Fear of crime among older persons : an exploratory qualitative study in different environments in Hong Kong

Fear of crime among various groups has long been studied in Western societies. Many studies have concluded that older persons tend to exhibit higher levels of fear of crime than other age groups even though they are generally at a lower risk of being victims of crime. However, there have been relatively few studies on fear of crime and associated reasons amongst older persons in Asian cities and Chinese societies. Moreover, most existing studies have generally utilized quantitative methods to examine the possibly causal relationships between fear of crime and its underlying factors, and subjective evaluations by older people themselves of factors related to the fear of crime are very few. This study aimed to investigate factors related to fear of crime by exploring older persons’ perspectives on their living environments and their own situations. A qualitative research design was used to explore how and why fear arises in spite of considerable objective evidence that older persons are at relatively low risk of falling victim of crime. The study employed eight focus group discussions (FGDs) and two individual interviews. To provide a rage of typical HK residential environment, participants were drawn from two main categories of housing (traditional village housing and purpose-built housing) and four different types of physical living environment in Hong Kong (a village, an island, old-town housing, and new towns). Environmental factors, individual factors and moderators of fear of crime have been identified in this study. First, the qualitative findings suggest that environmental factors can be categorized as three dimensions, which include vulnerability (defect of the living environment), defensibility (level of protection that provided by the environment) and supportability (availability of social support that older persons can get when they are at risk). Vulnerability appears to be positive associated with fear of crime, but defensibility and supportability appear to be negatively associated with fear of crime. Second, the findings on individual factors enrich the Vulnerability model proposed by previous researchers, in which physical, psychological and behavioural weakness of older persons can be discussed. Third, moderators of fear of crime (e.g. people who have adjusted to a dangerous place by knowing the latest local crime event or figure.) which concentrate on the cognitive and behavioural adjustment among older persons, have been identified. Finally, policy recommendations for the welfare of older persons in Hong Kong are suggested based on the findings of the research

Evaluating the emotion regulation of positive mood states among people with bipolar disorder using hierarchical clustering

BACKGROUNDPeople with bipolar disorder (BD) frequently struggle with the recurrence of affective symptoms. However, the interplay between coping mechanism and positive mood state remains under-researched.AIMTo explore the associations among behavioral approach system (BAS) sensitivity level, coping, and positive mood states among people with BD.METHODSUsing a cross-sectional study design, 90 participants with BD were presented with four BAS-activating life event scenarios and assessed with regard to their BAS trait sensitivity, coping flexibility, and mood states. A hierarchical clustering method was used to identify different groups with different styles of coping. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the mediating and moderating roles of different components of coping on moodstates.RESULTSA three-cluster solution was found to best fit the present data set. The findings showed that a low mass of coping combined with low BAS sensitivity level protects people with BD from detrimentally accentuating mood states when they encounter BAS-activating life events. Moreover, coping flexibility is demonstrated to mediate and moderate the relationships between BAS sensitivity level and mood states. Specifically, subduing the perceived controllability and reducing the use of behavioral-activation/emotion-amplifying coping strategies could help buffer the effect of positive affect.CONCLUSIONThe judicious use of coping in emotion regulation for people with BD when encountering BAS-activating life events was indicated. Practical applications and theoretical implications are highlighted

Direct oral anticoagulants versus low-molecular-weight heparin in patients with cancer-associated venous thrombosis: a cost-effectiveness analysis

Background Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have demonstrated clinical benefits and better patient adherence over low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) in treating patients with cancer-associated venous thrombosis (CAT). We aimed to compare the cost-effectiveness of DOACs against LMWH in patients with CAT from the perspective of the Hong Kong healthcare system. Methods A Markov state-transition model was performed to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) for DOACs and LMWH in a hypothetical cohort of 10,000 patients with CAT over a 5-year lifetime horizon. The model was primarily based on the health states of no event, recurrent venous thromboembolism, bleeding, and death. Transition probabilities, relative risks, and utilities were derived from the literature. Resource cost data were obtained from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses tested the robustness of the results. Results Relative to LMWH, DOACs were associated with increased QALYs (1.52 versus 1.50) at a lower medical cost of USD 2,232 versus 8,224 in five years. The cost of LMWH was the main contributor to the outcome. Out of 10,000 simulated cases, DOACs were dominant in 15.8% and cost-effective in 42.1%, at the willingness-to-pay threshold of USD 148,392 per additional QALY. Conclusions DOACs were associated with greater QALY improvements and lower overall costs compared to LMWH. Accounting for uncertainty, DOACs were between cost-effective and dominant in 57.9% of cases. DOACs are a cost-effective alternative to LMWH in the management of CAT in Hong Kong

Differential cross-section measurements of the production of four charged leptons in association with two jets using the ATLAS detector

Differential cross-sections are measured for the production of four charged leptons in association with two jets. These measurements are sensitive to final states in which the jets are produced via the strong interaction as well as to the purely-electroweak vector boson scattering process. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data collected by ATLAS at √s = 13 TeV and with an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. The data are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution and are compared to state-of-the-art Monte Carlo event generator predictions. The differential cross-sections are used to search for anomalous weak-boson self-interactions that are induced by dimension-six and dimension-eight operators in Standard Model effective field theory

Wooden plaque, Main Entrance Gate (Sōmon 総門), Manpukuji (萬福寺)

Wooden plaque with calligraphy written by Gaoquan Xingdun 高泉性潡 (1633-1695) located on the front side of the main entrance gate (Sōmon 総門) (Image 03) of Manpukuji (萬福寺), an Ōbaku Zen (黄檗) head temple in Uji 宇治, Kyoto prefecture 京都府, Japan. The three-character calligraphy reads: 第一義 (Daiichi-gi) (Image 01 & Image 02).Arts, Faculty ofAsian Studies, Department ofNon UBCUnreviewedAuthor affiliations: University of Edinburgh, Columbia University, University of British ColumbiaGraduat

Wooden couplets, Main Entrance Gate (Sōmon 総門), Manpukuji (萬福寺)

Wooden couplets with calligraphy written by Gaoquan Xingdun 高泉性潡 (1633-1695) located on the front side (left and right) of the main entrance gate (Sōmon 総門) (Image 03) of Manpukuji (萬福寺), an Ōbaku 黄檗 Zen head temple in Uji 宇治, Kyoto prefecture 京都府, Japan. The plaque on the right reads: 宋綱済道重恢廓 (Image 01). The plaque on the left reads: 聖主賢臣悉仰尊 (Image 02).Arts, Faculty ofAsian Studies, Department ofNon UBCUnreviewedAuthor affiliations: University of Edinburgh, Columbia University, University of British ColumbiaGraduat

Wooden plaque, Zhantan lin (旃檀林), Manpukuji (萬福寺)

Wooden plaque with calligraphy written by Qiandai Xing'an 千呆性安 (1636–1705), located on the inner/northern side of the main gate (Sanmon 三門/山門) of Manpukuji (萬福寺), an Ōbaku 黄檗 Zen head temple in Uji 宇治, Kyoto prefecture 京都府, Japan. The plaque reads: 旃檀林 (Image 01).Arts, Faculty ofAsian Studies, Department ofNon UBCUnreviewedAuthor affiliations: University of Edinburgh, Columbia University, University of British ColumbiaGraduat