Regional differences in attenuation modelling for Eastern China

This paper describes the development of seismological models for three sub-regions within Eastern China. An important feature of the modelling is that two main types of local data were used to determine parameters for input into the seismological model. Shear wave velocity data was used in Step One of the procedure for deriving the upper crustal factors which are part of the seismological model. Two further steps were involved in incorporating the historical Intensity (MMI) data into the modelling. In Step Two, the simulated peak ground velocity (PGV) values were converted to MMI values, and site factor was calculated by dividing the inferred PGV value by the respective simulated PGV value for each given (short distance) earthquake scenario. In Step Three, the quality (Q) factor of the seismological model for each sub-region was calibrated in accordance with the criterion that site factors inferred from records of long distance earthquakes in the database match with the median site factor obtained in Step Two for short distance earthquakes. Importantly, the Q values obtained by this calibration method were highly consistent with Coda Q values (obtained for each sub-region from a previous study by Jin and Aki based on analysing records of local earth tremors). The calibrated Q values in combination with the developed crustal factors and geometrical attenuation factor constitute the regional seismological model for Eastern China. The seismological model so developed takes into account intra-regional differences and has been used to simulate strong ground motions by the stochastic method for assessing the potential seismic hazards in the region. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.postprin

It's time! Ten reasons to start replicating simulation studies

The quantitative analysis of research data is a core element of empirical research. The performance of statistical methods that are used for analyzing empirical data can be evaluated and compared using computer simulations. A single simulation study can influence the analyses of thousands of empirical studies to follow. With great power comes great responsibility. Here, we argue that this responsibility includes replication of simulation studies to ensure a sound foundation for data analytical decisions. Furthermore, being designed, run, and reported by humans, simulation studies face challenges similar to other experimental empirical research and hence should not be exempt from replication attempts. We highlight that the potential replicability of simulation studies is an opportunity quantitative methodology as a field should pay more attention to

Phosphorylation of nucleophosmin at threonine 234/237 is associated with HCC metastasis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is frequently complicated by the occurrence of intrahepatic and extrahepatic metastases, leading to poor prognosis. To improve the prognosis for HCC patients, there is an urgent need to understand the molecular mechanisms of metastasis in HCC. Since protein Serine/Threonine phosphorylation emerges to be an important posttranslational modification critical in signaling process associated with cell proliferation, survival and metastasis, we employed a pair of primary tumor-derived and corresponding lung-metastatic counterparts (PLC/PRF/5-PT and PLC/PRF/5-LM) and aimed to identify these changes using CelluSpot Serine/Threonine kinase peptide array. Upon analysis, we found phosphorylated level of nucleophosmin (NPM) at Threonine 234/237 (p-NPM-Thr234/237) had remarkably high level in metastatic HCC cells (PLC-LM) than the corresponding primary HCC cell line (PLC-PT). Similar observation was observed in another match primary and their metastatic counterparts (MHCC-97L and MHCC-97H). By immunohistochemical staining, p-NPM-Thr234/237 was consistently found to be preferentially expressed in metastatic HCCs when compared with primary HCC in 28 HCC cases (p < 0.0001). By overexpressing Flag-tagged NPM and its phosphorylation site mutant (Thr234/237A) into low p-NPM-Thr234/237 expressing cells (Hep3B and Huh7) using a lentiviral based approach, we demonstrated that p-NPM-Thr234/237 is critical in invasion and migration of HCC cells, and this effect was mediated by cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1). Wild-type NPM was found to physically interact with a metastatic gene, ROCK2, and defective in Thr234/237 phosphorylation decreased its binding affinity, resulting in decrease in ROCK2 mediated signaling pathway. Identification of CDK1/p-NPM/ROCK2 signaling pathway provides a novel target for molecular therapy against HCC metastasis.published_or_final_versio

