Alice in the multicultural-land: the reading/writing and writing/oracy connection to enhance Chinese competence in literature education

Paper Session - SIG Research on reading, writing and oraciesBACKGROUND: Foreign language anxiety (FLA)(Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986) has often been reported by Chinese language teachers among ethnic minority (EM) students. Second language performance seems negatively correlated with higher levels of FLA, and FLA is typically highest for speaking. Not only do EM students need to learn Chinese as a second language to enhance Chinese competence and promote social inclusion, local students with Chinese as their native language would also add dimensions to their Chinese learning by multicultural exposures. Literature was employed to link students with their multicultural and ...postprin

Neuropsychiatric Events Associated with Leukotriene-Modifying Agents: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Leukotriene-modifying agents (LTMAs) including montelukast, zafirlukast, and zileuton are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of asthma and allergic rhinitis. Various neuropsychiatric events (NEs) have been reported; however, the evidence of the association is conflicting. This systematic review investigates the association between NEs and LTMAs by assessing the relevant published literature. / Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library were searched using keywords. Studies designed to investigate the association were eligible for inclusion without restriction to any study design or language. The primary outcome was defined as suicidal conditions, while secondary outcomes included all other NEs. / Results: Thirty-three studies were included for a narrative review. Four observational studies did not find a significant association, while ten pharmacovigilance studies using different global databases detected the signals. Notably, some studies suggest that the FDA warning issued in 2008 might have influenced the reporting rate of NEs as a result of increased awareness. / Limitations: The risk of NEs was not quantified, because of the lack of randomized controlled trials and observational studies investigating the association. / Conclusion: Many pharmacovigilance studies have been conducted to determine the association between NEs and LTMAs, but there is limited evidence from observational studies. High-quality epidemiological studies should be conducted to evaluate the association and quantify the risk, not only in children, but also in adults

The effect of naringin on early spheno-occipital growth as measured by the width of the hypertrophic zone during endochondral ossification

Poster Session - Theme: General Dentistry and Oral HealthThis journal suppl. entitled: Special Issue: Abstracts of the 2012 FDI Annual World Dental CongressOBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of the flavonoid naringin on the early growth of spheno-occipital synchondrosis by measuring the width of the hypertrophic zone in an in vitro mouse model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experimental protocol was approved by the University of Hong Kong’s Committee on the Use of Live Animals in Teaching and Research. Fifty 1-day old BALB/c mice were randomly assign...postprin

Toxicities of nano-zinc oxide to marine organisms: the importance of particle size and ion solubility

Poster Presentation - Emerging Compounds: no. 422The 15th International Symposium on Pollutant Responses in Marine Organisms (PRIMO 15), Bordeaux, France, 17-20 May 2009

Poster Sessions

Background: Self-assessment based on benchmarked professional standards is an excellent tool to assist in improving the dental curriculum. Areas of strength and weaknesses can be identified. It can also act as a baseline standard when significant changes are introduced to the dental curriculum. Aim: The aims of this prospective cross-sectional study were two- folds: (i) to investigate self-assessed confidence of final year dental undergraduates in paediatric dentistry at University of Malaya, (ii) to gather baseline level of self-confidence for the old dental curriculum. Design: 65 undergraduates completed anonymised questionnaires which was formulated based on expected professional competen- cies in three domains namely clinical skills, patient management, and professional development and clinical governance. Visual analogue score (VAS) represented by a 10 cm line with score ‘0’ no confidence at all and ‘10’ complete confidence was used to mea- sure the level of confidence. Results: The overall analysis of self-assessed confidence was very positive with median VAS ≥5 cm in; clinical skills, 7.66 ` 1.31 cm (range = 2.41–9.97 cm: n = 62; 95.4%), patient management 7.73 ` 1.27 cm (range = 5.09–9.95 cm: n = 64; 100.0%) and professional development and clinical governance, 8.13 ` 1.21 cm (range = 5.22–10.00 cm: n = 64; 100.0%). High confidence was reported for routine dental care (fillings and pre- ventive care) while lower confidence reported for basic life sup- port (median VAS = 5.65 cm) and pulp therapy for immature permanent teeth (median VAS = 5.95 cm). Conclusions: The final year dental undergraduate students of Uni- versity of Malaya appear to have good overall self-assessed confi- dence in core areas in paediatric dentistry and similar areas of low confidence was reported by undergraduates at other dental schools

