Asking for action or information? Crosslinguistic comparison of interrogative functions in early child Cantonese and Mandarin

Request for information (RfI) is believed to be the universally dominant function of young children’s questioning, whereas request for action (RfA) has been reported to be the leading interrogative form used in early child Cantonese. The possibility of crosslinguistic variability prompts further research and comparison with additional languages. This study compares the interrogatives elicited from two early Chinese language corpora: Early Childhood Cantonese Corpus (ECCC) and Early Childhood Mandarin (ECMC). Altogether, 1214 and 942 question types were elicited from ECCC and ECMC, respectively. Analyses indicated that: (1) all the interrogative functions identified in an earlier study of Cantonese were also observed in the early Mandarin interrrogatives; and (2) both RfA (49.9%) and RfI (45.5%) were the most frequently observed functions of early child Chinese interrogatives. This crosslinguistic evidence suggests that follow-up studies are needed to further explore the possible influences of language, culture and communication tasks on children’s uses of interrogative forms.postprin

Tooth colour of Hong Kong people - their satisfaction and preference

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Institutional risk factors for norovirus outbreaks in Hong Kong elderly homes: a retrospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most of the institutional outbreaks of norovirus in Hong Kong occur in elderly homes, the proportion being 69% in 2006. Residents in elderly homes are a special population seriously affected by norovirus infections, it is necessary to investigate the risk factors of the norovirus outbreaks in Hong Kong elderly homes at the facility level.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cohort of 748 elderly homes was followed up from January 2005 to December 2007; each elderly home was treated as one observation unit and the outcome event was the norovirus outbreak. Cox regression models were fitted to estimate the rate ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the potential risk factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 276 norovirus outbreaks were confirmed during the study period; the outbreak rate was 12.2 (95% CI: 9.9-14.6) per 100 home-years; elderly homes with a larger capacity (RR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.3-1.5 (per 30-resident increment)), a higher staff-to-resident ratio (RR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1-1.3 (per 1/30 increment) and better wheelchair accessibility (RR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.3-3.2) were found to have an elevated norovirus outbreak rate in Hong Kong elderly homes; Elderly homes with partitions between beds had a lower rate of norovirus outbreaks (RR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4-0.8).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Elderly home capacity, staff-to-resident ratio and wheelchair accessibility were risk factors for norovirus outbreaks in Hong Kong elderly homes. Partitions between beds were a protective factor of norovirus outbreaks. These results should be considered in the infection control in Hong Kong elderly homes.</p

Effect of Er,Cr:YSGG laser on biofilm adhered on zirconia surfaces

Session 164: Peri-implant Diseases: TreatmentPoster PresentationObjectives: To determine the adhesion of bacteria on zirconia with different surface treatments and to determine the effect of Er,Cr:YSGG laser on bacteria adhered on zirconia with different surface treatments. Methods: Zirconia blocks were cut into discs which were subsequently polished, sonicated and sintered. The sintered discs were randomly divided into three groups (M: machined surfaces, A: acid-etched surfaces and S: sandblasted surfaces) and colonized by Streptococcus sanguinis and Fusobacterium nucleatum reference strains for 7 days. Discs were then irradiated with Er,Cr:YSGG laser. CFU of the bacterial cells were quantified before and after laser therapy. SEM analysis was performed. Data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test while Bonferroni or Mann-Whitney multiple comparison were performed for post hoc analysis. Differences were considered significant if P<0.05. Results: Significant differences in CFU of both bacteria were found among 3 groups (p0.05). Conclusions: Increasing the surface roughness of zirconia discs by sandblasting and acid-etching has significant effects on adhesion of F. nucleatum and S. sanguinis. YSGG laser is effective in removing both bacteria irrespective the type of surface treated zirconia

The effect of BEAM Plus certification on property price in Hong Kong

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Current status on the development of homogenous molecular electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) relevant for proton exchange membrane fuel cell applications

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an essential component in aerobic biological energy transduction, where the oxidation prowess of O2 is employed to harvest the energy stored in reduced carbon sources. This experimental blueprint is mimicked in renewable energy technology, such as fuel cell. However, the harsh chemical conditions encountered in fuel cells have restricted the direct use of fragile biological ORR catalysts: the copper-based oxidase enzymes. Thus, a number of homogeneous synthetic ORR catalysts were developed in the past few years that can be used directly as an alternative cathodic substance in fuel cell. In this review, we have depicted the rationale behind the evolution of various ORR catalysts along with their developmental history.by Afsar Ali, Divyansh Prakash and Arnab Dutt