Anti-smoking policy in Hong Kong : implementation capacity, action and challenges

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

Effects of HIP Treatment on the Microstructure of Cr50-Si50 Target

Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) is a process that uniquely combines higher pressure and temperature to produce materials and parts with substantially better properties than those fabricated by other methods. Commercial as-hp (hot pressing) treated Cr50-Si50 targets are used throughout this study. The aim of this paper is to discuss the methods and to find a suitable HIP treatment for the as-hp treated Cr50-Si50 target. Otherwise, we also to find the effects of microstructure on the mechanical properties of HIP treated Cr50-Si50 target. To evaluate the effects on microstructure and properties of the Cr50-Si50 target by HIP process, SEM, TEM and porosity, density inspections were performed. The experiment results show that HIP treatment at 1373 K under the pressure of 175 MPa and 4 hours for Cr50-Si50 target is the optimum condition. In this study, HIP treatment reduced the porosity of the target about 60%

Early intervention for psychotic disorders: Real-life implementation in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is among the first few cities in Asia to have implemented early intervention for psychosis in 2001. Substantial changes in psychosis service have since taken place. We reviewed available outcome data in Hong Kong, with reference to the philosophy of early intervention in psychosis, discussing experience and lessons learned from the implementation process, and future opportunities and challenges. Data accumulated in the past decade provided evidence for the benefits and significance of early intervention programmes: patients under the care of early intervention service showed improved functioning, milder symptoms, and fewer hospitalizations and suicides. Early intervention is more cost-effective compared with standard care. Stigma and misconception remains an issue, and public awareness campaigns are underway. In recent years, a critical mass is being formed, and Hong Kong has witnessed the unfolding of public service extension, new projects and organizations, and increasing interest from the community. Several major platforms are in place for coherent efforts, including the public Early Assessment Service for Young people with psychosis (EASY) programme, the Psychosis Studies and Intervention (PSI) research unit, the independent Hong Kong Early Psychosis Intervention Society (EPISO), the Jockey Club Early Psychosis (JCEP) project, and the postgraduate Psychological Medicine (Psychosis Studies) programme. The first decade of early intervention work has been promising; consolidation and further development is needed on many fronts of research, service and education. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.postprin

A 21-Year-Old Pregnant Woman with Hypertension and Proteinuria

Ronald Ma and colleagues describe the differential diagnosis, investigation, and management of a 21-year-old pregnant woman presenting with hypertension and proteinuria at 20 weeks of gestation

Handgrip strength assessment at baseline in addition to bone parameters could potentially predict the risk of curve progression in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

IntroductionAdolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is characterized by deranged bone and muscle qualities, which are important prognostic factors for curve progression. This retrospective case–control study aims to investigate whether the baseline muscle parameters, in addition to the bone parameters, could predict curve progression in AIS.MethodsThe study included a cohort of 126 female patients diagnosed with AIS who were between the ages of 12 and 14 years old at their initial clinical visit. These patients were longitudinally followed up every 6 months (average 4.08 years) until they reached skeletal maturity. The records of these patients were thoroughly reviewed as part of the study. The participants were categorized into two sub-groups: the progressive AIS group (increase in Cobb angle of ≥6°) and the stable AIS group (increase in Cobb angle <6°). Clinical and radiological assessments were conducted on each group.ResultsCobb angle increase of ≥6° was observed in 44 AIS patients (34.9%) prior to skeletal maturity. A progressive AIS was associated with decreased skeletal maturity and weight, lower trunk lean mass (5.7%, p = 0.027) and arm lean mass (8.9%, p < 0.050), weaker dominant handgrip strength (8.8%, p = 0.027), deranged cortical compartment [lower volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) by 6.5%, p = 0.002], and lower bone mechanical properties [stiffness and estimated failure load lowered by 13.2% (p = 0.005) and 12.5% (p = 0.004)]. The best cut-off threshold of maximum dominant handgrip strength is 19.75 kg for distinguishing progressive AIS from stable AIS (75% sensitivity and 52.4% specificity, p = 0.011).DiscussionPatients with progressive AIS had poorer muscle and bone parameters than patients with stable AIS. The implementation of a cut-off threshold in the baseline dominant handgrip strength could potentially be used as an additional predictor, in addition to bone parameters, for identifying individuals with AIS who are at higher risk of experiencing curve progression

Spatiotemporal evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta variants during large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19, Vietnam, 2021

We analyzed 1,303 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences from Vietnam, and found the Alpha and Delta variants were responsible for a large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 in 2021. The Delta variant was confined to the AY.57 lineage and caused >1.7 million infections and >32,000 deaths. Viral transmission was strongly affected by nonpharmaceutical interventions

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN