Folk religion and folklore in Taiwan: A study of popular Taoism.

The following is a work on popular religious Taoism, the result of field work carried out in Hsinchu city, Taiwan, between the years 1964 and 1970. It concerns the teachings of an orthodox Cheng-i Heavenly Master sect Taoist named Chuang-Ch'en, and his necessary relationships with the folk religion and its adherents. The first chapter shows that the basic principles of China's folk religion and of popular Taoism are the same. The second chapter cites the folklore and legends shared by the folk religion and Taoism, as well as the myths known only by the Taoist, concerning the origins of the cosmos, and of the doctrines of religious Taoism. Prom a secret Taoist manual the five kinds of Taoist orders are made known for the first time. The third chapter tells the legends of the Ho-t'u and Lo-shu, showing how: these two ancient charts are the basis for Taoist liturgy. Chapter four gives an interpretation of the Yellow Court Canon, (a cryptic text hitherto considered by scholars as a form of Taoist Yoga,) according to which the text must rightfully be considered a manual for liturgical meditation. Chapter five shows how Taoist meditation and the ritual of the popular Taoist are intimately connected. Finally chapter six describes the great festival of the folk religion called Chiao, in which Taoism and the aims of the folk religion are united. The thoughts presented represent orthodox Cheng-i Taoism as practised in north Taiwan, the origin of which can be traced to the Taoist monasteries of mainland China

Multispectral imaging of organ viability during uterine transplantation surgery in rabbits and sheep

Uterine transplantation surgery (UTx) has been proposed as a treatment for permanent absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI) in the case of the congenital absence or surgical removal of the uterus. Successful surgical attachment of the organ and its associated vasculature is essential for the organ’s reperfusion and long-term viability. Spectral imaging techniques have demonstrated the potential for the measurement of hemodynamics in medical applications. These involve the measurement of reflectance spectra by acquiring images of the tissue in different wavebands. Measures of tissue constituents at each pixel can then be extracted from these spectra through modeling of the light–tissue interaction. A multispectral imaging (MSI) laparoscope was used in sheep and rabbit UTx models to study short- and long-term changes in oxygen saturation following surgery. The whole organ was imaged in the donor and recipient animals in parallel with point measurements from a pulse oximeter. Imaging results confirmed the re-establishment of adequate perfusion in the transplanted organ after surgery. Cornual oxygenation trends measured with MSI are consistent with pulse oximeter readings, showing decreased StO2 immediately after anastomosis of the blood vessels. Long-term results show recovery of StO2 to preoperative levels

The discriminatory value of cardiorespiratory interactions in distinguishing awake from anaesthetised states: a randomised observational study

Depth of anaesthesia monitors usually analyse cerebral function with or without other physiological signals; noninvasive monitoring of the measured cardiorespiratory signals alone would offer a simple, practical alternative. We aimed to investigate whether such signals, analysed with novel, non-linear dynamic methods, would distinguish between the awake and anaesthetised states. We recorded ECG, respiration, skin temperature, pulse and skin conductivity before and during general anaesthesia in 27 subjects in good cardiovascular health, randomly allocated to receive propofol or sevoflurane. Mean values, variability and dynamic interactions were determined. Respiratory rate (p = 0.0002), skin conductivity (p = 0.03) and skin temperature (p = 0.00006) changed with sevoflurane, and skin temperature (p = 0.0005) with propofol. Pulse transit time increased by 17% with sevoflurane (p = 0.02) and 11% with propofol (p = 0.007). Sevoflurane reduced the wavelet energy of heart (p = 0.0004) and respiratory (p = 0.02) rate variability at all frequencies, whereas propofol decreased only the heart rate variability below 0.021 Hz (p < 0.05). The phase coherence was reduced by both agents at frequencies below 0.145 Hz (p < 0.05), whereas the cardiorespiratory synchronisation time was increased (p < 0.05). A classification analysis based on an optimal set of discriminatory parameters distinguished with 95% success between the awake and anaesthetised states. We suggest that these results can contribute to the design of new monitors of anaesthetic depth based on cardiovascular signals alone

Resilient health systems : mapping of the Health Information Systems in the EU, their resilience and preparedness to join the European Health Data Space

Health Information Systems (HIS) are key pillars for generating knowledge for evidence-based decision making, and consequently, contribute to better health of the population. The COVID-19 pandemic further emphasised the importance of having robust and resilient HIS and the need for digital solutions to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. To assess the functioning of the different HIS in Europe, mapping exercises are conducted across three different EU wide projects, namely the Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) project, the Joint Action Towards the European Health Data Space (TEHDAS), and the Health Emergency Preparedness Response Authority (HERA) IT project. These mapping exercises provide insights on the state-of-play, the components, strengths and weaknesses of the national health information systems and their health data management in more than 19 European countries.peer-reviewe

The effect of systemic antibiotics on clinical and patient‐reported outcome measures of oral implant therapy with simultaneous guided bone regeneration

