Addressing quality, access and equity in the school direct subsidy scheme in Hong Kong : a study of government strategies and tools

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

Genome sequence and genetic linkage analysis of Shiitake mushroom _Lentinula edodes_

_Lentinula edodes_ (Shiitake/Xianggu) is an important cultivated mushroom. Understanding the genomics and functional genomics of _L. edodes_ allows us to improve its cultivation and quality. Genome sequence is a key to develop molecular genetic markers for breeding and genetic manipulation. We sequenced the genome of _L. edodes_ monokaryon L54A using Roche 454 and ABI SOLiD genome sequencing. Sequencing reads of about 1400Mb were de novo assembled into a 40.2 Mb genome sequence. We compiled the genome sequence into a searchable database with which we have been annotating the genes and analyzing the metabolic pathways. In addition, we have been using many molecular techniques to analyze genes differentially expressed during development. Gene ortholog groups of _L. edodes_ genome sequence compared across genomes of several fungi including mushrooms identified gene families unique to mushroom-forming fungi. We used a mapping population of haploid basidiospores of dikaryon L54 for genetic linkage analysis. High-quality variations such as single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions, and deletions of the mapping population formed a high-density genetic linkage map. We compared the linkage map to the _L. edodes_ L54A genome sequence and located selected quantitative trait loci. The Shiitake community will benefit from these resources for genetic studies and breeding.
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Influência do regime alimentar sobre os parâmetros de crescimento de borregas merinas.

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o efeito que três suplementos alimentares (alimento composto comercial (CP), farinha forrageira de milho (FM) e cladódios de Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI)) tiveram sobre os indicadores de crescimento de borregas de substituição de raça Merino Branco alimentadas com feno de consociação (F), como alimento forrageiro base em regime ad libitum controlado, assim como a ingestão de água. Os 24 animais selecionados foram organizados em grupos de 8 borregas cada um, homogéneos em relação ao peso vivo, à idade e ao ganho de peso médio diário do nascimento até ao início do ensaio. Cada grupo de 8 borregas foi organizado em quatro subgrupos de 2 borregas cada um e o controlo da ingestão alimentar foi feito para cada um destes subgrupos. Para cada tratamento avaliou-se os seguintes parâmetros de crescimento e de consumo de alimentos: peso vivo; ganho de peso diário; consumo de feno (MS); consumo de cada um dos suplementos alimentares (MS); consumo de MS/kg0,75; consumo de PB/kg0,75; consumo de EM/kg0,75; consumo de NDF/kg0,75; consumo de NFC/kg0,75; índice de conversão alimentar (kg MS/kg PVG); consumo de água; ingestão total de água. Durante os 63 dias de ensaio, verificou-se que as borregas submetidas ao regime alimentar CP+F (T1) apresentaram maior ingestão (p≤0,05) de MS, MS/kg PV0,75, C, NDF, ADF, PB, PB/kg PV0,75, GB, EM e H2O e menor ingestão (p≤0,05) de NFC e de NFC/kg PV0,75. No regime alimentar FM+F (T2), verificou-se maior ingestão (p≤0,05) de NFC/kg PV0,75 e menor ingestão (p≤0,05) de C. No regime alimentar OFI+FM+F (T3) as borregas ingeriram menos (p≤0,05) NDF, PB/kg PV0,75 e H2O. Não se encontraram diferenças estatísticas significativas entre os tratamentos T2 e T3 relativamente à ingestão média diária de MS, de EM, de PB, de NDF e de ADF (p≤0,05). O maior consumo de H2O foi apresentado no T1 (2,037 kg/dia) (p≤0,05), seguido das borregas do T2 (1,459 kg/dia). O menor consumo médio diário de H2O de bebida ocorreu nas borregas do T3 (0,277 kg/dia ±0,038) (p≤0,05), no entanto as borregas do T3 apresentaram o maior CTH2O (3,900 kg/dia) (p≤0,05). As borregas do T1 apresentaram GPD significativamente mais elevado (0,180 kg/dia ±0,009) (p≤0,05) do que as borregas do T2 e T3 (0,110 kg/dia ±0,020 e 0,131 kg/dia 0,006 respetivamente). No final do ensaio, as borregas do T3 alimentadas com OFI+FM+F apresentaram PV semelhante (29,5 kg; p≤0,05) às borregas do T2 alimentadas com FM+F (27,94 kg), porém inferiores (p≤0,05) às borregas do T1 alimentadas com CP+F (33,01 kg). Considera-se que a baixa concentração proteica dos 2 regimes alimentares OFI+FM+F (85,54 g PB/kg MS ±0,560) e FM+F (84,76 g PB/kg MS ±0,367) terá afetado o crescimento dos animais relativamente aos animais alimentados com CP+F (148,62 g PB/kg MS ±2,914).The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of three feed supplements (commercial compound (CC), corn flour (CF) and Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) cladodes) on the growth indicators of Merino Branco female lambs, fed as forage with hay (H) of association based on controlled ad libitum regime, as well water intake. The 24 animals selected were organized in groups of 8 lambs each, homogeneous in relation to live weight, age and average daily weight gain from birth until the beginning of the test. Each group of 8 lambs was organized in four subgroups of 2 lambs each and the food intake control was done for each of these subgroups. For each treatment the following growth and food consumption parameters were evaluated: live weight; daily weight gain; hay consumption (DM); consumption of each dietary supplements (DM); consumption of DM/kg0,75; consumption of CP/kg0,75; consumption of ME/kg0,75; consumption of NDF/kg0,75; consumption of NFC/kg0,75; feed conversion index (kg DM/kg DWG); water consumption; total water intake. During the 63 test days, it has been found that lambs submitted on the diet CC+H (T1) presented the highest intake (p≤0.05) of DM, DM/kg LW0,75, A, NDF, ADF, CP, CP/kg LW0,75, CF, ME and H2O, and the lowest intake (p≤0.05) of NFC and NFC/kg LW0,75. In the CF+H diet (T2), it was verified the highest intake (p≤0.05) of NFC/kg LW0,75 and the lowest intake (p≤0.05) of A. In the OFI+CF+H diet (T3) the lambs ingested less (p≤0.05) NDF, CP/kg LW0,75 and H2O. No statistically significant differences were found between treatments T2 and T3 in relation to the mean daily intake of DM, ME, CP, NDF and ADF (p≤0.05). The T1 showed the highest H2O intake (2.037 kg/day) (p≤0.05), followed by the lambs of T2 (1.459 kg/day). The lowest daily H2O intake occurred in the lambs of T3 (0.277 kg/day ±0.038) (p≤0.05), however the lambs of T3 showed the highest TH2OI (3.900 kg/day) (p≤0.05). The lambs of T1 presented significantly higher DWG (0.180 kg/day ±0.009) (p≤0.05) than lambs of T2 and T3 (0.110 kg/day ±0.020 and 0.131 kg/day 0.006 respectively). At the end of the test, the lambs fed with OFI+CF+H (T3) showed a LW similar (29.5 kg; p≤0.05) to the lambs fed with CF+H (T2) (27.94 kg) but lower (p≤0.05) than the animals fed with CC+H (T1) (33.01 kg). It was considered that the low protein concentration of the 2 feed treatments OFI+CF+H (85.54 g CP/kg DM ±0,560) and CF+H (84.76 g CP/kg DM ±0,367) will have affected the growth of the animals compared to animals feed with CC+H (148.62 g CP/kg DM ±2.914)

