Achieving Synergistic Effects by Combining Different Phytochemicals for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer

AL ZAHARNA, M & CHEUNG, HY 2014, 'Achieving Synergistic Effects by Combining Different Phytochemicals for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer' Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Journal, vol 21, no. 1, pp. 20 - 24 … AL ZAHARNA, M., & CHEUNG, H. (2014). Achieving Synergistic Effects by Combining Different Phytochemicals for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer. Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Journal, 21(1), 20 - 24 … AL ZAHARNA M, CHEUNG HY. Achieving Synergistic Effects by Combining Different Phytochemicals for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer. Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Journal. 2014 Jan;21(1):20 - 24 … AL ZAHARNA, Mazen; CHEUNG, Hon-Yeung / Achieving Synergistic Effects by Combining Different Phytochemicals for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer … In: Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1, 01.2014, p. 20 - 24

How science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) project-based learning improves student learning

The purpose of this paper is to examine how extra-curricular and academic performance is affected by student participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) under project-based learning (PBL) activities. General observation and quantitative analysis was used to evaluate the two aspects. A solar car team project under the philosophy of STEM and PBL is developed and more than two hundred students from electrical and mechanical engineering field participated in the team project and learnt the STEM PBL core value. The team aims to develop a solar-powered vehicle to demonstrate the viability of a renewable energy through the use of green transportation, to promote the awareness of environmental sustainability among the public. It also provides students with an opportunity to put theoretical knowledge into practice, gain hands-on experience, and practice project management skills during development, and thus leading student to understanding science and new technology; and practising engineering skills and mathematics. Till now, six solar vehicles were built with the massive efforts of students. Moreover, design thinking process is adopted to engage and motivate students to learn and develop in the team. The entire process includes the following steps: ‘Empathize’, allowing students to learn about their audience for their designing process; ‘Define’, constructing a point of view that is based on user needs and insights; ‘Ideate’, brainstorming and coming up with creative solutions; ‘Prototype’, building a rePresentation of one or more of student ideas to show to others and ‘test’, returning to original user group and testing their ideas for feedback. The team students showed significantly growth rates on research, planning, project implementation and reporting. The team also assists students’ further STEM studies and STEM career planning, and the nurturing of diversified talents with a range of capabilities at different levels in STEM knowledge development. In addition, the team organizes solar car workshops and demonstrations, and supervises group projects for secondary school students. Result of the study implied that STEM with PBL in school benefitted students in that they achieved a greater extension on extra-curricular and academic aspect, especially gaining more solid knowledge in technology and engineering

„Kitalált történetek”. ,A látogató’ és az ,Útvesztõ’

Andrographolide (Andro) has emerged recently as a potential and effective anticancer agent with induction of apoptosis in some cancer cell lines while induction of G2/M arrest with weak apoptosis in others. Few studies have proved that Andro is also effective in combination therapy. The flavonoid Taxifolin (Taxi) has showed anti-oxidant and antiproliferative effects against different cancer cells. Therefore, the present study investigated the cytotoxic effects of Andro alone or in combination with Taxi on HeLa cells. The combination of Andro with Taxi was synergistic at all tested concentrations and combination ratios. Andro alone induced caspase-dependent apoptosis which was enhanced by the combination with Taxi and attenuated partly by using Z-Vad-Fmk. Andro induced a protective reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent autophagy which was attenuated by Taxi. The activation of p53 was involved in Andro-induced autophagy where the use of Taxi or pifithrin-α (PFT-α) decreased it while the activation of JNK was involved in the cell death of HeLa cells but not in the induction of autophagy. The mitochondrial outer-membrane permeabilization (MOMP) plays an important role in Andro-induced cell death in HeLa cells. Andro alone increased the MOMP which was further increased in the case of combination. This led to the increase in AIF and cytochrome c release from mitochondria which consequently increased caspase-dependent and independent cell death. In conclusion, Andro induced a protective autophagy in HeLa cells which was reduced by Taxi and the cell death was increased by increasing the MOMP and subsequently the

Comparison Study of HPLC Profiles and Antioxidant Activities of Traditional Chinese Herb Abri Cantoniensis and Abri Mollis

Abri cantoniensis (AC) is regarded as a potent folk medicine for jaundice, hepatitis for long history worldwide. Abri Mollis (AM) is an alternative species of AC. In the present study, the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profile and antioxidant activities of these two species were compared. With the established HPLC fingerprint, 20 batches of AC and AM were efficiently distinguished. The antioxidant activities against DPPH radical of 20 batches of AC and AM were compared, and AC showed generally stronger antioxidant activities than AM, with IC50 value ranging from 14.19 to 65.06 μg/mL. Extract of AC was further separated into 4 fractions by serial extraction. Only ethyl acetate fraction (EF) and n-butanol fraction (BF) showed strong DPPH radical scavenging activities, with IC50 value of 48.32±4.70 and 62.72±3.03 μg/mL, respectively. These two fractions also showed potent cellular antioxidant

AFM and Proteomic Analysis of Spore Coat Related to Spore Germination of Geobacillus stearothermophilus

