Evaluating narrative pedagogy in nursing education in Hong Kong

2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAuthor’s OriginalPublishe

The influence of the human becoming theory on teaching-learning stories in Hangzhou, China

2005-2006 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Learning takes place : a need to examine our nursing curriculum

Author name used in this publication: E. Angela ChanThe conference was hosted by Lingnan University and the presentation given on 11 May, 2007.Invited conference paper2006-2007 > Academic research: refereed > Invited conference paperOther Versio

Two nurse teachers reflect on acquiring their nursing identity

Author name used in this publication: E. Angela Chan2006-2007 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAuthor’s OriginalPublishe

Teaching abstract concepts in contemporary nursing through spirituality

Author name used in this publication: Loretta Yuet Foon Chung2003-2004 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Olfactory dysfunction is common in classical infratentorial superficial siderosis of the central nervous system

BACKGROUND: Established features of classical infratentorial superficial siderosis (iSS) include hearing loss, impaired balance, myelopathy and, less commonly, cognitive compromise. Olfactory function may be affected but dedicated studies are lacking. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in iSS and correlate it with auditory and cognitive functions. METHODS: Ten participants with iSS completed the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT). The scores were compared with population norms; regression analysis was performed to evaluate associations between the scores and hearing thresholds (3-frequency average, 3FA) or the number of cognitive domains impaired. Imaging was reviewed for haemosiderin distribution and to exclude other causes of olfactory and hearing dysfunction. RESULTS: Eight of ten participants were male; the mean (standard deviation, SD) age was 52.5 (14.5) years. Olfactory hypofunction was identified in all participants and in six (60%) was moderate or completely absent. The mean UPSIT score of 25.5 (7.8) was significantly worse than population norms (difference in means - 10.0; 95% CI - 15.6 to - 4.4). Linear regression identified an association between UPSIT and hearing thresholds (R = 0.75; p = 0.013). The score decreases by 0.157 units (95% CI - 0.31 to - 0.002; p = 0.048) per unit increase in 3FA, after adjusting for hearing loss risk factors. There was no statistically significant association between UPSIT and cognitive function (R = 0.383; p = 0.397). CONCLUSION: We report a high prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in iSS, the severity of which correlated with hearing loss. Olfaction appears to be a core feature of the iSS clinical syndrome that should be assessed routinely

Factors associated with medication adherence in school-aged children with asthma

Adherence to preventive asthma treatment is poor, particularly in children, yet the factors associated with adherence in this age group are not well understood. Adherence was monitored electronically over 6 months in school-aged children who attended a regional emergency department in New Zealand for an asthma exacerbation and were prescribed twice-daily inhaled corticosteroids. Participants completed questionnaires including assessment of family demographics, asthma responsibility and learning style. Multivariable analysis of factors associated with adherence was conducted. 101 children (mean (range) age 8.9 (6-15) years, 51% male) participated. Median (interquartile range) preventer adherence was 30% (17-48%) of prescribed. Four explanatory factors were identified: female sex (+12% adherence), Asian ethnicity (+19% adherence), living in a smaller household (-3.0% adherence per person in the household), and younger age at diagnosis (+2.7% for every younger year of diagnosis) (all p<0.02). In school-aged children attending the emergency department for asthma, males and non-Asian ethnic groups were at high risk for poor inhaled corticosteroid adherence and may benefit most from intervention. Four factors explained a small proportion of adherence behaviour indicating the difficulty in identifying adherence barriers. Further research is recommended in other similar populations

Construction of global optimization constrained NLP test cases from unconstrained problems

This paper presents a novel construction technique for constrained nonconvex Nonlinear Programming Problem (NLP) test cases, derived from the evaluation tree structure of standardized bound constrained problems for which the global solution is known. It is demonstrated in a step-by-step procedure how first an equality constrained problem can be derived from an unconstrained one, with bounds imposed on all variables, using the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) of the unconstrained objective function and the use of interval arithmetic to derive bounds for the new variables introduced. An advantage of the proposed methodology is that several standard unconstrained global optimization test cases can be constructed for varying number of optimization variables, thus leading to adjustable size derived NLP’s. Further to this in a second step it is demonstrated how any subset of the equalities derived can be relaxed into inequalities giving an equivalent optimization problem. Finally, in a third step it is demonstrated how, by reducing the number of equality constraints derived, it is possible to obtain more complex expressions in the constraints and objective function. The methodology is highlighted throughout by motivating examples and a sample code in Mathematica TM is provided in the Appendix.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2016.03.01

Socioeconomic Gradient in Childhood Obesity and Hypertension: A Multilevel Population-Based Study in a Chinese Community

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