Helping Adolescents with Greater Psychosocial Needs: Subjective Outcome Evaluation Based on Different Cohorts

The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) is designed to help students with greater psychosocial needs. This paper examines nine sets of subjective outcome evaluation data collected from 2005 to 2009 (n = 60, 241 participants). Based on the consolidated data with schools as units, results showed that participants generally had positive perceptions of the program, implementers, and benefits of the program. The subjective outcome evaluation instrument was found to be internally consistent. Multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived qualities of the program and the program implementers predicted perceived effectiveness of the program. The present study provides support for the effectiveness of the Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong

Process Evaluation of the Implementation of the Secondary 2 Program of Project P.A.T.H.S. in the Experimental Implementation Phase

This study aimed to understand the implementation quality of the Tier 1 Program (Secondary 2 Curriculum) delivered in the Experimental Implementation Phase of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes). Observers carried out process evaluation in the form of systematic observations of curriculum units in four randomly selected schools. Results showed that the overall level of program adherence was generally high, ranging from 70 to 95%, with an average of 83.6%. The mean ratings of the program implementation quality were high, and the inter-rater reliability on these ratings across the observers was highly reliable. Despite limitations, the findings of this study suggest that the implementation quality of the Secondary 2 Program (Tier 1 Program) of the Experimental Implementation Phase was favorable, and provide supporting evidence to account for the successful and encouraging outcomes of a major positive youth development program in Hong Kong

Evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Mainland China: Findings Based on Student Diaries

Objectives: Based on 859 student diaries, the present study evaluated a positive youth development program entitled “Tin Ka Ping (TKP) Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social programs (P.A.T.H.S.) ” project implemented in mainland China during the 2015–2016 academic year. Method: To understand the perceived effectiveness of the students, the study analyzed quantitative as well as qualitative data derived from the student diaries. Results: The students held very positive views toward the program and the implementers. The narratives of the students also showed that they perceived improvement in the intrapersonal, interpersonal, familial, and societal domains after joining the program. Conclusion: In conjunction with the subjective outcome evaluation findings, the present findings suggest that the “TKP P.A.T.H.S.” project is able to promote holistic development of secondary school students in mainland China

Monoclinic and Correlated Metal Phase in VO_2 as Evidence of the Mott Transition: Coherent Phonon Analysis

In femtosecond pump-probe measurements, the appearance of coherent phonon oscillations at 4.5 THz and 6.0 THz indicating the rutile metal phase of VO_2 does not occur simultaneously with the first-order metal-insulator transition (MIT) near 68^oC. The monoclinic and correlated metal(MCM) phase between the MIT and the structural phase transition (SPT) is generated by a photo-assisted hole excitation which is evidence of the Mott transition. The SPT between the MCM phase and the rutile metal phase occurs due to subsequent Joule heating. The MCM phase can be regarded as an intermediate non-equilibrium state.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Molecular Tracers of Filamentary CO Emission Regions Surrounding the Central Galaxies of Clusters

Optical emission is detected from filaments around the central galaxies of clusters of galaxies. These filaments have lengths of tens of kiloparsecs. The emission is possibly due to heating caused by the dissipation of mechanical energy and by cosmic ray induced ionisation. CO millimeter and submillimeter line emissions as well as H$_{2}$ infrared emission originating in such filaments surrounding NGC~1275, the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster, have been detected. Our aim is to identify those molecular species, other than CO, that may emit detectable millimeter and submillimeter line features arising in these filaments, and to determine which of those species will produce emissions that might serve as diagnostics of the dissipation and cosmic ray induced ionisation. The time-dependent UCL photon-dominated region modelling code was used in the construction of steady-state models of molecular filamentary emission regions at appropriate pressures, for a range of dissipation and cosmic ray induced ionisation rates and incident radiation fields.HCO$^+$ and C$_2$H emissions will potentially provide information about the cosmic ray induced ionisation rates in the filaments. HCN and, in particular, CN are species with millimeter and submillimeter lines that remain abundant in the warmest regions containing molecules. Detections of the galaxy cluster filaments in HCO$^{+}$, C$_{2}$H, and CN emissions and further detections of them in HCN emissions would provide significant constraints on the dissipation and cosmic ray induced ionisation rates.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, accepted in A&

The impact of cardiac comorbidity sequence at baseline and mortality risk in type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: a retrospective population-based cohort study

