The use of Stunkard’s figure rating scale to identify underweight and overweight in Chinese adolescents

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Risk factors and outcomes of childhood obesity in Hong Kong: a retrospective cohort study

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Resection of T4 hepatocellular carcinomas with adjacent structures, is it justified?

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Exposure to particulate air pollution at different living locations and respiratory symptoms in Hong Kong-an application of satellite information

Respiratory ill-health effects due to particulate air exposure at different geographical locations in Hong Kong that aggregate individual living locations were estimated based on satellite information. We assessed the presence of respiratory symptoms of a frequent cough or sputum in school students aged 11-20 years old (n=9,881). Daily particulate air pollution levels at students' living locations were derived from the surface extinction coefficients measured by satellite and measurements from the air pollutant monitoring stations at ground level. Adjusted odds ratio (OR) [95% CI] of respiratory symptoms was 1.047 [1.005, 1.091] per 10 g m-3 increase in PM10 concentration. Specificity tests showed that adjusted OR of having other symptoms is not significant (p=0.20-0.94). Exposures to PM10 at different geographical locations is associated with increased odds of having respiratory symptoms (cough or sputum) but not with other symptoms unrelated to air pollution. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.postprin

Contributos do Ensino - Aprendizagem do Inglês, nos 3º e 4º anos do Ensino Básico, para os resultados obtidos pelos alunos na disciplina de Inglês, no 5º ano do Ensino Básico, no distrito de Évora.

O presente artigo dá conta da investigação que verificou a relação entre a frequência da Atividade de Enriquecimento Curricular (AEC) de Inglês, pelos alunos dos 3º e 4º anos do Ensino Básico, dos agrupamentos de escolas do distrito de Évora, no biénio 2005-2007 e os resultados obtidos, pelos mesmos, no final do ano letivo 2007/2008, na disciplina de Inglês, no 5º ano do Ensino Básico, nos agrupamentos de escolas do distrito de Évora que frequentaram. Dá, ainda, conta das relações entre esses resultados, a assiduidade, as retenções, o desenvolvimento cognitivo e o género desses mesmos alunos, nos resultados observados no referido 5ºAno

Contribution of discourse and morphosyntax skills to reading comprehension in Chinese dyslexic and typically developing children

This study aimed at identifying important skills for reading comprehension in Chinese dyslexic children and their typically developing counterparts matched on age (CA controls) or reading level (RL controls). The children were assessed on Chinese reading comprehension, cognitive, and reading-related skills. Results showed that the dyslexic children performed significantly less well than the CA controls but similarly to RL controls in most measures. Results of multiple regression analyses showed that word-level reading-related skills like oral vocabulary and word semantics were found to be strong predictors of reading comprehension among typically developing junior graders and dyslexic readers of senior grades, whereas morphosyntax, a text-level skill, was most predictive for typically developing senior graders. It was concluded that discourse and morphosyntax skills are particularly important for reading comprehension in the non-inflectional and topic-prominent Chinese system. © 2010 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201

Sex hormones and apoptosis and immunoglobulin production in systemic lupus erythematosus

BACKGROUND: SLE is an autoimmune disease that affects predominantly female of reproductive age. Previous studies have suggested an immunomodulatory role of sex hormones in the pathogenesis of SLE. Objectives: To examine the effects of various sex hormones on apoptosis and immunoglobulin production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in SLE patients …published_or_final_versio

G1 checkpoint establishment in vivo during embryonic liver development

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Syntactic skills in sentence reading comprehension among Chinese elementary school children

The present study examined the role of syntactic skills for reading comprehension in Chinese. Two hundred and seventy-two Chinese children were tested on their phonological processing, orthographic, morphological, syntactic, and literacy skills at Grades 1 and 2. Hierarchical multiple regression results showed that syntactic skills, in terms of word order, connective usage, and knowledge of morphosyntactic structure (measured by an oral cloze task) in Grade 1, significantly predicted sentence reading comprehension in Grade 2 after controlling for the children's age, IQ, and word level reading-related cognitive skills in Grade 1, and word reading in Grade 2. As in alphabetic languages, syntactic skills are essential for reading comprehension in Chinese. The unique roles of individual syntactic skills for understanding sentences in Chinese are discussed. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.postprin

Comparison of the outcome of living related donor and cadaveric renal transplantation in Queen Mary Hospital - a single centre experience

Living related donors (LRD) have been the main source of donor kidneys in Hong Kong. In recent years, there has been an increase in the proportion of cadaveric (CAD) kidneys transplantation. This review examines the results of renal transplantation in. Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) in order to assess the continuing need for LRD kidney transplantation. The records of 159 of 165 transplant cases between 1983 and 1991 were analyzed. The mean age of recipients was 35.6 years (range 11 to 57), with a male predominance in the LED recipients (p = 0.03). The waiting time for the LRD recipients was significantly less than the CAD recipients (p < 0.001). There was no difference in the distribution of different primary renal diseases causing end stage renal failure between the LRD and CAD groups. The cumulative graft survival at five years was 82.5% and 65.8% for LRD and CAD respectively (p = 0.02), Graft function was also significantly better in LRD recipients (p < 0,01), Early surgical complications were more common after CAD transplantation (14% vs 29%, p = 0.02). While the transplant centres and the Hong Kong Government continue to promote cadaveric organ donation, the LRD transplant programme should be equally encouraged because of superior graft outcome.published_or_final_versio