Cultural reimaginations of being Hua Ren: Singapore and Taiwan case studies

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

A Localization Method Avoiding Flip Ambiguities for micro-UAVs with Bounded Distance Measurement Errors

Localization is a fundamental function in cooperative control of micro unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), but is easily affected by flip ambiguities because of measurement errors and flying motions. This study proposes a localization method that can avoid the occurrence of flip ambiguities in bounded distance measurement errors and constrained flying motions; to demonstrate its efficacy, the method is implemented on bilateration and trilateration. For bilateration, an improved bi-boundary model based on the unit disk graph model is created to compensate for the shortage of distance constraints, and two boundaries are estimated as the communication range constraint. The characteristic of the intersections of the communication range and distance constraints is studied to present a unique localization criterion which can avoid the occurrence of flip ambiguities. Similarly, for trilateration, another unique localization criterion for avoiding flip ambiguities is proposed according to the characteristic of the intersections of three distance constraints. The theoretical proof shows that these proposed criteria are correct. A localization algorithm is constructed based on these two criteria. The algorithm is validated using simulations for different scenarios and parameters, and the proposed method is shown to provide excellent localization performance in terms of average estimated error. Our code can be found at: https://github.com/QingbeiGuo/AFALA.git.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing(Accepted

Germline breast cancer susceptibility genes, tumor characteristics, and survival.

BACKGROUND: Mutations in certain genes are known to increase breast cancer risk. We study the relevance of rare protein-truncating variants (PTVs) that may result in loss-of-function in breast cancer susceptibility genes on tumor characteristics and survival in 8852 breast cancer patients of Asian descent. METHODS: Gene panel sequencing was performed for 34 known or suspected breast cancer predisposition genes, of which nine genes (ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, PALB2, BARD1, RAD51C, RAD51D, and TP53) were associated with breast cancer risk. Associations between PTV carriership in one or more genes and tumor characteristics were examined using multinomial logistic regression. Ten-year overall survival was estimated using Cox regression models in 6477 breast cancer patients after excluding older patients (≥75years) and stage 0 and IV disease. RESULTS: PTV9genes carriership (n = 690) was significantly associated (p < 0.001) with more aggressive tumor characteristics including high grade (poorly vs well-differentiated, odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 3.48 [2.35-5.17], moderately vs well-differentiated 2.33 [1.56-3.49]), as well as luminal B [HER-] and triple-negative subtypes (vs luminal A 2.15 [1.58-2.92] and 2.85 [2.17-3.73], respectively), adjusted for age at diagnosis, study, and ethnicity. Associations with grade and luminal B [HER2-] subtype remained significant after excluding BRCA1/2 carriers. PTV25genes carriership (n = 289, excluding carriers of the nine genes associated with breast cancer) was not associated with tumor characteristics. However, PTV25genes carriership, but not PTV9genes carriership, was suggested to be associated with worse 10-year overall survival (hazard ratio [CI] 1.63 [1.16-2.28]). CONCLUSIONS: PTV9genes carriership is associated with more aggressive tumors. Variants in other genes might be associated with the survival of breast cancer patients. The finding that PTV carriership is not just associated with higher breast cancer risk, but also more severe and fatal forms of the disease, suggests that genetic testing has the potential to provide additional health information and help healthy individuals make screening decisions

European polygenic risk score for prediction of breast cancer shows similar performance in Asian women

Abstract: Polygenic risk scores (PRS) have been shown to predict breast cancer risk in European women, but their utility in Asian women is unclear. Here we evaluate the best performing PRSs for European-ancestry women using data from 17,262 breast cancer cases and 17,695 controls of Asian ancestry from 13 case-control studies, and 10,255 Chinese women from a prospective cohort (413 incident breast cancers). Compared to women in the middle quintile of the risk distribution, women in the highest 1% of PRS distribution have a ~2.7-fold risk and women in the lowest 1% of PRS distribution has ~0.4-fold risk of developing breast cancer. There is no evidence of heterogeneity in PRS performance in Chinese, Malay and Indian women. A PRS developed for European-ancestry women is also predictive of breast cancer risk in Asian women and can help in developing risk-stratified screening programmes in Asia

Depression, lifestyle factors and cognitive function in people living with HIV and comparable HIV-negative controls

We investigated whether differences in cognitive performance between people living with HIV (PLWH) and comparable HIV-negative people were mediated or moderated by depressive symptoms and lifestyle factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 637 'older' PLWH aged ≥ 50 years, 340 'younger' PLWH aged < 50 years and 276 demographically matched HIV-negative controls aged ≥ 50 years enrolled in the Pharmacokinetic and Clinical Observations in People over Fifty (POPPY) study was performed. Cognitive function was assessed using a computerized battery (CogState). Scores were standardized into Z-scores [mean = 0; standard deviation (SD) = 1] and averaged to obtain a global Z-score. Depressive symptoms were evaluated via the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Differences between the three groups and the effects of depression, sociodemographic factors and lifestyle factors on cognitive performance were evaluated using median regression. All analyses accounted for age, gender, ethnicity and level of education. RESULTS: After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, older and younger PLWH had poorer overall cognitive scores than older HIV-negative controls (P < 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively). Moderate or severe depressive symptoms were more prevalent in both older (27%; P < 0.001) and younger (21%; P < 0.001) PLWH compared with controls (8%). Depressive symptoms (P < 0.001) and use of hashish (P = 0.01) were associated with lower cognitive function; alcohol consumption (P = 0.02) was associated with better cognitive scores. After further adjustment for these factors, the difference between older PLWH and HIV-negative controls was no longer significant (P = 0.08), while that between younger PLWH and older HIV-negative controls remained significant (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Poorer cognitive performances in PLWH compared with HIV-negative individuals were, in part, mediated by the greater prevalence of depressive symptoms and recreational drug use reported by PLWH

