Asian Canadian Therapists’ Experience and Coping with Racial Microaggression: A Qualitative Examination with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

While studies have shown that racial microaggressions are common and recurring experiences for racial minority therapists, Asians are underrepresented in the existing research. The present study examined Asian Canadian therapists’ lived experiences with racial microaggressions and their coping responses in clinical practice and professional settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted through the online Microsoft Teams platform with nine Asian therapists. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Two relevant superordinate themes emerged from the analysis. The first, “encountering the complexities of microaggressions,” illustrated participants’ experiences with different forms of microaggressions, demonstrating their ambiguity and their long-lasting impacts on participants. Under the second superordinate theme, “navigating the quandaries of microaggressions,” participants showed hesitancy in addressing microaggressions with the aggressors. However, when the client-therapist relationship was strong, it was shown that broaching microaggressions with clients may result in therapeutic change. Some participants also identified benefits in addressing microaggressions with their coworkers and, when handled with caution, with supervisors. Despite facing challenges, participants were proud of their Asian heritage and the opportunity to contribute their cultural knowledge in clinical practice. The study highlights a variety of ways organizations can create a safe environment for minority therapist staff. It also stresses the importance of minority therapists seeking social support, and advocating for themselves, when facing microaggressions

Experiences of COVID-19 among Chinese-speaking lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Hong Kong: an inductive thematic analysis of survey response data

As social inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic have been recognised, emerging research showed that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people may be additionally affected during the pandemic. This paper adds to the understanding of the experiences of LGB people during the pandemic with a focus on Hong Kong, where issues of space significantly influence LGB people’s lives in this city with high population density. As part of a larger community study of LGB lives in Hong Kong, COVID-19-related impact on 434 Chinese-speaking LGB people was explored. Data collection was conducted from 20 May to 30 June 2020. Inductive thematic analysis of the open-text response survey data found that the LGB participants described both negative and positive impacts brought by COVID-19. Such impacts could be dimensionalised into those related to personal space and privacy, romantic and sexual space, and community space. It was also found that the experiences of COVID-19 among LGB people in Hong Kong were intersectional, along the lines of living arrangement and relationship status. Such findings make unique contributions to the emerging literature. First, there needs to be a more nuanced understanding of sexual minority individuals’ experiences during COVID-19 across cultural contexts. Second, COVID-19 was described as having brought positive impact in addition to its widely known negative impact

An exploratory study of factors associated with difficulties in accessing HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic among Chinese gay and bisexual men in Hong Kong

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in the disruption of provision of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) services. This study examined the factors associated with difficulties in accessing HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online survey of 236 Chinese-speaking gay and bisexual men in Hong Kong conducted in 2020. Results: Among those who expressed a need to access HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic, 22.9%, 33.9% and 43.2% indicated moderate-to-high, mild and no difficulties in accessing these services, respectively. Difficulties in accessing HIV services were positively related to concerns about potential COVID-19 infection, experience of actual impact on health because of COVID-19, disruption in work/studies, and reduced connection to the LGBT+ community during the pandemic. It was also found that difficulties in accessing HIV services were positively associated with frequency of having sex with casual partners, but were not significantly associated with frequency of having sex with regular partners. Conclusions: This study provides novel empirical evidence for understanding difficulties in accessing HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic. It found that disruption in work/studies and frequency of having sex with casual partners were associated with difficulties in accessing HIV services

Simulation Training on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Conventional extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) training usually only consists of didactic lectures and water drill of ECMO circuit. However, learners cannot “experience” changes of clinical condition of patients. Simulation-based learning is a perfect answer to this by providing participantsauthentic, interactive, team-based training without risk to real patients. Hospital Authority (HA) of Hong Kong has implemented a corporatewide ECMO simulation-based training program since 2014. It aims to provide a structural and standardized training opportunity for clinical staff members to gain hands-on experience in ECMO circuit management and troubleshooting technique. In the program, participants will go through three categories of scenarios: (1) replicate common real patient clinical experience; (2) replicate incident that only happens infrequently; and (3) imitate clinical situation that is rarely happened but life threatening, and where prompt and correct actions are necessary. Every scenario has its own debriefing session that covers technical and human factor issues.Since 2014, 32 identical full-day courses were conducted and 285 doctors and nurses were trained. All participants were satisfied with the training and expressed that the simulation was an effective model for ECMO training. The training met their need and they could apply what they learned in real-life practice

