Using Social Media for Teaching and Learning Understanding Students’ Perceptions of Facebook Use in The Classroom

According to GlobalWebIndex, Facebook topped the list as the most used social media site, followed by Google+, YouTube, and Twitter. Despite the mounting popularity of Facebook among college students, little is known about students’ perception and willingness to adopt Facebook for educational purposes. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the objective of this study is to develop and empirically validate a model that predicts students’ intention to use Facebook in the classroom. In addition, this study aims to extend the model of TPB by incorporating peer communication factors. To this end, an online survey with a sample of 300 undergraduate students will be carried out. This study contributes to our understanding of the educational uses of Facebook among college students in the classroom

Prevalence and Anthropometric Risk of Metabolic Syndrome in Taiwanese Adolescents

Background. To evaluate the prevalence and the importance of anthropometric indexes on metabolic syndrome (MetS) among young adolescents in Taiwan. Methods. We conducted a cross sectional survey to obtain a representative sampling among Taipei adolescents in 2003, totally enrolled of 1,562 adolescents (764 boys and 798 girls) from age 11 to 15. We used modified NCEP-ATP III criteria to diagnose metabolic syndrome in young adolescents including: blood pressure ≧90th percentile, fasting glucose ≧90th, TG ≧ 90th, HDL-C ≦ 10th, and BMI or WC ≧ 90th according to age and gender specific recommendations. Results. The overall prevalence of MetS was 4.8% for boys and 3.9% for girls. BMI and WC were significantly associated with MetS for both boys and girls, even after adjusting for age, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and pubertal status. However, after further adjusting for BMI or WC, WC for boys (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.05–1.24) and BMI for girls (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.13–1.64) were significantly associated with MetS. Conclusions. Adolescents with abnormal BMI or waist circumference had 10 to 20 times higher odds of MetS when compared to normal subjects. Obesity, either general or central adiposity, may play an important role in the development of MetS among adolescents

Plasma Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide: A Potential Biomarker for Diagnosis and Therapeutic Responses in Pediatric Migraine

Background: Plasma calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) plays a key role in the migraine pathophysiology. This study aimed to investigate its role in predicting diagnosis and outcome of pharmacotherapy in pediatric migraine.Methods: We prospectively recruited 120 subjects, who never took migraine-preventive agents in a pediatric clinic, including 68 patients with migraine, 30 with non-migraine headache (NM), and 22 non-headache (NH) age-matched controls. Short-term therapeutic response was measured for at least 2 weeks after the start of therapy. Responders were defined with >50% headache reduction. Plasma CGRP concentrations were measured by ELISA.Results: In the migraine group, more patients required acute therapy, as compared to the NM group (62/68, 91% vs. 5/30, 15%, p = 0.001). The mean plasma CGRP level in migraineurs either during (291 ± 60 pg/ml) or between (240 ± 48) attacks was higher than in NM patients (51 ± 5 pg/ml, p = 0.006 and 0.018, respectively) and NH controls (53 ± 6 pg/ml, p = 0.016 and 0.045, respectively). Forty-seven patients (69%) needed preventive treatments and had higher plasma CGRP levels (364 ± 62 pg/ml, n = 47) than those not (183 ± 54 pg/ml, n = 21) (p = 0.031). Topiramate responders had higher plasma CGRP levels than non-responders (437 ± 131 pg/ml, n = 14 vs. 67 ± 19 pg/ml, n = 6, p = 0.021). Survival curves of plasma CGRP levels also showed those with higher CGRP levels responded better to topiramate. Differences were not found in the other preventives.Conclusion: The plasma CGRP level can differentiate migraine from non-migraine headache. It may also serve as a reference for the therapeutic strategy since it is higher in patients requiring migraine prevention and responsive to short-term topiramate treatment. These results are clinically significant, especially for the young children who cannot clearly describe their headache symptoms and may provide new insights into the clinical practice for the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric migraine

Modified mayfly algorithm for UAV path planning

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) path planning problem is primarily concerned with avoiding collision with obstacles while determining the best flight path to the target position. This paper first establishes a cost function to transform the UAV route planning issue into an optimization issue that meets the UAV's feasible path requirements and path safety constraints. Then, this paper introduces a modified Mayfly Algorithm (modMA), which employs an exponent decreasing inertia weight (EDIW) strategy, adaptive Cauchy mutation, and an enhanced crossover operator to effectively search the UAV configuration space and discover the path with the lowest overall cost. Finally, the proposed modMA is evaluated on 26 benchmark functions as well as the UAV route planning problem, and the results demonstrate that it outperforms the other compared algorithms.Web of Science65art. no. 13

Emerged HA and NA Mutants of the Pandemic Influenza H1N1 Viruses with Increasing Epidemiological Significance in Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2009–10

The 2009 influenza pandemic provided an opportunity to observe dynamic changes of the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) of pH1N1 strains that spread in two metropolitan areas -Taipei and Kaohsiung. We observed cumulative increases of amino acid substitutions of both HA and NA that were higher in the post–peak than in the pre-peak period of the epidemic. About 14.94% and 3.44% of 174 isolates had one and two amino acids changes, respective, in the four antigenic sites. One unique adaptive mutation of HA2 (E374K) was first detected three weeks before the epidemic peak. This mutation evolved through the epidemic, and finally emerged as the major circulated strain, with significantly higher frequency in the post-peak period than in the pre-peak (64.65% vs 9.28%, p<0.0001). E374K persisted until ten months post-nationwide vaccination without further antigenic changes (e.g. prior to the highest selective pressure). In public health measures, the epidemic peaked at seven weeks after oseltamivir treatment was initiated. The emerging E374K mutants spread before the first peak of school class suspension, extended their survival in high-density population areas before vaccination, dominated in the second wave of class suspension, and were fixed as herd immunity developed. The tempo-spatial spreading of E374K mutants was more concentrated during the post–peak (p = 0.000004) in seven districts with higher spatial clusters (p<0.001). This is the first study examining viral changes during the naïve phase of a pandemic of influenza through integrated virological/serological/clinical surveillance, tempo-spatial analysis, and intervention policies. The vaccination increased the percentage of E374K mutants (22.86% vs 72.34%, p<0.001) and significantly elevated the frequency of mutations in Sa antigenic site (2.36% vs 23.40%, p<0.001). Future pre-vaccination public health efforts should monitor amino acids of HA and NA of pandemic influenza viruses isolated at exponential and peak phases in areas with high cluster cases

Using Pre-TMIn Treatment to Improve the Optical Properties of Green Light Emitting Diodes

We investigated the effects of pre-TMIn treatment on the optical properties of green light emitting diodes (LEDs). Although pre-TMIn treatment did not affect the epitaxial structure of quantum wells, it significantly improved the quality of the surface morphology relative to that of the untreated sample. Indium cluster can be seen by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), which is the explanation for the red-shift of photoluminescence (PL). Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements indicated that the sample prepared with pre-TMIn treatment had a shorter radiative decay time. As a result, the light output power of the treated green LED was higher than that of the conventional untreated one. Thus, pre-TMIn treatment appears to be a simple and efficient means of improving the performance of green LEDs

Adult mortality of diseases and injuries attributable to selected metabolic, lifestyle, environmental, and infectious risk factors in Taiwan: A comparative risk assessment

Background: To facilitate priority-setting in health policymaking, we compiled the best available information to estimate the adult mortality (>30 years) burden attributable to 13 metabolic, lifestyle, infectious, and environmental risk factors in Taiwan. Methods: We obtained data on risk factor exposure from nationally representative health surveys, cause-specific mortality from the National Death Registry, and relative risks from epidemiological studies and meta-analyses. We applied the comparative risk assessment framework to estimate mortality burden attributable to individual risk factors or risk factor clusters. Results: In 2009, high blood glucose accounted for 14,900 deaths (95% UI: 11,850-17,960), or 10.4% of all deaths in that year. It was followed by tobacco smoking (13,340 deaths, 95% UI: 10,330-16,450), high blood pressure (11,190 deaths, 95% UI: 8,190-14,190), ambient particulate matter pollution (8,600 deaths, 95% UI: 7,370-9,840), and dietary risks (high sodium intake and low intake of fruits and vegetables, 7,890 deaths, 95% UI: 5,970-9,810). Overweight-obesity and physical inactivity accounted for 7,620 deaths (95% UI: 6,040-9,190), and 7,400 deaths (95% UI: 6,670-8,130), respectively. The cardiometabolic risk factors of high blood pressure, high blood glucose, high cholesterol, and overweight-obesity jointly accounted for 12,120 deaths (95% UI: 11,220-13,020) from cardiovascular diseases. For domestic risk factors, infections from hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) were responsible for 6,300 deaths (95% UI: 5,610-6,980) and 3,170 deaths (95% UI: 1,860-4,490), respectively, and betel nut use was associated with 1,780 deaths from oral, laryngeal, and esophageal cancer (95% UI: 1,190-2,360). The leading risk factors for years of life lost were similar, but the impact of tobacco smoking and alcohol use became larger because the attributable deaths from these risk factors occurred among young adults aged less than 60 years. Conclusions: High blood glucose, tobacco smoking, and high blood pressure are the major risk factors for deaths from diseases and injuries among Taiwanese adults. A large number of years of life would be gained if the 13 modifiable risk factors could be removed or reduced to the optimal level