110023 research outputs found
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Reference evapotranspiration prediction using high-order response surface method
No full text[[abstract]]The precision of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) predictions would vary, depending on the adopted empirical method and the availability of meteorological data. This study aims to enhance the prediction accuracy of ETo using the high-order response surface method (HO-RSM). Daily scale climatological information are used to build the predictive model including maximum temperature (Tmax), maximum humidity (Hmax), wind speed (WS), solar radiation (SR), and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), which are obtained from three observation stations in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Ten models corresponding to ten different input combination sets are evaluated for variability influence by comparing the predicted ETo with the observed ETo. The models presented a similar performance at both Gaoua and Boromo stations with the determination coefficient (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) values ranging between 0.6831–0.9966 (0.0622–0.5065) and 0.7237–0.9948 (0.0722–0.4942), respectively. As for the Dori station, the models showed a lower performance with R2 (RMSE) values ranging between 0.2068 and 0.5229 (0.8292–1.0051), which may be due to the insufficient input variables or the requirement of higher order in RSM modeling for this station. Results also showed that the M10 model that includes all five input variables performed the best at three stations, with respect to the statistical performance. This is followed by the M7 model, which excluded the Hmax in the prediction, suggesting that Hmax has the least influence on the ETo prediction among all the input variables. The insignificant trend in selecting the optimum order of the RSM also showed that HO-RSM is case sensitive and hence precautions are required for generalizing model applications
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) fabricating potential of aqueous shoot extract of Aristolochia bracteolata and assessed their antioxidant efficiency
No full text[[abstract]]This research was performed to evaluate the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) fabricating potential of aqueous shoot extract of Aristolochia bracteolata and also assess the free radicals scavenging potential of synthesized AgNPs. The results obtained from this study showed that the aqueous shoot extract of A. bracteolata has the potential to synthesize the AgNPs and it was initially confirmed by color change in the reaction blend as yellow to dark brownish. Subsequently, a clear absorbance peak was found at 425 nm in UV–visible spectrum analysis. The functional groups involved in the capping and stabilization of AgNPs were confirmed by Fourier Transform-Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis and recorded about 10 sharp peaks 3688, 3401, 2980, 2370, 1948, 1642, 1480, 1280, 782, and 628 cm?1. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) observations revealed that the predominant shape of the AgNPs was spherical and size ranged from 41.43 to 60.51 nm. Interestingly, the green fabricated AgNPs showed significant free radicals scavenging activity and were confirmed with ferric reducing assay, 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), H2O2 radicals, and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radicals scavenging activity. Thus, after a few in-vivo antioxidant studies, Aristolochia bracteolata-mediated AgNPs can be considered as an antioxidant agent
An Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal plants in Kinmen.
No full text[[abstract]]Kinmen is an outlying island that has the richest plant resources in Taiwan. The objective of this study was to record the methods that people in Kinmen use medicinal plants and to analyze the cultural characteristics of their use. Field investigations were carried out in various towns and villages in Kinmen, and 80 respondents were included in the survey. The search for respondents was conducted through local elderly people and medicinal plant groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the local people to obtain their knowledge of medicinal plants and how they disseminate this information. Informed consent was obtained prior to the interviews, and the following was determined: plant use value (UV), frequency of citation (FC), and factor of informant consensus (Fic). These parameters were used to quantify the data and measure the agreement among the respondents on using plants to treat different diseases. Finally, the survey results were compared with the representative ethnobotanical literature in neighboring areas to evaluate the similarity between plant usage in Kinmen and neighboring areas as well as to determine whether there are new species or novel usages in the study area. In the Kinmen area, phytotherapy is generally used by elderly people with low educational attainments. According to the survey results, 83 medicinal plants belonging to 48 families were collected. These medicinal plants were mainly distributed in the Compositae, Lamiaceae, and Solanaceae families. Eighteen novel uses that have not been previously documented were found, four of which were related to newly recorded medicinal plant species in the Kinmen area. The results showed that 93.98 and 65.06% of the species collected in the present study were also recorded in literature from Taiwan and Fujian, respectively. This study showed that Kinmen’s ethnobotanical knowledge is closely related to the Catalogue of Medicinal Plant Resources in Taiwan, and local people indeed shared similar uses of medicinal species with people in Taiwan and Fujian (46.99%). The results from this study highlighted the importance of traditional medicine in the Kinmen area, where people have a specific understanding of using medicinal plants and communication with people in Taiwan and Fujian Province in China. It was found that Kinmen shares ethnobotanical knowledge with Taiwan and Fujian
Association between Preexisting Sarcopenia and Stroke in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
No full text[[abstract]]Objectives: This propensity score-matched population-based cohort study compared stroke risk between patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without preexisting sarcopenia.
Research design and methods: We used data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database for the period from January 2008 to December 2019. We recruited patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and categorized them into two groups at a ratio of 1:1 on the basis of diagnosed sarcopenia. The matching variables were age, sex, income level, urbanization level, diabetes severity (adapted Diabetes Complications Severity Index [aDCSI Scores]), Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), other comorbidities associated with stroke, smoking status, medication use, and types of antidiabetic medications. The matching process yielded a final cohort of 104,120 patients (52,060 and 52,060 in the sarcopenia and nonsarcopenia groups, respectively) who were eligible for inclusion in subsequent analyses.
Results: In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR; 95% CI) of stroke for the sarcopenia diabetes group compared with the control group was 1.13 (1.10, 1.16; P < 0.001), after controlling for age, sex, CCI, and aDCSI scores. The incidence rates of stroke for the sarcopenia and nonsarcopenia groups were 295.98 and 260.68 per 10,000 person-years, respectively. The significant IRR (95% CI) of stroke was 1.14 (1.09, 1.17) for the sarcopenia diabetes group compared with the nonsarcopenic diabetes group.
Conclusion: Preexisting sarcopenia increased the risk of stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
含有萊克多巴胺食品之預防性標示：食品安全避風港還是無法承受之負擔？
No full text[[abstract]]我國為WTO會員國，礙於美方壓力下，為加強對外經貿關係，乃決議參考國際食品法典委員會（CODEX委員會）之標準，2021年元旦開放含有「萊克多巴胺」（Ractopamine）的豬肉進口。因應我國政府開放進口萊豬政策，立法院准予備查豬隻用藥殘留量、外國萊豬進口及豬肉原產地標示等行政命令，但是16縣市要求零檢出，並自訂罰則，逾80家進口豬肉商宣布不進口萊豬。根據歐盟食品安全白皮書（the White Paper on Food Safety），歐盟應提供消費者重要而完整的資訊，消費者有告知後選擇（informed choices）之權利，商品需清楚地標示完整的成分與品質。我國政府在標示議題上，強制標示肉品產地，反對進口肉品標示萊劑，認為這是歧視性措施，妨礙台美經貿，本文以食品標示為中心，析論對含有萊克多巴胺食品之標示管理及其法律建制。[[abstract]]As a member of the World Trade Organization, with the goal to strengthen international trade, abiding to the standards of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CODEX Committee), Taiwan has allowed the importation of pork that contains ?Ractopamine? since January 1st of 2021, under the pressure from the United States. The policy to import pork led the Legislative Yuan to approve administrative orders such as the reporting of drug residues in pork, and the labeling requirements of imported pork as well as the country of origin. However, 16 counties have enacted their own regulations in which no residue of ractopamine shall be allowed or penalties would be charged. Over 80 pork importers have publicly announced their reluctance to import pork from the U.S. The White Paper adopted by the European Commission proposes an approach for achieving the highest standards of food safety in the EU. According to the White Paper, consumers have the right to make informed choices and they can achieve this only if products are clearly labeled to include full information on food quality and all constituents of the product. The Taiwanese government deems it adequate to label the country of origin of pork yet denounces the labeling of Ractopamine on imported products as the policy may be deemed discriminatory and may potentially harm the trading relationship between Taiwan and the U.S. This research focuses on food labeling and analyzes the labeling regulation and the underlying legal system pertinent to food containing Ractopamine
納保法實施後稅務專庭對於納稅者權利保障的實踐
No full text[[abstract]]立法院於2016年12月26日以專法的方式審議通過「納稅者權利保護法」（以下簡稱納保法），並且於2017年12月底正式實施。長期以來立法者僅著重達到國家稽徵效能的租稅立法政策在此做了重大的改變。納保法的實施，在於確保納稅義務人在憲法上所受保障的基本權利，如生存權、平等權、財產權、比例原則以及正當法律程序等能獲得實現。然而抽象的稅法條文仍有賴行政法院透過判決加以具體化，對此本文將在以下針對1.租稅法律主義之確認（納保法第3條）；2.量能課稅原則的實現（納保法第5條）；3.租稅規避之具體化（納保法第7條）；4.確立稽徵程序中徵納雙方義務及舉證責任（納保法第11、14條）；5.總額主義之確定（納保法第21條）為重心，探討行政法院近年來對於納稅者權利保護的重要貢獻。[[abstract]]The Legislative Yuan passed ?The Taxpayer Rights Protection Act? as a special law on December 26, 2016, which took effect at the end of December 2017. For a long time, the single objective of achieving the efficiency of tax collection embraced by the legislature had been changed. The implementation of the Taxpayer Rights Protection Act marks a significant turning point in this regard. Specifically, the implementation of the Taxpayer Rights Protection Act is to explicitly concretize, realize, and ensure the basic rights of taxpayers guaranteed by the Constitution, such as the rights to life, equality, property rights, the principle of proportionality, and due process of law. However, the abstract provisions of the Act still depend on the interpretation and decision of the administrative courts to achieve its intended legal objectives. Hence, this article focuses on the pertinent and recent cases under scrutiny based on the judgments of the administrative courts under the administrative law. It will focus on the following issues: 1) The confirmation of tax legalism (Article 3 of the Taxpayer Rights Protection Act), 2) The realization of equality principle in taxation (Article 5 of the Taxpayer Rights Protection Act), 3) The definition of tax avoidance (Article 7 of the Taxpayer Rights Protection Act), 4) The specific obligations of the parties and the burden of proof in the collection process (Articles 11 and 14 of the Taxpayer Rights Protection Act), and 5) The determination of the principle of taxation on net income (Article 2 the Taxpayer Rights Protection Act). It will also analyze and address the important contribution of the administrative courts to the protection of taxpayers' rights in recent years