DONG, W, SHEN, Q, AL ZAHARNA, M, ZHANG, Z & CHEUNG, HY 2013, 'AFM and Proteomic Analysis of Spore Coat Related to Spore Germination of Geobacillus stearothermophilus' Paper presented at 2nd International Conference on Medical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, London, United Kingdom, 17/06/13 - 18/06/13 … DONG, W., SHEN, Q., AL ZAHARNA, M., ZHANG, Z., & CHEUNG, HY (2013). AFM and Proteomic Analysis of Spore Coat Related to Spore Germination of Geobacillus stearothermophilus. Paper presented at 2nd International Conference on Medical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, London, United Kingdom. … DONG W, SHEN Q, AL ZAHARNA M, ZHANG Z, CHEUNG HY. AFM and Proteomic Analysis of Spore Coat Related to Spore Germination of Geobacillus stearothermophilus. 2013. Paper presented at 2nd International Conference on Medical, Biological and Pharmaceutical

In vitro antioxidant activities and anti-proliferative properties of the functional herb Abrus cantoniensis and its main alkaloid abrine

Abrus cantoniensis is a common and popular vegetative food consumed as beverage, soup and folk medicine in the tropical and subtropical areas of Asia. It has been claimed valuable for cleansing toxicants in the liver. However, the functional effects of A. cantoniensis have not yet been scientifically explored. This study comprehensively evaluated the in vitro antioxidant and anti-proliferative capacities of the herbal extract and the main alkaloid abrine. Abrine was qualitatively and quantitatively determined in methanol extract (ME) using HPLC-DAD and LC-MS/MS. The results showed that ME, ethyl acetate fraction (EF) and abrine exhibited comparable ABTS radical cation scavenging activities and reducing power to two commercial antioxidants (BHT and Trolox). The EF exerted strong cellular antioxidant activity and selective cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Biological

A report on an exploratory study on visual conditions of older people living in public housing

HOPE worldwide (HWW) has been a chartered charity organization in Hong Kong since 1993, with its focus on organizing service programmes in China and Hong Kong. Volunteers for Seniors Day (formerly Hope for Seniors Day) is one of the many programmes initiated by HWW to meet the urgent needs of the growing ageing population in Hong Kong. Starting in 1996, volunteers from corporations and social organizations have been recruited for Volunteers for Seniors Days on an annual basis. Since 2000, the programme has been jointly organized with the Housing Authority to provide cleaning and painting services to single elderly tenants living in public housing estates. It also helps to build relationships between the volunteers and the elderly people in the community. Over the past nine years, the programme has served over 5,300 single elderly people and mobilized more than 20,000 volunteers to participate. In the survey conducted by HWW during Volunteers for Seniors Day 2004, we found that there were up to 40.1% and 49.6% of the single elderly living in public housing estates suffering from various kinds of eye diseases and poor eyesight respectively. The prevalence of eye diseases and poor eyesight would result in a high percentage of falls and thereby affect their functional activities of daily living (ADL). In fact, most of the eye diseases are curable with early detection and treatment, and elderly people with poor eyesight may need minor home adaptation e.g. handrails or night lights to prevent home accidents. According to a study by the Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology of Chinese University, exercise is important to the elderly and can strengthen their low-limb and upper-limb muscles, which in turn prevents falls at home or on the street. Due to the above findings, HWW cooperated with Housing Authority to initiate a pilot programme to help identify the eye diseases as well as provide public health education to the elderly in 30 public estates in the second half of 2004. Health care professionals provided training to 150 volunteers on eye care knowledge and simple eye screening tests that could be carried out in road shows in shopping arcades of public housing estates. In addition, experienced ophthalmologists or optometrists were present to answer elderly participants’ inquiries on eye health and delivered health information during the kick-off ceremony and road shows in the shopping arcades. The programme had the following objectives: To enhance the awareness of eye health and eye diseases of the elderly through 30 public eye screenings at public housing arcades; To carry out a survey on the visual conditions of elderly living in public housing; and To foster partnership between government, NGO and business sectors in promoting the health of the elderly in the community

Clinical features, management, and prognostic factors of status epilepticus in Chinese

Poster PresentationINTRODUCTION: Status epilepticus (SE) is a neurological emergency with significant mortality and morbidity. There are currently limited data regarding the causes and outcomes of SE in our locality, and identification of prognostic factors, especially those available at presentation, could lower risk of under- or over-treatment in SE. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the clinical characteristics, management, and clinical outcome of adults diagnosed with incident SE, excluding episodes due to cerebral anoxia, at a regional hospi…published_or_final_versio

Restoring Hong Kong's landscar in the Anderson Quarry : an analysis of civic engagement strategies

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

Outcomes of first-ever stroke

The long-term prognosis after first-ever stroke is poor—5 years after their stroke, 39.7% of patients had died and 10.7% were dependent in terms of activity of daily living; 136 (21%) who survived at least 30 days after the initial stroke, had a recurrence within 5 years.published_or_final_versio