A Comprehensive Review on the Aquatic Toxicity of Engineered Nanomaterials

As engineered nanomaterials (NMs) are continually introduced into commercial markets, some of them may be eventually released into the aquatic environment during their product life-cycles. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review on the processes which ultimately govern the toxicity of NMs to aquatic organisms. Firstly, their potential entry routes into aquatic ecosystems are identified. Ambient conditions which affect their behavior (i.e., aggregation, sedimentation, dissolution, adsorption, stabilization, degradation and concentration in surface microlayer) and hence alter their characteristics in aqueous medium are also acknowledged. Issues regarding difficulties in their characterization in complex environmental matrices are therefore explicitly considered, while recent efforts to quantify or estimate their concentrations are summarized. Uptake pathways of NMs by aquatic organisms from the water column, sediments and diets are traced, and the resultant toxic mechanisms of four chosen NMs (i.e., nano titanium dioxide (nTiO2), nano zinc oxide (nZnO), nano silver (nAg) and buckminsterfullerene ( C 60)) within the organisms (i.e., algae and bacteria, crustaceans, bivalves and fish) are discussed. Environmental modulations on their toxicities are brought into the picture for further elucidation on their effects. Finally, knowledge gaps are gathered from contemporary studies on aquatic toxicology of NMs, and recommendations are made regarding such investigations in an attempt to improve their clarity, practicality and ecological relevancy

Temperature-dependent toxicities of nano-zinc oxides on three marine organisms

Oral Presentations: O-53The 15th International Symposium on Toxicity Assessment (ISTA15), Hong Kong, China, 3-8 July 2011

Poplulation density effect on endocrine disruptor responses in the marine copepod Tigriopus japonicus

The 6th International Conference on Marine Pollution and Ecotoxicology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 31 May-3 June 2010

Dental undergraduates' self-assessed confidence in paediatric dentistry

Aim: Self-assessment based on benchmarked professional standards is an excellent tool to assist in improving the dental curriculum. Areas of strength and weaknesses can be identified. It can also act as a baseline standard when significant changes are introduced to the dental curriculum. The aims of this prospective cross-sectional study was to investigate self-assessed confidence of final year dental undergraduates in paediatric dentistry enrolled at University of Malaya in 2013. Methods: 65 undergraduates completed anonymised questionnaires which were formulated based on expected professional competencies in three domains namely clinical skills, patient management, and professional development and clinical governance. Visual analogue score (VAS) represented by a 10cm line with score ‘0’ no confidence at all and ‘10’ complete confidence was used to measure the level of confidence. Results: The overall analysis of self-assessed confidence was very positive with median VAS ≥ 5cm in; clinical skills, 7.66±1.31cm (range=2.41–9.97cm: n=62; 95.4%), patient management 7.73±1.27cm (range=5.09–9.95cm: n=64; 100.0%), and professional development and clinical governance, 8.13±1.21cm (range=5.22–10.00cm: n=64; 100.0%). High confidence was reported for routine dental care (fillings and preventive care) while lower confidence reported for basic life support (median VAS=5.65cm) and pulp therapy for immature permanent teeth (median VAS=5.95cm). Conclusions: The final year dental undergraduate students of the University of Malaya appear to have good overall self-assessed confidence in core areas in paediatric dentistry

Temperature-dependent toxicities of nano-zinc oxides on three marine organisms

Micropollutants and Emerging Contaminants 3 - Abstract no. 031Nano zinc oxide (nZnO) is increasingly used in sunscreen products, with high potential of being released directly into marine environments. Our laboratory has previously demonstrated that toxicity of nZnO on marine organisms can be attributed to the release of metal ions and aggregate sizes (Analytical Bioanalytical Chemistry 396: 609-618; 2010). Other recent studies have further showed that different temperatures can alter the agglomerate sizes (Journal of Applied Toxicology, 30:276-285; 2010) and ion release rates (Environmental Science & Technology 44: 2169-2175; 2010) of nanomaterials in water. In this study we, therefore, hypothesize that the toxicities of nanomaterials on marine organisms are augmented with increasing temperature within their thermal tolerance ranges. Acute toxicity tests were conducted using the marine diatom Thalassiosia pseudonana, the amphipod Elasmopus rapax, and the fish Oryzias melastigma exposed to nZnO under various temperatures (i.e., 10°C, 15°C, 25°C, 30°C and 35°C). Our results showed that toxicity of nZnO generally increases with increasing temperature. For example, the LC50 values of nZnO on the amphipod decreased from 8.33 mg L-1 at 15°C to 0.10 mg L-1 at 30°C. To further elucidate the mechanism, we are currently investigating the interacting effect of temperature and nZnO on the expression of stress proteins such as heat shock proteins in the fish while we will examine the chlorophyll content and photosynthetic activity of the diatom. The results will be discussed with reference to the temperature-dependent physicochemical properties of nZnO.The EnviroTox 2011 Conference: Sharing Knowledge for a Healthier Environment, Darwin, Australia, 17-20 April 2011