A pilot controlled trial of a combination of dense cranial electroacupuncture stimulation and body acupuncture for post-stroke depression

Our previous studies have demonstrated the treatment benefits of dense cranial electroacupuncture stimulation (DCEAS), a novel brain stimulation therapy in patients with major depression, postpartum depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The purpose of the present study was to further evaluate the effectiveness of DCEAS combined with body acupuncture and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in patients with post-stroke depression (PSD).published_or_final_versio

Event-related desynchronization during mirror visual feedback : a comparison of older adults and people after stroke

202110 bcvcVersion of RecordPublishe

The effect of mirror visual feedback on spatial neglect for patients after stroke : a preliminary randomized controlled trial

202307 bcchVersion of RecordRGCPublishe

Changes in bone density and geometry of the upper extremities after stroke : a case report

2011-2012 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptRGCP0003814||P0003963Publishe

Neural activities for negative priming with affective stimuli: An fMRI study

Negative priming refers to the slowing down in reaction time to a stimulus that is either the same as, or related to, a distracting stimulus that has been ignored by people in an immediately preceding trial. It can be used as an index to examine the extent to which people are able to disengage attention or even ignore a distracting stimulus. In this fMRI study, with healthy Mandarin-speaking Chinese participants, we replicated the basic negative priming effect with affectively neutral words. Negative priming was associated with increased activities in the anterior cingulate cortex and the insula, a result that supports the inhibition account of negative priming. We observed that the negative priming effect was attenuated by negative affective words, relative to neutral words, suggesting that subjects' inhibition of negative information was compromised. Such attenuation of negative priming by negative affective words was associated with increased activities in the ventrolateral and medial frontal regions, the hippocampus, and supplementary motor areas. These observations indicate that specific frontal and subcortical regions take part in attention orientation toward negative-affect information. © 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

48 Weeks pegylated interferon alpha-2a is superior to 24 weeks of pegylated interferon alpha-2b in achieving hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion in chronic hepatitis B infection

Background/aim: Although 48-week therapy with pegylated-interferons has been shown to be effective for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection, the efficacy of a shorter duration of therapy with pegylated interferons is unknown. Method: We reviewed 53 hepatitis B e antigen positive Chinese patients treated with 48 weeks of pegylated interferon alpha-2a or 24 weeks of pegylated interferon alpha-2b. Sustained virological response was defined as hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion and hepatitis B virus DNA <105 copies/mL at week 72. Results: Twenty-nine patients were treated with 48 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alpha-2a and 24 patients with 24 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alpha-2b. At the end-of-therapy, hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion and hepatitis B virus DNA <105 copies/mL were similar between the two groups of patients [9/29 (31.0%) vs. 2/24 (8.3%), respectively, P = 0.09]. At week 72, 10 of the 29 patients (34.5%) treated with 48 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alpha-2a compared with two of the 24 patients (8.3%) treated with 24 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alpha-2b had sustained virological response (P = 0.04). By logistic analysis, 48 weeks of pegylated-interferon- alpha-2a was independently associated with sustained virological response (P = 0.04 adjusted hazards-ratio 9.37). Conclusion: Further studies are required to determine the optimal duration of therapy with pegylated interferons in chronic hepatitis B. © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

48 Weeks pegylated interferon alfa-2a is superior to 24 weeks of pegylated interferon alfa-2b in achievingHBeAg seroconversion in chronic hepatitis B infection

Background/Aim Although 48-week therapy with pegylated-interferons has been shown to be effective for the treatment of chronichepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, the efficacy of a shorter durationof therapy with pegylated interferons is unknown.Method We retrospectively compared the efficacy of 48 weeks treat-ment with pegylated-interferon-alfa-2a to a 24-week regime withpegylated-interferon-alfa-2b in 53 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive Chinese patients. Sustained virological response (SVR) wasdefined as HBeAg seroconversion and HBV DNA less than 105copies/ml at 24 weeks after the end-of-therapy (EFU).Results Twenty-nine patients were treated with 48 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2a and 24 patients with 24 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2b. The baseline characteristics were com-parable between the 2 groups. At the end-of-therapy, 9 of the 29patients (31.0%) treated with 48 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2a compared with 2 of the 24 patients (8.3%) treated with 24weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2b had HBeAg seroconversion andHBV DNA less than 105 copies/ml (p = 0.09). At the EFU, 10 of the29 patients (34.5%) treated with 48 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2a compared with 2 of the 24 patients (8.3%) treated with 24weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2b had SVR (p = 0.04). There wasno withdrawals from treatment in both groups. Adverse events werecomparable between the 2 groups.Conclusion A 48-week course of pegylated-interferon may be asso-ciated with a higher SVR when compared with 24-week of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2b.link_to_subscribed_fulltex