Exploring the Score Equivalence of the English and Chinese Versions of the Brief Assessment Scale for Caregivers.

Background: Multilingual outcome measures are used so that research studies are more generalizable across language contexts.

Objective: To determine the score equivalence of the English and Chinese versions of Brief Assessment Scale for Caregivers (BASC) in Singapore.

Method: Caregivers of patients with advanced cancer completed the BASC in either English or Chinese.

Quantile regression for general spatial panel data models with fixed effects.

This paper considers the quantile regression model with both individual fixed effect and time period effect for general spatial panel data. Fixed effects quantile regression estimators based on instrumental variable method will be proposed. Asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators will be developed.

Accuracy and Precision of Intraocular Lens Calculations Using the New Hill-RBF Version 2.0 in Eyes With High Axial Myopia.

Purpose: To compare the accuracy and precision of the new Hill-RBF version 2.0 (Hill-RBF 2) formula with other formulas (Barrett Universal II, Haigis, Hoffer Q, Holladay 1, and SRK/T) in predicting residual refractive error after phacoemulsification in high axial myopic eyes.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Repeatability and Agreement of a Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography-Based Biometer IOLMaster 700 Versus a Scheimpflug Imaging-Based Biometer AL-Scan in Cataract Patients.

Purpose: To compare the repeatability and agreement between a swept-source biometer and a Scheimpflug biometer in cataract patients.

Methods: Three consecutive measurements were obtained using a swept-source biometer (IOLMaster 700) and a Scheimpflug biometer (AL-Scan) in 52 eyes of 52 patients. Keratometry, central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior chamber depth (ACD), axial length, and white-to-white (WTW) distance were recorded.

Development and evaluation of a quality of life measurement scale in English and Chinese for family caregivers of patients with advanced cancers.

Background: The quality of life of family caregivers of patients with advanced cancers is an important concern in oncology care. Yet, there are few suitable measurement scales available for use in Asia. This study aims to develop and evaluate a locally derived measurement scale in English and Chinese to assess the quality of life of family caregivers of patients with advanced cancers in Singapore.

Study protocol for a peer-led web-based intervention to promote safe usage of dating applications among young adults: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Dating applications are a popular platform to meet new people. At the same time, they have been associated with risks such as unsafe sexual behavior and privacy concerns in young adults. This paper presents a study protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-led web-based intervention to promote its safe usage in young adults.

Limbal ischemia: Reliability of clinical assessment and implications in the management of ocular burns.

Purpose: Limbal ischemia is an important prognostic factor in the management of ocular burns. In this study, we evaluated the reliability of clinically assessing limbal ischemia among ophthalmic professionals.

Methods: This study included 111 ophthalmic professionals who were shown 12 diffuse illumination color slit-lamp photographs of eyes with recent chemical injuries.

Factorization machines and deep views-based co-training for improving answer quality prediction in online health expert question-answering services.

In online health expert question-answering (HQA) services, it is significant to automatically determine the quality of the answers. There are two prominent challenges in this task. First, the answers are usually written in short text, which makes it difficult to absorb the text semantic information.

Moraxella Keratitis: Analysis of Risk Factors, Clinical Characteristics, Management, and Treatment Outcomes.

Purpose: To analyze the risk factors, clinical characteristics, management, and treatment outcomes of culture-proven cases of Moraxella keratitis at our center.

Design: Retrospective observational case series.

Methods: Thirty-nine culture-proven cases of Moraxella keratitis (39 eyes) diagnosed and treated between January 2003 and April 2018 at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center were identified and retrospectively reviewed for ocular and systemic risk factors, treatment modalities, and outcomes, as well as for antimicrobial sensitivity and resistance data.

Efficient Robust Estimation for Linear Models with Missing Response at Random.

Coefficient estimation in linear regression models with missing data is routinely done in the mean regression framework. However, the mean regression theory breaks down if the error variance is infinite. In addition, correct specification of the likelihood function for existing imputation approach is often challenging in practice, especially for skewed data.

Vector analysis of high (≥3 diopters) astigmatism correction using small-incision lenticule extraction and laser in situ keratomileusis.

Purpose: To compare the astigmatic correction in high myopic astigmatism between small-incision lenticule extraction and laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) using vector analysis.

Setting: Hong Kong Laser Eye Center, Hong Kong.

Design: Retrospective case series.

A new multivariate zero-adjusted Poisson model with applications to biomedicine.

Recently, although advances were made on modeling multivariate count data, existing models really has several limitations: (i) The multivariate Poisson log-normal model (Aitchison and Ho, 1989) cannot be used to fit multivariate count data with excess zero-vectors; (ii) The multivariate zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) distribution (Li et al., 1999) cannot be used to model zero-truncated/deflated count data and it is difficult to apply to high-dimensional cases; (iii) The Type I multivariate zero-adjusted Poisson (ZAP) distribution (Tian et al., 2017) could only model multivariate count data with a special correlation structure for random components that are all positive or negative.

Defense Strategies for Asymmetric Networked Systems with Discrete Components.

We consider infrastructures consisting of a network of systems, each composed of discrete components. The network provides the vital connectivity between the systems and hence plays a critical, asymmetric role in the infrastructure operations. The individual components of the systems can be attacked by cyber and physical means and can be appropriately reinforced to withstand these attacks.

