Modelling Anopheles gambiae s.s. Population Dynamics with Temperature- and Age-Dependent Survival

Climate change and global warming are emerging as important threats to human health, particularly through the potential increase in vector- and water-borne diseases. Environmental variables are known to affect substantially the population dynamics and abundance of the poikilothermic vectors of disease, but the exact extent of this sensitivity is not well established. Focusing on malaria and its main vector in Africa, Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto, we present a set of novel mathematical models of climate-driven mosquito population dynamics motivated by experimental data suggesting that in An. gambiae, mortality is temperature and age dependent. We compared the performance of these models to that of a “standard” model ignoring age dependence. We used a longitudinal dataset of vector abundance over 36 months in sub-Saharan Africa for comparison between models that incorporate age dependence and one that does not, and observe that age-dependent models consistently fitted the data better than the reference model. This highlights that including age dependence in the vector component of mosquito-borne disease models may be important to predict more reliably disease transmission dynamics. Further data and studies are needed to enable improved fitting, leading to more accurate and informative model predictions for the An. gambiae malaria vector as well as for other disease vectors

Significance of Size of Lymph Node Metastasis on Postsurgical Stimulated Thyroglobulin Levels After Prophylactic Unilateral Central Neck Dissection in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 28 May 201

Correlation of PD-L1 Expression of Tumor Cells with Survival Outcomes after Radical Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Non-Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

published_or_final_versio

Psychometric testing of three Chinese online-related addictive behavior instruments among Hong Kong university students

Objective: To validate the Chinese version of the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scales- Short Form (IGDS-SF9), Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS) among Hong Kong university students. Participants and Methods: Participants aged between 17 and 30 years participated in the present study (n=307; 32.4% males; mean [SD] age=21.64 [8.11]). All the participants completed the IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, SABAS, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were used to examine the factorial structures and the unidimensionality for IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, and SABAS. Results: CFAs demonstrated that the three scales were all unidimensional with satisfactory fit indices: comparative fit index = 0.969 to 0.992. In addition, the IGDS-SF9 and BSMAS were slightly modified based on the modification index in CFA. Conclusions: The Chinese IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, and SABAS are valid instruments to assess the addiction levels of internet-related activities for Hong Kong university students

Respiratory viral pathogens among Singapore military servicemen 2009 - 2012: Epidemiology and clinical characteristics

10.1186/1471-2334-14-204BMC Infectious Diseases141-BIDM

Steroid 5α-reductase 2 deficiency in two generations of a non-consaguineous Chinese family

We report a Chinese family in which two family members were diagnosed to have steroid 5α-reductase 2 deficiency. The proband was an 8 year-old boy presenting with isolated micropenis. Mutational analysis revealed a homozygous mutation in exon 4 of the SRD5A2 gene, changing codon 227 from CGA to CAA, i.e. R227Q. The paternal granduncle of the proband has incomplete virilization in adulthood. Besides having the mutation R227Q, he has another mutation in exon 5 of the SRD5A2 gene, changing codon 246 from CGG to CAG, i.e. R246Q. To our knowledge, this is the first reported Chinese family diagnosed with steroid 5α-reductase 2 deficiency with identified molecular defects.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Common mental health challenges in a university context in Hong Kong : a study based on a review of medical records

202006 bcrcVersion of RecordPublishe

Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the thyroid gland: Lack of evidence of association with Epstein-Barr virus

Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinomas (LELC) occurring in sites derived from the primitive pharynx and foregut have been reported to show a strong association with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), especially in the Oriental population. Primary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the thyroid is an extremely rare neoplasm which has been known under many different names, such as intrathyroidal epithelial thymoma, primary thyroid thymoma, carcinoma of the thyroid showing thymoma-like features, and carcinoma showing thymus-like differentiation (CASTLE). We report one such case in a Chinese woman, whose tumor was negative for EBV by in situ hybridization technique. This finding suggests that LELC of the thyroid may be biologically different from other LELCs, and that detection of EBV may aid in diagnosis when the LELC presents initially in lymph nodes or other metastatic sites.link_to_subscribed_fulltex