Impact of Healthy Lifestyle Factors on Life Expectancy and Lifetime Health Care Expenditure: Nationwide Cohort Study.

Background: The association between lifestyle risk factors and the risk of mortality and chronic diseases has been established, while limited research has explored the impact of healthy lifestyle factors on lifetime health care expenditure using longitudinal individual data.

Objective: We aimed to determine the individual and combined effects of 5 healthy lifestyle factors on life expectancy and lifetime health care expenditure in Taiwan.

Methods: Using data from the National Health Interview Survey cohort, 5 healthy lifestyle behaviors were defined and analyzed: nonsmoking, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, engaging in sufficient physical activity, ensuring sufficient fruit and vegetable intake, and maintaining a normal weight.

Discrepancies in dengue burden estimates: a comparative analysis of reported cases and global burden of disease study, 2010-2019.

Background: Dengue is a significant mosquito-borne disease. Several studies have utilized estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study to assess the global, regional or national burden of dengue over time. However, our recent investigation suggests that GBD's estimates for dengue cases in Taiwan are unrealistically high.

Quantifying the potential effects of air pollution reduction on population health and health expenditure in Taiwan.

Air pollution, particularly ambient fine particulate matter (PM) pollution, poses a significant risk to public health, underscoring the importance of comprehending the long-term impact on health burden and expenditure at national and subnational levels. Therefore, this study aims to quantify the disease burden and healthcare expenditure associated with PM exposure in Taiwan and assess the potential benefits of reducing pollution levels. Using a comparative risk assessment framework that integrates an auto-aggressive integrated moving average model, we evaluated the avoidable burden of cardiopulmonary diseases (including ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and diabetes mellitus) and related healthcare expenditure under different air quality target scenarios, including status quo and target scenarios of 15, 10, and 5 μg/m reduction in PM concentration.

Cardiovascular Disease Burden Attributable to High Body Mass Index in Taiwan.

Background: Studies on disease burden in Taiwan are lacking. We aimed to quantify the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) attributable to high body mass index (BMI) in Taiwan.

Methods: Using a comparative risk assessment approach from the Global Burden of Disease study, we estimated the population attributable fraction (PAF), attributable CVD burden, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) according to sex, age, and area of residence in Taiwan.

SeqCP: A sequence-based algorithm for searching circularly permuted proteins.

Circular permutation (CP) is a protein sequence rearrangement in which the amino- and carboxyl-termini of a protein can be created in different positions along the imaginary circularized sequence. Circularly permutated proteins usually exhibit conserved three-dimensional structures and functions. By comparing the structures of circular permutants (CPMs), protein research and bioengineering applications can be approached in ways that are difficult to achieve by traditional mutagenesis.

Updating the Insecticide Resistance Status of and in Asia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: and are two important vectors of several important arboviruses, including the dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. Insecticide application is an important approach to reduce vector abundance during -borne outbreaks in the absence of effective vaccines and treatments. However, insecticide overuse can result in the development of resistance, and careful monitoring of resistance markers is required.

Lifetime exposure to PM air pollution and disability-adjusted life years due to cardiopulmonary disease: A modeling study based on nationwide longitudinal data.

Background: As knowledge of the health risks of PM has grown, the focus of PM-related health impact assessments has evolved from simple risk models to burden-of-disease estimates. We proposed an ecological approach to directly estimate the impacts of lifetime exposure to PM on expected health losses due to cardiopulmonary diseases for older adult populations in Taiwan.

Methods: We created study cohorts of 3.

The Incidence of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy and the Need of Dialysis in Patients Receiving Angiography: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objectives: The risk of dialysis following contrast exposure is unclear. We aimed to examine the overall risk of contrast induced nephropathy and the need of dialysis based on a systematic review with random-effects meta-analysis.

Methods: We searched the electronic database including PubMed, Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library from inception to 31 October, 2020 with predetermined search term to identify relevant studies.

Long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and associations with cardiopulmonary diseases and lung cancer in Taiwan: a nationwide longitudinal cohort study.

Background: Although a number of studies have reported on the health effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure, particularly in North American and European countries as well as China, the evidence about intermediate to high levels of PM2.5 exposures is still limited.

Efficacy of Osteoporosis Medications for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Updated Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with bone and mineral metabolism. In this study we evaluated the comparative efficacies and safety of osteoporosis medications in patients with CKD or a history of kidney transplantation, and make recommendations for the best choice of osteoporosis treatment among patients with CKD or a history of kidney transplantation. We systemically searched for randomized controlled trials published in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases up to June 2020.

County-Wide Mortality Assessments Attributable to PM Emissions from Coal Consumption in Taiwan.

Over one-third of energy is generated from coal consumption in Taiwan. In order to estimate the health impact assessment attributable to PM concentrations emitted from coal consumption in Taiwan. We applied a Gaussian trajectory transfer-coefficient model to obtain county-wide PM exposures from coal consumption, which includes coal-fired power plants and combined heat and power plants.