HE NEXUS BETWEEN CASH CONVERSION CYCLE, WORKING CAPITAL FINANCE, AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM NOVEL MACHINE LEARNING APPROACHES
No full text[[abstract]]This study examines the moderating role of the cash conversion cycle (CCC) while investigating the effects of working capital finance (WCF) on firm performance. Using more than 18000 observations from Chinese manufacturing firms, we computed several proxies for each variable of the study and merged these proxies via Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to create one master proxy for each variable. These master proxies contain all the essential information of individual proxies. Hence, they are more useful in producing reliable results than individual proxies. We also compared the predicting power of 15 econometric and machine learning estimators to select the best estimator. Based on the highest R2 value, we used two machine learning estimators, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for subsequent analysis. To strengthen the empirical analysis, we employed another machine learning technique, i.e., the Bagging method, which is an ensembling technique that uses multiple estimators simultaneously to improve the accuracy and generalization of results. We used the Bagging method with 50KNN estimators. The findings unfold that the sensitivity level of firm performance to short-term debts shifts when the CCC period of firms fluctuates. More precisely, the WCF–performance relationship in firms with extended CCC is more sensitive compared with this relationship in the full sample. On segregating the three elements of CCC, we observe that the WCF–performance relationship in firms carrying extended account receivable (AR) days or extended Inventory days is more sensitive than the full sample. These findings are useful for firms’ management for revising the optimal level of short-term debts according to CCC fluctuation. Also, the lending agencies can use these results for the assessment of firms’ risk levels and adjustment of the interest rate
Study on the potential of Sanghuangporus sanghuang and its components as COVID-19 spike protein receptor binding domain inhibitors
No full text[[abstract]]Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has led to the most severe global pandemic, which began in Wuhan, China. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) combines with the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, allowing the virus to cross the membrane and enter the cell. SARS-CoV-2 is modified by the transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) to facilitate access to cells. Accordingly, ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are targets of vital importance for the avoidance of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Sanghuangporus sanghuang (SS) is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been demonstrated to have antitumor, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective and immunomodulatory properties. In this paper, we demonstrated that SS decreased ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression in cell lines and a mouse model without cytotoxicity or organ damage. Liver and kidney sections were confirmed to have reduced expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) assessment. Then, hispidin, DBA, PAC, PAD and CA, phenolic compounds of SS, were also tested and verified to reduce the expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2. In summary, the results indicate that SS and its phenolic compounds have latent capacity for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in the future
The contribution of PDCD6 polymorphisms to oral cancer risk
No full text[[abstract]]Background/Aim: Programmed cell death 6 (PDCD6) is up-regulated and highly expressed in early apoptotic cells. In several types of cancer, such as cervical, breast and lung cancers, the association of PDCD6 genotypes have been investigated. However, the contribution of PDCD6 variant genotypes to oral cancer has never been examined. The current study aimed to evaluate the contribution of the PDCD6 rs4957014 and rs3756712 genotypes to the risk of oral cancer in Taiwan.
