The significances of the final -h as a marker of entering tone characters in Romanized Chinese Texts in the Qing Dynasty.

The significances of the final -h as a marker in Romanized Chinese texts in the Qing Dynasty can be summed up into three points as below: 1. the final -h is the marker of the entering tone; 2. The final -h does not have any independent meaning, neither the marker of tone category; 3.The final -h indicates a short intonation. Based on the pronunciation of entering tone chanlcters which noted in Romanized Chinese Texts in the Qing Dynasty I and the investigation and research of Modern Dialects, this article aims to discuss the significances of the final-h of entering tone characters which recorded by the Westerners to China in the nineteenth century

The divide of consonant of open mouth syllable in the Mandarin in the end of Qing Era and modern dialect.

This paper mainly investigates the divide of the consonant of the Ying(影) and Yi (疑) consonants of open mouth syllables（开口呼）from the middle ancient period in the Mandarin dialects in the end of Qing era, and towards its development in the modern dialects. The Yingand Yi consonants of the open mouth syllables which noted by westerners in their Romanized Mandarin texts have three different written forms, the first is written as a consonant of [?-] , the second is written as a consonant of [ɡ-] and the last form has been changed to zero consonant. This study finds that the Mandarin dialects which originated from different characteristics of sound systems have different written forms for the consonants of open mouth syllables. Based on the dialects from the Mandarin territories, the development of the consonants of open mouth syllables basically still remained the different written forms from the end of Qing era for these consonants in the Mandarin dialects from different territories, the consonants of open mouth syllables still remain as zero consonants in Beijing and Nanjing modern dialects, but normally have been changed to the consonant of [?-] in the Chengdu modern dialect currently

Enhancing Job Awareness Through Career Exploration Course – A Report

In recent years, in developed countries such as the USA, Europe and Japan, ‘career search behaviour’ awareness and practice via university courses have been a keen focus. However, this is not the case in Malaysia, even worse is, university students do not think about it at all.  This career exploration course was introduced with the aim to raise undergraduate students’ awareness toward job searching before graduation. This was a 14-week career exploration introductory course with four main interventions; 1) to set your future career goal, conduct an interview with a graduated senior from the same faculty, who work in the industry you are interested in and then share with your course mate the interview results and what you have learned from the interview via oral presentation, 2) once the career goal is set,  learn the techniques of making career-related documents(e.g., resume writing), 3)do a self-examination on the knowledge and skills required in the job market and make a career searching action plan, 4) share and discuss your actual job search action plan via second oral presentation. Learning achievement is measured via continuous assessments and final written examination. Excerpts from the written examination revealed that students were more aware of the importance of conducting job searching activities before graduation and skills learned on career-related documents and writing the job search action plan have been useful to them.近年、欧米、日本を中心に大学生の「キャリア探索行動」のような意識と実践に着目してきた一方、マレーシアでは大学生が職業の前に職業探索を行うところか、それを考えることさえ意識していない。そこで就職活動に対する意識向上させる授業実践を行った。本実践では一学期、すなわち１４週間にわたり、次の４つを学生にさせた。１）職業についての希望や目標を明確にしていくため、自分が興味のある業界で働いている学部の先輩を訪ね、実際の仕事と内容などをインタビューする。そのインタビューの結果をクラス内発表し、発表を通じて、教室でクラスメートとOBOG訪問する際に必要であったマナーなどの情報を共有する。２）明確になった自己の職業に対する目標を設定し、企業への履歴書など書類作成する。３）職場における必要な知識、スキルなど自己検討し、今後のキャリア計画を考え作成する。４）再びクラス内で、キャリア計画を発表し、クラスメート間でコメントし合う。本授業の学習達成度は、教師の継続評価と期末試験で測る。期末試験で本授業に対する内省文を書かせたところ、多くの学習者が自己理解、就職活動の準備を卒業する前に行う、キャリア計画の重要性が有意義であったと回答した。また、本授業の学習者同士のコメントの話し合いを通じて、OBOGに対するマナーや言葉遣いなどが重要であることを学ばせることができた

Improving clinical outcomes for patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with photon and proton radiotherapy

