241 research outputs found
The Effect of Education on Life Satisfaction Across Countries
The study of life satisfaction of diverse countries is becoming increasingly important. Studies have shown that people who are satisfied with their lives are positive about other aspects of their lives such as their health. So it is important to examine the factors that can lead to life satisfaction. This study examines the relationships between education and life satisfaction across countries. Thirty-five countries are included in the study; the results show that life satisfaction is higher in countries where people have more education. Years of education are predicted by enrollment rates at the secondary and tertiary levels. Based on the findings of this study, educators and policy-makers should encourage people to continue their education.LâĂ©tude de la satisfaction de vivre dans divers pays prend de lâimportance. La recherche a dĂ©jĂ indiquĂ© que ceux qui sont satisfaits de leur vie sont Ă©galement plus positifs face Ă dâautres aspects de leur vie comme leur santĂ©. Il est donc important dâĂ©tudier les facteurs qui entraĂźnent la satisfaction de vivre. Ce projet porte sur le rapport entre lâĂ©ducation et la satisfaction de vivre dans trente-cinq pays. Les rĂ©sultats indiquent que la satisfaction de vivre est plus Ă©levĂ©e dans les pays prĂ©sentant des taux de scolaritĂ© plus Ă©levĂ©s. Les annĂ©es de scolaritĂ© sont Ă©valuĂ©es en fonction des taux dâinscription aux niveaux secondaire et tertiaire. Les rĂ©sultats de cette Ă©tude poussent les auteurs Ă recommander que les enseignants et les dĂ©cideurs encouragent les gens Ă poursuivre leur Ă©ducation
Body-Mind Connectedness: Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit Group Work for Depressed Persons with Salient Somatic Disturbances
Globally, depression frequently comorbid with a variety of physical illnesses, which exert substantial mental and somatic distresses on patients. Sleep disturbance is one of the common conditions reported by individuals with either, mental or physical illnesses. Complex interaction among depression, sleep and physical illnesses highlighted the essential mindâbody connection in the planning of integrative care and other clinical services. A number of eastern mindâbody practices, such as Qigong, acupuncture and meditation, have been frequently studied indicating the efficacy of mindâbody connection in complementary therapies. This chapter will introduce the integrative bodyâmindâspirit (IâBMS) group work, which has been found effective in addressing comorbid depressed mood and somatic afflictions, especially sleep disturbances among Hong Kong Chinese adults
Characteristics of Vitamin B12 Deficiency in Adult Chinese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and the Implication of Metformin
Mitigation Strategy for Low-frequency Large-magnitude Debris Flows in Hong Kong
Potential hazards arising from low-frequency large-magnitude debris flows have become apparent under the adverse impact of climate change and extreme weather. Hong Kong has systematically managed landslide risks arising from man-made slopes and natural hillsides since 1977, owing to its unique geographic location, steep terrain, deep weathering profile and post-war rapid urban development. In recent years, evaluation of potential hazards arising from low-frequency large-magnitude debris flows and their possible dire consequences has developed into a key part of the landslide mitigation effort in Hong Kong in light of the occurrence of more frequent and more severe extreme rainfall events. Valuable experience is gained in identifying potential low-frequency large-magnitude debris flow hazards, assessing their potential impacts to the public located at the densely populated foothills and developing a holistic strategy to mitigate against potentially catastrophic consequences. This paper sets out the mitigation strategy for mitigating low-frequency large-magnitude debris flows in Hong Kong and gives a case study to demonstrate the approach
Recent advances in the compound-oriented and pattern-oriented approaches to the quality control of herbal medicines
The current approaches to the quality control of herbal medicines are either compound-oriented or pattern-oriented, the former targeting specific components with some known chemical properties and the latter targeting all detectable components. The marker approach uses specific chemical compounds with known molecular structures, while the multi-compound approach uses both chemical compounds with known structures and those with partial chemical information e.g. retention times, mass spectra and ultraviolet spectra. Apart from chromatographic techniques, new techniques such as oscillating and electrochemistry fingerprints have been developed for quality control. Chemometric resolution methods are widely used for component deconvolution and data comparison. Pattern recognition techniques are used for authentication of herbal medicines