Patients and Methods: The contribution of PDCD6 genotypes to oral cancer risk was examined among 958 patients with lung cancer and 958 age- and sex-matched healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).
Results: The data showed that the hetero-variant GT and homo-variant GG genotypes of PDCD6 rs4957014 were associated with a decreased risk of oral cancer [odds ratio (OR)=0.81 and 0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.67-0.97 and 0.27-0.56, respectively]. The recessive and dominant models also showed that G carriers have protective effects (OR=0.43 and 0.72, 95% CI=0.30-0.61 and 0.61-0.87, respectively). The analysis of allelic frequency distributions showed that the G allele of PDCD6 rs4957014 was associated with reduced oral cancer risk (OR=0.71, 95% CI=0.62-0.82). There was no significant association between any PDCD6 rs3756712 genotype and oral cancer risk. In addition, the GG genotype at PDCD6 rs4957014 significantly decreased the risk of oral cancer among both males (adjusted OR=0.31, 95%CI=0.24-0.56) and females (adjusted OR=0.44, 95% CI=0.22-0.91). Furthermore, the GG genotype at PDCD6 rs4957014 significantly decreased the risk of oral cancer among smokers (adjusted OR=0.35, 95% CI=0.22-0.58), alcohol drinkers (adjusted OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.18-0.49), non-betel quid chewers (adjusted OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.17-0.81), betel quid chewers (adjusted OR=0.34, 95% CI=0.21-0.59), but not among never-smokers and non-alcohol drinkers.
Conclusion: The G allele carriers of PDCD6 rs4957014 may have protective effects on oral cancer risk and serve as a practical marker for early detection of oral cancer in Taiwan
The Potential of the Oil-Producing Oleaginous Yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa for Sustainable Production of Bio-Oil Energy
No full text[[abstract]]At the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), many countries in the world agreed to reach the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This issue constrains energy use, petrochemical use, and related manufacturing production patterns. It is undeniable that the diesel engine of large equipment is still widely used in engineering applications, and it will not disappear in a short time. Many industrial projects still have to face the use of diesel engines. This study was focused on the development of oil-producing microorganisms to generate lipids. The oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa (R. mucilaginosa) was selected for liquid-state cultivation, and the conditions for growth of the yeast cells were assessed. For the liquid fermentation culture with a fixed inoculation amount of 5%, it was determined that a suitable oil-producing culture was obtained on the sixth day, and the optimum conditions involved a carbon source concentration of 60 g/L, a yeast extract concentration of 0.5 g/L, and a KH2PO4 concentration of 7.0 g/L for each batch of culture experiments. In addition, the extraction method and solvent for the extraction of R. mucilaginosa lipids were chosen. The acid-heat method using the green organic solvent ethyl acetate exhibited the best performance for extraction of yeast lipids under environmentally friendly and safe conditions. The analysis of lipids showed that the fatty acids obtained primarily contained C16:0, C18:1 and C18:2, and especially C18:1 (41%) lipids, indicating that R. mucilaginosa lipids are a good bio-oil source for the production of biodiesel