angela huang - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by angela huang

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

We use the ten years of experience in inflation-targeting in New Zealand since 1989 to test wheth... more We use the ten years of experience in inflation-targeting in New Zealand since 1989 to test whether monetary policy appears to conform to the simple rules that have been recommended for it in the literature. Of the inflation targeting central banks, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has both the longest experience and probably the most clearly defined target and policy framework for achieving it. We show that while a Taylor rule with the standard parameters used in the US does indeed describe New Zealand monetary policy quite well, the Reserve Bank has focused rather more strongly on price stability, as required by its Policy Target Agreements. However, while the conduct of New Zealand monetary policy as set out in the Monetary Policy Statements is firmly based on targeting the inflation rate in the future we find, using the Bank's own forecasts, that nevertheless targeting inflation close to the present appears to be a better description of policy. Furthermore, restricting the policy choice to the information available to the Reserve Bank at the actual time of policy settings and ignoring subsequent revisions to published statistics does not result in a much improved explanation of its actions. We find a clear 'smoothing' element to the Bank's policy rather than immediate response to every small fluctuation. We show further that some of the variables that enter the policy rule have slightly asymmetric cycles. From symmetric and asymmetric cointegration tests on the long-run relationship between interest rates, the output gap, and inflation we show that there is insufficient evidence to suggest that monetary policy has been asymmetric in treating upside inflationary pressures differently from those towards deflation.

Chinese Journal of Communication, 2012

In the two decades since 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, the commercializat... more In the two decades since 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, the commercialization of the Chinese media has become a significant force. With the increasing demand for original content and a possible “cultural trade deficit” in media content, there has been much discussion about agglomeration and clustering. Beijing, as the national media centre of China, has witnessed the

An understanding of the factors that drive the micro-economics of a business provides the insight... more An understanding of the factors that drive the micro-economics of a business provides the insight needed for strategic and tactical improvements in operational effectiveness. Competitive cost analysis, a method for analyzing the cost structure of a company, represents a strategic application of cost modeling. The first note in this three-part series identified the basic framework and principles for developing accurate

New Zealand Economic Papers, 2004

Deterministic simulations with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's core FPS model show how New Zeal... more Deterministic simulations with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's core FPS model show how New Zealand's broad macroeconomic environment might have evolved over the 1990s, if a US nominal yield curve and US TWI exchange rate movements under a common currency arrangement had been experienced.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Bank ... more The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Bank of Finland.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper …, 2004

Numerous empirical studies investigate whether exchange rates are related to `economic fundamenta... more Numerous empirical studies investigate whether exchange rates are related to `economic fundamentals' in the long-run and find a range of relationships through cointegration analysis. We report similar cointegrating relationships for the value of the New Zealand ...

Current Fungal Infection Reports, 2015

ABSTRACT Despite aggressive antifungal therapy and surgical intervention, mortality and clinical ... more ABSTRACT Despite aggressive antifungal therapy and surgical intervention, mortality and clinical response rates for invasive mucormycosis infections remain suboptimal. Combination therapy with other antifungal agents, immunosuppressive drugs, and various other agents, have been studied as a means to improve outcomes. However, most clinical outcomes data evaluating combination therapy are from case series and case reports, and the majority of comparative data derives from in vitro models and animal studies. Thus, this review evaluates the rationale and risks of various combinations for the treatment of invasive mucormycosis infections.

Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 2015

BACKGROUND: Health disparities in diabetes care have been traditionally characterized using unive... more BACKGROUND: Health disparities in diabetes care have been traditionally characterized using universal goals for glycemic, blood pressure, and cholesterol control. In 2008, evidence from major diabetes trials found that intensive glycemic control may cause worse outcomes among older patients with cardiovascular disease and high comorbidity. Since the publication of these trials, diabetes guidelines have made specific recommendations for individualized glycemic goals based on age, duration of disease, and complications. These individualized goals may have important implications for assessments of disparities in diabetes quality of care because minorities differ from non-Hispanic whites on a number of variables that are the basis for individualization. We reassess disparities in diabetes care using new individualized care goals in order to determine 1) the degree to which diabetes recommendations differ by race/ethnicity and 2) if diabetes disparities are altered with new care goals. METHODS: We analyzed a nationally-representative sample of non-Hispanic whites (W), non-Hispanic blacks (B), and Mexican American/Hispanic (MA) adults with self-reported diabetes aged ≥20 years in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2005-2010 (N=1840; weighted N=16.5 million). Individualized glycemic goals (A1C <6.5 %, <7 %, or <8 %) were specified based on age (20-44, 45-64, 65-75, or >75 years), duration (<= 10 vs. >10 years), selfreported complications, and comorbidity, defined using the weighted combined Charlson Comorbidity Index. Individualized cholesterol goals (LDL <100 or <70 mg/ dL) were identified based on cardiovascular history. We assigned participants individualized glycemic goals and compared the proportions assigned to each individualized glycemic goal by race/ethnicity. Then we compared the proportions who had met their individualized glycemic, cholesterol, and comprehensive care goals (glycemic, cholesterol, blood pressure (<140/80 mmHg), and non-smoking) by race/ ethnicity. RESULTS: Blacks and Mexican Americans were younger than Whites (B: 58, MA: 55, W: 61 years, p<.001). Mexican Americans had fewer complications than blacks and whites (MA: 33 %, B: 47 %, W: 45 %; p=.01). The population-wide distribution of individualized glycemic goals differed for Mexican Americans (p<.001), but not blacks (p=.55), compared to whites. Nearly one in five (17 %) Mexican Americans should be recommended an A1C<6.5 % compared to one in ten (10 %) whites and blacks; 43 % of Mexican Americans should be recommended an A1C<7 % compared to 31 % of whites and 34 % of blacks. Fewer Mexican Americans (55 %, p<.001) and blacks (60 %, p=.004) had adequate individualized glycemic control compared to whites (70 %). In contrast, using a universal glycemic target of <7 %, Mexican Americans (46 %, p=.01), but not blacks (50 %, p=.12) were less likely to have adequate control, compared to whites (56 %). Blacks were less likely to have comprehensive individualized quality of care compared to whites (4 % vs. 17 %, p <.001), a difference which approached significance for Mexican Americans (10 %, p=.06). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to universal goals, individualized goals for diabetes care actually accentuate disparities in diabetes care, especially for blacks. Individualized glycemic goals are necessary in evaluating disparities in quality of care, otherwise disparities will be underappreciated and worse diabetes outcomes will persist for blacks and Mexican Americans. Significant disparities exist in individualized glycemic, cholesterol, and comprehensive quality of care.

Journal of clinical microbiology, 2014

Rapid diagnostic testing with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-T... more Rapid diagnostic testing with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) decreases the time to organism identification by 24 to 36 h compared to the amount of time required by conventional methods. However, there are limited data evaluating the impact of MALDI-TOF with real-time antimicrobial stewardship team (AST) review and intervention on antimicrobial prescribing and outcomes for patients with bacteremia and blood cultures contaminated with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS). A quasiexperimental study was conducted to analyze the impact of rapid diagnostic testing with MALDI-TOF plus AST review and intervention for adult hospitalized patients with blood cultures positive for CoNS. Antibiotic prescribing patterns and clinical outcomes were compared before and after implementation of MALDI-TOF with AST intervention for patients with CoNS bacteremia and CoNS contamination. A total of 324 patients with a positive CoNS blood culture were included; 24...

Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 2014

Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2013

Background. Integration of rapid diagnostic testing via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionizati... more Background. Integration of rapid diagnostic testing via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization timeof-flight (MALDI-TOF) with antimicrobial stewardship team (AST) intervention has the potential for early organism identification, customization of antibiotic therapy, and improvement in patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of this combined approach on clinical and antimicrobial therapy-related outcomes in patients with bloodstream infections.

Vaccine, 2015

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) osteomyelitis/osteitis in immunocompetent children is a rare but s... more Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) osteomyelitis/osteitis in immunocompetent children is a rare but serious complication of BCG immunization. Rationale for its treatment is unclear. Due to the rarity of this complication, no randomized control trials has ever been conducted to evaluate methods of intervention. As such, we searched the literature for any reported BCG vaccination-related osteomyelitis/osteitis among immunecompetent children published before April 15, 2014. We summarized the data from different affected regions of the body by recording the number of reported cases, while noting outcomes and their medical and/or surgical interventions. From 34 eligible studies gleaned from a screening of 804 articles, a total of 331 cases were enrolled. Involvement of the lower limbs was present in 55.6%, followed by the axial skeleton (26.0%), the upper limbs (15.4%), and multiple bones (3.0%). Of the 64 patients having records of detailed chemotherapy regimens, 45 patients (70%) received two or fewer drugs. Among the 80 patients with detailed surgical records, 50 (62.5%) received surgical procedures for diagnostic purposes. While there were uneventful outcomes for those receiving diagnostic procedures, 7 of the 30 (23.3%) patients receiving surgical interventions had major complications (p=0.002, Fisher&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s exact test). The overall prognosis was good with a 97.6% cure rate. Nevertheless, eight patients (2.4%) suffered major complications. The rationale for treatment of BCG osteomyelitis/osteitis in immunocompetent children is highly subjective. However, patients receiving diagnostic procedures instead of surgical interventions may avoid major complications. Because only a few of the publications had detailed treatment information, further studies are needed to identify proper treatments, while infant BCG vaccination is still in use.

Public Health Reports

Routine measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine use has greatly decreased the incidence of mumps in t... more Routine measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine use has greatly decreased the incidence of mumps in the U.S. However, a resurgence of mumps occurred in 2006. We investigated the large outbreak at a university and assessed risk factors for disease. We described the outbreak and conducted a case-control study. We interviewed case students (identified from student health service and health department records) and control students (selected from a randomly ordered administrative list) and assessed their vaccination status. We compared case students with > or = 2 MMR doses and control students with > or = 2 MMR doses in univariate and multivariate analyses. The mean age of the 174 case students was 20.9 years; 65% were women. Ninety-seven case students and 147 control students were enrolled in the study. Two-dose MMR coverage was 99% among case and control students with complete records. Only 33% of case students reported exposure to someone with mumps. Case students were more likely t...

PLOS ONE, 2015

Taiwan had been free of indigenous human and animal rabies case since canine rabies was eliminate... more Taiwan had been free of indigenous human and animal rabies case since canine rabies was eliminated in 1961. In July 2013, rabies was confirmed among three wild ferret-badgers, prompting public health response to prevent human rabies cases. This descriptive study reports the immediate response to the reemergence of rabies in Taiwan. Response included enhanced surveillance for human rabies cases by testing stored cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) from patients with encephalitides of unknown cause by RT-PCR, prioritizing vaccine use for postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) during periods of vaccine shortage and subsequent expansion of PEP, surveillance of animal bites using information obtained from vaccine application, roll out of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with vaccine stock restoration, surveillance for adverse events following immunization (AEFI), and ensuring surge capacity to respond to general public inquiries by phone and training for healthcare professionals. Enhanced surveillance for human rabies found no cases after testing 205 stored CSF specimens collected during rabies PEP application; 6,634 (80.5%) were consistent with recommendations. Among the 6,501persons who received at least one dose of rabies vaccine postexposure, 4,953 (76.2%) persons who were bitten by dogs; only 59 (0.9%) persons were bitten by ferret-badgers. During the study period, 6,247 persons received preexposure prophylaxis. There were 23 reports of AEFI; but no anaphylaxis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis were found. During the study period, there were 40,312 calls to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control hotline, of which, 8,692 (22%) were related to rabies. Recent identification of rabies among ferret-badgers in a previously rabies-free country prompted rapid response. To date, no human rabies has been identified. Continued multifaceted surveillance and interministerial collaboration are crucial to achieve the goal of rabies-free status in Taiwan.

Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

PloS one, 2014

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and tuber... more The aim of this study was to investigate the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and tuberculosis (TB) relapse using the nationwide TB registry in Taiwan. We conducted a case-control study nested within a nationwide cohort of all incident cases of pulmonary TB that were notified during 2006-2007 and had completed anti-TB treatment. The relapse of TB was confirmed by bacteriological or pathological findings. For each relapse case, one control was selected from the study cohort matching by time since treatment completion. DM status was ascertained by medical chart review and cross-matching with the National Health Insurance claims database. A total of 305 cases of relapse were identified after a median follow-up of 3 years (relapse rate: 488 per 100,000 person-year; 95% confidence interval (CI): 434-546). Presence of DM during previous anti-TB treatment was 34.0% and 22.7% in cases and controls, respectively. After adjusting for other potential confounders, DM was associated wi...

PloS one, 2012

Although WHO declared the world moving into the post-pandemic period on August 10, 2010, influenz... more Although WHO declared the world moving into the post-pandemic period on August 10, 2010, influenza A(H1N1) 2009 virus continued to circulate globally. Its impact was expected to continue during the 2010-11 influenza season. This study describes the nationwide surveillance findings of the pandemic and post-pandemic influenza periods in Taiwan and assesses the impact of influenza A(H1N1) 2009 during the post-pandemic period.

Journal of Infection, 2010

Journal of Infection (2010) 60, 168e174 development of respiratory failure and SOFA score ! 4 at ... more Journal of Infection (2010) 60, 168e174 development of respiratory failure and SOFA score ! 4 at admission, initial lymphocyte count 800/mL, and the duration from symptom onset to initiation of oseltamivir > 48 h. Conclusions: Respiratory failure in patients with 2009 H1N1 influenza leads to poor outcomes, including complications and death. Clinicians could apply the three predictors at admission to identify the high-risk pneumonic patients for developing respiratory failure. Further study is needed to validate the findings of this study in other settings.

Journal of Infection, 2011

a school was closed for one week plus mass chemoprophylaxis to contain the pandemic after a kinde... more a school was closed for one week plus mass chemoprophylaxis to contain the pandemic after a kindergartener tested positive for pandemic influenza A/H1N1. We evaluated the impact of school closure on the students, families, and the school. Methods: Households were surveyed using a questionnaire to obtain information on adherence to, socio-economic impact by and inconveniences of school closure. The school principal was interviewed to assess the impact on the staff. Compliance and adverse events of chemoprophylaxis were assessed. Results: Of the 232 (14%) households surveyed, 29 (13%) went to public places or gatherings at least once during the closure. Sixty-one (27%) of 229 respondents reported workplace absenteeism, and 42 (18%) of 231 respondents had wage loss. In total, 194 working days lost and 6433 US dollars wage lost were noted. The school put in 6573 h of manpower during the period. For chemoprophylaxis, 6 (6%) kindergartners missed at least one dose; and 6 (6%) reported adverse events, but none sought medical care. Overall, 169 (73%) families were at least moderately supportive of school closure. Conclusions: With assistance from the school, short-term school closure was supported by the majority of families despite economic inconvenience to the households.