On Evidence Capture for Accountable AI Systems

Conference Proceedings ISSN 16130073 CEUR Workshop Proceedings Volume 2894, Pages 33 - 392021 2021 SICSA eXplainable Artifical Intelligence Workshop, SICSA XAI 2021, Aberdeen, 1 June 2021, 169872Publisher PD

Towards Accountability Driven Development for Machine Learning Systems

Conference Proceedings: ISSN 16130073 CEUR Workshop Proceedings Volume 2894, Pages 25 - 322021 2021 SICSA eXplainable Artifical Intelligence Workshop, SICSA XAI 2021, Aberdeen, 1 June 2021, 169872Publisher PD

Debt collection: creditors' perspective

Increased use of business credit in Singapore entails the growing importance of debt collections to the success of the creditorcompanies. This paper seeks to examine credit risk's implications to debt collections, the characteristics of a successful in-house collection system and the external collection support available to creditors. The paper is structured into four parts: l. Identifying credit risk and its implications to collection of past-due accounts; 2. Understanding the characteristics of a successful in-house collection system; 3. External support in the collection of past-due accounts; 4. Findings and conclusionsBUSINES

Impact of COVID-19 Vaccination on Healthcare Worker Infection Rate and Outcome during SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant Outbreak in Hong Kong

Immune escape is observed with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (Pango lineage B.1.1.529), the predominant circulating strain worldwide. A booster dose was shown to restore immunity against Omicron infection; however, real-world data comparing mRNA (BNT162b2; Comirnaty) and inactivated vaccines’ (CoronaVac; Sinovac) homologous and heterologous boosting are lacking. A retrospective study was performed to compare the rate and outcome of COVID-19 in healthcare workers (HCWs) with various vaccination regimes during a territory-wide Omicron BA.2.2 outbreak in Hong Kong. During the study period from 1 February to 31 March 2022, 3167 HCWs were recruited, and 871 HCWs reported 746 and 183 episodes of significant household and non-household close contact. A total of 737 HCWs acquired COVID-19, all cases of which were all clinically mild. Time-dependent Cox regression showed that, compared with two-dose vaccination, three-dose vaccination reduced infection risk by 31.7% and 89.3% in household contact and non-household close contact, respectively. Using two-dose BNT162b2 as reference, two-dose CoronaVac recipient had significantly higher risk of being infected (HR 1.69 p < 0.0001). Three-dose BNT162b2 (HR 0.4778 p< 0.0001) and two-dose CoronaVac + BNT162b2 booster (HR 0.4862 p = 0.0157) were associated with a lower risk of infection. Three-dose CoronaVac and two-dose BNT162b2 + CoronaVac booster were not significantly different from two-dose BNT162b2. The mean time to achieve negative RT-PCR or E gene cycle threshold 31 or above was not affected by age, number of vaccine doses taken, vaccine type, and timing of the last dose. In summary, we have demonstrated a lower risk of breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs given BNT162b2 as a booster after two doses of BNT162b2 or CoronaVac

Chinese Herbal Medicine Treatment Improves the Overall Survival Rate of Individuals with Hypertension among Type 2 Diabetes Patients and Modulates In Vitro Smooth Muscle Cell Contractility.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a chronic, multifactorial, and metabolic disorder accounting for 90% diabetes cases worldwide. Among them, almost half of T2D have hypertension, which is responsible for cardiovascular disease, morbidity, and mortality in these patients. The Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) prescription patterns of hypertension individuals among T2D patients have yet to be characterized. This study, therefore, aimed to determine their prescription patterns and evaluate the CHM effect. A cohort of one million randomly sampled cases from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) was used to investigate the overall survival rate of CHM users, and prescription patterns. After matching CHM and non-CHM users for age, gender and date of diagnosis of hypertension, 980 subjects for each group were selected. The CHM users were characterized with slightly longer duration time from diabetes to hypertension, and more cases for hyperlipidaemia. The cumulative survival probabilities were higher in CHM users than in non-CHM users. Among these top 12 herbs, Liu-Wei-Di-Huang-Wan, Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San, Dan-Shen, and Ge-Gen were the most common herbs and inhibited in vitro smooth muscle cell contractility. Our study also provides a CHM comprehensive list that may be useful in future investigation of the safety and efficacy for individuals with hypertension among type 2 diabetes patients

A prospective follow-up of thyroid volume and thyroiditis features on ultrasonography among survivors of predominantly mild to moderate COVID-19

Background We previously showed that higher SARS-CoV-2 viral load correlated with smaller thyroid volumes among COVID-19 survivors at 2 months after acute COVID-19. Our current follow-up study evaluated the evolution of thyroid volumes and thyroiditis features within the same group of patients 6 months later. Methods Adult COVID-19 survivors who underwent thyroid ultrasonography 2 months after infection (USG1) were recruited for follow-up USG 6 months later (USG2). The primary outcome was the change in thyroid volume. We also reassessed thyroiditis features on USG, thyroid function and anti-thyroid antibodies. Results Fifty-four patients were recruited (mean age 48.1 years; 63% men). The mean thyroid volume increased from USG1 to USG2 (11.9 ± 4.8 to 14.5 ± 6.2 mL, p < 0.001). Thirty-two patients (59.3%) had significant increase in thyroid volume by ≥15%, and they had a median increase of +33.3% (IQR: +20.0% to +45.0%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that only higher baseline SARS-CoV-2 viral load independently correlated with significant thyroid volume increase on USG2 (p = 0.022). Among the seven patients with thyroiditis features on USG1, six (85.7%) had the features resolved on USG2. None had new thyroiditis features on USG2. All abnormal thyroid function during acute COVID-19 resolved upon USG1 and USG2. Conclusion Most COVID-19 survivors had an increase in thyroid volume from early convalescent phase to later convalescent phase. This increase correlated with high initial SARS-CoV-2 viral load. Together with the resolution of thyroiditis features, these may suggest a transient direct atrophic effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the thyroid gland with subsequent recovery of thyroid volume and thyroiditis features

Flow recruitment diagram.

<p><b>A:</b> Chart showing the protocol for enrollment of study subjects. <b>B:</b> Follow-up time for CHM and matched non-CHM users.</p

Effect of the four most common herbal formulas and single herbs on the phosphorylation of myosin light chain (MLC) protein.

<p>Briefly, A10 cells were treated with herbal formulas (A) or single herbs (B). Y27632 (Y10; 10 μM) and calyculin A (A50; 50 μg/ml) were used as negative and positive controls. Western blot analysis and staining with anti-phospho-MLC, anti-total-MLC, and anti-beta actin antibodies was then performed. Phospho-MLC, total-MLC, and beta actin were all obtained with their appropriate protein size bands. The relative Phospho-MLC intensity (%) was expressed as [(Phospho-MLC/total-MLC)_{drug treated}/ (Phospho-MLC/total-MLC)_{cell only} x 100%]. The Mean±SEM values for at least three independent experiments along with the representative western blot were performed.</p

Cumulative survival curves of individuals with hypertension among type 2 diabetes patients according to Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) usage.

<p>Cumulative survival curves of individuals with hypertension among type 2 diabetes patients according to Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) usage.</p