Translocal imagination of Hong Kong connections: the shifting of Chow Yun-Fat's star image since 1997

Anyone who is interested in Hong Kong cinema must be familiar with one name: Chow Yun-fat (b. 1955). He rose to film stardom in the 1980s when Hong Kong cinema started to attract global attention beyond East Asia. During his early screen career, Chow established a star image as an urban citizen of modern Hong Kong through films such as A Better Tomorrow/Yingxiong bense (John Woo, 1986), City on Fire/Longhu fengyun (Ringo Lam, 1987), All About Ah-Long/A Lang de gushi (Johnnie To, 1989), God of Gamblers/Du shen (Wong Jing, 1989), and Hard Boiled/Lashou shentan (John Woo, 1992)

Mapping Exoplanets

The varied surfaces and atmospheres of planets make them interesting places to live, explore, and study from afar. Unfortunately, the great distance to exoplanets makes it impossible to resolve their disk with current or near-term technology. It is still possible, however, to deduce spatial inhomogeneities in exoplanets provided that different regions are visible at different times---this can be due to rotation, orbital motion, and occultations by a star, planet, or moon. Astronomers have so far constructed maps of thermal emission and albedo for short period giant planets. These maps constrain atmospheric dynamics and cloud patterns in exotic atmospheres. In the future, exo-cartography could yield surface maps of terrestrial planets, hinting at the geophysical and geochemical processes that shape them.Comment: Updated chapter for Handbook of Exoplanets, eds. Deeg & Belmonte. 17 pages, including 6 figures and 4 pages of reference

A systematic review of randomised controlled trials on the effectiveness of exercise programs on lumbo pelvic pain among postnatal women

Background: A substantial number of women tend to be affected by Lumbo Pelvic Pain (LPP) following child birth. Physical exercise is indicated as a beneficial method to relieve LPP, but individual studies appear to suggest mixed findings about its effectiveness. This systematic review aimed to synthesise evidence from randomised controlled trials on the effectiveness of exercise on LPP among postnatal women to inform policy, practice and future research. Methods: A systematic review was conducted of all randomised controlled trials published between January 1990 and July 2014, identified through a comprehensive search of following databases: PubMed, PEDro, Embase, Cinahl, Medline, SPORTDiscus, Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group’s Trials Register, and electronic libraries of authors’institutions. Randomised controlled trials were eligible for inclusion if the intervention comprised of postnatal exercise for women with LPP onset during pregnancy or within 3 months after delivery and the outcome measures included changes in LPP. Selected articles were assessed using the PEDro Scale for methodological quality and findings were synthesised narratively as meta-analysis was found to be inappropriate due to heterogeneity among included studies. Results: Four randomised controlled trials were included, involving 251 postnatal women. Three trials were rated as of ‘good’ methodological quality. All trials, except one, were at low risk of bias. The trials included physical exercise programs with varying components, differing modes of delivery, follow up times and outcome measures. Intervention in one trial, involving physical therapy with specific stabilising exercises, proved to be effective in reducing LPP intensity. An improvement in gluteal pain on the right side was reported in another trial and a significant difference in pain frequency in another. Conclusion: Our review indicates that only few randomised controlled trials have evaluated the effectiveness of exercise on LPP among postnatal women. There is also a great amount of variability across existing trials in the components of exercise programs, modes of delivery, follow up times and outcome measures. While there is some evidence to indicate the effectiveness of exercise for relieving LPP, further good quality trials are needed to ascertain the most effective elements of postnatal exercise programs suited for LPP treatment

