Gallbladder resections: Demographic characteristics and surgical pathology in Hong Kong revisited

Objective: To study the demographic characteristics and surgical pathology of diseased gallbladders in Hong Kong. Design: Retrospective review of pathology records. Subjects: Surgically resected gallbladders submitted to the Department of Pathology of The University of Hong Kong at the Queen Mary Hospital from 1993 to 1996. Excluded were cases of essentially normal gallbladder resected for reasons other than diseases of the gallbladder Results: A total of 1,865 cases of cholecystectomies were selected. The mean age at cholecystectomy was 56.6 years (SD=15.5 years). Female outnumbered male patients in a ratio of 1.38:1. Age specific cholecystectomy rates among females were higher than those of the males in nearly all age groups. A steady rise in the age specific rates of cholecystectomy with age was observed. Patients in their sixties formed the largest group by age in decade and accounted for 24.2% of all cases. The estimated annual rate of cholecystectomy per 100,000 population in the 60 to 69-year age group was 247. Inflammatory diseases of the gallbladder accounted for 93.7% of all resections. There were 18 cases of primary carcinoma of the gallbladder. The estimated age standardized rate of primary cancers of gallbladder was 2.1 per 100,000 population. Adenoma, mucocele, infarction, schistosomiasis, and clanorchiasis were occasionally diagnosed on examination of the gallbladders. Conclusion: Cholecystectomies were most commonly performed for inflammatory gallbladder diseases. Females in almost every age group had a higher rate of gallbladder resections than males. Our earlier finding of a steady increase in cholecystectomy rate with advancing age was supported by the more recent data. The age specific cholecystectomy rates in the two studies were comparable.published_or_final_versio

Rethinking the mechanism of the social impact assessment with the ‘right to the city’ concept: a case study of the Blue House Revitalization Project in Hong Kong (2006–2012)

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis (Routledge) via the DOI in this record.Over the past two decades, urban renewal has become a major means to increase the efficiency of land production in Hong Kong (HK). Although the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) have introduced the social impact assessment (SIA) mechanism to mitigate the social impact of renewal projects, social conflicts have intensified between affected residents and the URA/HKHA. To what extent can SIA effectively mitigate the social impacts of urban renewal in HK? To answer this question, the author draws on a mixture of empirical and secondary materials to analyse the development, assessment procedures, and report format of SIA in HK as a basis to evaluate the challenges of this mechanism. Then the author goes on to critically analyse how thinking on ‘right to the city’ and affected residents’ comments come together to inform reflections on SIA in HK. The author argues that the SIA mechanism in HK remains technocratic in nature because it does not function effectively in addressing the needs of affected residents and resolving the deep-rooted conflicts between residents’ right of living and pro-growth development

Clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with glomerular diseases at a university teaching hospital: 5-year prospective review

OBJECTIVE. To examine the prevalence of glomerular disease in Hong Kong. DESIGN. Prospective review. SETTING. University teaching hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS. All patients who presented with suspected glomerular disease from 1993 through 1997. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES. Histopathological diagnosis from biopsy examination and clinical features of presentation. RESULTS. A total of 1629 consecutive percutaneous renal biopsies of native kidneys showed glomerular disease in 1413 cases. The most common clinical indication for renal biopsy was persistent proteinuria (n=735; 52.0%), while the most frequently found glomerular lesion was immunoglobulin A nephropathy (n=338; 23.9%). Minimal-change nephrotic syndrome (n=125; 8.8%) and immunoglobulin M nephropathy (n=11; 0.8%), were the most common glomerular diseases that presented with nephrotic syndrome. The male to female ratio for lupus nephritis was 1:14 (n=290), whereas for minimal-change nephrotic syndrome, the ratio was 1.8:1 (n=125). Immunoglobulin A nephropathy and membranous glomerulonephritis (n=117) affected approximately equal numbers of male and female patients. Familial fibrillary glomerulonephritis, a disease hitherto unknown in Hong Kong, was diagnosed in two siblings. CONCLUSION. Immunoglobulin A nephropathy was the most common glomerular disease in this survey and represents an important cause of end-stage renal failure in the Hong Kong population.published_or_final_versio

Networked collective action in the 2014 Hong Kong Occupy Movement: analysing a Facebook sharing network

