Public healthcare financing and provision in Hong Kong : a public-private partnership approach

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

The Spill-Over Impact of the Novel Coronavirus-19 Pandemic on Medical Care and Disease Outcomes in Non-communicable Diseases: A Narrative Review

OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has claimed more than 5 million lives worldwide by November 2021. Implementation of lockdown measures, reallocation of medical resources, compounded by the reluctance to seek help, makes it exceptionally challenging for people with non-communicable diseases (NCD) to manage their diseases. This review evaluates the spill-over impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with NCDs including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus, chronic respiratory disease, chronic kidney disease, dementia, mental health disorders, and musculoskeletal disorders. METHODS: Literature published in English was identified from PubMed and medRxiv from January 1, 2019 to November 30, 2020. A total of 119 articles were selected from 6,546 publications found. RESULTS: The reduction of in-person care, screening procedures, delays in diagnosis, treatment, and social distancing policies have unanimously led to undesirable impacts on both physical and psychological health of NCD patients. This is projected to contribute to more excess deaths in the future. CONCLUSION: The spill-over impact of COVID-19 on patients with NCD is just beginning to unravel, extra efforts must be taken for planning the resumption of NCD healthcare services post-pandemic

Identification and characterization of key genes involved in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma

abstractpublished_or_final_versionClinical OncologyDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph

Identification and characterization of a novel melanoma tumor suppressor gene on human chromosome 6q21

Purpose: By characterizing a complex chromosome rearrangement involving 6q and 17p in melanoma cell line UACC-930, we isolated a candidate tumor suppressor gene at 6q21, named prenyl diphosphate synthase subunit 2 (PDSS2), which was interrupted by an inversion breakpoint, The purpose of this study was to determine the tumor-suppressive potential of PDSS2 in the development of melanoma

Energy Saving And Safety Street Lighting System

Today, vast amounts of energy are required to power streetlights. Also, the death caused by accidents due to the blockage of the vehicle on the road is increasing especially on the highway. Thus, this paper aims to assemble an intelligent system that impli es an automatic switch for detecting vehicle passage with keeping the existing system. Besides, this system uses solar energy to generate free electric energy through the natural resource that our country has gifted sunlight. Besides building an energysav ing system, a safety feature is also one of the aspects considered. This is done by utilising the sensors inserted in the streetlight system and a collaboration between the hardware and coding. By having this safety feature, any blockage due to a car crash or vehicles’ break happening at a certain distance in front will activate the hazard warning function in the system while sending a notification to the streetlight management department. This gives the drivers enough time to slow down the vehicles instead of onthespot emergency breaks. On the one hand, this system lowers the electricity consumption and increases the safety of the road system

Immobilized Osteopontin Enhances Adhesion but Suppresses Cytokine Release of Anti-IgE Activated Human Mast Cells

Osteopontin (OPN) is an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)-containing extracellular matrix protein which is upregulated in inflamed tissues and has been reported to modulate mast cell activities in mice. Due to the known heterogeneity among mast cells of different species and the important roles of mast cells in allergic reactions, we investigated the effects of human OPN (hOPN) on human mast cell activities. Mature primary human cultured mast cells (HCMC) were derived from peripheral blood CD34+ progenitors and the modulation of their activation by soluble and plate-bound immobilized hOPN were examined by studying their release of inflammatory mediators (histamine, IL-5, IL-8, TNF-α, and VEGF) and matrix adhesion following stimulation by anti-IgE. Immobilized hOPN enhanced the adhesion, but suppressed the release of IL-5, IL-8, and TNF-α of anti-IgE-activated HCMC while soluble hOPN failed to demonstrate any significant effects. By employing cyclic RGD peptide and neutralizing antibodies against different classes of integrin and CD44, we demonstrated that the interaction of immobilized hOPN and HCMC was mediated by the RGD domain of hOPN and integrin but not CD44 on HCMC. Our results suggest that immobilized hOPN anchored to extracellular matrix can regulate adaptive immunity in humans by retaining mast cells at the site of inflammation and suppressing anti-IgE-induced cytokine release from HCMC

Industrial nickel wastewater rejection by polyimide membrane

Membrane distillation (MD) is one of the emerging thermal driven membrane separation processes in wastewater treatment attributed to its lower energy requirement and able to couple with waste heat relative to pressure driven process. In this study, polyimide was used as the polymeric materials in hollow fiber membrane fabrication whereas 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) was use as solvent for synthesize industrial wastewater in nickel removal. The properties of the fabricated membrane were found to possesses the optimum characteristic in terms of LEP, porosity, inner diameter and morphology as reported in literature forthe application of DCMD. The permeate flux performance in the range of 67 to 79 kg/m2h with the rejectionrate of more than 98.80 % suggested that the PI membrane possesses the potential to be applied in the industrial wastewater treatment in nickel removal

Use of Miniplates and Local Bone Grafts to Prevent Spring Back in Laminoplasty for Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy

Background/Purpose: Cervical spondylotic myelopathy/ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament can be treated by anterior or posterior decompression. For multiple levels, it is common to perform posterior decompression by laminoplasty. Hirabayashi described his open-door expansive laminoplasty in 1977, which soon became popular. Spring back of the lamina has always been a problem. Many methods including suturing to soft tissue, suture anchors, bone grafts, hydroxyapatite blocks, and ceramic spacers were used to prevent this problem, but with considerable failure. Recently, miniplates were used to prevent spring back. Methods: Twenty-nine consecutive patients who had underwent Hirabayashi open-door expansive laminoplasty in a single centre were recruited in this retrospective study. Miniplates were used to keep the laminae open. In addition, the spinous processes of lower cervical vertebrae were excised and used as local bone grafts to fill the gap between the cut laminae. Computerized tomography scans were performed postoperatively for all patients to assess bone union and spring back. Results: A total of 126 levels of laminoplasty and 51 local bone grafts were studied. The minimal follow-up period was 12 months. Signs of bone union were demonstrated in 123 hinges (97.6%) and 51 bone grafts (100%). No spring back was detected. The clinical outcome in terms of Hirabayashi recovery rate was 47.2%. Conclusion: Miniplates and local bone grafts are promising and effective tools for preventing spring back in cervical laminoplasty

Hyperglycemia Altered DNA Methylation Status and Impaired Pancreatic Differentiation from Embryonic Stem Cells

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is rapidly increasing across the globe. Fetal exposure to maternal diabetes was correlated with higher prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance and T2D later in life. Previous studies showed aberrant DNA methylation patterns in pancreas of T2D patients. However, the underlying mechanisms remained largely unknown. We utilized human embryonic stem cells (hESC) as the in vitro model for studying the effects of hyperglycemia on DNA methylome and early pancreatic differentiation. Culture in hyperglycemic conditions disturbed the pancreatic lineage potential of hESC, leading to the downregulation of expression of pancreatic markers PDX1, NKX6−1 and NKX6−2 after in vitro differentiation. Genome-wide DNA methylome profiling revealed over 2000 differentially methylated CpG sites in hESC cultured in hyperglycemic condition when compared with those in control glucose condition. Gene ontology analysis also revealed that the hypermethylated genes were enriched in cell fate commitment. Among them, NKX6−2 was validated and its hypermethylation status was maintained upon differentiation into pancreatic progenitor cells. We also established mouse ESC lines at both physiological glucose level (PG-mESC) and conventional hyperglycemia glucose level (HG-mESC). Concordantly, DNA methylome analysis revealed the enrichment of hypermethylated genes related to cell differentiation in HG-mESC, including Nkx6−1. Our results suggested that hyperglycemia dysregulated the epigenome at early fetal development, possibly leading to impaired pancreatic development