Serological response to avian influenza viruses among occupationally exposed population in Taiwan, a longitudinal cohort study, 2021-2023.

The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (TCDC) initiated longitudinal sero-epidemiological surveillance of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) targeting poultry workers exposed on affected farms since 2021. Convalescent-phase serum samples were collected from these workers 21-28 days post-outbreak identification. TCDC recontacted participants in subsequent years for repeat serological sampling.

Strategies for supplying face masks to the population of Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The use of face masks has become ubiquitous in Taiwan during the early COVID-19 pandemic. A name-based rationing system was established to enable the population of Taiwan to purchase face masks. This study is to assess the extent and fairness of face mask supply to the public in Taiwan.

Predictive modeling of blood pressure during hemodialysis: a comparison of linear model, random forest, support vector regression, XGBoost, LASSO regression and ensemble method.

Background: Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is commonly occurred and links to higher mortality among patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). Its early prediction and prevention will dramatically improve the quality of life. However, predicting the occurrence of IDH clinically is not simple.

Taiwan's Annual Seasonal Influenza Mass Vaccination Program-Lessons for Pandemic Planning.

Rapid medical countermeasure (MCM) dispensing is an important intervention during a public health emergency. In the United States, MCM planning and exercising efforts have largely focused on dispensing therapeutics, with less emphasis on mass vaccination operations that would require additional specialized staff and infrastructure. Difficulties in distributing vaccines during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic highlighted the need for enhanced planning and exercising of plans for conducting mass vaccination campaigns.

Stockpile Model of Personal Protective Equipment in Taiwan.

The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) has established a 3-tier personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpiling framework that could maintain a minimum stockpile for the surge demand of PPE in the early stage of a pandemic. However, PPE stockpiling efforts must contend with increasing storage fees and expiration problems. In 2011, the Taiwan CDC initiated a stockpile replacement model in order to optimize the PPE stockpiling efficiency, ensure a minimum stockpile, use the government's limited funds more effectively, and achieve the goal of sustainable management.

Influences of Flap Shape and Hinge Angle on Opaque Bubble Layer Formation in Femtosecond Laser-Assisted LASIK Surgery.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of different flap shapes and hinge angles on opaque bubble layer (OBL) formation using a femtosecond laser for flap creation in LASIK surgery.

Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 138 eyes of 73 patients who underwent femtosecond laser-assisted LASIK with a 150-kHz IntraLase femtosecond laser (Abbott Medical Optics, Inc., Santa Ana, CA) for myopic astigmatism and compared differences between different flap shapes and hinge angles on OBL formation.

The Associations Between Helicobacter pylori Infection, Serum Vitamin D, and Metabolic Syndrome: A Community-Based Study.

The associations between Helicobacter pylori infection, serum vitamin D level, and metabolic syndrome (MS) are controversial. The present community-based study aimed to investigate the effect of H pylori infection and serum vitamin D deficiency on MS development.Individuals from the northeastern region of Taiwan were enrolled in a community-based study from March, 2014 to August, 2015.

Helicobacter pylori Infection Increases Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Syndrome in Residents Younger than 50 Years Old: A Community-Based Study.

This study aimed to analyze the influence of H. pylori infection on insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome (MS) by multivariate analysis of a community-based cohort study. From January 2013 to February 2014,811 subjects were enrolled in a community-based cohort study from the northeastern region of Taiwan.

Determinants of influenza vaccination among young Taiwanese children.

Objective: According to the Health Belief Model (HBM), individual perceptions of susceptibility, severity, benefit, barrier, self-efficacy, and cues to action are associated with health actions. In this study, we investigated the perceptions and social factors that influence the intention to vaccinate children against influenza among parents of young Taiwanese children.

Methods: A nationwide survey was performed using stratified random sampling to explore the beliefs, attitudes, and intentions of parents/main caregivers with regard to vaccinating children aged 6 months to 3 years against influenza.

Safety of inactivated monovalent pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccination during pregnancy: a population-based study in Taiwan.

Background: Pregnant women were prioritized for H1N1 vaccination during the 2009-2010 pandemic. Safety concerns exist with vaccinating pregnant women, particularly in their first trimesters.

Methods: We linked computerized data on H1N1 vaccination, National Health Insurance, and Taiwan Birth Registry and identified events of spontaneous abortions (SABs) and all singleton births that occurred/delivered during November 1, 2009-September 30, 2010.

MAVTgsa: an R package for gene set (enrichment) analysis.

Gene set analysis methods aim to determine whether an a priori defined set of genes shows statistically significant difference in expression on either categorical or continuous outcomes. Although many methods for gene set analysis have been proposed, a systematic analysis tool for identification of different types of gene set significance modules has not been developed previously. This work presents an R package, called MAVTgsa, which includes three different methods for integrated gene set enrichment analysis.

Safety of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccines in taiwan: a self-controlled case series study.

In Taiwan, new H1N1 monovalent vaccines without adjuvant and with MF59® adjuvant were used in the nationwide vaccination campaign beginning on November 1, 2009. From November 2009 through February 2010, the authors identified recipients of H1N1 vaccines who were diagnosed with adverse events of special interest (AESIs) in a large-linked safety database, and used the self-controlled case series (SCCS) method to examine the risk of each AESI in the 0-42 days after H1N1 vaccination. Of the 3.

Effectiveness of the influenza vaccination program for the elderly in Taiwan.

Background And Objectives: Since 1998, an influenza vaccination program has been implemented by the Taiwan government targeting people aged ≥65 years. However, the evidence of the effectiveness of this program in preventing influenza, which is based on the nation-wide database, is lacking. This study attempted to estimate the effectiveness of the influenza vaccination program in preventing influenza- and pneumonia-associated outpatient visits and hospitalization in the elderly.

Highly conserved influenza A virus epitope sequences as candidates of H3N2 flu vaccine targets.

This study focused on identifying the conserved epitopes in a single subtype A (H3N2)-as candidates for vaccine targets. We identified a total of 32 conserved epitopes in four viral proteins [22 HA, 4PB1, 3 NA, 3 NP]. Evaluation of conserved epitopes in coverage during 1968-2010 revealed that (1) 12 HA conserved epitopes were highly present in the circulating viruses; (2) the remaining 10 HA conserved epitopes appeared with lower percentage but a significantly increasing trend after 1989 [p<0.

Optimal sampling in retrospective logistic regression via two-stage method.

Case-control sampling is popular in epidemiological research because of its cost and time saving. In a logistic regression model, with limited knowledge on the covariance matrix of the point estimator of the regression coefficients a priori, there exists no fixed sample size analysis. In this study, we propose a two-stage sequential analysis, in which the optimal sample fraction and the required sample size to achieve a predetermined volume of a joint confidence set are estimated in an interim analysis.

Assessing personality features and their relations with behavioral problems in adolescents: Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire.

This study examines the applicability for adolescents of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), which was originally designed for adults, as compared to the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQ). The study also evaluates their inter-relationship and associations with various behavioral problems as reported by parents using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). In a representative community sample of 905 adolescents, the results of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and factor analysis showed that both the Harm Avoidance (HA) and the Novelty Seeking (NS) scales of the TPQ have sound construct validity, although the Reward Dependence (RD) scale has less so.