Generic and disease-specific health related quality of life in non-cirrhotic, cirrhotic and transplanted liver patients: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Studies on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of chronic liver patients were performed in clinical populations. These studies included various disease stages but small variations in aetiology and no transplanted patients. We performed a large HRQoL study in non-cirrhotic, cirrhotic and transplanted liver patients with sufficient variety in aetiology. We compared the generic HRQoL and fatigue between liver patients and healthy controls and compared the disease-specific and generic HRQoL and fatigue between non-cirrhotic, cirrhotic and transplanted liver patients, corrected for aetiology. METHODS: Members of the Dutch liver patient association received the Short Form-36, the Liver Disease Symptom Index and the Multidimensional Fatigue Index-20. Based on reported clinical characteristics we classified respondents (n = 1175) as non-cirrhotic, compensated cirrhotic, decompensated cirrhotic or transplants. We used linear, ordinal and logistic regression to compare the HRQoL between groups. RESULTS: All liver patients showed a significantly worse generic HRQoL and fatigue than healthy controls. Decompensated cirrhotic patients showed a significantly worse disease-specific and generic HRQoL and fatigue than non-cirrhotic patients, while HRQoL differences between non-cirrhotic and compensated cirrhotic patients were predominantly insignificant. Transplanted patients showed a better generic HRQoL, less fatigue and lower probabilities of severe symptoms than non-cirrhotic patients, but almost equal probabilities of symptom hindrance. CONCLUSIONS: HRQoL in chronic liver patients depends on disease stage and transplant history. Non-cirrhotic and compensated cirrhotic patients have a similar HRQoL. Decompensated patients show the worst HRQoL, while transplanted patients show a significantly better HRQoL than cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients

Financial considerations in the conduct of multi-centre randomised controlled trials: evidence from a qualitative study.

National Coordinating Centre for Research Methodology; Medical Research Council, UK Department of Health; Chief Scientist OfficeNot peer reviewedPublisher PD

Life-threatening hemobilia caused by hepatic pseudoaneurysm after T-tube choledochostomy: report of a case

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hemobilia is a rare but lethal biliary tract complication. There are several causes of hemobilia which might be classified as traumatic or nontraumatic. Hemobilia caused by pseudoaneurysm might result from hepatobiliary surgery or percutaneous interventional hepatobiliary procedures. However, to our knowledge, there are no previous reports pertaining to hemobilia caused by hepatic pseudoaneurysm after T-tube choledochostomy.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 65-year-old male was admitted to our hospital because of acute calculous cholecystitis and cholangitis. He underwent cholecystectomy, choledocholithotomy via a right upper quadrant laparotomy and a temporary T-tube choledochostomy was created. However, on the 19th day after operation, he suffered from sudden onset of hematemesis and massive fresh blood drainage from the T-tube choledochostomy. Imaging studies confirmed the diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm associated hemobilia. The probable association of T-tube choledochostomy with pseudoaneurysm and hemobilia is also demonstrated. He underwent emergent selective microcoils emobolization to occlude the feeding artery of the pseudoaneurysm.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Pseudoaneurysm associated hemobilia may occur after T-tube choledochostomy. This case also highlights the importance that hemobilia should be highly suspected in a patient presenting with jaundice, right upper quadrant abdominal pain and upper gastrointestinal bleeding after liver or biliary surgery.</p

Attainment of clinical performance targets and improvement in clinical outcomes and resource use in hemodialysis care: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Clinical performance targets are intended to improve patient outcomes in chronic disease through quality improvement, but evidence of an association between multiple target attainment and patient outcomes in routine clinical practice is often lacking. METHODS: In a national prospective cohort study (ESRD Quality, or EQUAL), we examined whether attainment of multiple targets in 668 incident hemodialysis patients from 74 U.S. not-for-profit dialysis clinics was associated with better outcomes. We measured whether the following accepted clinical performance targets were met at 6 months after study enrollment: albumin (≥4.0 g/dl), hemoglobin (≥11 g/dl), calcium-phosphate product (<55 mg(2)/dl(2)), dialysis dose (Kt/V≥1.2), and vascular access type (fistula). Outcomes included mortality, hospital admissions, hospital days, and hospital costs. RESULTS: Attainment of each of the five targets was associated individually with better outcomes; e.g., patients who attained the albumin target had decreased mortality [relative hazard (RH) = 0.55, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.41–0.75], hospital admissions [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 0.67, 95% CI, 0.62–0.73], hospital days (IRR = 0.61, 95% CI, 0.58–0.63), and hospital costs (average annual cost reduction = $3,282, P = 0.002), relative to those who did not. Increasing numbers of targets attained were also associated, in a graded fashion, with decreased mortality (P = 0.030), fewer hospital admissions and days (P < 0.001 for both), and lower costs (P = 0.029); these trends remained statistically significant for all outcomes after adjustment (P < 0.001), except cost, which was marginally significant (P = 0.052). CONCLUSION: Attainment of more clinical performance targets, regardless of which targets, was strongly associated with decreased mortality, hospital admissions, and resource use in hemodialysis patients

