Disentangling the stigma of HIV/AIDS from the stigmas of drugs use, commercial sex and commercial blood donation – A factorial survey of medical students in China

Background: HIV/AIDS related stigma interferes with the provision of appropriate care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. Currently, programs to address the stigma approach it as if it occurs in isolation, separate from the co-stigmas related to the various modes of disease transmission including injection drug use (IDU) and commercial sex (CS). In order to develop better programs to address HIV/AIDS related stigma, the inter-relationship (or 'layering') between HIV/AIDS stigma and the co-stigmas needs to be better understood. This paper describes an experimental study for disentangling the layering of HIV/AIDS related stigmas. Methods: The study used a factorial survey design. 352 medical students from Guangzhou were presented with four random vignettes each describing a hypothetical male. The vignettes were identical except for the presence of a disease diagnosis (AIDS, leukaemia, or no disease) and a cocharacteristic (IDU, CS, commercial blood donation (CBD), blood transfusion or no cocharacteristic). After reading each vignette, participants completed a measure of social distance that assessed the level of stigmatising attitudes. Results: Bivariate and multivariable analyses revealed statistically significant levels of stigma associated with AIDS, IDU, CS and CBD. The layering of stigma was explored using a recently developed technique. Strong interactions between the stigmas of AIDS and the co-characteristics were also found. AIDS was significantly less stigmatising than IDU or CS. Critically, the stigma of AIDS in combination with either the stigmas of IDU or CS was significantly less than the stigma of IDU alone or CS alone. Conclusion: The findings pose several surprising challenges to conventional beliefs about HIV/ AIDS related stigma and stigma interventions that have focused exclusively on the disease stigma. Contrary to the belief that having a co-stigma would add to the intensity of stigma attached to people with HIV/AIDS, the findings indicate the presence of an illness might have a moderating effect on the stigma of certain co-characteristics like IDU. The strong interdependence between the stigmas of HIV/AIDS and the co-stigmas of IDU and CS suggest that reducing the co-stigmas should be an integral part of HIV/AIDS stigma intervention within this context

An efficient rotation-free triangle for drape/cloth simulations - Part I: model improvement, dynamic simulation and adaptive remeshing

This series of two papers aim to improve the rotation-free (RF) triangle model previously developed by the authors and apply it for drape/cloth simulations. To avoid a previously un-observed drawback, the membrane strain obtained from the three-node displacement interpolation is replaced by the one obtained from the six-node interpolation. Dynamic simulations are made possible by explicit time integration. Instead of using dense structural meshes, the quality of draped patterns is improved by global adaptive remeshing. The works in this paper provide important and necessary techniques for practical applications of the RF triangle in the drape simulation. In part II, other techniques including collision handling and garment construction are further discussed and some practical applications of garments on still and moving human body model would be presented.postprin

The preparation, characterization, and pharmacokinetic studies of chitosan nanoparticles loaded with paclitaxel/dimethyl-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes.

A novel biocompatible and biodegradable drug-delivery nanoparticle (NP) has been developed to minimize the severe side effects of the poorly water-soluble anticancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) for clinical use. PTX was loaded into the hydrophobic cavity of a hydrophilic cyclodextrin derivative, heptakis (2,6-di-O-methyl)-β-cyclodextrin (DM-β-CD), using an aqueous solution-stirring method followed by lyophilization. The resulting PTX/DM-β-CD inclusion complex dramatically enhanced the solubility of PTX in water and was directly incorporated into chitosan (CS) to form NPs (with a size of 323.9–407.8 nm in diameter) using an ionic gelation method. The formed NPs had a zeta potential of +15.9–23.3 mV and showed high colloidal stability. With the same weight ratio of PTX to CS of 0.7, the loading efficiency of the PTX/DM-β-CD inclusion complex-loaded CS NPs was 30.3-fold higher than that of the PTX-loaded CS NPs. Moreover, it is notable that PTX was released from the DM-β-CD/CS NPs in a sustained-release manner. The pharmacokinetic studies revealed that, compared with reference formulation (Taxol(®)), the PTX/DM-β-CD inclusion complex-loaded CS NPs exhibited a significant increase in AUC(0→24h) (the area under the plasma drug concentration–time curve over the period of 24 hours) and mean residence time by 2.7-fold and 1.4-fold, respectively. Therefore, the novel drug/DM-β-CD inclusion complex-loaded CS NPs have promising applications for the significantly improved delivery and controlled release of the poorly water-soluble drug PTX or its derivatives, thus possibly leading to enhanced therapeutic efficacy and less severe side effects

