Continuing professional development in school psychology. Perspective from Hong Kong

A questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong to investigate the types, frequency, popularity and quality of continuing professional development (CPD) in school psychology. The results indicated that 60 percent of the 32 respondents received regular supervision, however, the majority met their supervisors less than once a month. The characteristics of their supervisors also suggested that the supervision tended to be administrative instead of professional in nature. The most popular CPD activities were attending conferences/seminars, self-study and individual supervision. Large variation was found among the school psychologists from different work settings. The few school psychologists in private practice reported the least amount of CPD activities. The results are discussed with reference to the need to establish regulatory systems with mandatory CPD.postprin

Random laser action in ZnO nanorod arrays embedded in ZnO epilayers

Random laser action with coherent feedback has been observed in ZnO nanorod arrays embedded in ZnO epilayers. The sample was fabricated by depositing a MgO buffer layer and followed by a layer of ZnO thin film onto a vertically well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays grown on sapphire substrate. Under 355 nm optical excitation at room temperature, sharp lasing peaks emit at around 390 nm with a linewidth less than 0.4 nm has been observed in all directions. In addition, the dependence of the lasing threshold intensity on the excitation area is shown in good agreement with the random laser theory. Hence, it is demonstrated that random laser action can also be supported in ZnO nanorod arrays. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.open11173186sciescopu

Identification of Novel Rosavirus Species That Infects Diverse Rodent Species and Causes Multisystemic Dissemination in Mouse Model

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The international school psychology survey: Data from Australia, China, Germany, Italy and Russia

Using the International School Psychology Survey (ISPS) this study aims to advance our knowledge of the characteristics, training, roles and responsibilities, challenges and research interests of school psychologists around the world. Data are presented from five countries; Australia, China (Hong Kong), Germany, Italy and Russia. The ISPS contributes valuable information regarding the profession of school psychology in each of these countries. Building upon the ISPS data previously gathered in Albania, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece and Northern England, this study yields additional information regarding the training, roles, responsibilities and contexts of school psychologists. Information from international colleagues provides unique insights regarding similarities, differences and diversity among school psychologists in different countries. © 2006 SAGE Publications.postprin

Influence of charge trapping on electroluminescence from Si-nanocrystal light emitting structure

We report a study on the influence of charge trapping on electroluminescence (EL) from Si nanocrystal (nc-Si) distributed throughout a 30 nm Si O2 thin film synthesized by Si+ implantation into an oxide film thermally grown on a p -type Si substrate. The electron and hole trapping in the nc-Si located near the indium tin oxide gate and the Si substrate, respectively, cause a reduction in the EL intensity. The reduced EL intensity can be recovered after the trapped charges are released. A partial recovery can be easily achieved by the application of a positive gate voltage or thermal annealing at hot temperatures (e.g., 120 °C) for a short duration. The present study highlights the impact of charging in the nc-Si on the light emission efficiency and its stability of nc-Si light-emitting devices. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

Selection for Replicases in Protocells

PMCID: PMC3649988This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

A novel psittacine adenovirus identified during an outbreak of avian chlamydiosis and human psittacosis: zoonosis associated with virus-bacterium coinfection in birds

Chlamydophila psittaci is found worldwide, but is particularly common among psittacine birds in tropical and subtropical regions. While investigating a human psittacosis outbreak that was associated with avian chlamydiosis in Hong Kong, we identified a novel adenovirus in epidemiologically linked Mealy Parrots, which was not present in healthy birds unrelated to the outbreak or in other animals. The novel adenovirus (tentatively named Psittacine adenovirus HKU1) was most closely related to Duck adenovirus A in the Atadenovirus genus. Sequencing showed that the Psittacine adenovirus HKU1 genome consists of 31,735 nucleotides. Comparative genome analysis showed that the Psittacine adenovirus HKU1 genome contains 23 open reading frames (ORFs) with sequence similarity to known adenoviral genes, and six additional ORFs at the 3′ end of the genome. Similar to Duck adenovirus A, the novel adenovirus lacks LH1, LH2 and LH3, which distinguishes it from other viruses in the Atadenovirus genus. Notably, fiber-2 protein, which is present in Aviadenovirus but not Atadenovirus, is also present in Psittacine adenovirus HKU1. Psittacine adenovirus HKU1 had pairwise amino acid sequence identities of 50.3–54.0% for the DNA polymerase, 64.6–70.7% for the penton protein, and 66.1–74.0% for the hexon protein with other Atadenovirus. The C. psittaci bacterial load was positively correlated with adenovirus viral load in the lung. Immunostaining for fiber protein expression was positive in lung and liver tissue cells of affected parrots, confirming active viral replication. No other viruses were found. This is the first documentation of an adenovirus-C. psittaci co-infection in an avian species that was associated with a human outbreak of psittacosis. Viral-bacterial co-infection often increases disease severity in both humans and animals. The role of viral-bacterial co-infection in animal-to-human transmission of infectious agents has not received sufficient attention and should be emphasized in the investigation of disease outbreaks in human and animals. © 2014 To et al.published_or_final_versio

High Diversity of Genogroup I Picobirnaviruses in Mammals

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Expression of key ion transporters in the gill and esophageal- gastrointestinal tract of euryhaline mozambique tilapia oreochromis mossambicus acclimated to fresh water, seawater and hypersaline water

10.1371/journal.pone.0087591PLoS ONE91-POLN