Validation of a novel multivariate method of defining HIV-associated cognitive impairment

Background. The optimum method of defining cognitive impairment in virally suppressed people living with HIV is unknown. We evaluated the relationships between cognitive impairment, including using a novel multivariate method (NMM), patient– reported outcome measures (PROMs), and neuroimaging markers of brain structure across 3 cohorts. Methods. Differences in the prevalence of cognitive impairment, PROMs, and neuroimaging data from the COBRA, CHARTER, and POPPY cohorts (total n = 908) were determined between HIV-positive participants with and without cognitive impairment defined using the HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), global deficit score (GDS), and NMM criteria. Results. The prevalence of cognitive impairment varied by up to 27% between methods used to define impairment (eg, 48% for HAND vs 21% for NMM in the CHARTER study). Associations between objective cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive complaints generally were weak. Physical and mental health summary scores (SF-36) were lowest for NMM-defined impairment (P < .05). There were no differences in brain volumes or cortical thickness between participants with and without cognitive impairment defined using the HAND and GDS measures. In contrast, those identified with cognitive impairment by the NMM had reduced mean cortical thickness in both hemispheres (P < .05), as well as smaller brain volumes (P < .01). The associations with measures of white matter microstructure and brain-predicted age generally were weaker. Conclusion. Different methods of defining cognitive impairment identify different people with varying symptomatology and measures of brain injury. Overall, NMM-defined impairment was associated with most neuroimaging abnormalities and poorer selfreported health status. This may be due to the statistical advantage of using a multivariate approac

Targeted gene sanger sequencing should remain the first-tier genetic test for children suspected to have the five common X-linked inborn errors of immunity

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.To address inborn errors of immunity (IEI) which were underdiagnosed in resource-limited regions, our centre developed and offered free genetic testing for the most common IEI by Sanger sequencing (SS) since 2001. With the establishment of The Asian Primary Immunodeficiency (APID) Network in 2009, the awareness and definitive diagnosis of IEI were further improved with collaboration among centres caring for IEI patients from East and Southeast Asia. We also started to use whole exome sequencing (WES) for undiagnosed cases and further extended our collaboration with centres from South Asia and Africa. With the increased use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), we have shifted our diagnostic practice from SS to WES. However, SS was still one of the key diagnostic tools for IEI for the past two decades. Our centre has performed 2,024 IEI SS genetic tests, with in-house protocol designed specifically for 84 genes, in 1,376 patients with 744 identified to have disease-causing mutations (54.1%). The high diagnostic rate after just one round of targeted gene SS for each of the 5 common IEI (X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) 77.4%, Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome (WAS) 69.2%, X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (XCGD) 59.5%, X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (XSCID) 51.1%, and X-linked hyper-IgM syndrome (HIGM1) 58.1%) demonstrated targeted gene SS should remain the first-tier genetic test for the 5 common X-linked IEI.The Hong Kong Society for Relief of Disabled Children and Jeffrey Modell Foundation.http://www.frontiersin.org/Immunologyam2023Paediatrics and Child Healt

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Remembering 2-28: space, memory and the Taiwanese identity.

49 p.The 2-28 Incident of 1947 took place in the form of a violent conflict between the native Taiwanese and the Kuomintang (KMT) which represented mainland China. To many Taiwanese, the 2-28 Incident marks the beginning of the search for a Taiwanese identity. In this aspect, this dissertation argues that memories of the 2-28 Incident, especially contending ones, are important in the formation of the Taiwanese identity. Because of the different versions of memories which exist, political parties, namely the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have made use of the version that is most beneficial to them to create different narrations of the Taiwan nation, thereby affecting the substance of the Taiwanese identity. Such manipulation of memory is shown through the use of space in the 2-28 Memorial Museum and these manipulations of memory, national identity and national narratives are, in turn, done to achieve the purpose of obtaining electoral support.Master of Science (International Relations

记得二二八 ：二二八事件的记忆和台湾国家建构的关系 = Remembering 2-28 : the relationship between the memories of the February 28th incident and the building of the Taiwan nation-state

随着台湾解严，二二八事件由一个政治禁忌转而成为广为各界讨论的议题，而这热烈的讨论也对台湾人的身份认同和台湾意识造成了直接的影响。本文通过记忆的角度，探讨二二八的记忆如何影响台湾的民族国家建构。值得注意的是，当记忆在影响国家建构的同时，国家建构也同样影响着人们记得二二八事件的方式。本文试图以官方资料、口述历史和具体的例子来阐释由叙述所产生的记忆和由空间所产生的记忆是如何对台湾的民族国家建构产生实质的影响。为达到不同的政治目的，国民党、民进党、个人、台北二二八纪念馆以及二二八纪念碑等各界对二二八的记忆进行操弄。本文将通过各界对记忆的操弄显示其错综复杂的关系。 With the lifting of the martial law in Taiwan, the February 28th Incident had since transformed from a political taboo into a widely discussed topic. The influence of the Incident to the Taiwanese identity is undisputed. This paper discusses the bi-directional influence between memory and the building of a Taiwan nation-state. Through official information, firsthand personal accounts and specific examples, this paper sets out to show how memory through narration and memory through space affects the process of the Taiwan nation-state building. Different communities of memory, such as the Kuomintang, the Democratic Progressive Party, the individual Taiwanese, the Taipei 2-28 Memorial Museum and the 2-28 Massacre Monument, manipulate memory regarding the Incident to achieve the different agendas they have in mind. Through their manipulation, this paper aims to reveal the complicating relationship between the different communities of memory.Bachelor of Art