Location-based Data Analysis of Visitor Structure for Recreational Area Management

This work presents a location-based data analysis framework for profiling visitors structures. In terms of recreational area management, understanding visitors’ structure and popularity is important. Traditionally, visitors monitoring with automatic counting devices has drawbacks of inaccurate visitors counting. In this work, compared to automatic counting devices, we use Wi-Fi tracking as the main method to count visitors, which provides a fairly precise picture of visitor structures. Moreover, we deliver rich analytic functions in this framework and we present the functionality with visitor data collected from Guanyinshan Visitor Center. This framework not only standardizes visitor counting process but also facilitates a profound analysis of visitor structures. Key Words: Guanyinshan Visitor Center, Wi-Fi trackin

The Relationship between Brown Adipose Tissue Activity and Neoplastic Status: an 18F-FDG PET/CT Study in the Tropics

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Brown adipose tissue (BAT) has thermogenic potential. For its activation, cold exposure is considered a critical factor though other determinants have also been reported. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between neoplastic status and BAT activity by 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (¹⁸F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in people living in the tropics, where the influence of outdoor temperature was low.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT scans were reviewed and the total metabolic activity (TMA) of identified activated BAT quantified. The distribution and TMA of activated BAT were compared between patients with and without a cancer history. The neoplastic status of patients was scored according to their cancer history and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT findings. We evaluated the relationships between the TMA of BAT and neoplastic status along with other factors: age, body mass index, fasting blood sugar, gender, and outdoor temperature.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty of 1740 patients had activated BAT. Those with a cancer history had wider BAT distribution (<it>p </it>= 0.043) and a higher TMA (<it>p </it>= 0.028) than those without. A higher neoplastic status score was associated with a higher average TMA. Multivariate analyses showed that neoplastic status was the only factor significantly associated with the TMA of activated BAT (<it>p </it>= 0.016).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Neoplastic status is a critical determinant of BAT activity in patients living in the tropics. More active neoplastic status was associated with more vigorous TMA of BAT.</p

An Investigation of Factors Affecting Elementary School Students’ BMI Values Based on the System Dynamics Modeling

This study used system dynamics method to investigate the factors affecting elementary school students’ BMI values. The construction of the dynamic model is divided into the qualitative causal loop and the quantitative system dynamics modeling. According to the system dynamics modeling, this study consisted of research on the four dimensions: student’s personal life style, diet-relevant parenting behaviors, advocacy and implementation of school nutrition education, and students’ peer interaction. The results of this study showed that students with more adequate health concepts usually have better eating behaviors and consequently have less chance of becoming obese. In addition, this study also verified that educational attainment and socioeconomic status of parents have a positive correlation with students’ amounts of physical activity, and nutrition education has a prominent influence on changing students’ high-calorie diets

Effects of Metformin on the Cerebral Metabolic Changes in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Metformin, a widely used antidiabetic drug, has numerous effects on human metabolism. Based on emerging cellular, animal, and epidemiological studies, we hypothesized that metformin leads to cerebral metabolic changes in diabetic patients. To explore metabolism-influenced foci of brain, we used 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography for type 2 diabetic patients taking metformin (MET, n=18), withdrawing from metformin (wdMET, n=13), and not taking metformin (noMET, n=9). Compared with the noMET group, statistical parametric mapping showed that the MET group had clusters with significantly higher metabolism in right temporal, right frontal, and left occipital lobe white matter and lower metabolism in the left parahippocampal gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. In volume of interest (VOI-) based group comparisons, the normalized FDG uptake values of both hypermetabolic and hypometabolic clusters were significantly different between groups. The VOI-based correlation analysis across the MET and wdMET groups showed a significant negative correlation between normalized FDG uptake values of hypermetabolic clusters and metformin withdrawal durations and a positive but nonsignificant correlation in the turn of hypometabolic clusters. Conclusively, metformin affects cerebral metabolism in some white matter and semantic memory related sites in patients with type 2 diabetes

Intra-Arterial Chemotherapy with Doxorubicin and Cisplatin Is Effective for Advanced Hepatocellular Cell Carcinoma

Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a fatal disease even in the era of targeted therapies. Intra-arterial chemotherapy (IACT) can provide therapeutic benefits for patients with locally advanced HCC who are not eligible for local therapies or are refractory to targeted therapies. The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze the effect of IACT with cisplatin and doxorubicin on advanced HCC. Methods. Patients with advanced HCC who were not eligible for local therapies or were refractory to sorafenib received doxorubicin (50 mg/m2) and cisplatin (50 mg/m2) infusions into the liver via the transhepatic artery. Between January 2005 and December 2011, a total of 50 patients with advanced HCC received this treatment regimen. The overall response rate (ORR) was 22% in all treated patients. In patients who received at least 2 cycles of IACT, the ORR was 36.7%, and the disease control rate was 70%. Survival rate differed significantly between patients who received only one cycle of IACT (group I) and those who received several cycles (group II). The median progression-free survival was 1.3 months and 5.8 months in groups I and II, respectively (P<0.0001). The median overall survival was 8.3 months for all patients and was 3.1 months and 12.0 months in groups I and II, respectively (P<0.0001). The most common toxicity was alopecia. Four patients developed grade 3 or 4 leukopenia. Worsening of liver function, nausea, and vomiting were uncommon side effects. This study demonstrated clinical efficacy and tolerable side effects of repeated IACT with doxorubicin and cisplatin in advanced HCC. Our regimen can be an alternative choice for patients with adequate liver function who do not want to receive continuous infusion of IACT

Bayesian Approaches to Test Score Measurement Errors in Student Growth Prediction Models

Evidence of student growth is a primary outcome of interest for educational accountability systems. When three or more years of student test data are available, questions around how students grow and what their predicted growth is can be answered. Given that test scores contain measurement error, this error should be considered in growth and prediction models. As Fuller (1987) and other studies have indicated, ignoring or misspecifying measurement errors can result in attenuation bias in parameter estimates, reduced power for testing hypotheses, and reduced accuracy of prediction. This study addresses these concerns, with a special focus on prediction accuracy. The purpose of this study is to perform a comprehensive investigation of the impact of test score measurement errors on growth prediction models. The primary research questions of this study are: (1) Does considering test score measurement error improve prediction of student growth and/or reduce the standard error of prediction in different regions of the proficiency continuum? and (2) Which of the procedures investigated is most effective in accounting for measurement error in the prediction of student growth in different regions of the proficiency continuum? This study was conducted under a full Bayesian framework. Two structural models for growth prediction were considered: a linear growth (LG) model and a two-cohort linear regression (LR) model. In addition, three measurement error models were investigated: correcting for test score unreliability; incorporating individual test score error variances; and modeling item-level responses directly. Data were generated to resemble response data from Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC, 2016) assessments. These are fixed-length computerized adaptive tests that provide vertically scaled scores. A characteristic of the SBAC assessments relevant to this study is that they are based on difficult item pools, resulting in much higher measurement errors for lower performing students. Results showed that the LR model correcting for score unreliability (LRreli) and the LR model with item-level responses (LRsirt) provided the most accurate predictions among models. The LG model incorporating individual score error variances (LGtsme) and the LG model with item-level responses (LGsirt) improved the slope estimates when the item pool was not appropriate for lower proficiency students

The influence of humanities resources on destination image and revisit intention.