Using a “big data” approach, this study aims to demonstrate and analyse the way in which the formation of an online network, i.e. posts sharing between Facebook pages, help construct a countervailing power during the course of the Hong Kong Occupy Movement (or called “Umbrella Movement”), which protested against the electoral reform framework imposed by the Standing Committee, China’s National People’s Congress in relation to the implementation of universal suffrage for the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election. The result indicates an empowerment of emerging civil society in the venue of policy debate, whereas there was a disintegration between institutional political forces and the civil society. This may not be conductive to an institutionalized policy formation involving a variety of stakeholders amid the controversy.postprin

An efficient NC tool path planning approach

One major problem encountered in NC machining is that cutting load fluctuates in twisty tool paths and increases momentarily when milling concave corners where stock material concentrates. Much research has been conducted on controlling milling forces but the problem remains unsolved. This paper presents a solution to reduce and stabilise cutting load in NC milling operation by applying computational techniques to isolate the concave corners of a machining region, thereby forming a major region and a number of disjoint sub-regions. Due to the suppression of concave corners, the boundary profile of the major region will become smoother. Contour-parallel offset tool paths can then be used to remove the material in the major region. For the isolated sub-regions, special corner removing tool paths with the use of different cutter sizes will be employed. By using this approach, the adverse effects caused by excessive undulation of milling tool path can be reduced.published_or_final_versio

Rogue wave modes for the coupled nonlinear Schrodinger system with three components: A computational study

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Regulatory regimes for lawyers ethics in Japan and China: a comparative study

China and Japan are the two largest economies in Asia, and both countries are similar in their adoption of a civil law system. This article undertakes a comparative study of the regulatory frameworks for lawyers’ ethics in the two countries. This article first considers the development of legal profession, particularly their rapid growth in the past decade. It then analyses and compares the regulatory regimes on lawyers’ ethics in both countries, with reference to six ‘professional virtues’ of competence, independence, loyalty, confidentiality, responsibility and honourable conduct. It reveals that Japan adopts a model of self-regulation, while China implements a ‘hybrid’ mode, namely, both state and self-regulation. It also argues that China is improving in its growing recognition of such virtues as ‘competence’, and that it has room for improvement in such virtues as ‘independence’, ‘confidentiality’ and ‘honourable conduct.’published_or_final_versio

A Study of the Impact of Thirteen Celebrity Suicides on Subsequent Suicide Rates in South Korea from 2005 to 2009

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How customers react to service unfairness? Moderating roles of interpersonal similarities on experience of envy and benign envy

Session: 04-206The “Customer Pyramid” and other similar customer management concepts advise firms to prioritize customers and treat them differently. Yet, offering preferential treatment to selected customers is potentially controversial. It implies a relatively inferior treatment to other customers and elicits the perception of service unfairness. In this study, we employ the social comparison theory to explicate the underlying process of how service unfairness impacts non-recipients’ behaviors. Specifically, we examine (1) impacts of service unfairness on the customers’ emotional experiences of envy and benign envy, (2) the differential effects of envy and benign envy on the non-recipients’ behaviors toward the preferentially treated customers (spreading negative word of mouth) and the sources of unfairness (cooperation with the salesperson and repurchase intention toward the store), and (3) the boundary conditions of the non-recipients’ similarities with those preferentially treated customers and the salesperson on the impacts of service unfairness. We tested our framework with laboratory experiments and a survey study in the context of clothing retail stores of 331 customers. Results support the roles of envy and benign envy in mediating the impact of service unfairness on those non-recipients’ behavioural outcomes. Specifically, if service unfairness elicits envy, it will increase the non-recipients’ negative WOM mouth toward those preferentially treated customers, reduces their repurchase intention, and lessens their cooperation with the salesperson. However, witnessing a preferential treatment received by others could be motivating for the non-recipients because they would also have the chance to enjoy such preferential treatment in the future (i.e., experience of benign envy). Our findings show that if service unfairness increases non-recipients’ experience of benign envy, it will motivates them to repurchase more, be more cooperative with the salesperson, but with no impact on the act of spreading negative WOM. Moreover, findings on the moderation influence of customers’ similarity with other customers and the salesperson further shed insights about the conditions for the differential impacts of service unfairness on ones’ experiences of envy and benign envy. Our study offers important implications on how firms can benefit from implementing customer management strategies involving differential treatments while minimizing their drawbacks.postprin

Reversible acute renal failure in a patient with IgA nephropathy

Reversible acute renal failure is a rare complication of IgA nephropathy. We report a patient with IgA nephropathy who developed acute renal failure after an episode of gross haematuria. Renal biopsy revealed extensive acute tubular damage and red blood cell casts. His renal failure recovered spontaneously without specific treatment. The clinical and pathological features of this IgA nephropathy complication are discussed.published_or_final_versio