Application of Direct Renin Inhibition to Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease has serious implications with a high risk for progressive loss of renal function, increased cardiovascular events as well as a substantial financial burden. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is activated in chronic kidney disease, especially in diabetes and hypertension, which are the leading causes of chronic kidney disease. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) decrease the rate of progression of diabetic and non-diabetic nephropathy and are recommended therapy for chronic kidney disease. Key clinical trials supporting the use of ACE inhibitors and ARBs in chronic kidney disease are discussed. Recent developments in our understanding of RAAS biology and the use of direct renin inhibition are reviewed in the context of their potential impact on the prevention and management of chronic kidney disease. Despite the clinical success of ACE inhibitors and ARBs the rates of mortality and progression to renal failure remain high in these patient populations. ACE inhibitor or ARB monotherapy, in doses commonly used in clinical practice does not result in complete suppression of the RAAS. Aliskiren, a direct renin inhibitor, offers a novel approach to inhibit the RAAS in chronic kidney disease. High dose ARB therapy or combination therapies with ACE inhibitors and ARBs have shown beneficial effects on surrogate markers of chronic kidney disease. Early data based on urinary protein excretion rates as a surrogate marker for renal function suggest a possibly novel role for aliskiren alone or in combination with ARBs in chronic kidney disease

Mild Joint Symptoms Are Associated with Lower Risk of Falls than Asymptomatic Individuals with Radiological Evidence of Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) exacerbates skeletal muscle functioning, leading to postural instability and increased falls risk. However, the link between impaired physical function, OA and falls have not been elucidated. We investigated the role of impaired physical function as a potential mediator in the association between OA and falls. This study included 389 participants [229 fallers (≥2 falls or one injurious fall in the past 12 months), 160 non-fallers (no history of falls)], age (≥65 years) from a randomized controlled trial, the Malaysian Falls Assessment and Intervention Trial (MyFAIT). Physical function was assessed using Timed Up and Go (TUG) and Functional Reach (FR) tests. Knee and hip OA were diagnosed using three methods: Clinical, Radiological and Self-report. OA symptom severity was assessed using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC). The total WOMAC score was categorized to asymptomatic, mild, moderate and severe symptoms. Individuals with radiological OA and ‘mild’ overall symptoms on the WOMAC score had reduced risk of falls compared to asymptomatic OA [OR: 0.402(0.172–0.940), p = 0.042]. Individuals with clinical OA and ‘severe’ overall symptoms had increased risk of falls compared to those with ‘mild’ OA [OR: 4.487(1.883–10.693), p = 0.005]. In individuals with radiological OA, mild symptoms appear protective of falls while those with clinical OA and severe symptoms have increased falls risk compared to those with mild symptoms. Both relationships between OA and falls were not mediated by physical limitations. Larger prospective studies are needed for further evaluation

A Quantitative RNAi Screen for JNK Modifiers Identifies Pvr as a Novel Regulator of Drosophila Immune Signaling

Drosophila melanogaster responds to gram-negative bacterial challenges through the IMD pathway, a signal transduction cassette that is driven by the coordinated activities of JNK, NF-κB and caspase modules. While many modifiers of NF-κB activity were identified in cell culture and in vivo assays, the regulatory apparatus that determines JNK inputs into the IMD pathway is relatively unexplored. In this manuscript, we present the first quantitative screen of the entire genome of Drosophila for novel regulators of JNK activity in the IMD pathway. We identified a large number of gene products that negatively or positively impact on JNK activation in the IMD pathway. In particular, we identified the Pvr receptor tyrosine kinase as a potent inhibitor of JNK activation. In a series of in vivo and cell culture assays, we demonstrated that activation of the IMD pathway drives JNK-dependent expression of the Pvr ligands, Pvf2 and Pvf3, which in turn act through the Pvr/ERK MAP kinase pathway to attenuate the JNK and NF-κB arms of the IMD pathway. Our data illuminate a poorly understood arm of a critical and evolutionarily conserved innate immune response. Furthermore, given the pleiotropic involvement of JNK in eukaryotic cell biology, we believe that many of the novel regulators identified in this screen are of interest beyond immune signaling