本研究要探討遊客經由對於地方特色產品的瞭解，對於旅遊地意象及重遊意願是否有影響，而可讓地方政府及當地業者知道影響遊客對於旅遊地意象為何種產品信念，也藉此做為未來發展相關地方特色產品或強塑旅遊地意象的參考，讓地方特色產品與遊客產生消費或體驗共鳴，更能提升其地方觀光效益。 本研究目的在驗證：探討不同的地方特色產品信念內容對於遊客建立旅遊地意象的影響程度以及探討旅遊地意象在不同產品信念與重遊意願兩者間的中介關係。本研究採立意抽樣方式，在彰化縣鹿港鎮取得共174份鹿港遊客之調查問卷，用以提供對鹿港之整體意象、重遊意願與對鹿港不同類型人文資源之地方特色產品信念等初級資料。經結構方程模型分析結果，顯示遊客對鹿港之整體意象在鹿港小吃產品信念與鹿港重遊意願間具有中介效果，其餘如：鹿港工藝品、鹿港天后宮等，則不具有中介效果；另外，鹿港小吃、鹿港工藝品、鹿港天后宮三類地方特色產品信念對於鹿港整體意象具有影響效果，且鹿港整體意象對遊客重遊意願亦具有影響效果。 根據本研究結果，建議鹿港未來可搭配現今所發展出的文化創意產業，妥善運用其歷史背景及其現地保有的歷史資源，能夠藉由鹿港的現有的有形及無形資產，在不同類型人文資源上打造特有的古城文化，讓遊客能夠有多元角度的體驗鹿港古鎮氛圍，將其對鹿港之意象深化變成對外的口碑宣傳，甚至影響其重遊意願，整體地方觀光效益得已提升拉抬。同時亦希望藉由此研究調查能夠讓其他各縣市政府做為未來地方特色產品及地方觀光推動的參考依據。This study aims not only to explore and verify how the product beliefs in different local specialty will influence tourists’ destination image, but also to analyze the mediating effects of destination image on the relationship between various product beliefs and the willingness to revisit. A sample consisted of 174 on-site visitors was obtained at Lukang, Changhua County through a purposive sampling procedure. The primary data regarding sample members’ respondents’ overall image of Lukang, their willingness to revisit, and their product beliefs regarding various types of local specialty products were collected through structured questionnaires. The results revealed from the structural equation modeling show that respondents’ overall image of Lukang mediates the relationship between product belief of local food and the willingness to revisit, and the overall image also affects willingness to revisit directly. Based on the research results, it is suggested that in the future, the cultural and creative industries that have been developed in Lukang can be incorporated, and the historical background and existing historic resources can be better applied. That way, Lukang’s tangible and intangible assets, along with a wide range of cultural resources, can help to establish the unique culture of Lukang as an ancient city, allow tourists to experience Lukang’s nostalgic ambience from diverse perspectives, and promote Lukang’s tourism according to their imagery of it. This can have a further positive influence on their willingness to revisit Lukang, thereby increasing the profits of regional tourism. Meanwhile, it is hoped that this study can serve as a reference for other city/county governments in promoting local specialty products and tourism第一章 緒論 1 第一節 研究背景與動機 1 第二節 研究目的 2 第三節 研究範圍及對象 2 第二章 文獻回顧 3 第一節 產品信念 3 第二節 旅遊地意象 12 第三章 研究方法 18 第一節 研究架構 18 第二節 研究假設 19 第三節 衡量變數與操作型定義 19 第四節 研究設計 21 第四章 資料分析 25 第一節 樣本描述與敍述性統計分析 25 第二節 信效度分析 27 第三節 中介效果之路徑分析 30 第四節 路徑分析結論 34 第五章 結論與建議 35 第一節 研究結論 35 第二節 研究貢獻 36 第三節 管理意涵 36 第四節 研究限制與未來建議 37 參考文獻 39 附錄一、正式問卷 47 附錄二、問卷編碼表 5

Preventive effect of fat accumulation by Curcuma longa L. (MingDao No. 1 turmeric) rhizomes in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and high fat diet-induced obese BALB/c mice

Obesity is caused by an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, which increases the size of adipocytes by conversion of extra energy to lipids and accumulates in adipose tissues. Obesity is associated with the variety of diseases such as diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver, dyslipidemia, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Preadipocyte differentiation is a major process to determine the number of mature adipocytes in the development of obesity. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-adipogenesis effects of essential oil from Curcuma longa L. rhizomes (MingDao No. 1 turmeric essential oil, MDTE) in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were exposed to the adipogenic medium followed by treated with curcumin (tCur), ar-turmerone (aTur) and MDTE during differentiation process. After 9 days treatment, the levels of lipid accumulation were determined by Oil Red O staining. The glycerol release and heparin-releasable LPL activity were used to evaluate the lipolysis and lipogenesis functions. RT-PCR (real time-polymerase chain reaction) analysis was used to estimate the gene expression of adipocytes differentiation and lipid metabolism. The results showed that 20 μM tCur, 1 μM aTur and 20 ~ 50 μg/mL MDTE treatments could significantly inhibit the lipid accumulation and MDTE increased the glycerol release by up-regulating lipolysis activity. The mRNA expressions of C/EBPδ, C/EBPβ, C/EBPα, PPARγ and SREBP-1c were reduced during preadipocytes differentiation, as well as LPL, CD36, GLUT4, aP2, ACC1 and FAS expressions were down-regulated in triglyceride synthesis pathway and resistin secretion was decreased by adipocytes. The preventive effect of fat accumulation by Curcuma longa L. (MingDao No. 1 turmeric powder, MDTP) was evaluated in vivo model. Eleven-week-old male BALB/c mice were fed normal diet as control group (n=8) and high-fat diet to induce obesity (n=32) for twelve weeks. Subsequently, obesity BALB/c mice were randomly divided into four groups (n=8), including high-fat diet (HFD), HFD plus 1.25% MDTP (LCL), HFD plus 2.5% MDTP (MCL) and HFD plus 5% MDTP (HCL) groups. All samples were fed for twelve weeks. Body weights and food intake of BALB/c mice were weekly recorded. After sacrifice, serum biochemical parameters and histopathological analysis were assayed. The results showed that administration of LCL, MCL and HCL significantly reduced body weights (13.27%, 12.42% and 9.91%), body fat ratio (2.05%, 2.03% and 2.09%), serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and triglyceride levels compared to the HFD group (p<0.05). Histopathological analysis revealed that the score of fatty liver in HFD group (5.00.0) was significantly higher than that of LCL, MCL and HCL groups (3.31.0, 2.90.6 and 1.60.7, respectively) (p<0.05). Real-time PCR analysis indicated that LCL, MCL and HCL increased the mRNA expression of PPARα and CPT-1 compared to the HFD group (p<0.05). In conclusion, tCur, aTur and MDTE can inhibit the differentiation and lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Furthermore, oral administration of MDTP is beneficial for the suppression of fat accumulation in obese BALB/c mice.肥胖是指能量攝取與消耗無法達到平衡，造成脂肪過度的堆積於脂肪組織，使得罹患疾病的風險增加，進而影響健康的一種狀態。與肥胖相關的疾病包括糖尿病、非酒精性脂肪肝、血脂異常、高血壓及心血管疾病等。在肥胖之發展過程中，前脂肪細胞的分化是決定成熟脂肪細胞數目之主要因素。本研究目的為探討明道一號薑黃精油(MingDao No. 1 turmeric essential oil, MDTE)抑制3T3-L1前脂肪細胞分化及抑制油滴堆積之效果。在體外細胞試驗中，以薑黃素(curcumin, tCur)、芳香薑黃酮(ar-turmerone, aTur)及MDTE處理3T3-L1 前脂肪細胞，於分化後第九天，利用油紅染色方法分析3T3-L1成熟脂肪細胞內油滴堆積之情形，並進行脂解作用與脂質生合成活性分析來評估成熟脂肪細胞甘油釋放量與肝素釋放脂蛋白脂解酶 (heparin-releasable LPL, HR-LPL)活性，並配合即時聚合酶鏈鎖反應(real time-polymerase chain reaction,RT-PCR)結果分析相關基因之表現量。結果顯示，20 μM tCur、1 μM aTur及20 ~ 50 μg/mL MDTE 處理後可顯著抑制細胞中油滴堆積(p<0.05)，且 MDTE 可藉由向上調控脂解活性來增加甘油釋放量。20 μM tCur、1 μM aTur 及 50 μg/mL MDTE 處理後可顯著減少脂肪細胞分化期間之相關基因 (C/EBPδ、C/EBPβ、C/EBPα、PPARγ 及SREBP-1c) 表現量，及向下調控與三酸甘油酯合成之相關基因 (LPL、CD36、GLUT4、aP2、ACC1 及 FAS) 表現量，並減少脂肪細胞分泌抵抗素 (p<0.05)。以體內動物試驗模式評估，明道一號薑黃粉末 (MingDao No. 1 turmeric powder,MDTP)對於BALB/c小鼠不易形成體脂肪之效果。11週齡BALB/c雄性小鼠給予正常飼料(n=8)及高脂飼料(n=32)持續12週，分別作為控制組(normaldiet, CON)及誘導肥胖組。接著將肥胖之BALB/c雄性小鼠隨機分成 4 組(n=8)，包括高脂組 (high-fat diet, HFD)、低劑量薑黃組(HFD + 1.25% MDTP, LCL)、中劑量薑黃組(HFD+2.5%MDTP, MCL)及高劑量薑黃組(HFD + 5% MDTP,HCL)，持續餵食樣品12週後犧牲。實驗期間每週紀錄小鼠體重及飼料攝取量，犧牲後進行血清生化值分析和組織切片之判讀。結果顯示，LCL、MCL和HCL組之體重與HFD組相比，分別顯著降低13.27、12.42和9.91%；體脂肪率顯著降低2.05、2.03和2.09%；且血清中天門冬胺酸轉胺酶、胺基丙胺酸轉胺酶和三酸甘油酯含量也顯著降低 (p<0.05)。在肝組織切片結果顯示，HFD組脂肪肝分數(5.00.0)顯著高於CON組(1.90.6)，而LCL、MCL和HCL組脂肪肝分數(3.31.0、2.90.6和 1.60.7)顯著低於HFD組(p<0.05)，且呈現劑量效應關係。以 RT-PCR分析肝臟中基因表現量，結果發現LCL、MCL和HCL組之PPARα及CPT-1基因表現量與HFD 組相比顯著增加 (p<0.05)。綜合上述結果，tCur、aTur及MDTE可有效抑制3T3-L1前脂肪細胞分化及油滴的堆積；此外，餵食MDTP可有效地抑制BALB/c雄性小鼠體脂肪的生成。摘要.......................I Abstract ....................................... III 目錄..................................V 表目錄.................................VIII 圖目錄....................................IX 縮寫表....................................XII 第一章 前言.................................... 1 第二章 文獻整理....................................... 3 一、肥胖 (Obesity) 之介紹 ..............................3 (一) 肥胖之定義............................3 (二) 肥胖之成因.......................................7 (三) 肥胖對健康之危害......................................8 二、脂肪組織 (Adipose tissue) 之介紹 ......................................................15 三、脂肪組織儲存與分解脂質之調控..........................17 (一) 脂質之生合成 (Lipogenesis)..........................17 (二) 脂解作用 (Lipolysis) ...............................23 (三) 脂肪細胞激素 (Adipokine) ...........................25 四、肝臟中脂肪酸代謝相關之基因.............................26 (一) 過氧化體增生劑活化受體 α (Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α, PPARα) ...............26 (二) 肉鹼棕櫚醯基轉移酶-1 (Carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1, CPT-1) ..26 五、3T3-L1 前脂肪細胞 (Preadipocyte) 之分化............................................ 27 (一) 前脂肪細胞株之介紹...............................27 (二) 前脂肪細胞之分化過程.................................27 (三) 脂肪細胞分化之相關轉錄因子 (Transcription factors) ................... 32 六、薑黃 (Curcuma longa, Turmeric) 之介紹 ................................................. 35 (一) 薑黃之功效性成分..........................35 (二) 薑黃之生理活性..........................37 七、研究動機與目的.................................47 第三章 材料與方法..............................49 一、實驗儀器及藥品.......................49 (一) 儀器設備....................................49 (二) 藥品試劑.....................................50 二、實驗材料...........................................51 三、實驗方法.............................................52 (一) 明道一號薑黃精油之製備...............................52 (二) 3T3-L1 前脂肪細胞之體外實驗模式 ............................................... 53 (三) 體內動物實驗模式..........................65 (四) 統計學分析...............................68 第四章 結果與討論..............................69 一、明道一號薑黃精油之 GC-MS 成分分析 .................................................69 二、3T3-L1 前脂肪細胞之體外實驗模式 ....................................................... 75 (一) 3T3-L1 前脂肪細胞之培養與分化 ................................................... 75 (二) 3T3-L1 前脂肪細胞存活率之影響 ................................................... 75 (三) 薑黃素、芳香薑黃酮及明道一號薑黃精油對 3T3-L1 前脂肪細胞分 化及油滴堆積情形之影響.............................78 (四) 薑黃素、芳香薑黃酮及明道一號薑黃精油對 3T3-L1 成熟脂肪細胞 heparin-releasable LPL (HR-LPL) 濃度之影響......................................... 84 (五) 薑黃素、芳香薑黃酮及明道一號薑黃精油對 3T3-L1 成熟脂肪細胞 脂解活性之影響....................................84 (六) 薑黃素、芳香薑黃酮及明道一號薑黃精油對 3T3-L1 成熟脂肪細胞基因表現量之影響............................. 87 三、體內動物實驗模式..............................94 (一) 明道一號薑黃粉末對高脂飲食誘導肥胖 BALB/c 小鼠體重和飼料 攝取量之影響....................................94 (二) 明道一號薑黃粉末對高脂飲食誘導肥胖 BALB/c 小鼠臟器重量之 影響...............................94 (三) 明道一號薑黃粉末對高脂飲食誘導肥胖之 BALB/c 小鼠體脂肪率 之影響........................................ 97 (四) 明道一號薑黃粉末對高脂飲食誘導肥胖 BALB/c 小鼠血清生化參 數之影響......................................100 (五) 明道一號薑黃粉末對高脂飲食誘導肥胖之 BALB/c 小鼠肝臟組織 脂肪堆積之影響..........................102 (六) 明道一號薑黃粉末對高脂飲食誘導肥胖 BALB/c 小鼠肝臟組織中 基因表現量之影響............................102 (七) 明道一號薑黃粉末對高脂飲食誘導肥胖 BALB/c 小鼠副睪脂肪組 織中脂肪細胞大小之影響........................................105 (八) 明道一號薑黃粉末對高脂飲食誘導肥胖 BALB/c 小鼠腎臟組織之 影響..........................105 第五章 總結論....................... 109 第六章 參考文獻....................................11

