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Programs in the US and Taiwan result in reduced lifetime cardiovascular risk

Medical Xpress
Date: September 14, 2015

One in four middle-aged adults who survive to age 85 will develop heart failure, according to current estimates. Intervention programs to improve lifestyles are widely advocated, but do they actually work? Investigators in the U.S. and Taiwan independently examined programs that may reduce cardiovascular risk and concluded that both programs will reduce lifetime risk of heart failure. Results are reported in The American Journal of Medicine.

A group of American investigators estimated whether greater adherence to the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Life’s Simple 7 is associated with lower lifetime risk of heart failure and greater preservation of cardiac structure and function.

“Our study demonstrates that greater adherence to the AHA’s Life’s Simple 7 in middle age is associated with a lower lifetime occurrence of heart failure and greater preservation of cardiac structure and function,’ explained lead investigator Aaron R. Folsom, MD, of the Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota. ‘To lessen the public health burden of heart failure, cardiovascular disease, and potentially, other chronic diseases, health professionals need to encourage the public to optimize lifestyle-related risk factors before middle age.”

AHA recommends that Americans follow Life’s Simple 7, which describes ideal, intermediate, and poor levels of cardiovascular disease risk factors or behaviors: smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diet, total cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting serum glucose. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study documented that the number of ideal Simple 7 factors achieved is associated strongly and inversely with later incidence of total cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and cancer. Yet, no publication has specifically addressed the degree to which following this plan might lower lifetime heart failure risk or preserve cardiac structure and function in old age.     [FULL  STORY]

UDN faces accusation from Glaser over China policy

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-14
By: Jocylin FC, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan’s newspaper, United Daily News (UDN) faces accusation from China policy and 6702340security policy expert Bonnie Glaser for their deliberately misleading headline on the “1992 consensus”. UDN published an article on September 11 stating that Glaser was urging Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen to accept the ostensible “1992 consensus” and “one China policy”.

Glaser attended a panel discussion at a conference called “Cross-Strait Series: The Upcoming Taiwanese Elections” which is sponsored by the Atlantic Council on September 9. At the conference, she said in order to achieve the preservation of cross-strait stability, Chinese president Xi Jinping might say this to US President Barack Obama, “There must be acceptance by Taiwan’s next president of the 1992 consensus and more importantly, one China.”

However, the headlines in UDN presented her speech incorrectly and this article has been used by other Taiwanese media to question both parties’ presidential candidates. Glaser, a senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that UDN’s editors in Taipei “deliberately created a headline to mislead readers to think that I personally urged Tsai Ing-wen to accept the 1992 consensus and one China.”     [FULL  STORY]

Fans gear up for Maroon 5 concert in Taipei

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/14
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) Fans were lining up inside of the Taipei World Trade Center 201509140023t0001Nangang Exhibition Hall Monday evening full of anticipation for the first of two concerts by American pop rock band Maroon 5 in Taiwan.

“I’m so excited. I look forward to all of their songs, especially ‘Maps,'” said 22-year-old Mary Fang, who came with two of her friends.

Fang said she tried to snatch up a concert ticket at a convenience store for two hours, but failed to do so because of the overwhelming demand.

Luckily for her, a friend who had a ticket could not go to the concert, so Fang bought the NT$1,800 (US$55) ticket from her, Fang said.

Vivian Wang, 21, has been a fan for years and was eagerly awaiting the show.     [FULL  STORY]

Jody Chiang locks microphone away at end of goodbye tour

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-14
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Taiwanese diva Jody Chiang concluded the last of her 25 farewell concerts around the

Jody Chiang's farewell concert at the Kaohsiung Arena, Sept. 13. (Photo courtesy of Kuang Hong Arts)

Jody Chiang’s farewell concert at the Kaohsiung Arena, Sept. 13. (Photo courtesy of Kuang Hong Arts)

island at Kaohsiung Arena on Sunday by ceremonially locking away her microphone, signaling the end of a singing career spanning more than three decades.

Chiang slowly placed one of her most precious microphones into a jewelry box that was showered by some 10,000 keys from the rooftop. She then shut the box and locked it with a key before bowing to the audience.

Microphones have been the most precious tool in her singing career and she wanted to mark the end of her career accordingly, Chiang said.

Chiang performed the first of 25 farewell concerts on July 25. One of the biggest names on the Taiwanese-language music scene,

Jody Chiang locked her microphone in a gold-encrusted transparent case after her final concert in Kaohsiung, Sept. 13. (Photo courtesy of Kuang Hong Arts)

Jody Chiang locked her microphone in a gold-encrusted transparent case after her final concert in Kaohsiung, Sept. 13. (Photo courtesy of Kuang Hong Arts)

she unexpectedly announced on Jan. 2 that she would be putting down her microphone for good after a series of 16 goodbye concerts.

Her surprise announcement triggered a rush for tickets that overwhelmed the official ticketing site and ticketing machines at convenience stores around Taiwan during the three-day sale period. The website of Kham Ticket crashed as 180,000 users attempted to get tickets simultaneously.  [FULL  STORY]

DPP produces ‘souvenir’ piggy banks to meet demand

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 15, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin and Su Fang-ho  /  Staff reporters

The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) latest piggy bank campaign has proven

A woman holds up a tray of piggy banks that is to be used for Democratic Progressive Party campaign donations. Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times

A woman holds up a tray of piggy banks that is to be used for Democratic Progressive Party campaign donations. Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times

successful, perhaps just not exactly the way it planned.

The party has been giving out small piggy banks to its supporters, encouraging them to fill the banks and return them to the party as a form of small-scale fundraising.

However, DPP lawmakers’ offices said that party headquarters could not keep up with supporters’ demand for the banks, as many were being kept as souvenirs, so the party has had to produce a “souvenir version” that supporters can keep after turning in the original ones.

The “souvenir version” piggy banks, which were released yesterday, have DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) signature on them, DPP spokesperson Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) told a news conference in Taipei.

The DPP first used piggy banks as a fundraising strategy in 2011 as part of Tsai’s campaign for the 2012 presidential election, after three children had donated the contents of their piggy banks to her campaign.     [FULL  STORY]

Formosan mountain dog finds ‘royal’ home in LA

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 14, 2015
By: Chen Wen-chan and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

An abused dog rescued by the Animal Rescue Team Taiwan (ARTT) has been adopted by

Emma Parker Bowles pets her adopted dog “Formosa,” which suffered abuse before being rescued in Taiwan, in an undated photo taken in Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of the Animal Rescue Team Taiwan

Emma Parker Bowles pets her adopted dog “Formosa,” which suffered abuse before being rescued in Taiwan, in an undated photo taken in Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of the Animal Rescue Team Taiwan

a relative of the British royal family in Los Angeles, California.

ARTT spokesman Antony Ni (倪京台) said the stray Formosan mountain dog, named Formosa, was found in a critical condition four years ago in Nantou County.

“The dog was attacked with a sharp instrument, and its sacral vertebrae and appendix were exposed, in addition to extensive sores on its hip,” Ni said. “The dog was admited to an animal hospital in Kaohsiung and made a full recovery after months of care.”

Ni said ARTT posted Formosa’s story online in the hopes of finding families abroad that were interested in adoption, adding that the dog was eventually flown to the US after an animal welfare group in Los Angeles expressed interest.

It was only when volunteer workers traveled to Los Angeles to inspect the dog that they discovered Formosa had been adopted by Emma Parker Bowles, the niece of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who is the wife of Prince Charles.

ARTT volunteer workers described Bowles as a “very kind person” and “a dog lover,” Ni said, adding that Bowles frequently volunteered for animal welfare and rescue groups in Los Angeles.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan, China to exchange sika deers for giant pandas

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-13
By: Wang Shu-fen and Christie Chen, Central News Agency

Kaohsiung, Sept. 13 (CNA) A Taiwanese zoo said Sunday it has reached an agreement with a zoo in China to exchange a pair of Taiwan’s Formosan sika deer for two Chinese pandas.

The Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung will give two of its endemic sika deers to the Chengdu Zoo in China’s Sichuan Province, said Chuang Hsuan-chih, director of the Shoushan Zoo. In return, the Chinese zoo will gift two of its pandas to the Shoushan Zoo, Chuang said.

The exchange is expected to enrich the diversity of species at the Shoushan Zoo, which has been seeking to do so but has been limited by its funding and space.

The zoo, which attracts around 1 million visitors each year, said it is hoping to attract private investment to expand the zoo complex. The Shoushan Zoo expects it will be at least two years before the deer-panda exchange can take place, due to the complex process and paperwork.    [FULL  STORY]

Film to show aboriginal struggle to protect farmland

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/13
By: Li Hsien-feng and Maria Tsai

Taipei Sept. 13 (CNA) For the past four years, Sumi Dongi and other indigenous farmers

Terraced land in eastern coast of Taiwan (Photo courtesy of Sumi Dongi)

Terraced land in eastern coast of Taiwan (Photo courtesy of Sumi Dongi)

have dedicated themselves to bring new life to terraced land in their village that has been increasingly treated as a commodity to sell to investors for commercial use.

Their struggle will soon be brought to the big screen on Sept. 25, and Sumi Dongi said she hopes the production will raise public awareness of the challenges Taiwan’s east coast is facing in protecting the environment.

Sumi Dongi, a member of the Amis tribe who lives in Fengbin Township in Hualien County, said her hometown was once filled with rice fields.

That is changing, however, as residents discouraged by the poor economic prospects of agriculture look to cash in on the growing tourism sector by selling their land to hotel or inn developers.     [FULL  STORY]

New Power Party announces leadership structure

Taipei Times
Date:  Sep 14, 2015
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday announced its new leadership lineup — a seven-

Huang Kuo-chang speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday as his fellow New Power Party board of chairpersons members Huang Hsiu-chen, left, Freddy Lim, second left, and Hsu Yung-ming, right, listen. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

Huang Kuo-chang speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday as his fellow New Power Party board of chairpersons members Huang Hsiu-chen, left, Freddy Lim, second left, and Hsu Yung-ming, right, listen. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

member board of chairpersons that it said could prevent abuse of power and encourage participatory democracy — and vowed to win 10 percent of the at-large vote in January’s legislative elections.

The chairpersons are the party’s three legislative candidates — Academia Sinica researcher Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), musician Freddy Lim (林昶佐) and author/playwright Neil Peng (馮光遠) — Soochow University political science professor Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), lawyers Huang Hsiu-chen (黃秀禎) and Lin Feng-jeng (林?正) and author Lin Shih-yu (林世煜).

They were elected last week by 427 party members through an online poll, with Huang Kuo-chang topping the poll with a 76.11 percent support rate.

The new board yesterday held its first meeting, during which Huang Kuo-chang was elected NPP executive chairman.     [FULL  STORY]

Paiwan ancestral spirit pillar preserved at NTU museum

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/12
By: W.T. Chen and Lillian Lin

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) National Taiwan University’s Museum of Anthropology welcomed an 201509120016t0001ancestral spirit pillar from Taiwan’s indigenous Paiwan tribe at a ceremony Saturday simulating a traditional Paiwan wedding.

The ancestral spirit pillar, a giant four-sided wood carving in the shape of a human, was one of the four pillars of the house of a tribal chieftain in a traditional Paiwan village that represented male and female ancestors of the tribe.

A museum spokesman said that based on oral history handed down by tribal seniors, the four-faced figure on the pillar with six fingers on each hand represents a female tribal ancestor known as “Muakai.”

The pillar was once part of the collection of the Taihoku Imperial University, as National Taiwan University (NTU) was known during the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945), and has been held by the university since.    [FULL  STORY]