Heterologous expression analyses of rice OsCAS in Arabidopsis and in yeast provide evidence for its roles in cyanide detoxification rather than in cysteine synthesis in vivo

While most dicot plants produce little ethylene in their vegetative stage, many monocots such as rice liberate a relatively large amount of ethylene with cyanide as a co-product in their seedling stage when etiolated. One of the known functions of β-cyanoalanine synthase (CAS) is to detoxify the co-product cyanide during ethylene biosynthesis in higher plants. Based on a tryptic peptide sequence obtained from a partially purified CAS activity protein preparation in etiolated rice seedlings, the full-length putative rice CAS-encoding cDNA sequence (OsCAS), which is homologous to those O-acetylserine sulphydrylase (OASS) genes, was cloned. Unlike most of the CAS genes reported from dicots, the transcription of OsCAS is promoted by auxins but suppressed by ethylene. To address the function and the subcellular localization of this gene product in planta, a binary vector construct consisting of this gene appended with a yellow fluorescent protein-encoding sequence was employed to transform Arabidopsis. Specific activities on CAS and OASS of the purified recombinant protein from transgenic Arabidopsis were 181.04 μmol H2S mg−1 protein min−1 and 0.92 μmol Cys mg−1 protein min−1, respectively, indicating that OsCAS favours CAS activity. The subcellular localization of OsCAS was found mostly in the mitochondria by immunogold electron-microscopy. Chemical cross-linking and in-gel assay on a heterodimer composed of functional and non-functional mutants in a yeast expression system on OsCAS suggested that OsCAS functions as a homodimer, similar to that of OASS. Despite the structural similarity of OsCAS with OASS, it has also been confirmed that OsCAS could not interact with serine-acetyltransferase, indicating that OsCAS mainly functions in cyanide detoxification

