Anodization of nanoporous alumina on impurity-induced hemisphere curved surface of aluminum at room temperature

Nanoporous alumina which was produced by a conventional direct current anodization [DCA] process at low temperatures has received much attention in various applications such as nanomaterial synthesis, sensors, and photonics. In this article, we employed a newly developed hybrid pulse anodization [HPA] method to fabricate the nanoporous alumina on a flat and curved surface of an aluminum [Al] foil at room temperature [RT]. We fabricate the nanopores to grow on a hemisphere curved surface and characterize their behavior along the normal vectors of the hemisphere curve. In a conventional DCA approach, the structures of branched nanopores were grown on a photolithography-and-etched low-curvature curved surface with large interpore distances. However, a high-curvature hemisphere curved surface can be obtained by the HPA technique. Such a curved surface by HPA is intrinsically induced by the high-resistivity impurities in the aluminum foil and leads to branching and bending of nanopore growth via the electric field mechanism rather than the interpore distance in conventional approaches. It is noted that by the HPA technique, the Joule heat during the RT process has been significantly suppressed globally on the material, and nanopores have been grown along the normal vectors of a hemisphere curve. The curvature is much larger than that in other literatures due to different fabrication methods. In theory, the number of nanopores on the hemisphere surface is two times of the conventional flat plane, which is potentially useful for photocatalyst or other applications

Simulation of electromechanical responses of ferroelectric ceramics driven by combined alternating electrical and mechanical loadings

Author name used in this publication: Simon Ching-kin Chow2006-2007 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of Project P.A.T.H.S.: Objective outcome evaluation based on a randomized group trial

Copyright © 2008 with author(s). There are two tiers of programs in the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs). In the Tier 1 Program, teaching units based on different positive youth development constructs are covered. A total of 24 experimental schools (N = 4,121 students) and 24 control schools (N = 3,854 students) were randomly selected to participate in a randomized group trial. Analyses of covariance and linear mixed models controlling for differences between the two groups in terms of pretest scores, personal variables, and random effects of schools showed that participants in the experimental schools had significantly higher positive youth development levels than did participants in the control schools at post-test based on different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale. In conjunction with other evaluation findings reported previously, the present study suggests that the Tier 1 Program of P.A.T.H.S. promotes the positive development of Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. ©2008 with author. Published by TheScientificWorld.Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust

A comparison of two systems of patient immobilization for prostate radiotherapy

2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

In verbis, vinum? Relating themes in an open-ended writing task to alcohol behaviors

Alcohol's function as a regulator of emotions has long been denoted in figures of speech, most famously 'in vino, veritas' (in wine,truth). In contrast, we ask whether an individual's alcohol-related behaviors can be inferred from the words they use to write about alcohol. Participants completed an open-ended essay as part of a survey on alcohol attitudes and behaviors. We used a computerized technique, the Meaning Extraction Method, to summarize the responses into thematic tropes, and correlated these with quantitative measurements of demographics, attitudes and behaviors. Participants were recruited using a random population postal survey in the U.K (n=1229). Principal components analysis identified co-occurring words to locate themes in the responses. Seven themes were identified that corresponded to both negative and positive aspects of alcohol consumption ranging from concern for the influence of alcohol on others (e.g., children and family) to participants' own enjoyment of alcohol (e.g., social drinking). Significant correlations suggested a relationship between the essay responses and individual consumption patterns and attitudes. This study therefore examines how individuals in UK drinking cultures commonly construe alcohol consumption in their own words

Association of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics and Oral Antipsychotics With Disease Relapse, Health Care Use, and Adverse Events Among People With Schizophrenia

IMPORTANCE: Evidence for improved clinical outcomes with long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIAs) vs oral antipsychotics (OAs) is limited in Asian populations and special patient groups, including older people (>65 years), people with substance use, and early initiators of LAIAs. OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk of disease relapse, health care use, and adverse events associated with the use of LAIAs vs OAs among people in Hong Kong with schizophrenia. DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this self-controlled case series study, individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia who were prescribed LAIAs and OAs between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2019, were identified from the Clinical Database Analysis and Reporting System of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. Data analysis was conducted from May to August in 2021. EXPOSURES: Use of LAIAs vs OAs. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Risk of disease relapse (hospitalizations for psychiatric disorders, hospitalizations for schizophrenia, and suicide attempts), health care use (all-cause emergency department visits and hospitalizations), and adverse events (hospitalizations for somatic disorders, hospitalizations for cardiovascular diseases, and extrapyramidal symptoms) between the period in which patients were treated with LAIAs and the period in which patients were treated with OAs were compared using Poisson regression. RESULTS: Of the 70 396 individuals with schizophrenia (37 200 women [52.8%]; mean [SD] age, 44.2 [15.8] years), 23 719 (33.7%) were prescribed both LAIAs and OAs. Compared with OAs, LAIAs were associated with a lower risk of hospitalizations for any cause (n = 20 973; incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.63 [95% CI, 0.61-0.65]), hospitalizations for psychiatric disorders (n = 19 283; IRR, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.50-0.53]), hospitalizations for schizophrenia (n = 18 385; IRR, 0.53 [95% CI, 0.51-0.55]), and incident suicide attempts (n = 1453; IRR, 0.56 [95% CI, 0.44-0.71]). During full treatment with LAIAs, there was a reduction in hospitalizations for somatic disorders (n = 15 396; IRR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.85-0.91]), hospitalizations for cardiovascular diseases (n = 3710; IRR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.81-0.96]), and extrapyramidal symptoms (n = 22 182; IRR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.82-0.91]) compared with full treatment with OAs. No significant difference was found for emergency department visits. Similar associations were observed during the subsequent treatment periods (beyond 90 days) and among older people and those with substance use, except for an increased risk of extrapyramidal symptoms among older people when initiating LAIAs (first 90 days). Compared with late initiators, early LAIA initiators had a greater reduction in these outcome events. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This self-controlled case series study of people in Hong Kong with schizophrenia suggests that LAIAs were associated with a lower risk of disease relapse and hospitalization than OAs, without an increased risk of adverse events. Clinicians should more broadly consider the long-term use of LAIAs for Chinese people with schizophrenia, especially early in the course of illness

Bifurcation Boundary Conditions for Switching DC-DC Converters Under Constant On-Time Control

Sampled-data analysis and harmonic balance analysis are applied to analyze switching DC-DC converters under constant on-time control. Design-oriented boundary conditions for the period-doubling bifurcation and the saddle-node bifurcation are derived. The required ramp slope to avoid the bifurcations and the assigned pole locations associated with the ramp are also derived. The derived boundary conditions are more general and accurate than those recently obtained. Those recently obtained boundary conditions become special cases under the general modeling approach presented in this paper. Different analyses give different perspectives on the system dynamics and complement each other. Under the sampled-data analysis, the boundary conditions are expressed in terms of signal slopes and the ramp slope. Under the harmonic balance analysis, the boundary conditions are expressed in terms of signal harmonics. The derived boundary conditions are useful for a designer to design a converter to avoid the occurrence of the period-doubling bifurcation and the saddle-node bifurcation.Comment: Submitted to International Journal of Circuit Theory and Applications on August 10, 2011; Manuscript ID: CTA-11-016

Targeting BTK for the treatment of FLT3-ITD mutated acute myeloid leukemia

Approximately 20% of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) have a mutation in FMS-like-tyrosine-kinase-3 (FLT3). FLT3 is a trans-membrane receptor with a tyrosine kinase domain which, when activated, initiates a cascade of phosphorylated proteins including the SRC family of kinases. Recently our group and others have shown that pharmacologic inhibition and genetic knockdown of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) blocks AML blast proliferation, leukaemic cell adhesion to bone marrow stromal cells as well as migration of AML blasts. The anti-proliferative effects of BTK inhibition in human AML are mediated via inhibition of downstream NF-κB pro-survival signalling however the upstream drivers of BTK activation in human AML have yet to be fully characterised. Here we place the FLT3-ITD upstream of BTK in AML and show that the BTK inhibitor ibrutinib inhibits the survival and proliferation of FLT3-ITD primary AML blasts and AML cell lines. Furthermore ibrutinib inhibits the activation of downstream kinases including MAPK, AKT and STAT5. In addition we show that BTK RNAi inhibits proliferation of FLT3-ITD AML cells. Finally we report that ibrutinib reverses the cyto-protective role of BMSC on FLT3-ITD AML survival. These results argue for the evaluation of ibrutinib in patients with FLT3-ITD mutated AML

Molecular Epidemiology of Anthrax Cases Associated with Recreational Use of Animal Hides and Yarn in the United States

To determine potential links between the clinical isolate to animal products and their geographic origin, we genotyped (MLVA-8, MVLA-15, and canSNP analysis) 80 environmental and 12 clinical isolates and 2 clinical specimens from five cases of anthrax (California in 1976 [n = 1], New York in 2006 [n = 1], Connecticut in 2007 [n = 2], and New Hampshire in 2009[n = 1]) resulting from recreational handling of animal products. For the California case, four clinical isolates were identified as MLVA-8 genotype (GT) 76 and in the canSNP A.Br.Vollum lineage, which is consistent with the Pakistani origin of the yarn. Twenty eight of the California isolates were in the A.Br.Vollum canSNP lineage and one isolate was in the A.Br. 003/004 canSNP sub-group. All 52 isolates and both clinical specimens related to the New York and Connecticut cases were MLVA-8 GT 1. The animal products associated with the NY and CT cases were believed to originate from West Africa, but no isolates from this region are available to be genotyped for comparison. All isolates associated with the New Hampshire case were identical and had a new genotype (GT 149). Isolates from the NY, CT and NH cases diverge from the established canSNP phylogeny near the base of the A.Br.011/009. This report illustrates the power of the current genotyping methods and the dramatically different epidemiological conditions that can lead to infections (i.e., contamination by a single genotype versus widespread contamination of numerous genotypes). These cases illustrate the need to acquire and genotype global isolates so that accurate assignments can be made about isolate origins

Moderately differentiated colorectal adenocarcinoma as a lymph node metastatic phenotype: comparison with well differentiated counterparts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The differences between the metastatic property of moderately (Mod) and well (Wel) differentiated colorectal adenocarcinoma remain unclear. Since Mod is unable to form complete acini, therefore an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) can occur in that structure. Herein, we hypothesized that Mod metastasizes more easily than the Wel counterparts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The medical records of 283 consecutive patients with Mod (n = 71) or Wel (n = 212) who underwent surgery were reviewed between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003, for actual 5-year overall survival. We examined the differences between the clinicopathological characteristics of the Mod and the Wel groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The lymph node involvement (<it>p </it>< 0.0001), lymphatic permeation, venous permeation, depth of invasion, liver metastasis, and carcinomatous peritonitis were significantly higher in the Mod group in comparison to the Wel group. The independent risk factors by a logistic regression analysis for lymph node involvement were as follows: lymphatic permeation, liver metastasis, and Mod (<it>p </it>= 0.0291, Relative Risk of 1.991: 95% Confidence Interval: 1.073-3.697). A Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that Mod had a trend towards a poor survival (<it>p </it>= 0.0517).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Mod metastasizes to the lymph nodes more easily in comparison to Wel. Therefore, patients with Mod may be considered the existence of lymph node involvement.</p