Does Rational Bubbles Exist in the Taiwan Stock Market? Evidence from a Nonparametric Cointegration Test

In this study, we revisit the issue as to the presence of rational bubbles in the Taiwan stock market during the June 1991 to February 2005 period using the Bierens (1997) nonparametric cointegration tests. The results from the Bierens nonparametric cointegration test attest to the absence of rational bubbles in the Taiwan stock market.Rational Bubbles Taiwan Stock Market Nonparametric Cointegration Test

The Design and Implementation of Collaborative Filtering in Data Mining

Data mining is the process of discovering explicit knowledge from large amounts of data stored in database, data warehouse or other repositories. There have been many studies about models of data mining such as association rule, sequential pattern and so on. Collaborative filtering is one of data mining models. In this paper, we propose two approaches to solving the mining process of collaborative filtering. Finally, collaborative filtering mining is applied to Knowledge Management system

Association of the shuffling of Streptococcus pyogenes clones and the fluctuation of scarlet fever cases between 2000 and 2006 in central Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The number of scarlet fever occurrences reported between 2000 and 2006 fluctuated considerably in central Taiwan and throughout the nation. Isolates of <it>Streptococcus pyogenes </it>were collected from scarlet fever patients in central Taiwan and were characterized by <it>emm </it>sequencing and a standardized pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method. National weekly report data were collected for investigating epidemiological trends.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 23 <it>emm </it>types were identified in 1,218 <it>S. pyogenes </it>isolates. The five most prevalent <it>emm </it>types were <it>emm</it>12 (50.4%), <it>emm</it>4 (23.2%), <it>emm</it>1 (16.4%), <it>emm</it>6 (3.8%) and <it>emm</it>22 (3.0%). PFGE analysis with <it>Sma</it>I suggested that, with a few exceptions, strains with a common <it>emm </it>type belonged to the same clone. There were two large <it>emm</it>12 clones, one with DNA resistant to cleavage by <it>Sma</it>I. Each prevalent <it>emm </it>clone had major PFGE strain(s) and many minor strains. Most of the minor strains emerged in the population and disappeared soon after. Even some major strains remained prevalent for only 2–3 years before declining. The large fluctuation of scarlet fever cases between 2000 and 2006 was associated with the shuffling of six prevalent <it>emm </it>clones. In 2003, the dramatic drop in scarlet fever cases in central Taiwan and throughout the whole country was associated with the occurrence of a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak that occurred between late-February and mid-June in Taiwan.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The occurrences of scarlet fever in central Taiwan in 2000–2006 were primarily caused by five <it>emm </it>types, which accounted for 96.8% of the isolates collected. Most of the <it>S. pyogenes </it>strains (as defined by PFGE genotypes) emerged and lasted for only a few years. The fluctuation in the number of scarlet fever cases during the seven years can be primarily attributed to the shuffling of six prevalent <it>emm </it>clones and to the SARS outbreak in 2003.</p

Near-Infrared Light Device Can Improve Intravenous Cannulation in Critically Ill Children

critically ill children; intravenous cannulation; near-infrared light device Background: Vascular access in critically ill children can be a real challenge for medical staff. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of a near-infrared light vein-viewing device for critically ill children, 60 pediatric inpatients were enrolled in a randomized prospective observation trial for intravenous cannulation. Methods: The patients&apos; demographic data, mean time required to find the first available vessel, first-attempt success rate, mean number of attempts per patient, and the total time taken on the attempts per patient were compared. Results: Less time was required to find the first available vessel in the near-infrared light device group compared with the control group (126.37 vs. 383.61 seconds; p Z 0.027). In addition, the near-infrared light device group had a fewer number of attempts compared with the control group (median 1 vs. 2; p Z 0.004), and also a shorter total time of attempts per patient compared with the control group (186.16 vs. 497.23 seconds; p Z 0.014). Conclusion: The use of a near-infrared light vein-viewing device for vascular access in critically ill children can decrease the total medical time and cost

Aerosolized Human Extracellular Superoxide Dismutase Prevents Hyperoxia-Induced Lung Injury

An important issue in critical care medicine is the identification of ways to protect the lungs from oxygen toxicity and reduce systemic oxidative stress in conditions requiring mechanical ventilation and high levels of oxygen. One way to prevent oxygen toxicity is to augment antioxidant enzyme activity in the respiratory system. The current study investigated the ability of aerosolized extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) to protect the lungs from hyperoxic injury. Recombinant human EC-SOD (rhEC-SOD) was produced from a synthetic cassette constructed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. Female CD-1 mice were exposed in hyperoxia (FiO2>95%) to induce lung injury. The therapeutic effects of EC-SOD and copper-zinc SOD (CuZn-SOD) via an aerosol delivery system for lung injury and systemic oxidative stress at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of hyperoxia were measured by bronchoalveolar lavage, wet/dry ratio, lung histology, and 8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) in lung and liver tissues. After exposure to hyperoxia, the wet/dry weight ratio remained stable before day 2 but increased significantly after day 3. The levels of oxidative biomarker 8-oxo-dG in the lung and liver were significantly decreased on day 2 (P<0.01) but the marker in the liver increased abruptly after day 3 of hyperoxia when the mortality increased. Treatment with aerosolized rhEC-SOD increased the survival rate at day 3 under hyperoxia to 95.8%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (57.1%), albumin treated group (33.3%), and CuZn-SOD treated group (75%). The protective effects of EC-SOD against hyperoxia were further confirmed by reduced lung edema and systemic oxidative stress. Aerosolized EC-SOD protected mice against oxygen toxicity and reduced mortality in a hyperoxic model. The results encourage the use of an aerosol therapy with EC-SOD in intensive care units to reduce oxidative injury in patients with severe hypoxemic respiratory failure, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data