Objectives To identify mechanisms improving clinical outcomes for patients with unresectable locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) treated with photon and proton radiotherapy. Strategies explored include 1. Investigating using routine healthcare datasets to estimate survival outcomes for patients with LA-NSCLC treated with definitive radiotherapy, in order to assess the effectiveness of current strategies; 2. Assessing the physical advantages of protons by conducting a retrospective planning study comparing volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton plans of superior sulcus tumours (SSTs), a rare subset of LA-NSCLC; 3. Exploring potential biological advantages of protons by examining major cell death pathways following XRT, high and low linear energy transfer (LET) proton irradiation of NSCLC cells. Methods Workflow 1: LA-NSCLC patients receiving definitive radiotherapy were identified. For each, key time points (date of diagnosis, recurrence, death or last clinical encounter) were used to calculate overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) from manual-data (hospital notes) and compared to estimated OS and PFS from routine-data (electronic databases). Dataset correlations were then tested to establish if routine-data were a reliable proxy measure for manual-data. Workflow 2: Patients with SSTs treated with 4D radiotherapy were identified. Tumour motion was assessed and excluded if >5 mm. Comparative VMAT and PBS plans were generated retrospectively. Robustness analysis was assessed for both plans involving: 1. 5 mm geometric uncertainty scenarios, with an additional 3.5% range uncertainty for proton plans; 2. verification plans at breathing extremes. Comparative dosimetric and robustness analyses were carried out. Workflow 3: Human NSCLC cell lines were irradiated with single doses of 2-15 Gy photon radiotherapy, high- or low-linear energy transfer (LET) protons (12 keV/µm and 1 keV/µm, respectively) and analysed 24-144 hours post-irradiation. DNA damage foci and cell death mechanisms were investigated. Results Workflow 1: In forty-three patients, routine data underestimated PFS by 0.09 months (p=0.86; 95% CI -0.86-1.03) and OS by 1.02 months (p=0.00; 95% CI 0.34-1.69) but there was good correlation with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.94 (p=0.00, 95% CI 0.90-0.97) for PFS and 0.97 (p= 0.00, 95% CI 0.95-0.98) for OS. Workflow 2: In ten patients, both modalities achieved similar target coverage with mean clinical target volume D95 of 98.1% + 0.4 (97.5-98.8) and 98.4% + 0.2 (98.1-98.9) for PBS and VMAT plans, respectively. The same four PBS and VMAT plans failed robustness. Proton plans significantly reduced mean lung dose (by 21.9%), lung V5, V10, V20 (by 47.9%, 36.4%, 12.1%, respectively), mean heart dose (by 21.4%) and vertebra dose (by 29.2%) (p<0.05). Workflow 3: XRT predominantly induced mitotic catastrophe, autophagy and senescence. Senescence, established via the p53/p21 pathway, was the major cell death pathway by which protons more effectively reduce clonogenic potential compared to XRT in NSCLC cell lines. High LET protons at a dose of 10 Gy(RBE) resulted in the lowest cell survival. The mechanisms driving the LET- and dose-dependent senescence was unclear but did not appear to be related to differential DNA repair machineries. Conclusions Proton radiotherapy could be pivotal in improving outcomes in select cases of LA-NSCLC. These studies demonstrate that 1. survival-outcomes are reliably estimated by routine data and such a methodology could enable rapid outcomes analysis to keep pace with trial development; 2. robust PBS plans are achievable in carefully selected patients and considerable dose reductions to the lung, heart and thoracic vertebra are possible without compromising target coverage; 3. Identification of LET- and dose-dependent proton-induced cellular senescence may guide radiotherapy optimisation and drug-radiotherapy combinations, maximising tumour cell kill. This work contributes to important preliminary research required to understand the physical and biological strengths and weaknesses prior to trials

