Hong Kong's Mandatory Provident Fund system : a study of the evolution of governance and policy tools

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

mab-31 and the TGF-β pathway act in the ray lineage to pattern C. elegans male sensory rays

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>C. elegans </it>TGF-β-like Sma/Mab signaling pathway regulates both body size and sensory ray patterning. Most of the components in this pathway were initially identified by genetic screens based on the small body phenotype, and many of these mutants display sensory ray patterning defect. At the cellular level, little is known about how and where these components work although ray structural cell has been implicated as one of the targets. Based on the specific ray patterning abnormality, we aim to identify by RNAi approach additional components that function specifically in the ray lineage to elucidate the regulatory role of TGF-β signaling in ray differentiation.</p> <p>Result</p> <p>We report here the characterization of a new member of the Sma/Mab pathway, <it>mab-31</it>, recovered from a genome-wide RNAi screen. <it>mab-31 </it>mutants showed ray cell cluster patterning defect and mis-specification of the ray identity. <it>mab-31 </it>encodes a nuclear protein expressed in descendants of ray precursor cells impacting on the ray cell's clustering properties, orientation of cell division plane, and fusion of structural cells. Genetic experiments also establish its relationship with other Sma/Mab pathway components and transcription factors acting upstream and downstream of the signaling event.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>mab-31 </it>function is indispensable in Sma/Mab signal recipient cells during sensory rays specification. Both <it>mab-31 </it>and <it>sma-6 </it>are required in ray lineage at the late larval stages. They act upstream of <it>C. elegans Pax-6 </it>homolog and repress its function. These findings suggested <it>mab-31 </it>is a key factor that can integrate TFG-β signals in male sensory ray lineage to define organ identity.</p

Hepatocyte growth factor enhances proteolysis and invasiveness of human nasopharyngeal cancer cells through activation of PI3K and JNK

AbstractThe hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor, Met, is frequently overexpressed in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). Here, we showed for the first time that human NPC cells with high Met expression were more sensitive to the cell motility and invasion effect of HGF. The downregulation of Met by small interfering RNA decreased tumor cell invasion/migration. HGF significantly increased matrix metalloproteinase-9 production. This was inhibited by blocking phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), but not extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. We also demonstrated that PI3K induced activation of JNK, with Akt as a potential point of this cross-talk. These results provide new insights into the molecular mechanism responsible for NPC progression and metastasis

A Thiazole Orange Derivative Targeting the Bacterial Protein FtsZ Shows Potent Antibacterial Activity.

The prevalence of multidrug resistance among clinically significant bacteria calls for the urgent development of new antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action. In this study, a new small molecule exhibiting excellent inhibition of bacterial cell division with potent antibacterial activity was discovered through cell-based screening. The compound exhibits a broad spectrum of bactericidal activity, including the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus and NDM-1 Escherichia coli. The in vitro and in vivo results suggested that this compound disrupts the dynamic assembly of FtsZ protein and Z-ring formation through stimulating FtsZ polymerization. Moreover, this compound exhibits no activity on mammalian tubulin polymerization and shows low cytotoxicity on mammalian cells. Taken together, these findings could provide a new chemotype for development of antibacterials with FtsZ as the target

The Strengths Model in Hong Kong

Mental health practice involves the continuous process of learning and refinement, especially when practitioners focus on the strengths and aspirations of individuals who are coping with serious mental illnesses (Tse et al., 2016). Cross-cultural considerations include beliefs, language, the role of social support, and the distinctive characteristics of specific communities that require localization in designing and offering mental health services. In this chapter, we describe the experience of adopting the Strengths Model in Hong Kong, starting with an introduction to the mental health system in the city. We then illustrate the development and implementation of the Strengths Model for the Chinese population in Hong Kong. We also briefly review research studies focusing on the Strengths Model in mental health practice in this cultural context (Tsoi et al., 2018; Tsoi, Tse, Canda, & Lo, 2019; Tse et al., 2019). The process of localization described in this chapter required the building of complex relationships among Strengths Model founders, scholars, organizations, caseworkers, and people facing mental health challenges