Public Awareness and Practice of Responsible Gambling in Macao.

Responsible gambling (RG) is a relatively new concept to the Macao gambling industry. Although recent studies reported a heightened public awareness of RG, the prevalence of disordered gambling is still high. This discrepancy may suggest an existing gap between RG awareness and gambling practices, pinpointing aspects that need to be improved by different RG stakeholders.

Saving for a Better Retirement: How Risk Attitudes Affect Choice of Retirement Scheme.

Over 3 million people in Hong Kong and 21 million people in the UK are saving for retirement under the mandatory provident fund and individual savings account schemes, respectively. Yet, we know little about how individual preferences, such as risk attitudes (risk-seeking and risk-averse) that are known to impact highly consequential decisions in a variety of real-world contexts, impact retirement investment choices. In two experimental studies (Study 1-Hong Kong sample and Study 2-United Kingdom sample), we show that personal risk attitudes were a strong predictor of the profile of retirement investment portfolios.

Test procedure and sample size determination for a proportion study using a double-sampling scheme with two fallible classifiers.

Double sampling is usually applied to collect necessary information for situations in which an infallible classifier is available for validating a subset of the sample that has already been classified by a fallible classifier. Inference procedures have previously been developed based on the partially validated data obtained by the double-sampling process. However, it could happen in practice that such infallible classifier or gold standard does not exist.

Comparative evaluation of progression rate in keratoconus before and after collagen crosslinking.

Purpose: To compare the rate of disease progression in keratoconus before and after corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL).

Methods: 145 eyes were followed without CXL (no-CXL group) for a median duration of 31 months whereas 45 eyes were followed up for 41 months before (pre-CXL) and after (post-CXL) accelerated, epithelium-off crosslinking. Progression was defined based on significant slope found in linear mixed effect models against time.

Corneal backward scattering and higher-order aberrations in children with vernal keratoconjunctivitis and normal topography.

Purpose: To investigate the corneal backward scattering and higher-order aberrations (HOAs) in children with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) and normal topography.

Methods: Thirty-six eyes of 22 patients with VKC and 54 eyes of 34 normal subjects were included. All participants had clear cornea, absence of dry eyes and a normal corneal tomography.

Shift in progression rate of keratoconus before and after epithelium-off accelerated corneal collagen crosslinking.

Purpose: To evaluate the shift in keratoconus progression rate after corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL).

Setting: Chinese University of Hong Kong Eye Centre, Hong Kong, China.

Design: Prospective case series.

A deep learning approach for predicting the quality of online health expert question-answering services.

Recently, online health expert question-answering (HQA) services (systems) have attracted more and more health consumers to ask health-related questions everywhere at any time due to the convenience and effectiveness. However, the quality of answers in existing HQA systems varies in different situations. It is significant to provide effective tools to automatically determine the quality of the answers.

Comparison of corneal dynamic parameters and tomographic measurements using Scheimpflug imaging in keratoconus.

Aim: To compare the diagnostic ability of corneal tomography and corneal dynamic response measurements in normal and keratoconus eyes.

Methods: Consecutive patients with grade II-III keratoconus and age-matched normal subjects were recruited. Corneal imaging was performed using Pentacam (Oculus Optikgeräte, Wetzlar, Germany) and Corvis (Oculus Optikgeräte).

A profile likelihood approach for longitudinal data analysis.

Inappropriate choice of working correlation structure in generalized estimating equations (GEE) could lead to inefficient parameter estimation while impractical normality assumption in likelihood approach would limit its applicability in longitudinal data analysis. In this article, we propose a profile likelihood method for estimating parameters in longitudinal data analysis via maximizing the estimated likelihood. The proposed method yields consistent and efficient estimates without specifications of the working correlation structure nor the underlying error distribution.

Impact of Rates of Change of Lamina Cribrosa and Optic Nerve Head Surface Depths on Visual Field Progression in Glaucoma.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of the rates of change of anterior lamina cribrosa surface depth (ALCSD) and optic nerve head surface depth (ONHSD) on visual field (VF) progression in glaucoma.

Methods: One hundred forty-six eyes of 95 glaucoma patients had optical coherence tomography ONH imaging and VF testing at approximately 4-month intervals for greater than or equal to 5 years. Anterior lamina cribrosa surface depth and ONHSD were measured with reference to (1) Bruch's membrane opening (BMO), and (2) choroid-sclera interface (CSI).

OCT angiography quantifying choriocapillary circulation in idiopathic macular hole before and after surgery.

Purpose: To investigate the choriocapillary circulation in the macular area for eyes with unilateral idiopathic macular hole (IMH) before and after vitrectomy using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods: A prospective study of 25 patients with unilateral IMH who underwent vitrectomy and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited. Choriocapillary circulation was measured by OCTA to obtain two measurements: flow area and parafovea vessel density.

Consumption of dietary supplements by Chinese women during pregnancy and postpartum: A prospective cohort study.

The objectives of this study were to investigate usage patterns and factors associated with maternal dietary supplementation by Chinese women. A prospective cohort study of 695 mothers, who gave birth to a singleton baby, was conducted in Jiangyou, Sichuan Province of China. Information on dietary supplement use was collected from participants by personal interview at hospital discharge and followed up by telephone at 1, 3, and 6 months postpartum.