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Various perspectives on higher education have been addressed to support the arguments of expansion issues, while studies on prediction to tackle the phenomenon are very limited. In this study, we focus on series data for tackling the problem of over-expansion in higher education and explore how the decrease in birth rate and potential enrollment might challenge the oversupply system. Based on time-series data from the Ministry of Education and Ministry of the Interior in Taiwan, we conducted a cross-correlation function and ARIMA models to detect trends in student cohorts and enrollment. The results reveal that enrollment in the higher education system will drop significantly in the next 10 years. Based on the trajectory, this study suggests remodeling the higher education system to adapt to the trend of potential enrollment. This study suggests that cutting current capacity is the most likely strategy for the Ministry of Education. Related policy makers and institutional leaders should consider both local boundaries and the global context when reinventing the higher education system.

Taiwan is facing population aging, a decreasing fertility rate, and reduced adherence to the traditional practice of filial piety. Society as a whole has negative stereotypes about older adults, who are regarded as unproductive burdens on their families and society. Older adults experience ageism from others as well as their own as they grow older, they even have low regard for themselves, seeing themselves as weak, sickly, and unable to work. How can we explore the exact attitudes of younger people toward older adults? Doing so is crucial for society to reverse its ageism against the older adult and foster harmonious intergenerational interactions by promoting positive concepts about aging. This study employed interactive qualitative analysis(IQA), which is a rigorous and systematic mixed method of research, to ensure the consistency, coherence, and structural quality of focus group members' opinions, which were consolidated to identify the components of the problem. Quantitative exploratory power analysis was then performed to produce a mindmap with causal relationships. Then, interviews were also conducted for data validation and interpretation. The key research results were as follows: (1)the four key mental thoughts of university students' attitudes toward older adults: Traditional Mind-set(TM), Physiological State(PS), Life Attitude(LA), and Social Interaction(SI). (2) the university students' mindmap to older adults is Traditional Mind-set-orientated and Physiological State-orientated. (3)the five propositions were validated: TM➔FC, TM➔LA, PS➔LA, NM➔LA, and NM➔SI. In future research, we can by defining these five propositions as hypotheses, develop a scale to measure the variable, and conduct quantitative empirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative design-based education is a student-centered approach that aims to nurture students' proactivity, creativity, and interdisciplinary integrated skills. The curriculum planning of a course in this study incorporated design-based learning with the 4D design process. Three units were planned: field exploration and concept development, 3D wearable creations, and cultural landscape shaping. Each unit was co-taught by an interdisciplinary teacher. By means of teamwork, the students explored agricultural spaces and cultural stories, then used paper materials and mixed media to create wearable creations. Afterward, they visually recorded their unique views of traditional spaces and created cultural landscape images. To elucidate their learning outcomes and creative expression, this study adopted a mixed-methods approach. The results are as follows: (1) The students experienced positive growth in their five core competencies. Their "field-based knowledge" and "skills and technological value" were significantly improved. (2) The five major perspectives of the students pointed out that creativity stems from multicultural symbols, the learning outside-the-classroom approach reinvigorated motivation, more confidence is gained through learning by doing, teamwork can create more possibilities, and discovering one's other interests is possible through diverse exploratory approaches. (3) The teacher summarized the feasibility of designing and implementing innovative courses under three themes: conversing with methods, conversing with cultures, and conversing with teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid development and deployment of vaccines is crucial to control the continuously evolving COVID-19 pandemic. The placebo-controlled phase 3 efficacy trial is still the standard for authorizing vaccines in the majority of the world. However, due to a lack of eligible participants in parts of the world, this has not always been feasible. Recently, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, following the consensus of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA), adopted the use of immunobridging studies as acceptable for authorizing COVID-19 vaccines in lieu of efficacy data. Here, we describe a study in which our candidate vaccine, MVC-COV1901, an adjuvanted protein subunit vaccine, has been granted emergency use authorization (EUA) in Taiwan based on a noninferiority immunobridging study. Immunogenicity results from the per protocol immunogenicity (PPI) subset (n = 903) from the MVC-COV1901 phase 2 trial were compared with results from 200 subjects who had received an adenovirus vector vaccine, AstraZeneca ChAdOx nCOV-19 (AZD1222), in a separate study. The lower bound of the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the geometric mean titer (GMT) ratio comparing MVC-COV1901 to AZD1222 was 3.4. The lower bound of the 95% CI of the sero-response rate was 95.5%. Both the GMT ratio and sero-response rate exceeded the criteria established by the Taiwan regulatory authority, leading to EUA approval of MVC-COV1901 in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of municipal wastewater treatment by a subsurface cobble-bed biofilm system (SCBS) in Taipei, Taiwan. In contrast to traditional wastewater treatment facilities, SCBS uses cobbles as the contact media in the biofilm treatment unit. In this study, the SCBS consists of a series of underground treatment units, including a sedimentation tank, a grit chamber, two bar screens, a pumping station, a distribution tank, a collection tank and an effluent tank. At the flowrate of 4000m3/day, the average influent concentrations for biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solid, ammonium nitrogen, and total phosphorus were 66.99mg/L, 26.14mg/L, 17.33mg/L, and 1.96mg/L, respectively. After 39 months of operation, the measured influent and effluent results show that the treatment efficiencies obtained from the SCBS for biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solid, ammonium nitrogen, and total phosphorus are 91.3%, 84.0%, 84.0%, and 26.0%, respectively. The result of a first-order kinetic analysis shows that the NH3-N degradation constant is greater than the BOD degradation constant in this cobble-bed biofilm unit. Probability analysis revealed that the SCBS may be an attractive alternative from the perspectives of treatment efficiency for municipal wastewater treatment. Klebsiella spp. were found to be the predominant species in the biofilm system in the SCBS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The ABO blood group system is the most important blood group system in transfusion medicine. In addition to the major A, B and O alleles, many rare alleles with weak expression of the A or B antigens on RBCs have been defined. We report here the molecular analysis of a novel A(el) allele. Exons 6 and 7 of the ABO gene were PCR-amplified, cloned and sequenced for the propositus, Mr C, who is a 56-year-old Taiwanese male and was incidentally observed to have an A(el) phenotype. His direct family members including wife, son and daughter were subsequently enrolled for further study. Three hundred random blood donors of AB phenotype served as control. A novel A(el) allele was uncovered from the propositus and his daughter, of which a unique 816insG mutation occurred on the A102 background that results in a frame shift leading to a 37-amino acid longer polypeptide than the normal A1 transferase, a finding similar to that of Ael01 allele with 804insG. We found that the C family carried a novel A(el) allele that differs molecularly from seven A(el) alleles reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims: Although a low level of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is a marker of hepatitis B virus (HBV) seroclearance, additional biomarkers are needed for more accurate prediction. We investigated whether quantification of antibody against HBV core protein (anti-HBc) can identify patients with undetectable levels of HBV DNA and HBsAg seroclearance among those who were HBV e antigen (HBeAg)-seronegative., Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of data from a community-based cohort of individuals (30-65 years old) in Taiwan who were HBsAg seropositive, anti-HCV negative, and free of cirrhosis and/or liver cancer, recruited from 1991 through 1992, and evaluated every 6-12 months until June 30, 2004. We measured levels of anti-HBc in blood samples from 2500 participants who were seronegative for HBeAg. The first date at which a sample tested negative for HBV DNA or HBsAg, and remained negative in subsequent tests, was designated as the date of spontaneous HBV DNA undetectability or HBsAg seroclearance. We calculated cumulative incidences of HBV DNA undetectability and HBsAg seroclearance; associations between level of anti-HBc and undetectability of HBV DNA or HBsAg seroclearance were estimated by Cox proportional hazard regression. The effects of time on the associations between level of anti-HBc and HBsAg seroclearance was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) analysis., Results: After a 12-year follow-up period, higher proportions of subjects with levels of anti-HBc <3 log IU/mL had undetectable levels of HBV DNA (58%) and HBsAg seroclearance (53%) than subjects with higher levels of anti-HBc (29.6% and 19.8%, respectively) (P < .001). For subjects with levels of HBsAg <10 2 IU/mL and anti-HBc <3 log IU/mL, the adjusted rate ratio of HBV DNA undetectability was 16.45 (95% CI, 11.15-24.28) and of HBsAg seroclearance was 17.95 (95% CI, 12.49-25.81), compared to subjects with higher levels of HBsAg and anti-HBc. A model that included level of anti-HBc as a parameter identified subjects with HBsAg seroclearance within 10 years with an AUROC of 82%; this value was significantly higher than that from models that include only level of HBV DNA and HBsAg (P < .0001)., Conclusions: In a retrospective analysis of a large cohort of patients with chronic HBV infection in Taiwan, we associated levels of anti-HBc <3 log IU/mL with undetectable HBV DNA and HBsAg seroclearance occurred within 10 years; patients who also have levels of HBsAg <10 2 IU/mL have greater odds. Combining data on levels of HBsAg, HBV DNA, and anti-HBc is able to identify HBeAg-seronegative patients who can achieve HBsAg seroclearance with an AUROC value of 82%., (Copyright © 2019 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Previous genome-wide association studies using P-values to select single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have suffered from high false-positive and false-negative results. This case-control study recruited 713 late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) cases and controls aged ≥65 from three teaching hospitals in northern Taiwan from 2007 to 2010. Performance metrics were used to select SNPs in stage 1, which were then genotyped to another dataset (stage 2). Four SNPs (CPXM2 rs2362967, APOC1 rs4420638, ZNF521 rs7230380, and rs12965520) were identified for LOAD by both traditional P-values (without correcting for multiple tests) and performance metrics. After correction for multiple tests, no SNPs were identified by traditional P-values. Simultaneous testing of APOE e4 and APOC1 rs4420638 (the SNP with the best performance in the performance metrics) significantly improved the low sensitivity of APOE e4 from 0.50 to 0.78. A point-based genetic model including these 2 SNPs and important covariates was constructed. Compared with elders with low-risks score (0-6), elders belonging to moderate-risk (score = 7-11) and high-risk (score = 12-18) groups showed a significantly increased risk of LOAD (adjusted odds ratio = 7.80 and 46.93, respectively; P trend  < 0.0001). Performance metrics allow for identification of markers with moderate effect and are useful for creating genetic tests with clinical and public health implications.

Background: Highly polymorphic autosomal short-tandem-repeat (STR) analysis can be useful in most kinship testing. Y-chromosome-specific STRs, in contrast, have been increasingly applied for the verification of equivocal paternal genetic transmissions., Study Design and Methods: A total of 338 unrelated males were first typed for the 9-loci Y-STR European minimal haplotype (minHt). Samples with haplotypes that were found at least two times were subject to further study by a commercially available 17-Y-STR multiplex set (AmpFlSTR Yfiler). A separate clinical study for 113 various kinship identifications of male genetic transmission were then conducted by a panel consisting of 18 autosomal STRs and complemented by both Y-STR multiplex sets and their respective results compared., Results: For the 338 individuals, a total of 270 haplotypes were identified after the minHt study, of which 234 were unique. Among the rest of the 104 samples, AmpFlSTR Yfiler identified 82 other unique haplotypes. Altogether, 324 different haplotypes were observed; 316 (97.5%) were unique whereas 8 were shared by two to seven times. The haplotype diversities for the minHt and the AmpFlSTR Yfiler were 99.75 and 99.96 percent, respectively, whereas the powers of discrimination (PDs) were 79.88 and 95.86 percent, respectively. Despite a lower PD for minHt, there was no discrepancy on the clinical setting for personal identification between the two Y-STR sets in an allegedly true male lineage transmission involving 66 cases with 24 father-son, 19 siblings, 9 uncle-nephew, 8 grandfather-grandson, 3 cousins, and 3 half-siblings. For 47 other cases with a false allegation of paternity, exclusion was made for all without ambiguity by either Y-STR panel., Conclusion: The 9-loci minHt Y-STR set is adequate to complement conventional autosomal STRs for kinship studies where Y-lineage transmission is concerned.