Use of Gamma-Valerolactone as an Illuminating Liquid and Lighter Fluid

The sulfuric acid-catalyzed conversion of paper wastes in gamma-valerolactone (GVL) or dioxane leads to the formation of levulinic acid (LA) and formic acid (FA), which can be converted to GVL by transfer-hydrogenation using the Shvo catalyst in situ or separately. The isolation of LA and FA was assisted by the neutralization of the sulfuric acid with ammonia to form a biphasic system. While the ammonium sulfate and most of FA and some of LA were in the aqueous phase, the organic solvent-rich phase contained most of the LA and some of the FA. GVL was used as an illuminating liquid in glass lamps for hours without the formation of noticeable smoke and/or odor even in a small room. While neat GVL can be used for the safe but somewhat slow lighting of charcoal, the ignition with different mixtures of GVL (95 or 90 vol %) and ethanol (5 or 10 vol %) was reduced to a convenient few seconds. Ignition tests of charcoal combined with emission analyses revealed that by increasing the ethanol content to 10 vol % the relative VOC emission can be decreased by 15% compared to the commercial lighter fluids

Long-term feeder-free culture of human pancreatic progenitors on fibronectin or matrix-free polymer potentiates β cell differentiation

With the aim of producing β cells for replacement therapies to treat diabetes, several protocols have been developed to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells to β cells via pancreatic progenitors. While in&nbsp;vivo pancreatic progenitors expand throughout development, the in&nbsp;vitro protocols have been designed to make these cells progress as fast as possible to β cells. Here, we report on a protocol enabling a long-term expansion of human pancreatic progenitors in a defined medium on fibronectin, in the absence of feeder layers. Moreover, through a screening of a polymer library we identify a polymer that can replace fibronectin. Our experiments, comparing expanded progenitors to directly differentiated progenitors, show that the expanded progenitors differentiate more efficiently into glucose-responsive β cells and produce fewer glucagon-expressing cells. The ability to expand progenitors under defined conditions and cryopreserve them will provide flexibility in research and therapeutic production

Clinical and biomechanical outcome of minimal invasive and open repair of the Achilles tendon

Introduction: With evolutions in surgical techniques, minimally invasive surgical (MIS) repair with Achillon applicator has been introduced. However, there is still a lack of literature to investigate into the clinical merits of MIS over open surgery. This study aims to investigate the correlation between clinical outcome, gait analysis and biomechanical properties comparing both surgical methods.Materials and methods: A single centre retrospective review on all the consecutive operated patients between January 2004 and December 2008 was performed. Twenty-six patients (19 male and 7 female; age 40.4 ± 9.2 years) had experienced a complete Achilles tendon rupture with operative repair. Nineteen of the patients, 10 MIS versus 9 open repairs (13 men with a mean age of 40.54 ± 10.43 (range 23-62 yrs) and 6 women with a mean age of 45.33 ± 7.71 (range 35-57 yrs) were further invited to attend a thorough clinical assessment using Holz's scale and biomechanical evaluation at a mean of 25.3 months after operation. This study utilized the Cybex II isokinetic dynamometer to assess the isokinetic peak force of plantar-flexion and dorsiflexion of both ankles. The patients were also invited to return to our Gait Laboratory for analysis. The eight-infrared camera motion capture system (VICON, UK) was utilized for the acquisition of kinematic variables. Their anthropometric data was measured according to the Davis and coworkers' standard.Results: The mean operative time and length of hospital stay were shorter in the MIS group. The operative time was 54.55 ± 15.15 minutes versus 68.80 ± 18.23 minutes of the MIS group and Open group respectively (p = 0.045), whereas length of stay was 3.36 ± 1.21 days versus 6.40 ± 3.70 days respectively (p = 0.039). There is statistically significant decrease (p = 0.005) in incision length in MIS group than the open surgery group, 3.23 ± 1.10 cm versus 9.64 ± 2.55 cm respectively. Both groups attained similar Holz's scores, 11.70 ± 0.95 versus 12.0 ± 1.50 respectively (p = 0.262). The mean percentage stance time of the injured leg for MIS patient was 58.44% while the mean percentage stance time of the injured leg for patients with open repair was 56.57%. T-test has shown there were no significance differences between the results of the two groups of patients. The loss of peak torque and total work done with respect to the injured side were similar between the MIS and open group.Discussion and conclusion: MIS using Achillon method can achieve smaller incisions, shorter operative time and hospital stay. There is no statistical significance difference in clinical outcome, the stance time to strike time ratio and biomechanical properties on the leg receiving Achilles tendon repair using MIS method and open surgery. © 2011 Chan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd