Characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus infections among the elderly in Taiwan: A nationwide study

AbstractBackgroundInformation regarding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the elderly of Taiwan is limited. This study looked into the aforementioned issues.MethodsData from the National HIV/AIDS Registry, relating to individuals diagnosed in 2007, were analyzed.ResultsAmong 1,975 HIV-infected individuals diagnosed in 2007, the elderly group (age ≧50 years) consisted of 153 subjects and the younger (control) group (age 15–39 years) consisted of 1,458 individuals. Some markers, such as primarily males/local Taiwanese, being unemployed, one third of subjects infected by means of intravenous drug use, and primarily diagnosed in hospitals, were similar between the two groups. The elderly group had more married, divorced, and separated individuals, and widows/widowers than the younger group. The causes of death differed insignificantly between the two groups. The younger group had more variety than the elderly group in distribution of occupations. Fewer prison-diagnosed HIV, high ratio of individuals developing AIDS, heterosexuals, high mortality, and unsupported marital status were significant markers of elderly HIV-infected subjects.ConclusionIn Taiwan, elderly HIV infections have reflected the aforementioned characteristics. Some specific issues concerning elderly HIV infections, such as heterosexual predominance, high mortality and fewer men who have sex with men, are similar with reports from other countries. These characteristics can guide possible directions of social and health care interventions

Enhancing protection of vehicle drivers and road safety by deploying ADAS and Facial Features Pattern Analysis (FFPA) technologies

The latest technology associated with Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have been designed with the aim to minimize the numbers of person injury in road accidents and improve the overall road safety. The driver behavior is one major concern in many accidents in HK urban road links. In particular, the driver\u27s attitudes, such as fatigue, drowsiness and concentration are the major causes to road accidents. It will affect the driver\u27s ability and decisions in properly controlling their vehicles. Very often, this kind of driver distraction is particularly obvious when driving after 2 to 3 hours from most research sources. In the traffic data sourced from Transport Department of HKSAR, around 82% of the personal injury in road accidents belongs to the driver\u27s fault. This paper used the latest technology and applied it to a group of transport vehicles, i.e. taxi. The objective is set up to monitor, record and analyze the fatigue and drowsiness situation of drivers by means of advanced AI system, facial recognition detection system (the sensors) and early warning devices (LDWS) via ADAS technology. The result will be used to give real time early warning and subsequent analysis for the transport operators or researchers for better and safer management of their transport fleets. The system aimed to have a good precaution and protection on all road users, including drivers, passengers and pedestrians. In turn, it largely saves our community resources, such as the medical and social services consumed on treating the injured persons

Symmetry selective third harmonic generation from plasmonic metacrystals

Nonlinear processes are often governed by selection rules imposed by the symmetries of the molecular configurations. The most well-known examples include the role of mirror symmetry breaking for the generation of even harmonics, and the selection rule related to the rotation symmetry in harmonic generation for fundamental beams with circular polarizations. While the role of mirror symmetry breaking in second harmonic generation has been extensively studied in plasmonic systems, the investigation on selection rules pertaining to circular polarization states of harmonic generation has been limited to crystals, i.e. symmetries at the atomic level. Here we demonstrate the rotational symmetry dependent third harmonic generation from nonlinear plasmonic metacrystals. We show that the selection rule can be imposed by the rotational symmetry of meta-crystals embedded into an isotropic organic nonlinear thin film. The results presented here may open new avenues for designing symmetry-dependent nonlinear optical responses with tailored plasmonic nanostructures.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure