Growing up in a western country: how applicable is the theory of second individuation to second generation Chinese youths? Implications for psychotherapeutic practice

The objective of this dissertation is to explore the applicability of the theory of “second individuation” (SI) to the second generation minority Chinese during the life cycle phase of adolescence (MCY) and the implication for psychotherapeutic practice. Using a modified systematic literature review methodology, several major findings emerged. The primary finding is that the SI theory has many socially constructed concepts that describe the development of a person living in an individualistically orientated environment. For instance, the development of “a self” which is based on separation and differentiation from others, with the development of autonomy and independence as a central developmental goal, is an individualistic ideal. However, these concepts do not describe the developmental goals of people who are immersed in the traditional Chinese culture. Exposed to both “East” and “West” values, the self development of the MCY is both individualistically and collectively orientated, rendering some aspects of MCY's developmental goals incompatible with the goals depicted in the SI theory. These incompatible aspects include retaining and valuing interdependence as well as togetherness and loyalty with their parents and family. Further, not predicted by the SI theory, external factors such as parental beliefs and acculturation levels, the social economic status of the family and society’s reception of minority youth, were found to strongly govern how the MCY negotiate their self and identity development. This dissertation demonstrates that the SI theory has its limitations when it is applied to the MCY population. Psychotherapists who entertain the idea of using the theory of SI as part of their therapeutic formulation and goal setting with their MCY clients will need to make adjustments to the theory to cater to the MCY’s collective ideals. The dissertation highlights that the therapeutic process with MCYs will need to incorporate the developmental goals of both worldviews in order to honour the needs of the family and the youth. A culturally competent therapist needs to have a sound understanding of the contractual interpersonal relationships and interactions within the Chinese population, display sensitivity to the culturally determined emotional expressions and forms of emotional management within the Chinese society, demonstrate the ability to understand both cultural worldviews, and be able to hold the tension of both. There is a need for psychotherapists to be aware of the cultural biases inherent in practice and develop the culturally competent skills needed to provide appropriate services to the MCY population

香港における日本のテレビドラマ

特集 若手研究者からのレポート Voices of Young Scholars 8　／　＊本稿は中国語で提出されたものを王京（PD）が翻訳し、また紙面の都合から編集部で一部手を加えたものである

Model Predictive Engine Air-Ratio Control Using Online Sequential Relevance Vector Machine

Engine power, brake-specific fuel consumption, and emissions relate closely to air ratio (i.e., lambda) among all the engine variables. An accurate and adaptive model for lambda prediction is essential to effective lambda control for long term. This paper utilizes an emerging technique, relevance vector machine (RVM), to build a reliable time-dependent lambda model which can be continually updated whenever a sample is added to, or removed from, the estimated lambda model. The paper also presents a new model predictive control (MPC) algorithm for air-ratio regulation based on RVM. This study shows that the accuracy, training, and updating time of the RVM model are superior to the latest modelling methods, such as diagonal recurrent neural network (DRNN) and decremental least-squares support vector machine (DLSSVM). Moreover, the control algorithm has been implemented on a real car to test. Experimental results reveal that the control performance of the proposed relevance vector machine model predictive controller (RVMMPC) is also superior to DRNNMPC, support vector machine-based MPC, and conventional proportional-integral (PI) controller in production cars. Therefore, the proposed RVMMPC is a promising scheme to replace conventional PI controller for engine air-ratio control

Embedding of Genes Using Cancer Gene Expression Data: Biological Relevance and Potential Application on Biomarker Discovery

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been utilized for classification and prediction task with remarkable accuracy. However, its implications for unsupervised data mining using molecular data is under-explored. We found that embedding can extract biologically relevant information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) gene expression dataset by learning a vector representation through gene co-occurrence. Ground truth relationship, such as cancer types of the input sample and semantic meaning of genes, were showed to retain in the resulting entity matrices. We also demonstrated the interpretability and usage of these matrices in shortlisting candidates from a long gene list as in the case of immunotherapy response. 73 related genes are singled out while the relatedness of 55 genes with immune checkpoint proteins (PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4) are supported by literature. 16 novel genes (ACAP1, C11orf45, CD79B, CFP, CLIC2, CMPK2, CXCR2P1, CYTIP, FER, MCTO1, MMP25, RASGEF1B, SLFN12, TBC1D10C, TRAF3IP3, TTC39B) related to immune checkpoint proteins were identified. Thus, this method is feasible to mine big volume of biological data, and embedding would be a valuable tool to discover novel knowledge from omics data. The resulting embedding matrices mined from TCGA gene expression data are interactively explorable online (http://bit.ly/tcga-embedding-cancer) and could serve as an informative reference for gene relatedness in the context of cancer and is readily applicable to biomarker discovery of any molecular targeted therapy

