Excess Mortality and Containment Performance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From 34 Countries.

To expand COVID-19 containment indicators to evaluate the relationship between excess mortality and government response. We developed a longitudinal study analyzing excess mortality, COVID-19 containment, and structural conditions in 34 countries between 2020 and 2022. The average excess mortality ratios of the 34 countries were 1.

On estimation of overall treatment effects in multiregional clinical trials under a discrete random effects model.

Multiregional clinical trials (MRCTs) have become a standard strategy for pharmaceutical product development worldwide. The heterogeneity of regional treatment effects is anticipated in an MRCT. For a two-group comparative study in an MRCT, patient assignments, including regional weights and treatment allocation ratios, are predetermined under the same protocol.

Role of Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation Therapy for Resectable and Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Randomized trials and meta-analyses have indicated longer survival with neoadjuvant than with adjuvant therapy in patients with resectable or borderline resectable (R/BR) pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Despite the efficacy of chemotherapy, the role of radiation therapy as an adjuvant or neoadjuvant treatment for patients with R/BR pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains unclear. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we compared the benefits of additional chemoradiation therapy (CRT) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with NAC alone for R/BR pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Mechanical transmission of dengue virus by Aedes aegypti may influence disease transmission dynamics during outbreaks.

Background: Dengue virus outbreaks are increasing in number and severity worldwide. Viral transmission is assumed to require a minimum time period of viral replication within the mosquito midgut. It is unknown if alternative transmission periods not requiring replication are possible.

Screening and identification of emodin as an EBV DNase inhibitor to prevent its biological functions.

Background: The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a prevalent oncovirus associated with a variety of human illnesses. BGLF5, an EBV DNase with alkaline nuclease (AN) activity, plays important roles in the viral life cycle and progression of human malignancies and has been suggested as a possible diagnostic marker and target for cancer therapy. Methods used conventionally for the detection of AN activity, radioactivity-based nuclease activity assay and DNA digestion detection by gel electrophoresis, are not suitable for screening AN inhibitors; the former approach is unsafe, and the latter is complicated.

Validation of clinical frailty scale in Chinese translation.

Background: Identification of frailty is crucial to guide patient care for the elderly. The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is a reliable, synthesis and clinical judgment-based tool. However, a validated Chinese version of CFS (CFS-C) is lacking.

Discrimination of Methicillin-resistant by MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry with Machine Learning Techniques in Patients with Bacteremia.

Early administration of proper antibiotics is considered to improve the clinical outcomes of bacteremia (SAB), but routine clinical antimicrobial susceptibility testing takes an additional 24 h after species identification. Recent studies elucidated matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectra to discriminate methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA) or even incorporated with machine learning (ML) techniques. However, no universally applicable mass peaks were revealed, which means that the discrimination model might need to be established or calibrated by local strains' data.

Maintenance metronomic chemotherapy for metastatic/recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: We investigated the survival impact and toxicity of maintenance metronomic chemotherapy in patients with metastatic/recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (met/rec NPC).

Methods: Ninety-eight patients with met/rec NPC were first salvaged by IV cisplatin-based chemotherapy and showed nonprogression disease; then maintenance metronomic chemotherapy for at least 12 months was recommended. We analyzed the treatment outcome between patients who received (n = 51) and did not receive (n = 47) maintenance chemotherapy.

Association of the D-amino acid oxidase gene with methadone dose in heroin dependent patients under methadone maintenance treatment.

Methadone is a synthetic opioid used for the maintenance treatment (MMT) of heroin dependence. It primarily binds to the μ-opioid receptor (MOR; with its gene, namely OPRM1). Methadone is also an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist.

Nonpolio Enterovirus Activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Taiwan, 2020.

In Taiwan, lower nonpolio enterovirus activity during the coronavirus disease pandemic in 2020 compared with 2014-2019 might be attributable to adherence to nonpharmaceutical interventions. The preventable fraction among unexposed persons indicated that 90% of nonpolio enterovirus activity might have been prevented during 2014-2019 by adopting the same measures enforced in 2020.

The effect of preventing subclinical transmission on the containment of COVID-19: Mathematical modeling and experience in Taiwan.

The control strategies preventing subclinical transmission differed among countries. A stochastic transmission model was used to assess the potential effectiveness of control strategies at controlling the COVID-19 outbreak. Three strategies included lack of prevention of subclinical transmission (Strategy A), partial prevention using testing with different accuracy (Strategy B) and complete prevention by isolating all at-risk people (Strategy C, Taiwan policy).

Real-time dengue forecast for outbreak alerts in Southern Taiwan.

Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes. In recent decades, dengue fever has spread throughout the world. In 2014 and 2015, southern Taiwan experienced its most serious dengue outbreak in recent years.