448 research outputs found
Knowledge and experience sharing in projects-based building maintenance community of practice
Author name used in this publication: Patrick S. W. Fong2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe
Placenta praevia: Preach and perception
Placenta praevia is a known obstetric condition that causes complications to mother and
fetus. This study was done to evaluate the knowledge of placenta praevia amongst the
obstetric patients. A cross sectional study was carried out in Hospital Ipoh, Perak among
323 antenatal and postnatal patients. Socio-demographic parameters (ie age, race, parity,
occupation, educational level) and history of placenta praevia were studied in relation to
level of knowledge and attitude towards placenta praevia. Twenty (6.2%) from 323 women
had current or past history of placenta praevia. Three had history of placenta praevia while
17 had current placenta praevia with prevalence of 5.3%. The mean score of knowledge
achieved by patients was 11.8 which indicated overall poor knowledge. Occupation, level of education and history of placenta praevia were found to have a relationship with level of
knowledge regarding placenta praevia in all obstetric patients. There was a significant
relationship between attitude of patients with current and history of placenta praevia to
level of knowledge regarding placenta praevia. (p=0.037, <0.05). In conclusion, the
knowledge and attitude towards placenta praevia among obstetric patients in Hospital Ipoh
was better in those who had higher education status, white-collar occupation and currently
pregnant with placenta praevi
Acupuncture for frozen shoulder
This randomised controlled trial was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for frozen shoulder. Thirty-five patients with a diagnosis of frozen shoulder were randomly allocated to an exercise group or an exercise plus acupuncture group and treated for a period of 6 weeks. Functional mobility, power, and pain were assessed by a blinded assessor using the Constant Shoulder Assessment, at baseline, 6 weeks and 20 weeks. Analysis was based on the intention-to-treat principle. Compared with the exercise group, the exercise plus acupuncture group experienced significantly greater improvement with treatment. Improvements in scores by 39.8% (standard deviation, 27.1) and 76.4% (55.0) were seen for the exercise and the exercise plus acupuncture groups, respectively at 6 weeks (P=0.048), and were sustained at the 20-week re-assessment (40.3% [26.7] and 77.2% [54.0], respectively; P=0.025). We conclude that the combination of acupuncture with shoulder exercise may offer effective treatment for frozen shoulder.published_or_final_versio
Prediction of new onset of end stage renal disease in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus – a population-based retrospective cohort study
published_or_final_versio
Characterizing the malignancy and drug resistance of cancer cells from their membrane resealing response
In this report, we showed that two tumor cell characteristics, namely the malignancy and drug-resistance status can be evaluated by their membrane resealing response. Specifically, membrane pores in a number of pairs of cancer and normal cell lines originated from nasopharynx, lung and intestine were introduced by nano-mechanical puncturing. Interestingly, such nanometer-sized holes in tumor cells can reseal ∼ 2-3 times faster than those in the corresponding normal cells. Furthermore, the membrane resealing time in cancer cell lines exhibiting resistance to several leading chemotherapeutic drugs was also found to be substantially shorter than that in their drug-sensitive counterparts, demonstrating the potential of using this quantity as a novel marker for future cancer diagnosis and drug resistance detection. Finally, a simple model was proposed to explain the observed resealing dynamics of cells which suggested that the distinct response exhibited by normal, tumor and drug resistant cells is likely due to the different tension levels in their lipid membranes, a conclusion that is also supported by direct cortical tension measurement.published_or_final_versio
Numerical simulations for a typical train fire in China
Author name used in this publication: W. K ChowAuthor name used in this publication: N. K. Fong2010-2011 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe
An alternative to a randomised control design for assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of bracing in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the efficacy of bracing for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis have suffered from small sample sizes, low compliance and lack of willingness to participate. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a comprehensive cohort study for evaluating both the efficacy and the effectiveness of bracing in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Patients with curves at greater risk of progression were invited to join a randomised controlled trial. Those who declined were given the option to remain in the study and to choose whether they wished to be braced or observed. Of 87 eligible patients (5 boys and 63 girls) identified over one year, 68 (78%) with mean age of 12.5 years (10 to 15) consented to participate, with a mean follow-up of 168 weeks (0 to 290). Of these, 19 (28%) accepted randomisation. Of those who declined randomisation, 18 (37%) chose a brace. Patients who were more satisfied with their image were more likely to choose bracing (Odds Ratio 4.1; 95% confidence interval 1.1 to 15.0; p = 0.035). This comprehensive cohort study design facilitates the assessment of both efficacy and effectiveness of bracing in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, which is not feasible in a conventional randomised controlled trial.postprin
Classification Rule for 5-year Cardiovascular Diseases Risk using decision tree in Primary Care Chinese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
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Photocurrent measurements of supercollision cooling in graphene
The cooling of hot electrons in graphene is the critical process underlying
the operation of exciting new graphene-based optoelectronic and plasmonic
devices, but the nature of this cooling is controversial. We extract the hot
electron cooling rate near the Fermi level by using graphene as novel
photothermal thermometer that measures the electron temperature () as it
cools dynamically. We find the photocurrent generated from graphene
junctions is well described by the energy dissipation rate , where the heat capacity is and is the
base lattice temperature. These results are in disagreement with predictions of
electron-phonon emission in a disorder-free graphene system, but in excellent
quantitative agreement with recent predictions of a disorder-enhanced
supercollision (SC) cooling mechanism. We find that the SC model provides a
complete and unified picture of energy loss near the Fermi level over the wide
range of electronic (15 to 3000 K) and lattice (10 to 295 K) temperatures
investigated.Comment: 7pages, 5 figure
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