Clinical characteristics of hospitalized children with community-acquired pneumonia and respiratory infections: Using machine learning approaches to support pathogen prediction at admission

Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are common in children. We developed machine learning models to predict pediatric ARI pathogens at admission. Methods: We included hospitalized children with respiratory infections between 2010 and 2018. Clinical features were collected within 24 h of admission to construct models. The outcome of interest was the prediction of 6 common respiratory pathogens, including adenovirus, influenza virus types A and B, parainfluenza virus (PIV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP). Model performance was estimated using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Feature importance was measured using Shapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP) values. Results: A total of 12,694 admissions were included. Models trained with 9 features (age, event pattern, fever, C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, platelet count, lymphocyte ratio, peak temperature, peak heart rate) achieved the best performance (AUROC: MP 0.87, 95% CI 0.83–0.90; RSV 0.84, 95% CI 0.82–0.86; adenovirus 0.81, 95% CI 0.77–0.84; influenza A 0.77, 95% CI 0.73–0.80; influenza B 0.70, 95% CI 0.65–0.75; PIV 0.73, 95% CI 0.69–0.77). Age was the most important feature to predict MP, RSV and PIV infections. Event patterns were useful for influenza virus prediction, and C-reactive protein had the highest SHAP value for adenovirus infections. Conclusion: We demonstrate how artificial intelligence can assist clinicians identify potential pathogens associated with pediatric ARIs upon admission. Our models provide explainable results that could help optimize the use of diagnostic testing. Integrating our models into clinical workflows may lead to improved patient outcomes and reduce unnecessary medical costs