ShadowFPE: new encrypted web application solution based on shadow DOM

Most of users hesitate to use third-party web applications because of security and privacy concerns. An ideal solution would be to allow apps to work with encrypted data, so that users might be more willing to provide just the encrypted version of their sensitive data. ShadowCrypt, proposed in CCS 2014, is the first and so far only solution that can achieve this by leveraging the encapsulation provided by Shadow DOM V0, without the need for the users to trust neither server nor client codes of web applications. Unfortunately, researchers have shown that ShadowCrypt is vulnerable to several attacks. Note that ShadowCrypt is no longer compliant to the updated W3C standard since 2015. Furthermore, some attacks on ShadowCrypt have been proposed. Hence, currently there is no effective and secure solution to guarantee the privacy of users. In this paper, we present ShadowFPE, a novel format-preserving encryption that makes use of a robust property in Shadow DOM to obtain a feasible solution. Compared with ShadowCrypt, ShadowFPE does not destroy the data format and makes the data usable in most of cloud web applications. We confirmed the effectiveness and security of ShadowFPE through case studies on web applications. Our results show that ShadowFPE is practical since it has low computational overhead and requires minimal modification in existing applications

Food Emulsion Gels from Plant-Based Ingredients: Formulation, Processing, and Potential Applications

Recent advances in the understanding of formulations and processing techniques have allowed for greater freedom in plant-based emulsion gel design to better recreate conventional animal-based foods. The roles of plant-based proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids in the formulation of emulsion gels and relevant processing techniques such as high-pressure homogenization (HPH), ultrasound (UH), and microfluidization (MF), were discussed in correlation with the effects of varying HPH, UH, and MF processing parameters on emulsion gel properties. The characterization methods for plant-based emulsion gels to quantify their rheological, thermal, and textural properties, as well as gel microstructure, were presented with a focus on how they can be applied for food purposes. Finally, the potential applications of plant-based emulsion gels, such as dairy and meat alternatives, condiments, baked goods, and functional foods, were discussed with a focus on sensory properties and consumer acceptance. This study found that the implementation of plant-based emulsion gel in food is promising to date despite persisting challenges. This review will provide valuable insights for researchers and industry professionals looking to understand and utilize plant-based food emulsion gels

A Prospective Study of Venous Thromboembolic Prophylaxis Using Foot Pumps Following Total Knee Replacement in a Chinese Population

AbstractPurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate foot pumps as mechanical prophylaxis for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) following total knee replacement (TKR) in a Chinese population.MethodsAll consecutive patients following TKR during 2002–2006 received routine duplex ultrasound surveillance for DVT 9 days postoperatively. The demographic data and risk factors were recorded. No medication was given for DVT prophylaxis in all patients.ResultsWe evaluated 91 consecutive TKRs in 85 patients. Although 44 knee replacements (Group 1) done before December 2004 were not given foot pumps, 47 knee replacements (Group 2) done afterwards were given foot pumps. All patients were followed up for more than 6 months. DVT was detected in three cases (6.8%) in Group 1 compared with four knees (8.5%) in Group 2. Proximal thrombosis was observed in two knees (4.5%) in Group 1 compared with two knees (4.3%) in Group 2. No patient had pulmonary embolism. Six out of 59 (10.2%) patients who underwent the operations under general anaesthesia suffered from DVT, whereas one in 28 (3.6%) patients operated under spinal anaesthesia had DVT. All had no statistical significance.ConclusionThe rate of proximal DVT after TKR was low (4.5%) without pharmacological prophylaxis. We advise against the use of pharmacological prophylaxis in Chinese population for TKRs because of the low risk of proximal DVT and its possible bleeding complications. Foot pump did not lower the rate of DVTfurther, and its use for DVT prophylaxis in TKR is not necessary

An Algorithm for Modelling Escalator Fixed Loss Energy for PHM and sustainable energy usage

Prognostic Health Management (PHM) is designed to assess and monitor the health status of systems, anticipate the onset of potential failure, and prevent unplanned downtime. In recent decades, collecting massive amounts of real-time sensor data enabled condition monitoring (CM) and consequently, detection of abnormalities to support maintenance decision-making. Additionally, the utilization of PHM techniques can support energy sustainability efforts by optimizing energy usage and identifying opportunities for energy-saving measures. Escalators are efficient machines for transporting people and goods, and measuring energy consumption in time can facilitate PHM of escalators. Fixed loss energy, or no-load energy, of escalators denotes the energy consumption by an unloaded escalator. Fixed loss energy varies over time indicating varying operating conditions. In this paper, we propose to use escalators' fixed loss energy for PHM. We propose an approach to compute daily fixed loss energy based on energy consumption sensor data. The proposed approach is validated using a set of experimental data. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach are also presented, and recommendations are given. Finally, to illustrate PHM, we set up an EWMA chart for monitoring the fixed loss over time and demonstrate the potential in reducing energy costs associated with escalator operation