,
GBA
, and diseases, aiming to examine whether the CR established at different stages interacts with specific genotypes to affect cognitive function.
Methods
Three hundred and eighteen participants’ CR indicators (i.e., education, occupation, and social function) and comprehensive neuropsychological function (i.e., tests for executive function, attention/working memory, visuospatial function, memory, and language) were evaluated.
Results
We found that CR established in a specific life stage influences the individual's cognitive function, particularly in PD, based on their distinct
GBA
rs9628662 genotypes. Attention/working memory and memory performance are affected by occupational complexity in midlife in PD patients with the GG genotype (
q
< 0.0001;
q
< 0.0001) and healthy adults with the T genotype (
q
= 0.0440;
q
< 0.0001). Language is influenced by early education and occupation, and the effects of occupation are also observed in PD patients with the GG genotype (
q
= 0.0040) and in healthy adults carrying the T genotype (
q
= 0.0040).
Conclusions
CR, established at different life stages, can be influenced by the
GBA
rs9628662 genotype, impacting later-life cognition. Validating genotypes and incorporating genotype information when assessing cognitive reserve effects is crucial and can enhance targeted cognitive training.
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammation of the sacroiliac joints, spine and peripheral joints. The aetiology of ankylosing spondylitis is still unclear. Previous studies have indicated ...that genetics factors such as human leukocyte antigen HLA-B27 associates to AS susceptibility. We carried out a case-control study to determine whether the genetic polymorphisms of ORAI1 gene, a major component of store-operated calcium channels that involved the regulation of immune system, is a susceptibility factor to AS in a Taiwanese population. We enrolled 361 AS patients fulfilled the modified New York criteria and 379 controls from community. Five tagging single nucleotides polymorphisms (tSNPs) at ORAI1 were selected from the data of Han Chinese population in HapMap project. Clinical statuses of AS were assessed by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Global Index (BAS-G). Our results indicated that subjects carrying the minor allele homozygote (CC) of the promoter SNP rs12313273 or TT homozygote of the SNP rs7135617 had an increased risk of HLA-B27 positive AS. The minor allele C of 3'UTR SNP rs712853 exerted a protective effect to HLA-B27 positive AS. Furthermore, the rs12313273/rs7135617 pairwise allele analysis found that C-G (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.27, 2.25; p = 0.0003) and T-T (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.36, 2.27; p<0.0001) haplotypes had a significantly association with the risk of HLA-B27-positive AS in comparison with the T-G carriers. This is the first study that indicate haplotypes of ORAI1 (rs12313273 and rs7135617) are associated with the risk of HLA-B27 positive AS.
Most studies consider that COVID-19 lockdowns lead to mental health problems for females, while the effect of role change on female mental health has been overlooked. This study aimed to explore ...multiple facets of the risk of mental distress in a sample of Chinese married females aged 21-50 during the COVID-19 lockdowns. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 613 valid responses from married females in the Guangdong province. Our primary tool was a questionnaire using a Kessler-10 scale to detect the probability of mental distress based on the level of nervousness, tiredness, restlessness, and depression. Eighty-eight point three percent of married females possessed a high risk of psychological distress because they frequently felt tired out, hopeless, and restless. The evidence suggests that the lockdown has caused a conflict in the female role to maintain a balance between family and career. Increasing family care responsibilities are positively associated with nervousness, tiredness, and mental disorder. The heterogeneity of the social role in mental wellbeing is explored. Married females whose income was worse off during the lockdown are negatively associated with mental wellbeing. Married females who are employed are found to be less mentally healthy than the self-employed.
Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) is being developed as the next generation magnetic recording technology. Critical components of this technology, such as plasmonic near-field transducer (NFT) ...and high anisotropy granular FePt media, as well as the performance and reliability of fully integrated drives have been reported. This paper will focus on the progress and challenges of HAMR media, including microstructure and thermal design as well as the testing and characterization at high field and high temperature. Due to the importance of the Curie temperature distribution, σT C , for HAMR, we present a newly developed temperature-dependent complex ac susceptibility method to extract σT C for HAMR media. Such novel magnetic characterization methods have been used in combination with other high field magnetic metrology and spin-stand recording to provide feedback for continuous improvements of HAMR media. Together with NFT and write head design, the thermal design, σT C , and microstructure of the media are key factors to reduce the transition jitter below 2 nm as demonstrated in a previously reported 1 Tb/in 2 HAMR demonstration. Here, we report the further improvements by significantly enabling higher linear density (>2500 kfci) HAMR and steady progress in areal density to 1.402 Tb/in 2 .
Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) is being developed as the next generation magnetic recording technology. Critical components of this technology, such as the plasmonic near-field transducer ...and high anisotropy granular FePt media, as well as recording demonstrations and fully integrated drives have been reported. One of the remaining ongoing challenges of magnetic recording in general and HAMR in particular has been the demonstration of high linear density recording, approaching the grain-size (GS) limit of the recording media, and a clear pathway to smaller GSs while maintaining good magnetic properties and distributions. This paper will demonstrate the extensibility of FePt-based media down to the 5 nm center-to-center range. A linear recording density of 3000 kilobits per inch (kbpi), or a bit length of 8.5 nm, approaching the GS limit of this media, has been demonstrated on recording media with a slightly larger GS of 7 nm center-to-center, and using an HAMR head with high thermal gradient >10 K/nm. Key parameters of the media include the microstructure, the thermal design and magnetic properties, most importantly the tradeoff between achievable GS, media moment-thickness product, Mrt, and the distributions of the magnetic switching field and the Curie temperature. Further optimizing the composition, growth, and architecture of the media stack to achieve all the prerequisite magnetic and thermal properties for high signal-to-noise ratios in the smallest demonstrated GS media allows linear recording densities of up to 4000 kbpi, and areal densities in the 3-4 tera-bits-per-square-inch range can be extrapolated based on geometrical scaling.
Bronchial asthma (BA), atopic dermatitis (AD), and allergic rhinitis (AR) are common allergic diseases. Environmental factors were indicated to influence the development of allergic diseases.
To ...evaluate the correlation between the month of birth and the prevalence of allergic diseases in Taiwan.
Data from 104,455 children were collected from the National Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. Subjects were identified by at least two service claims for ambulatory care or one claim for inpatient care. All of the enrolled patients were aged 7∼15 years in 2010. In a bio-clinical data analysis, total immunoglobulin E (IgE) and ImmunoCAP™ allergen data (CAP) from mothers and infants were collected in a medical center in Taiwan. Correlations between children's allergic factors and the season of birth were assessed.
A significant difference in the prevalence of BA according to the month of birth (Χ(2) = 18.2, p<0.001) was found in the Taiwanese population. The fewest schoolchildren with were born in May (7.21%), and the most were born in October (10.59%). However, no tendency for the prevalence of AD (Χ(2) = 4.6, P = 0.204) or AR (Χ(2) = 4.3 P = 0.229) was found. In addition, we found that children born in autumn (August to October) had a higher prevalence of BA compared to those born in spring (February to April) (odds ratio: 1.13; 95% confidence interval: 1.05∼1.21). In a bio-clinical data study, markers of maternal and childhood allergies including IgE and CAP were detected in a risk analysis section. Children who were born in autumn had higher levels of CAP and total IgE.
The findings of this study showed that the month of birth was closely correlated with the prevalence of BA and higher levels of CAP and IgE.
Calcium nephrolithiasis is one of the most common causes of renal stones. While the prevalence of this disease has increased steadily over the last 3 decades, its pathogenesis is still unclear. ...Previous studies have indicated that a genetic polymorphism (rs17251221) in the calcium-sensing receptor gene (CASR) is associated with the total serum calcium levels. In this study, we collected DNA samples from 480 Taiwanese subjects (189 calcium nephrolithiasis patients and 291 controls) for genotyping the CASR gene. Our results indicated no significant association between the CASR polymorphism (rs17251221) and the susceptibility of calcium nephrolithiasis. However, we found a significant association between rs17251221 and stone multiplicity. The risk of stone multiplicity was higher in patients with the GG+GA genotype than in those with the AA genotype (chi-square test: P = 0.008; odds ratio = 4.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.44-15.92; Yates' correction for chi-square test: P = 0.013). In conclusion, our results provide evidence supporting the genetic effects of CASR on the pathogenesis of calcium nephrolithiasis.
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