Clinical and biomechanical outcome of minimal invasive and open repair of the Achilles tendon
Introduction: With evolutions in surgical techniques, minimally invasive surgical (MIS) repair with Achillon applicator has been introduced. However, there is still a lack of literature to investigate into the clinical merits of MIS over open surgery. This study aims to investigate the correlation between clinical outcome, gait analysis and biomechanical properties comparing both surgical methods.Materials and methods: A single centre retrospective review on all the consecutive operated patients between January 2004 and December 2008 was performed. Twenty-six patients (19 male and 7 female; age 40.4 ± 9.2 years) had experienced a complete Achilles tendon rupture with operative repair. Nineteen of the patients, 10 MIS versus 9 open repairs (13 men with a mean age of 40.54 ± 10.43 (range 23-62 yrs) and 6 women with a mean age of 45.33 ± 7.71 (range 35-57 yrs) were further invited to attend a thorough clinical assessment using Holz's scale and biomechanical evaluation at a mean of 25.3 months after operation. This study utilized the Cybex II isokinetic dynamometer to assess the isokinetic peak force of plantar-flexion and dorsiflexion of both ankles. The patients were also invited to return to our Gait Laboratory for analysis. The eight-infrared camera motion capture system (VICON, UK) was utilized for the acquisition of kinematic variables. Their anthropometric data was measured according to the Davis and coworkers' standard.Results: The mean operative time and length of hospital stay were shorter in the MIS group. The operative time was 54.55 ± 15.15 minutes versus 68.80 ± 18.23 minutes of the MIS group and Open group respectively (p = 0.045), whereas length of stay was 3.36 ± 1.21 days versus 6.40 ± 3.70 days respectively (p = 0.039). There is statistically significant decrease (p = 0.005) in incision length in MIS group than the open surgery group, 3.23 ± 1.10 cm versus 9.64 ± 2.55 cm respectively. Both groups attained similar Holz's scores, 11.70 ± 0.95 versus 12.0 ± 1.50 respectively (p = 0.262). The mean percentage stance time of the injured leg for MIS patient was 58.44% while the mean percentage stance time of the injured leg for patients with open repair was 56.57%. T-test has shown there were no significance differences between the results of the two groups of patients. The loss of peak torque and total work done with respect to the injured side were similar between the MIS and open group.Discussion and conclusion: MIS using Achillon method can achieve smaller incisions, shorter operative time and hospital stay. There is no statistical significance difference in clinical outcome, the stance time to strike time ratio and biomechanical properties on the leg receiving Achilles tendon repair using MIS method and open surgery. © 2011 Chan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd
Clinical and biomechanical outcome of minimal invasive and open repair of the Achilles tendon
Introduction: With evolutions in surgical techniques, minimally invasive surgical (MIS) repair with Achillon applicator has been introduced. However, there is still a lack of literature to investigate into the clinical merits of MIS over open surgery. This study aims to investigate the correlation between clinical outcome, gait analysis and biomechanical properties comparing both surgical methods.Materials and methods: A single centre retrospective review on all the consecutive operated patients between January 2004 and December 2008 was performed. Twenty-six patients (19 male and 7 female; age 40.4 ± 9.2 years) had experienced a complete Achilles tendon rupture with operative repair. Nineteen of the patients, 10 MIS versus 9 open repairs (13 men with a mean age of 40.54 ± 10.43 (range 23-62 yrs) and 6 women with a mean age of 45.33 ± 7.71 (range 35-57 yrs) were further invited to attend a thorough clinical assessment using Holz's scale and biomechanical evaluation at a mean of 25.3 months after operation. This study utilized the Cybex II isokinetic dynamometer to assess the isokinetic peak force of plantar-flexion and dorsiflexion of both ankles. The patients were also invited to return to our Gait Laboratory for analysis. The eight-infrared camera motion capture system (VICON, UK) was utilized for the acquisition of kinematic variables. Their anthropometric data was measured according to the Davis and coworkers' standard.Results: The mean operative time and length of hospital stay were shorter in the MIS group. The operative time was 54.55 ± 15.15 minutes versus 68.80 ± 18.23 minutes of the MIS group and Open group respectively (p = 0.045), whereas length of stay was 3.36 ± 1.21 days versus 6.40 ± 3.70 days respectively (p = 0.039). There is statistically significant decrease (p = 0.005) in incision length in MIS group than the open surgery group, 3.23 ± 1.10 cm versus 9.64 ± 2.55 cm respectively. Both groups attained similar Holz's scores, 11.70 ± 0.95 versus 12.0 ± 1.50 respectively (p = 0.262). The mean percentage stance time of the injured leg for MIS patient was 58.44% while the mean percentage stance time of the injured leg for patients with open repair was 56.57%. T-test has shown there were no significance differences between the results of the two groups of patients. The loss of peak torque and total work done with respect to the injured side were similar between the MIS and open group.Discussion and conclusion: MIS using Achillon method can achieve smaller incisions, shorter operative time and hospital stay. There is no statistical significance difference in clinical outcome, the stance time to strike time ratio and biomechanical properties on the leg receiving Achilles tendon repair using MIS method and open surgery. © 2011 Chan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd
Treatment Outcome Prediction for Intracerebral Hemorrhage via Generative Prognostic Model with Imaging and Tabular Data
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the second most common and deadliest form
of stroke. Despite medical advances, predicting treat ment outcomes for ICH
remains a challenge. This paper proposes a novel prognostic model that utilizes
both imaging and tabular data to predict treatment outcome for ICH. Our model
is trained on observational data collected from non-randomized controlled
trials, providing reliable predictions of treatment success. Specifically, we
propose to employ a variational autoencoder model to generate a low-dimensional
prognostic score, which can effectively address the selection bias resulting
from the non-randomized controlled trials. Importantly, we develop a
variational distributions combination module that combines the information from
imaging data, non-imaging clinical data, and treatment assignment to accurately
generate the prognostic score. We conducted extensive experiments on a
real-world clinical dataset of intracerebral hemorrhage. Our proposed method
demonstrates a substantial improvement in treatment outcome prediction compared
to existing state-of-the-art approaches. Code is available at
https://github.com/med-air/TOP-GP
Effects of Experiential Learning Programmes on Adolescent Prosocial Behaviour, Empathy, and Subjective Well-being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Introduction: Effective adolescent learning programmes can positively influence adolescent development and curb risky behaviour. By immersing learners in an experience, experiential learning motivates learners to reflect on the experience to transform and create new skills, attitudes and ways of thinking. However, evidence of its effectiveness in learning programs facilitating positive youth development is still lacking. The objective of this study is to (a) identify the effect of adolescent learning programmes on prosocial behaviour, empathy and subjective well-being, (b) compare the effectiveness of experiential learning programmes and non-experiential learning programmes on improving these three outcomes, and (c) evaluating the effects of age on the outcomes of adolescent learning programmes.Methods: This study was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Randomised controlled trials of learning programmes for typically developing adolescents aged 8â25 in the past 15 years were identified, and assessed for quality with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDRO) scale. One thousand ninety-six records were screened with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 20 studies were adopted for this meta-analysis. The standardised mean difference and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the effect of experiential learning program on empathy, prosocial behaviour, and subjective well-being were examined. Sub-group analysis based on age was conducted to examine the effects of experiential learning on adolescents in different stages of life.Results: Experiential learning programmes were more effective than non-experiential learning programmes in improving empathy [d = 0.65 (0.07, 1.23)] and subjective well-being [d = 0.46 (0.33, 0.59)]. The effect sizes of the three outcomes in non-experiential learning programmes were non-significant. Studies conducted on older adolescents had the most significant improvements in the three outcomes.Conclusions: Results suggest the broader application of experiential learning in adolescent learning programmes for older adolescents in the future to promote positive youth development
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