Law and Policy for Resolving Domain Name Disputes in Hong Kong: Present and Future

Domain name disputes, a by-product of the growth of the Internet and electronic commerce, are becoming more frequent in Hong Kong. The author considers how domain name disputes can be dealt with under Hong Kong law, having regard to legal developments on domain name dispute resolution in other jurisdictions. The author also considers the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy ('UDRP') adopted in 1999 by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ('ICANN'), the international corporation responsible for international domain name policy. The author concludes that Hong Kong should adopt a UDRP-like dispute resolution procedure, as best suited to facilitate electronic commerce in Hong Kong.published_or_final_versio

Regulatory regimes for lawyers ethics in Japan and China: a comparative study

China and Japan are the two largest economies in Asia, and both countries are similar in their adoption of a civil law system. This article undertakes a comparative study of the regulatory frameworks for lawyers’ ethics in the two countries. This article first considers the development of legal profession, particularly their rapid growth in the past decade. It then analyses and compares the regulatory regimes on lawyers’ ethics in both countries, with reference to six ‘professional virtues’ of competence, independence, loyalty, confidentiality, responsibility and honourable conduct. It reveals that Japan adopts a model of self-regulation, while China implements a ‘hybrid’ mode, namely, both state and self-regulation. It also argues that China is improving in its growing recognition of such virtues as ‘competence’, and that it has room for improvement in such virtues as ‘independence’, ‘confidentiality’ and ‘honourable conduct.’published_or_final_versio

Vasodilatory effect of narirutin in rat mesenteric arteries and aortae

Poster - Natural Products: no. 2/4INTRODUCTION: Narirutin, a kind of flavanones, is abundant in citrus fruits. It has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. Its structural similarities, naringin and naringenin, were found to be vasoprotective. However, the vasoprotective effect of narirutin has not yet been reported. This study aimed to investigate the vasodilatory effect of narirutin. METHOD: Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (8-10 weeks old), spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) (36-40 weeks old) and the normotensive controls (Wistar-Kyoto rats; WKY) were used in this study. The mesenteric arteries and aortae were isolated for the measurement of isometric tension in relaxation and contraction studies, respectively. RESULTS: The results showed that narirutin caused a concentration-dependent dilation of mesenteric arteries ...postprin

The Law and Policy for Implementing a Unified Communications Regulator in the United Kingdom and Lessons for Hong Kong

In March 2006, the Hong Kong government issued a Consultation Paper proposing the merger of the existing Telecommunications and Broadcasting Authorities into a unifi ed communications regulator called the Communications Authority, which should be similar to the Offi ce of Communications (OFCOM) established by the United Kingdom (UK) in 2003. In this article, the authors fi rst study the proposals of the Hong Kong government on the establishment of a unifi ed Communications Authority. They then examine the background for the establishment of OFCOM by studying the telecommunications law and policy development in both the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom. The authors then evaluate the implementation experience of OFCOM from both legal and policy perspectives, and analyse the Offi ce of Communications Act 2002, the Communications Act 2003 and the Regulatory Framework for Electronic Communications Services 2002 adopted by the EU, as well as the regulatory and personnel policies of OFCOM. Finally, the authors argue that Hong Kong can learn eight lessons from the UK in its future implementation of a unifi ed communications regulator. These include strong political support, systematic planning, the appointment of credible and competent staff, adequate supporting legislation, a 'light-hand' regulatory approach, openness and transparency, the guarantee and promotion of media and cultural diversity and fi nally, adequate legal control of the powers of the regulator together with legal remedies for members of the public aggrieved by the policies or decisions of the regulator.published_or_final_versio

Biased connectivity of brain-wide inputs to ventral subiculum output neurons

The ventral subiculum (vS) of the mouse hippocampus coordinates diverse behaviours through heterogeneous populations of projection neurons. These neurons transmit signals to multiple brain regions by integrating thousands of local and long-range synaptic inputs. However, whether each population is selectively innervated by different afferent input remains unknown. To address this question, we employed projection-specific rabies tracing to study the input-output relationship of vS output neurons. Analysis of brain-wide inputs reveals quantitative input differences that can be explained by the spatial location of postsynaptic neurons along the proximal-distal axis of vS and the identity of the downstream target. Further, the input from nucleus reuniens, an area thought to underlie vS and prefrontal cortex (PFC) reciprocal connectivity, is unexpectedly biased away from PFC-projecting vS neurons. Overall, we reveal prominent heterogeneity in brain-wide inputs to the vS parallel output circuitry, providing a basis for the selective control of individual projections during behaviour

Neuropsychiatric manifestations in southern Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) according to the 1999 ACR nomenclature and their clinical associations

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A comparison of the performance of the Assessment of SpondyloArhritis international Society (ASAS) classification criteria, European Spondyloarthropathy Study Group (ESSG) classification criteria, and Modified New York (MNY) criteria in a cohort of Chinese spondyloarthritis patients

BACKGROUND: The existing Modified New York (MNY) criteria and European Spondyloarthropathy Study Group (ESSG) criteria are defective in early diagnosis of patients with spondyloarthritis. The objective of this study was to reclassify a Chinese cohort of patients with previous expert-diagnosed spondyloarthritis according to the recently issued Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS) classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis and the two existing criteria, the ESSG criteria and MNY criteria and to compare the clinical characteristics including disease duration, disease activity, and spinal mobility between patients fulfilling these criteria. METHODS: Consecutive patients diagnosed by expert opinion from a tertiary centre were classified into three groups: the Ankylosing Spondyloarthritis (AS) by MNY criteria; undifferentiated spondyloarthritis (USpA) by ESSG criteria (USpA/ESSG), and those by ASAS classification criteria only (USpA/ASAS). Functional status was studied by Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI). Disease activity was evaluated by Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and C-reactive protein. Spinal mobility including modified Schober test and chest expansion was determined. RESULTS: A total of 128 spondyloarthritis patients (92 male and 36 female) were recruited. USpA/ASAS group identified patients with shortest disease duration (9.2±2.3 years, 11.6±3.8, 18.7±2.2 years in USpA/ASAS group, USpA group, and AS group respectively; P<0.01). USpA/ASAS and USpA/ESSG groups were better than AS group in terms of BASFI, modified Schober test and chest expansion. C-reactive protein and BASDAI were similar in the three groups. CONCLUSION: The ASAS classification criteria are shown to identify spondyloarthritis patients at an earlier stage when spinal mobility and functional status are preserved. This group of USpA patients demonstrated comparable disease activity to other groups, suggesting a need and predictably better outcome for early treatment.published_or_final_versionThe 15th Medical Research Conference (15th MRC), Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 16 January 2010. In Hong Kong Medical Journal, 2010, v. 16 n. 1, suppl. 1, p. 18, abstract no. 2

Label Retaining Stromal Cells Are Involved in Uterine Remodeling after Parturition

Oral 1: Uterus: abstract no. P009postprin

Intestinal pseudoobstruction is an uncommon but important clinical manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

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Identification of endometrial label retaining cells in postpartum mice

DMM 2011 entitled: Re-engineering Regenerative MedicinePoster Session - Stem Cell Biology: no. 50A well known technique for understanding stem cell niche is label-retaining cell (LRC) approach. Using animal models, quiescent cells (a property of somatic stem cells) which retain the DNA synthesis label (bromodeoxyuridine, BrdU) for a long period of time has shown to contain adult stem cells 1-2. In mice, endometrial epithelial and stromal cells undergo proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Endometrial LRCs have been identified from normal cycled mice 3-4. However the presence of LRCs during extensive remodeling has not been investigated. In this study, endometrial epithelial and stromal LRCs during pregnancy and postpartum was …postprin