Federated Compressed Learning Edge Computing Framework with Ensuring Data Privacy for PM2.5 Prediction in Smart City Sensing Applications.

The sparse data in PM2.5 air quality monitoring systems is frequently happened on large-scale smart city sensing applications, which is collected via massive sensors. Moreover, it could be affected by inefficient node deployment, insufficient communication, and fragmented records, which is the main challenge of the high-resolution prediction system.

Generalizable Layered Blockchain Architecture for Health Care Applications: Development, Case Studies, and Evaluation.

Background: Data coordination across multiple health care facilities has become increasingly important for many emerging health care applications. Distrust has been recognized as a key barrier to the success of such applications. Leveraging blockchain technology could provide potential solutions tobuild trust between data providers and receivers by taking advantage of blockchain properties such as security, immutability, anonymity, decentralization, and smart contracts.

A Patient-Centric Health Information Exchange Framework Using Blockchain Technology.

Health Information Exchange (HIE) exhibits remarkable benefits for patient care such as improving healthcare quality and expediting coordinated care. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology is seeking patient-centric HIE designs that shift data ownership from providers to patients. There are multiple barriers to patient-centric HIE in the current system, such as security and privacy concerns, data inconsistency, timely access to the right records across multiple healthcare facilities.

Applying Blockchain Technology to Enhance Clinical Trial Recruitment.

Patient recruitment for clinical trials is known to be a challenging aspect of clinical research. There are multiple competing concerns from the sponsor, patient and principal investigator's perspectives resulting in most clinical trials not meeting recruitment requirements on time. Conducting under-enrolled clinical trials affects the power of conclusive results or causes premature trial termination.

Statin use and Vital Organ Failure in Patients With Asthma-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Overlap: A Time-Dependent Population-Based Study.

The effects of statins on the risk of hepatic, renal, respiratory, and heart failure among patients with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap (ACO) have not been reported. Time-dependent population-based study. Patient data from 2000 to 2010 were retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.

Long-Term Use of Tamoxifen Is Associated With a Decreased Subsequent Meningioma Risk in Patients With Breast Cancer: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.

Earlier studies have indicated a relatively higher risk of occurring meningioma among female breast cancer survivors and have suggested that tamoxifen might decrease this risk. The present study evaluated whether tamoxifen use in breast cancer patients can reduce the risk of meningioma. We designed a population-based cohort study by using data from the National Health Insurance system of Taiwan to assess this issue.

Effects of statins on anxiety and depression in patients with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome.

Background: The effects of statins on anxiety and depression in patients with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome (ACOS) have not been reported. This population-based study investigated these effects.

Methods: Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database between 2000 and 2010.

Applying Blockchain Technology for Health Information Exchange and Persistent Monitoring for Clinical Trials.

"Blockchain" is a distributed ledger technology originally applied in the financial sector. This technology ensures the integrity of transactions without third-party validation. Its functions of decentralized transaction validation, data provenance, data sharing, and data integration are a good fit for the needs of health information exchange and clinical trials.

Associations between statins and coronary artery disease and stroke risks in patients with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome: A time-dependent regression study.

Backgound And Aims: We aimed at determining the effects of statin use on coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke risks in patients with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome (ACOS).

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled patients with ACOS treated with (N = 916) and without (N = 6338) statins. The cumulative incidence of CAD and stroke (ischemic and hemorrhagic) was analyzed through time-dependent Cox proportional regression.

Association between neurodegenerative diseases and pneumonia: a retrospective population-based study.

Purpose: The association between pneumonia and neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) has never been reported in detail. We address this relationship with reference to the general population.

Methods: Using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database to identify a pneumonia cohort (including the typical and atypical), we established an ND cohort of 19,062 patients and a non-ND cohort of 76,227 people.

Statin for Tuberculosis and Pneumonia in Patients with Asthma⁻Chronic Pulmonary Disease Overlap Syndrome: A Time-Dependent Population-Based Cohort Study.

We investigated the effects of statins on tuberculosis (TB) and pneumonia risks in asthma⁻chronic pulmonary disease overlap syndrome (ACOS) patients. We extracted data of patients diagnosed as having ACOS during 2000⁻2010 from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database and divided them into statin users and nonusers. All study participants were followed up from the index date until death, withdrawal from insurance, or TB and pneumonia occurred (31 December 2011).