Hierarchical Macroporous Polymers: Synthesis and Characterisation

This thesis describes the production of two types of hierarchical macroporous polymers using the emulsion templating technique. The first are those with a hierarchy of macroporous, defined as the efficient packing of pores with multi-modal pore size distributions. The second are macroporous polymers containing a hierarchical particulate network, defined by an interconnected particle network within the polymer matrix. In the first section of the thesis, macroporous hierarchy was achieved using 3 different methods. In the first method, the properties of surfactant stabilised high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) were optimised by varying selected emulsification parameters such as the surfactant concentration and stirring rate. The Finite Element Method (FEM) was subsequently used to qualitatively compare and validate the effect of pore hierarchy on the Young’s modulus of macroporous polymers. It was believed that the hierarchical arrangement of macropores facilitated the load transfer during compression, which improved its mechanical properties. The second method involved the use of a mixed surfactant and particle emulsifier system to prepare w/o HIPEs. The mixture of surfactants and particles in the emulsion produced synergistic effects which resulted in a hierarchical macroporous arrangement after polymerisation. The hierarchical porous materials prepared using this method showed high gas permeabilities while maintaining high crush strengths and Young’s moduli compared to ‘conventional’ poly(merised)HIPEs. The improvement in mechanical strength despite the high interconnectivity was attributed to the efficient packing of macropores in a hierarchical configuration. The third approach was to mechanically-froth viscous air in w/o emulsion templates. A bio-based monomer, acrylated epoxidised soyabean oil (AESO) was chosen as a component of the continuous phase of the emulsion for its high viscosity and ability to trap air bubbles during mechanical frothing. Medium Internal Phase Emulsions (MIPEs) containing varying concentrations of AESO were mechanically frothed to incorporate air bubbles, prior to polymerisation. This was found to generate a multi-modal distribution of droplets and air bubbles which polymerised into hierarchical foams with high porosities of up to 81%. In the second section of the thesis, a hierarchical particulate network within the polymer matrix of a porous material was produced using Pickering HIPEs stabilised by varying the concentrations of thermally reduced graphene oxide (rGO) flakes. Macroporous nanocomposites containing 0.006 vol.% of rGO had a conductivity of 1.2 10-5 Sm-1, demonstrating the presence of an interconnected, conducting rGO network within the polymer matrix. The rGO-network created an additional level of hierarchy in these macroporous materials which also improved the overall mechanical properties (viscoelastic properties, Young’s modulus and crush strength).Open Acces

Incisal Morphology of Southern Chinese

Aim: To investigate the dental morphology of incisors of the Southern Chinese and compare these with studies in different populations. Materials and Methods: The dental morphology of study casts of an unselected sample from a 12 year old Hong Kong Oral Health Survey of 12 year old children (n=459; 295 boys and 164 girls) were studied. Results: The moderate types of shovel-shaped central incisors were prevalent in the Southern Chinese, whereas the pronounced type of shovel-shaped incisors were more prevalent in the Taiwan Chinese. Conclusion: The Southern Chinese shows a lesser degree of shoveling than the other Chinese populations.published_or_final_versio

Incisal Morphology of Southern Chinese

Aim: To investigate the dental morphology of incisors of the Southern Chinese and compare these with studies in different populations. Materials and Methods: The dental morphology of study casts of an unselected sample from a 12 year old Hong Kong Oral Health Survey of 12 year old children (n=459; 295 boys and 164 girls) were studied. Results: The moderate types of shovel-shaped central incisors were prevalent in the Southern Chinese, whereas the pronounced type of shovel-shaped incisors were more prevalent in the Taiwan Chinese. Conclusion: The Southern Chinese shows a lesser degree of shoveling than the other Chinese populations.published_or_final_versio

Molar cusps in Southern Chinese

Aim: To investigate the number of molar cusps of the Southern Chinese and compare these with studies in different populations. Materials and Methods: The number of molar cusps of study casts of an unselected sample from a 12 year old Hong Kong Oral Health Survey of 12 year old children (n=459; 295 boys and 164 girls) were studied. Results: For upper first molars, 5-cusp molars were the most prevalent in males (39%) while 4-cusp molars were the most prevalent in females (39%). For lower first molars, 5-cusp molars were the most prevalent in both sexes (63%-72%). For lower second molars, 5-cusp molars were the most prevalent in both sexes (43%-53%). Conclusion: Different from traditionally described, the Southern Chinese has more 5-cusp lower second molars than the 4- cusp ones.published_or_final_versio

Employment strategy : comparing Japanese and British retail companies in Hong Kong

This study examines and compares the employment strategy used by Japanese and British retail companies in Hong Kong. Hendry\u27s (1995) structured employment systems model is adopted as the theoretical framework for this research. Three case companies - Morioka and Okadaya (Japanese-owned) and Supercom (British-owned) - are studied regarding what employment strategies they have adopted to expand in the Hong Kong, and to adjust to the changing consumer market. The evidence shows that the Japanese companies adopt more structured employment systems employing more employee groups than the British company. Both Japanese companies vary employment practices to different employee groups on the basis of national origins, hierarchy, employment status and gender. Furthermore, skills/profession is also used in Okadaya to differentiate employment practices. Supercom mainly varies employment practices on hierarchy and employment status. Therefore, five to six groups of employees are identified in the Japanese companies, while two to three employee groups are identified in Supercom