A Systematic Literature Review of Reviews on the Effectiveness of Chlamydia Testing.

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection, causing significant morbidity and economic burden. Strategies like national screening programs or home-testing kits were introduced in some developed countries, yet their effectiveness remains controversial. In this systematic review, we examined reviews of chlamydia screening interventions to assess their effectiveness and the elements that contribute to their success to guide public policy and future research. We assessed English material published after 2000 in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the British Nursing Index, Medical Database, and Sociological Abstracts, in addition to World Health Organization Global Health Sector Strategies, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control guidelines, and the Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. Systematic reviews that focused on chlamydia screening interventions were included. Using the socioecological model, we examined the levels of interventions that may affect the uptake of chlamydia screening. A total of 19 systematic reviews were included. Self-collection in home-testing kits significantly increased screening among girls and women 14-50 years of age. At the organizational level, using electronic health records and not creating additional costs facilitated testing. At the community level, outreach interventions in community and parent centers and homeless shelters achieved high screening rates. At the policy level, interventions with educational and advisory elements could result in significant improvements in screening rates

Presence of tumour capsule on contrast-enhanced CT is associated with improved outcomes of stereotactic body radiation therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Purpose Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is a novel local therapy for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). While effective, there is currently noreliable radiological marker to guide patient selection. In this study, we investigated the prognostic value of capsule appearanceon contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) for patients undergoing SBRT. Materials and Methods Between 2006 and 2017, 156 consecutive patients with Child-Pugh score class A/B and HCC ≥5cm that underwent SBRT were retrospectively analysed. Baseline triple-phase CTs of the abdomen were reviewed for the presence of capsule appearances and correlated with objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), and pattern of treatment failure. Results Capsule appearance on CT was present in 83 (53.2%) patients.It was associated with improved ORR by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) (60.2% vs 24.7%; p<0.001) andModified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours(mRECIST) (ORR 78.3% vs 34.2%; p<0.001). The presence of a capsule was also associated with superior 2-year local control (89.1% vs. 51.4%; p<0.001) and 2-year OS (34.1% vs. 14.8%, p<0.01). Hepatic out-field failure was the dominant mode of progression, which was less common in patients with intact capsule (54.2% vs. 60.3%, p=0.01). Conclusion Capsule appearance on CT could potentially be a non-invasive prognostic marker for selecting HCC patients undergoing SBRT. Larger cohort is warranted to validate our findings

The epidemiology of COVID-19 cases and the successful containment strategy in Hong Kong-January to May 2020

BACKGROUND: Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, recorded its first confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case on 23 January 2020. We reviewed the case epidemiology and the various public health measures implemented from January to May 2020. METHODS: The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the cases recorded in different phases of the epidemic were described and compared, and the effectiveness of the public health measures implemented were reviewed using the changes in the daily number of confirmed cases and the interval from symptom onset to hospital admission. RESULTS: Between January and May 2020, 1084 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported, about 70% of which had a history of travel during the incubation period. The case fatality ratio was 0.4%. The local epidemic progressed through four phases: (1) preparedness and imported infection from mainland China, (2) local transmission, (3) imported infection from overseas countries associated with local transmission, and (4) controlled imported infection with limited local transmission, with an eventual reduction of the daily case number and minimization of the onset-to-admission interval. Various public health measures, including enhanced surveillance, border control, and social distancing, were introduced in phases in response to the prevailing local and global situations. DISCUSSION: The overall containment strategy in Hong Kong led to a stabilization of the number of cases and the absence of a community-wide outbreak during the 4.5 m after the first case was reported. This strategy of containment might serve as an example for future planning of preparedness and response against novel infectious agents