Study of biodegradable rods in rabbit long bone model

Conference Theme: The Cell-Biomaterial InteractionWinner of the award for the best poster by a studentpublished_or_final_versio

The pharmaceutical services to the elderly in the old aged homes in Hong Kong: a scope exercise

Various models of pharmaceutical services have been provided by pharmacists to old aged home residents, however, these models have never been summarised and compared. The aim of this scoping exercise is to identify different kinds of pharmaceutical services currently available to the old aged home residents, by means of systemic literature review, qualitative in-depth interviews with service providers in order to understand their models and qualitative semi-structured interviews with non-pharmaceutical service users in an attempt to investigate reasons why some homes do not subscribe to these services. The results showed that none of the pharmaceutical services currently available can uproot the causes of medication errors, and there is a need to elaborate the roles of pharmacists in a primary care setting.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Drug wastage among the elderly living in old aged homes in Hong Kong

The extend of drug wastage among elderly living in old aged homes was never investigated. Upon the completion of the previous study on pharmaceutical services provided to elderly living in old aged homes, the amount of drugs wasted from 3,020 residents in one of the delegated pharmacies over a 4-month period were counted and their costs were calculated. The total cost of wasted drugs amounted to be HKD$96,924, with drugs acting on the central nervous system contributed to the highest cost of HKD$26,872 (27.7%), followed by respiratory drugs of HKD$23,875 (24.6$22,965 (23.7%). The results showed that for health institutes dispensing prescriptions of long duration to the elderly could lead to considerable amount of drug wastage and this issue should be addressed.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Adopting RFID for body parts tagging: a Local Association Network approach

Adopting an innovative technology often requires extensive intelligence research. A major value indicator for RFID Technology adoption is how the potentials of RFID can translate into actions to improve business operational efficiency [1]. This paper presents a Local Association Network (LAN) approach to developing RFID enabled visibility systems for body tagging. On site testing validates the proposed approach. User feedback strengthens our belief that the proposed approach would help facilitate RFID technology adoption in body tagging. © 2010 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

A comparison of subdermal plexus skin graft with full thickness skin graft in the rabbit

A comparison of subdermal plexus skin graft (SPSG) with full thickness skin graft (FTSG) was carried out in the rabbit. The survival area, necrotic area, percentage contraction, elasticity properties and histopathology were checked at different periods after grafting. There was no difference in all these parameters between the two groups.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Large core (similar to 60 mu m) SOI multimode waveguides for optical interconnect

Multimode integrated optical waveguides, with single-crystal silicon as the core material and a core thickness as large as 60 mu m, are fabricated on thick-film bond-and-etched-silicon-on-insulator substrates. The loss coefficient at the wavelength of 1310 nm is measured to be 0.8 dB/cm. The fabrication process is based on the mature silicon IC technology and is very cost-effective. A simple multimode waveguide coupler is demonstrated

A Pilot Study on the Efficacy of Volunteer Mentorship for Young Adults With Self-Harm Behaviors Using a Quasi-Experimental Design

Background: Studies have shown that postdischarge care for self-harm patients is effective in reducing repeated suicidal behaviors. Little is known about whether volunteer support can help reduce self-harm repetition and improve psychosocial well-being. Aim: This study investigated the efficacy of volunteer support in preventing repetition of self-harm. Method: This study used a quasi-experimental design by assigning self-harm patients admitted to the emergency departments to an intervention group with volunteer support and treatment as usual (TAU) for 9 months and to a control group of TAU. Outcome measures include repetition of self-harm, suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and level of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Results: A total of 74 cases were recruited (38 participants; 36 controls). There were no significant differences in age, gender, and clinical condition between the two groups at the baseline. The intervention group showed significant improvements in hopelessness and depressive symptoms. However, the number of cases of suicide ideation and of repetition of self-harm episodes was similar for both groups at the postintervention period. Conclusion: Postdischarge care provided by volunteers showed significant improvement in hopelessness and depression. Volunteers have been commonly involved in suicide prevention services. Further research using rigorous methods is recommended for improving service quality in the long term

Language screening in preschool Chinese children

The incidence of language delay in Chinese preschool children was studied by a stratified proportional sampling of all 3 year olds in Hong Kong. The Developmental Language Screening Scale (DLSS) devised for use with Cantonese speaking children was used to identify children with language delay. Of 855 children sampled in the stage I screening procedure, 4%, 2.8% and 3.3% were identified as having delay in verbal comprehension, expression or both respectively. The stage II clinical diagnostic study included a randomly selected group of children screened in stage I with or without any associated behavioural problem. Among these, 3.4% were identified as having a language delay using the Reynell Language Developmental Scale (RDLS) with a criterion of language age of less than or equal to two-thirds of the chronological age; 3% had specific language delay using the criteria of language age less than or equal to two-thirds the chronological age and developmental age more than or equal to two-thirds the chronological age. More boys were found to have language delay, although this was not statistically significant.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Developing local association network based IoT solutions for body parts tagging and tracking

Traditional Internet is commonly wired with machine to machine persistent connections. Evolving towards mobile and wireless pervasive networks, Internet has to entertain dynamic, transient, and changing interconnections. The vision of the Internet of Things furthers technology development by creating an interactive environment where smart objects are connected and can sense and react to the environment. Adopting such an innovative technology often requires extensive intelligence research. A major value indicator is how the potentials of RFID can translate into actions to improve business operational efficiency (Luo et al., 2008). In this paper, the authors will introduce a local association network with a coordinated P2P message delivery mechanism to develop Internet of Things based solutions body parts tagging and tracking. On site testing and performance evaluation validate the proposed approach. User feedback strengthens the belief that the proposed approach would help facilitate the technology adoption in body parts tagging and tracking

A randomized controlled trial on the effects and acceptability of individual mindfulness techniques - meditation and yoga - on anxiety and depression in people with Parkinson's disease : a study protocol

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