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)Objectives: The aim of the present superiority study was to determine the effect of systemic antibiotics primarily on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and post-surgical complications in patients undergoing oral implant therapy with simultaneous guided bone regeneration (GBR). Materials and Methods: A total of 236 medically and periodontally healthy patients received oral implants with simultaneous GBR at seven centres. Pre-operative antibiotics of 2 g amoxicillin were prescribed to the test group 1 hr prior to surgery and 500 mg thrice daily on days 1–3 after surgery. The control group was given a placebo. Group allocation was performed randomly. Primary outcome variables were PROMs recorded as visual analogue scale scores assessed on days 1–7 and 14 on pain, swelling, haematoma and bleeding. Post-operative complications as secondary outcome variables were examined at 1, 2, 4 and 12 weeks from surgery. Chi-square tests and repeated measures of analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed for statistical evaluation. Results: No statistically significant differences (p >.05) between the two groups were detected for the evaluated PROMs. The same was noted with respect to post-surgical complications. Four implants were lost—three in the test group and one in the control group. Conclusion: In this trial, systemic antibiotics did not provide additional benefits to PROMs, nor the prevention of post-surgical complications in medically and periodontally healthy patients undergoing oral implant therapy with simultaneous GBR. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are still required to support the clinical outcomes of this study.This study has been supported by a research grant of the ITI Foundation (ITI Grant‐No: No. 962_2013). Further, we want to thank the Geistlich AG, Wolhusen, Switzerland, for providing bone substitutes and collagen membranes (Bio‐Oss® and Bio‐Gide®); Medochemie Limassol, Cyprus, for providing the study medication; and the Straumann AG (Basel, Switzerland) for granting a 50% discount on all the implant materials used in the presented study. The co‐operation of the staff of the centres involved in the study is highly appreciated: (1) Peking University, School of Stomatology, Beijing PR China (2) Medical University Graz, University Clinic of Dental Medicine & Oral Health, Department of Oral Surgery and Orthodontics, Graz Austria (3) Griffith University, Gold Coast, School of Dentistry and Oral Health, Queensland, Australia (4) The University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Dentistry, Hong Kong SAR PR China (5) University of Iceland, Faculty of Odontology, Reykjavik, Iceland (6) Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Department of Implant Dentistry, Shanghai PR China (7) National Dental Centre Singapore, SingaporePeer Reviewe

The CAFA challenge reports improved protein function prediction and new functional annotations for hundreds of genes through experimental screens

Background The Critical Assessment of Functional Annotation (CAFA) is an ongoing, global, community-driven effort to evaluate and improve the computational annotation of protein function. Results Here, we report on the results of the third CAFA challenge, CAFA3, that featured an expanded analysis over the previous CAFA rounds, both in terms of volume of data analyzed and the types of analysis performed. In a novel and major new development, computational predictions and assessment goals drove some of the experimental assays, resulting in new functional annotations for more than 1000 genes. Specifically, we performed experimental whole-genome mutation screening in Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aureginosa genomes, which provided us with genome-wide experimental data for genes associated with biofilm formation and motility. We further performed targeted assays on selected genes in Drosophila melanogaster, which we suspected of being involved in long-term memory. Conclusion We conclude that while predictions of the molecular function and biological process annotations have slightly improved over time, those of the cellular component have not. Term-centric prediction of experimental annotations remains equally challenging; although the performance of the top methods is significantly better than the expectations set by baseline methods in C. albicans and D. melanogaster, it leaves considerable room and need for improvement. Finally, we report that the CAFA community now involves a broad range of participants with expertise in bioinformatics, biological experimentation, biocuration, and bio-ontologies, working together to improve functional annotation, computational function prediction, and our ability to manage big data in the era of large experimental screens.Peer reviewe

The CAFA challenge reports improved protein function prediction and new functional annotations for hundreds of genes through experimental screens

BackgroundThe Critical Assessment of Functional Annotation (CAFA) is an ongoing, global, community-driven effort to evaluate and improve the computational annotation of protein function.ResultsHere, we report on the results of the third CAFA challenge, CAFA3, that featured an expanded analysis over the previous CAFA rounds, both in terms of volume of data analyzed and the types of analysis performed. In a novel and major new development, computational predictions and assessment goals drove some of the experimental assays, resulting in new functional annotations for more than 1000 genes. Specifically, we performed experimental whole-genome mutation screening in Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aureginosa genomes, which provided us with genome-wide experimental data for genes associated with biofilm formation and motility. We further performed targeted assays on selected genes in Drosophila melanogaster, which we suspected of being involved in long-term memory.ConclusionWe conclude that while predictions of the molecular function and biological process annotations have slightly improved over time, those of the cellular component have not. Term-centric prediction of experimental annotations remains equally challenging; although the performance of the top methods is significantly better than the expectations set by baseline methods in C. albicans and D. melanogaster, it leaves considerable room and need for improvement. Finally, we report that the CAFA community now involves a broad range of participants with expertise in bioinformatics, biological experimentation, biocuration, and bio-ontologies, working together to improve functional annotation, computational function prediction, and our ability to manage big data in the era of large experimental screens.</p

The Liturgical Heritage of the Hsinchu Taoists

Saso Michael. The Liturgical Heritage of the Hsinchu Taoists. In: Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 4, 1988. Numéro spécial Etudes taoïstes I / Special Issue on Taoist Studies I en l'honneur de Maxime Kaltenmark. pp. 175-180

Robert Heinemann, Dictionary of Words and Phrases as Used in Buddhist Dhāranī

Saso Michael. Robert Heinemann, Dictionary of Words and Phrases as Used in Buddhist Dhāranī. In: Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 4, 1988. Numéro spécial Etudes taoïstes I / Special Issue on Taoist Studies I en l'honneur de Maxime Kaltenmark. pp. 234-235

Robert Heinemann, Dictionary of Words and Phrases as Used in Buddhist Dhāranī

Saso Michael. Robert Heinemann, Dictionary of Words and Phrases as Used in Buddhist Dhāranī. In: Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 4, 1988. Numéro spécial Etudes taoïstes I / Special Issue on Taoist Studies I en l'honneur de Maxime Kaltenmark. pp. 234-235