Strategies for Effective Dentist-Patient Communication: A Literature Review

Jasmine Cheuk Ying Ho,1 Hollis Haotian Chai,1 Edward Chin Man Lo,1 Michelle Zeping Huang,1,2 Chun Hung Chu1 1Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of English, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Chun Hung Chu, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, 3B26, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Michelle Zeping Huang, The Department of English, Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Hang Shin Link, Siu Lek Yuen, Shatine, N.T, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: The effectiveness of high-quality dental care predominantly lies on the communication between dentist and patient. However, little literature has reported the importance of these “soft skills” in dental practice. The aim of this literature review is to explore strategies for effective dentist-patient communication. Dentist-patient communication is a bidirectional process involving the exchange of ideas that should be clear (easy to understand), correct (accurate), concise (to the point), complete (with essential information), and cohesive (well-organized). Effective communication empowers patients with the knowledge required to make an informed decision about their own oral health. It not only improves the dentist’s efficiency and boosts patient confidence, but also alleviates patients’ dental anxiety and fear, addresses patients’ needs and preferences, increases patients’ adherence, and enhances patient satisfaction. To enhance dentist-patient communication, dentists should take the patient-centered approach as a premise. The approach comprises understanding patients’ illnesses, shared decision-making, and mindful intervention at the patient’s own pace. In addition, dentists should use simple, succinct language, proper body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact when interacting with patients. Dentists should show empathy, encourage questions and feedback, employ visual aids, and give ample time to patients. Nowadays, dentists and their patients use messaging applications in their communication. This form of telecommunication is not only a convenient way of communication but also reduces the costs associated with a dentist visit. In conclusion, effective dentist-patient communication is vital for the success of dental practice. Dentists who prioritize communication and build positive relationships with their patients are more likely to achieve positive outcomes and foster the expansion of their dental practice.Keywords: dentist-patient communication, medical communication, communication strategies, dentist-patient interactio

Discovering monotonic stemness marker genes from time-series stem cell microarray data

© 2015 Wang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Background: Identification of genes with ascending or descending monotonic expression patterns over time or stages of stem cells is an important issue in time-series microarray data analysis. We propose a method named Monotonic Feature Selector (MFSelector) based on a concept of total discriminating error (DEtotal) to identify monotonic genes. MFSelector considers various time stages in stage order (i.e., Stage One vs. other stages, Stages One and Two vs. remaining stages and so on) and computes DEtotal of each gene. MFSelector can successfully identify genes with monotonic characteristics.Results: We have demonstrated the effectiveness of MFSelector on two synthetic data sets and two stem cell differentiation data sets: embryonic stem cell neurogenesis (ESCN) and embryonic stem cell vasculogenesis (ESCV) data sets. We have also performed extensive quantitative comparisons of the three monotonic gene selection approaches. Some of the monotonic marker genes such as OCT4, NANOG, BLBP, discovered from the ESCN dataset exhibit consistent behavior with that reported in other studies. The role of monotonic genes found by MFSelector in either stemness or differentiation is validated using information obtained from Gene Ontology analysis and other literature. We justify and demonstrate that descending genes are involved in the proliferation or self-renewal activity of stem cells, while ascending genes are involved in differentiation of stem cells into variant cell lineages.Conclusions: We have developed a novel system, easy to use even with no pre-existing knowledge, to identify gene sets with monotonic expression patterns in multi-stage as well as in time-series genomics matrices. The case studies on ESCN and ESCV have helped to get a better understanding of stemness and differentiation. The novel monotonic marker genes discovered from a data set are found to exhibit consistent behavior in another independent data set, demonstrating the utility of the proposed method. The MFSelector R function and data sets can be downloaded from: http://microarray.ym.edu.tw/tools/MFSelector/

Anti-CD47 antibody suppresses tumor growth and augments the effect of chemotherapy treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is often associated with metastasis and recurrence leading to a poor prognosis. Therefore, development of novel treatment regimens is urgently needed to improve the survival of HCC patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the in vitro and in vivo effects of anti-CD47 antibody alone and in combination with chemotherapy in HCC. METHODS: In this study, we examined the functional effects of anti-CD47 antibody (B6H12) on cell proliferation, sphere formation, migration and invasion, chemosensitivity, macrophage-mediated phagocytosis, and tumorigenicity both in vitro and in vivo. The therapeutic efficacy of anti-CD47 antibody alone or in combination with doxorubicin was examined in patient-derived HCC xenograft. RESULTS: Blocking CD47 with anti-CD47 monoclonal antibody (B6H12) at 10mug/mL could suppress self-renewal, tumorigenicity and migration and invasion abilities of MHCC-97L and Huh-7 cells. Interestingly, anti-CD47 antibody synergized the effect of HCC cells to chemotherapeutic drugs including doxorubicin and cisplatin. Blockade of CD47 by anti-CD47 antibody induced macrophage-mediated phagocytosis. Using a patient-derived HCC xenograft mouse model, we found that anti-CD47 antibody (400mug/mouse) in combination with doxorubicin (2mg/kg) exerted maximal effects on tumor suppression, as compared with doxorubicin and anti-CD47 antibody alone. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-CD47 antibody treatment could complement chemotherapy which may be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of HCC patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.postprin

Oral health and breastfeeding promotion program for pregnant women

The aim of this project was to promote the awareness and knowledge of pregnant women and infant oral health as well as the oral benefits of breastfeeding through a multi-disciplinary approach. This pilot oral health promotion program was developed to promote oral health knowledge related to the common dental problems among pregnant women and infants, and the oral health advantages of breastfeeding for infants. The program was conducted twice during March to April 2016 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. It consisted of a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation and a 15-minute small-group interactive workshop on Oral Hygiene Instructions. Evaluation forms were used to collect the feedbacks of the participants. The feedbacks for both the PowerPoint presentation and the interactive workshop were positive. Over 70% of the participants found that the contents were well-presented and the dental students were able to answer their questions. Furthermore, the participants agreed that the stated objectives of the program were met and the content of the program could be applicable in the coming future. Over 80% of the participants expressed that they understood the oral health advantages of breastfeeding after this program. To conclude, this program can effectively promote the key oral health messages about the common oral health problems of pregnant women and infants as well as the oral health advantages of breastfeeding. Also, this program can be effectively incorporated into the existing ante-natal classes. Further research can be performed to quantify the effectiveness by comparing the dental knowledge of pregnant women before and after this program. Further cooperation with a wider range of organizations, such as midwifery and nursing schools should also be explored.published_or_final_versio

Eucalcemic Parathyroid Hormone Elevation After Parathyroidectomy for Primary Sporadic Hyperparathyroidism: Risk Factors, Trend, and Outcome

BACKGROUND: Patients with eucalcemic parathyroid hormone elevation (ePTH) after parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) may be at risk of recurrence. We aimed to examine risk factors, trend of PTH level, and outcome of patients with ePTH 6 months after parathyroidectomy. METHODS: A total of 161 primary HPT were analyzed. The 6-month postoperative calcium and PTH levels were obtained. ePTH was defined as an elevated PTH level in the presence of normocalcemia. At 6 months, 98 had eucalcemic normal PTH and 63 (39.1%) had ePTH. Perioperative variables, PTH trend, and outcome were compared between 2 groups. Multivariable analyses were performed to identify independent preoperative and operative/postoperative risk factors for ePTH. RESULTS: Among preoperative factors, advanced age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.042, P = .027) and low 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) (25OHD(3)) (OR = 1.043, P = .009) were independently associated with ePTH, whereas among operative/postoperative factors, high 10-min intraoperative PTH level (OR = 1.015, P = .040) and high postoperative 3-month PTH (OR = 1.048, P < .001) were independently associated with ePTH. After a mean follow-up of 38.7 months, recurrence rate was similar between the 2 groups (P = 1.00). In the first 2 postoperative years, 75 (46.6%) had ePTH on at least 1 occasion and 8 (5.0%) had persistently ePTH on every occasion. CONCLUSIONS: Advanced age, low 25OHD(3), high 10-min intraoperative PTH, and high postoperative 3-month PTH were independently associated with ePTH at 6-month. Although 39.1% of patients had ePTH at 6 months, more than 50% had at least 1 ePTH within the first 2 years of follow-up. Recurrence appeared similar between those with or without ePTH at 6 months.published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201

Pregnancy and oral health in Hong Kong

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