Convulsions and Shigellosis

The records of 97 children with culture-proven Shigellosis were reviewed in order to assess the frequency and risk factors of convulsions associated with this infection. Thirteen (13.4%) had convulsions, three of whom had additional features suggestive of encephalopathy. Clinical and laboratory data were compared between patients with and without convulsions to define the risk factors for the development of seizures. A high peak temperature and high band forms in excess of 10% of the differential white cell count were significant risk factors. Age, sex, family history of febrile seizure or epilepsy, and the Shigella strain were not significant risk factors.published_or_final_versio

The need of policies and legislative changes for tobacco control in Hong Kong: Letter of recommendations to Hong Kong Legislative Council

Recommendations on Anti-smoking Policy in Hong Kong, in response to the discussion on increasing tobacco taxation for the Legislative Council Subcommittee on Public Revenue Protection (Dutiable Commodities) Order 2011published_or_final_versio

Policy brief: Children left unattended at home in Hong Kong

Recommendations on Childhood Injury in Hong Kong, in response to the Child Fatality Review for the Legislative Council Welfare Services Panel Meetingpublished_or_final_versio

Adaptation of an internet-based depression prevention intervention for Chinese adolescents: from "CATCH-IT" to "grasp the opportunity"

published_or_final_versio

The Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase MIK2/LRR-KISS connects cell wall integrity sensing, root growth and response to abiotic and biotic stresses

Plants actively perceive and respond to perturbations in their cell walls which arise during growth, biotic and abiotic stresses. However, few components involved in plant cell wall integrity sensing have been described to date. Using a reverse-genetic approach, we identified the Arabidopsis thaliana leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase MIK2 as an important regulator of cell wall damage responses triggered upon cellulose biosynthesis inhibition. Indeed, loss-of-function mik2 alleles are strongly affected in immune marker gene expression, jasmonic acid production and lignin deposition. MIK2 has both overlapping and distinct functions with THE1, a malectin-like receptor kinase previously proposed as cell wall integrity sensor. In addition, mik2 mutant plants exhibit enhanced leftward root skewing when grown on vertical plates. Notably, natural variation in MIK2 (also named LRR-KISS) has been correlated recently to mild salt stress tolerance, which we could confirm using our insertional alleles. Strikingly, both the increased root skewing and salt stress sensitivity phenotypes observed in the mik2 mutant are dependent on THE1. Finally, we found that MIK2 is required for resistance to the fungal root pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. Together, our data identify MIK2 as a novel component in cell wall integrity sensing and suggest that MIK2 is a nexus linking cell wall integrity sensing to growth and environmental cues