Introduction: The presence of multiple comorbidities increases the risk of all-cause mortality, but the effects of the comorbidity sequence before the baseline date on mortality remain unexplored. This study investigated the relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD), atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) through their sequence of development and the effect on all-cause mortality risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This study included patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus prescribed antidiabetic/cardiovascular medications in public hospitals of Hong Kong between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2009, with follow-up until death or 31 December 2019. The Cox regression was used to identify comorbidity sequences predicting all-cause mortality in patients with different medication subgroups. Results: A total of 249,291 patients (age: 66.0 ± 12.4 years, 47.4% male) were included. At baseline, 7564, 10,900 and 25,589 patients had AF, HF and CHD, respectively. Over follow-up (3524 ± 1218 days), 85,870 patients died (mortality rate: 35.7 per 1000 person-years). Sulphonylurea users with CHD developing later and insulin users with CHD developing earlier in the disease course had lower mortality risks. Amongst insulin users with two of the three comorbidities, those with CHD with preceding AF (hazard ratio (HR): 3.06, 95% CI: [2.60–3.61], p < 0.001) or HF (HR: 3.84 [3.47–4.24], p < 0.001) had a higher mortality. In users of lipid-lowering agents with all three comorbidities, those with preceding AF had a higher risk of mortality (AF-CHD-HF: HR: 3.22, [2.24–4.61], p < 0.001; AF-HF-CHD: HR: 3.71, [2.66–5.16], p < 0.001). Conclusions: The sequence of comorbidity development affects the risk of all-cause mortality to varying degrees in diabetic patients on different antidiabetic/cardiovascular medications

Risk of diabetes mellitus among users of immune checkpoint inhibitors: A population‐based cohort study

Background Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are increasingly established cancer therapeutics, but they are associated with new-onset diabetes mellitus (DM). Such risks have not been adequately quantified, and between-class and -sex differences remain unexplored. Methods This was a prospective cohort study of cancer patients receiving any ICI in Hong Kong between 2013 and 2021. Patients with known DM were excluded. Due to few patients using other ICIs, only programmed cell death 1 inhibitors (PD-1i) and programmed death ligand 1 inhibitors (PD-L1i) were compared, alongside between-sex comparison. When comparing PD-1i against PD-L1i, patients with the use of other ICIs or both PD-1i and PD-L1 were further excluded. Inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) was used to minimize between-group covariate imbalances. Results Altogether, 3375 patients were analyzed (65.2% males, median age 62.2 [interquartile range 53.8–69.5] years old). Over a median follow-up of 1.0 [0.4–2.4] years, new-onset DM occurred in 457 patients (13.5%), with a 3-year risk of 14.5% [95% confidence interval 13.3%, 15.8%]. IPTW achieve acceptable covariate balance between sexes, and between PD-1i (N = 622) and PD-L1i (N = 2426) users. Males had significantly higher risk of new-onset DM (hazard ratio 1.35 [1.09, 1.67], p = 0.006), while PD-1i and PD-L1i users did not have significantly different risks (hazard ratio vs PD-L1i 0.81 [0.59, 1.11], p = 0.182). These were consistent in those with at least 1 year of follow-up, and on competing risk regression. Conclusion Users of ICI may have a substantial risk of new-onset DM, which may be higher in males but did not differ between PD-1i and PD-L1i

C+^+ detection of warm dark gas in diffuse clouds

We present the first results of the Herschel open time key program, Galactic Observations of Terahertz C$^+$ (GOT C+) survey of the [CII] fine-structure line at 1.9 THz (158 microns) using the HIFI instrument on Herschel. We detected 146 interstellar clouds along sixteen lines-of-sight towards the inner Galaxy. We also acquired HI and CO isotopologue data along each line-of-sight for analysis of the physical conditions in these clouds. Here we analyze 29 diffuse clouds (A$_{V}$ < 1.3 mag.) in this sample characterized by having [CII] and HI emission, but no detectable CO. We find that [CII] emission is generally stronger than expected for diffuse atomic clouds, and in a number of sources is much stronger than anticipated based on their HI column density. We show that excess [CII] emission in these clouds is best explained by the presence of a significant diffuse warm H$_2$, dark gas, component. This first [CII] 158 micron detection of warm dark gas demonstrates the value of this tracer for mapping this gas throughout the Milky Way and in galaxies.Comment: To be published in A&A HIFI Special Editio

The Different Structures of the Two Classes of Starless Cores

We describe a model for the thermal and dynamical equilibrium of starless cores that includes the radiative transfer of the gas and dust and simple CO chemistry. The model shows that the structure and behavior of the cores is significantly different depending on whether the central density is either above or below about 10^5 cm-3. This density is significant as the critical density for gas cooling by gas-dust collisions and also as the critical density for dynamical stability, given the typical properties of the starless cores. The starless cores thus divide into two classes that we refer to as thermally super-critical and thermally sub-critical.This two-class distinction allows an improved interpretation of the different observational data of starless cores within a single model.Comment: ApJ in pres

Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO Nanowire–CdO Composite Nanostructures

ZnO nanowire–CdO composite nanostructures were fabricated by a simple two-step process involving ammonia solution method and thermal evaporation. First, ZnO nanowires (NWs) were grown on Si substrate by aqueous ammonia solution method and then CdO was deposited on these ZnO NWs by thermal evaporation of cadmium chloride powder. The surface morphology and structure of the synthesized composite structures were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The optical absorbance spectrum showed that ZnO NW–CdO composites can absorb light up to 550 nm. The photoluminescence spectrum of the composite structure does not show any CdO-related emission peak and also there was no band gap modification of ZnO due to CdO. The photocurrent measurements showed that ZnO NW–CdO composite structures have better photocurrent when compared with the bare ZnO NWs