A thermal model for static current characteristics of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors including self-heating effect

2005-2006 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Compression of micron-sized pillars of anodic aluminium oxide nano-honeycomb

Micro-pillars of anodic aluminium oxide with nano-sized honeycomb channels along the pillar axis exhibit compressive stressstrain response with large excursions corresponding to discrete, inhomogeneous deformation events. Each excursion is found to associate with the severe distortion of a material layer at the pillar's head, whereas the remaining of the pillar remains intact. The stresses at which these excursions occur do not exhibit any significant dependence on the pillar size. A simple model is proposed to describe the response of pillars under compression, which energetically, as well as kinetically, explains as to why the localized deformation always takes place at the pillar head. Predictions on the occurrence of instability events from this model also quantitatively agree with the experimental observations. © 2010 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.postprin

Induction chemotherapy for squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity: A cumulative meta-analysis

Induction chemotherapy (ICT) is a controversial treatment for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Despite numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs), a majority do not have enough statistical power alone to conclude ICT’s treatment value among oral squamous carcinoma patients (OSCC) since many addressed HNSCC as one entity instead of by specific subtypes. By performing a systematic review and cumulative meta-analysis, we aim to determine the benefits of ICT in OSCC therapy. A literature search identified for RCTs comparing OSCC patients who received ICT against those without. Log-hazard ratio, and relative risk were used for comparison. Heterogeneity was determined using the I2 statistic package. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS), followed by disease-free survival (DFS), locoregional recurrence (LRR) and distant metastasis (DM) as secondary endpoints. RESULTS: 27 randomized trials were included for analysis (n = 2872 patients). The shortest median follow-up was 15 months whereas the longest was 11.5 years. ICT does not improve OS (HR = 0.947, 95% CI 0.85–1.05, p = 0.318), DFS (RR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.92–1.21, p = 0.462) and DM (RR = 0.626, CI 95% 0.361–1.086, p = 0.096) compared to locoregional treatment alone. However, there was a significant improvement to LRR (RR = 0.778, 95% CI 0.622–0.972, p = 0.027). There is no evidence ICT improves survival outcomes for OSCC patients. However, ICT reduces locoregional recurrence of OSCC, which may need further verification.preprin

Genetic polymorphisms and periodontitis in Hong Kong Chinese

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Social Network and Tacit Knowledge Acquisition: The Role of Entrepreneurs’ Social Skill.

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of entrepreneurs’ social skills on the social network and tacit knowledge acquisition. The conclusion of the study indicates that entrepreneurs’ social skills including impression management and social perception influence fostering social networks by promoting face-to-face interactions to understand reactions, reciprocity and even motives of others. The impact of entrepreneurs’ social skills on tacit knowledge acquisition is further determined by strong social networks and preserving affable business relations of an entrepreneurial firm

'Yin-Yang' regulation of insulin signaling by APPL1 and APPL2 in skeletal muscle cells

Poster Session 2: Genes & Signaling - abstract no. 48: Endocrinologypublished_or_final_versionThe 15th Annual Research Conference of the Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 16 January 2010. In Hong Kong Medical Journal, 2010, v. 16, suppl. 1, p. 66, abstract no. 11

A combined finite element-Langevin dynamics (FEM-LD) approach for analyzing the mechanical response of bio-polymer networks

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