Surveillance of febrile patients in a district and evaluation of their spatiotemporal associations: a pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fever is an undifferentiated clinical feature that may enhance the sensitivity of syndromic surveillance systems. By studying the spatiotemporal associations of febrile patients, it may allow early detection of case clustering that indicates imminent threat of infectious disease outbreaks in the community.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We captured consecutive emergency department visits that led to hospitalization in a district hospital in Hong Kong during the period of 12 Sep 2005 to 14 Oct 2005. We recorded demographic data, provisional diagnoses, temperature on presentation and residential location for each patient-episode, and geocoded the residential addresses. We applied Geographical Information System technology to study the geographical distribution these cases, and their associations within a 50-m buffer zone spatially. A case cluster was defined by three or more spatially associated febrile patients within each three consecutive days.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One thousand and sixty six patient-episodes were eligible for analysis; 42% of them had fever (>37°C; oral temperature) on presentation. Two hundred and four patient-episodes (19.1%) came from residential care homes for elderly (RCHE). We detected a total of 40 case clusters during the study period. Clustered cases were of older age; 57 (33.3%) were residents of RCHE. We found a median of 3 patients (range: 3 - 8) and time span of 3 days (range: 2 - 8 days) in each cluster. Twenty five clusters had 2 or more patients living in the same building block; 18 of them were from RCHE.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It is technically feasible to perform surveillance on febrile patients and studying their spatiotemporal associations. The information is potentially useful for early detection of impending infectious disease threats.</p

The impact of compassion from others and self-compassion on psychological distress, flourishing, and meaning in life among university students

Objectives: Research shows that compassion from others and from the self may enable university students to face, overcome, and bounce back from adversity and generate a greater sense of thriving and meaning in life. However, the underlying processes are largely unknown. The present study aimed to examine the associations of compassion with psychological distress, flourishing, and meaning in life among university students and explore the mechanisms underlying these associations. Methods: A total of 536 Hong Kong university students completed questionnaires measuring their experiences of compassion from others, self-compassion, resilience, psychological distress, flourishing, and meaning in life. Results: Serial mediation analyses showed that compassion from others was associated positively with self-compassion, which was, in turn, linked to greater resilience and consequently lower levels of psychological distress and higher levels of flourishing and meaning in life. Conclusions: Our findings reveal the associations of compassion from others and self-compassion with the well-being and life meaning of university students. The findings highlight the importance of being open and receptive to love and kindness from others. The findings also point to the importance of developing a caring attitude toward oneself

Sex- and age-dependent association of SLC11A1 polymorphisms with tuberculosis in Chinese: a case control study

BACKGROUND: Host genetic factors are important determinants in tuberculosis (TB). The SLC11A1 (or NRAMP1) gene has been studied extensively for genetic association with TB, but with inconsistent findings. In addition, no study has yet looked into the effect of sex and age on the relationship between SLC11A1 polymorphisms and TB. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted. In total, 278 pulmonary TB patients and 282 sex- and age-matched controls without TB were recruited. All subjects were ethnic Chinese. On the basis of linkage disequilibrium pattern, three genetic markers from SLC11A1 and one from the nearby IL8RB locus were selected and examined for association with TB susceptibility. These markers were genotyped using single strand conformation polymorphism analysis or fragment analysis of amplified products. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences in allele (P = 0.0165, OR = 1.51) and genotype (P = 0.0163, OR = 1.59) frequencies of the linked markers SLC6a/b (classically called D543N and 3'UTR) of the SLC11A1 locus were found between patients and controls. With stratification by sex, positive associations were identified in the female group for both allele (P = 0.0049, OR = 2.54) and genotype (P = 0.0075, OR = 2.74) frequencies. With stratification by age, positive associations were demonstrated in the young age group (age ≤65 years) for both allele (P = 0.0047, OR = 2.52) and genotype (P = 0.0031, OR = 2.92) frequencies. All positive findings remained significant even after correction for multiple comparisons. No significant differences were noted in either the male group or the older age group. No significant differences were found for the other markers (one SLC11A1 marker and one IL8RB marker) either. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed the association between SLC11A1 and TB susceptibility and demonstrated for the first time that the association was restricted to females and the young age group