Discovering the Ultimate Limits of Protein Secondary Structure Prediction.

Secondary structure prediction (SSP) of proteins is an important structural biology technique with many applications. There have been ~300 algorithms published in the past seven decades with fierce competition in accuracy. In the first 60 years, the accuracy of three-state SSP rose from ~56% to 81%; after that, it has long stayed at 81-86%.

CirPred, the first structure modeling and linker design system for circularly permuted proteins.

Background: This work aims to help develop new protein engineering techniques based on a structural rearrangement phenomenon called circular permutation (CP), equivalent to connecting the native termini of a protein followed by creating new termini at another site. Although CP has been applied in many fields, its implementation is still costly because of inevitable trials and errors.

Results: Here we present CirPred, a structure modeling and termini linker design method for circularly permuted proteins.

A secondary structure-based position-specific scoring matrix applied to the improvement in protein secondary structure prediction.

Protein secondary structure prediction (SSP) has a variety of applications; however, there has been relatively limited improvement in accuracy for years. With a vision of moving forward all related fields, we aimed to make a fundamental advance in SSP. There have been many admirable efforts made to improve the machine learning algorithm for SSP.

The influence of dataset homology and a rigorous evaluation strategy on protein secondary structure prediction.

The secondary structure prediction (SSP) of proteins has long been an essential structural biology technique with various applications. Despite its vital role in many research and industrial fields, in recent years, as the accuracy of state-of-the-art secondary structure predictors approaches the theoretical upper limit, SSP has been considered no longer challenging or too challenging to make advances. With the belief that the substantial improvement of SSP will move forward many fields depending on it, we conducted this study, which focused on three issues that have not been noticed or thoroughly examined yet but may have affected the reliability of the evaluation of previous SSP algorithms.

Do Orthopedic Surgeons or Neurosurgeons Detect More Hip Disorders in Patients with Hip-Spine Syndrome? A Nationwide Database Study.

: Disorders of the hip and lumbar spine can create similar patterns of pain and dysfunction. It is unknown whether all surgeons, regardless of orthopedic or neurosurgery training, investigate and diagnose concurrent hip and spine pathology at the same rate. : Data were retrieved from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD).

Enhancing Data Linkage to Break the Chain of COVID-19 Spread: The Taiwan Experience.

Digital technology has been widely used in health care systems and disease management, as well as in controlling the spread of COVID-19. As one of the most successful countries in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan has successfully used digital technology to strengthen its efforts in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Taiwan has a well-established National Health Insurance System (NHIS), which provides a great opportunity to develop a nationwide data linkage model in an agile manner.

Global burden of tuberculosis attributable to cancer in 2019: Global, regional, and national estimates.

Background: Cancer is an independent risk factor for tuberculosis (TB). The global burden of incident TB attributable to cancer has never been explored. We aimed to evaluate the cancer-attributable burden of TB.

Sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverages and the risks of chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.

Background: Consumption of sugar or artificially-sweetened beverages (SASBs) has been linked to albuminuria, decline in kidney function, and risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the results are controversial. We therefore aim to evaluate the effects of sugar or artificially-sweetened beverage consumption on CKD risk.

Mortality, morbidity, and risk factors in Taiwan, 1990-2017: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.

Background: Taiwan has implemented a national health insurance system since 1995 with high coverage and utilization rate. However, the health care system in Taiwan is facing immense challenges due to rapid population ageing. We have evaluated the landscape of population health by revisiting the results of GBD 2017 study.

Incorporating stakeholders' preferences into a multi-criteria framework for planning large-scale Nature-Based Solutions.

Hydro-meteorological risks are a growing issue for societies, economies and environments around the world. An effective, sustainable response to such risks and their future uncertainty requires a paradigm shift in our research and practical efforts. In this respect, Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) offer the potential to achieve a more effective and flexible response to hydro-meteorological risks while also enhancing human well-being and biodiversity.

A simple strategy to enhance the speed of protein secondary structure prediction without sacrificing accuracy.

The secondary structure prediction of proteins is a classic topic of computational structural biology with a variety of applications. During the past decade, the accuracy of prediction achieved by state-of-the-art algorithms has been >80%; meanwhile, the time cost of prediction increased rapidly because of the exponential growth of fundamental protein sequence data. Based on literature studies and preliminary observations on the relationships between the size/homology of the fundamental protein dataset and the speed/accuracy of predictions, we raised two hypotheses that might be helpful to determine the main influence factors of the efficiency of secondary structure prediction.

Exploration of Brain Connectivity during Human Inhibitory Control Using Inter-Trial Coherence.

Inhibitory control is a cognitive process that inhibits a response. It is used in everyday activities, such as driving a motorcycle, driving a car and playing a game. The effect of this process can be compared to the red traffic light in the real world.