The Economics of Late Marriage.

The trend of late marriage is found in various countries across the world in recent years. Discussion on this matter in the past mainly explored the problem from a social-cultural perspective. This paper attempts a different approach by trying to look at the matter from the perspective of both man and women and explains the causes of their actions by applying some economic theory

Data mining on existing game selling platforms 現成的電玩遊戲售賣平台內的數據探索

This project involves building a website to let people access game information as consolidated from a range of popular game selling platforms. This information includes not only comparisons among the prices offered on various game selling platforms, but also other information such as the publishers and system requirements... 本項目旨在發展一個單一網站平台，藉此整合及發佈多個廣受歡迎的遊戲銷售資訊，方便玩家進行比較。這些資訊不僅包括同一款遊 戲在不同銷售平台上的格價參考，也會列出發行商、系統要求等訊 息。 Award: Silver 奬項: 銀

OMMA enables population-scale analysis of complex genomic features and phylogenomic relationships from nanochannel-based optical maps.

BackgroundOptical mapping is an emerging technology that complements sequencing-based methods in genome analysis. It is widely used in improving genome assemblies and detecting structural variations by providing information over much longer (up to 1 Mb) reads. Current standards in optical mapping analysis involve assembling optical maps into contigs and aligning them to a reference, which is limited to pairwise comparison and becomes bias-prone when analyzing multiple samples.FindingsWe present a new method, OMMA, that extends optical mapping to the study of complex genomic features by simultaneously interrogating optical maps across many samples in a reference-independent manner. OMMA captures and characterizes complex genomic features, e.g., multiple haplotypes, copy number variations, and subtelomeric structures when applied to 154 human samples across the 26 populations sequenced in the 1000 Genomes Project. For small genomes such as pathogenic bacteria, OMMA accurately reconstructs the phylogenomic relationships and identifies functional elements across 21 Acinetobacter baumannii strains.ConclusionsWith the increasing data throughput of optical mapping system, the use of this technology in comparative genome analysis across many samples will become feasible. OMMA is a timely solution that can address such computational need. The OMMA software is available at https://github.com/TF-Chan-Lab/OMTools

Use of antibiotics by primary care doctors in Hong Kong

© 2009 Lam et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Novosti u artroskopskoj kirurgiji ručnog zgloba: od resekcije do rekonstrukcije

One of the major advances in wrist arthroscopy is the development of various therapeutic procedures since the 90’s. Therapeutic procedures are no longer restricted to resection. More specific repair procedures and functional reconstruction involving replenishment of tissue defect and augmentation of vital structures are seen with proven value. In particular, wrist arthroscopy performed under local anaesthetic setting without tourniquet and sedation markedly reduces the risk and cost. This article highlights the common indications and applications of wrist arthroscopy, with emphasis on the latest and significant innovations in reconstructive arthroscopic surgery in Hong Kong. On the resection aspect, common procedures include joint debridement, synovectomy, ganglionectomy, capsular release and osteotomies. Reparative surgery includes ligament repair, arthroscopic assisted reduction and fixation of fracture dislocation and chondroplasty for small chondral lesions. Reconstructive surgery embraces surgical solutions tackling on osseous, soft tissue and cartilage problems. Scaphoid nonunion can be treated by arthroscopic bone grafting and percutaneous fixation with union rate of over 90 %. Partial wrist fusion can be achieved arthroscopically to maximize motion and to enhance union by preserving soft tissue and vascularity. Arthroscopic assisted reconstruction of the radio-ulnar ligaments with tendon graft can be performed to treat chronic distal radioulnar joint instability through bone tunnels in sigmoid notch and ulnar fovea. In chronic scapholunate (SL) instability, the dorsal and palmar portion of the SL interosseous ligament is reconstituted anatomically through arthroscopically assisted reconstruction with tendon graft in a box-like structure. In cartilage reconstruction, post–traumatic chondral lesion can be treated with arthroscopic osteochondral transplant.Od uvođenja artroskopije ručnog zgloba 90-ih godina prošloga stoljeća počinje razvoj i uvođenje brojnih novih terapijskih postupaka. Zahvati više nisu ograničeni samo na resekcije, već se počinje s razvojem reparacijskih i funkcionalnih rekonstrukcija, kao što su popunjavanje defekata i augmentacija vitalnih struktura. Artroskopija ručnog zgloba izvedena u lokalnoj anesteziji i bez Torniquetove poveske značajno smanjuje i cijenu zahvata. U ovom radu istaknute su najčešće indikacije i primjena artroskopija ručnog zgloba s naglaskom na najnoviji zahvat artroskopske rekonstrukcije ručnog zgloba u Hong Kongu. Glede resekcija, najčešći zahvati uključuju debridman zgloba, sinovijektomiju, ganglionekotimiju, opuštanje zglobne čahure i oteotomiju. Reparativni zahvati uključuju rekonstrukcije ligamenata, artroskopski asistirane repozicije i fiksacije prijeloma i luksacija te hondroplastike. Rekonstruktivni zahvati obuhvaćaju zahvate na kostima, mekim tkivima i hrskavici. Nesraštanje skafoidne kosti može se liječiti artroskopski s koštanim presadcima i perkutanim fiksacijama, a uspješnost cijeljenja je veća od 90 %. Djelomične artrodeze mogu se provesti artroskopski kako bi se očuvala pokretljivost ostalih dijelova i pojačalo cijeljenje očuvanjem mekih tkiva i vaskularizacije. Artroskopski asistirana rekonstrukcija radioularnih ligamenata s tetivnim transplantatima može se izvoditi pri kroničnim nestabilnostima distalnog radioulnarnog zgloba. Pri kroničnoj skafolunatnoj nestabilnosti, dorzalni i palmarni dio SL ligamenta mogu se anatomski rekonstruirati tetivnim presadcima. Posttraumatska hrskavična oštećenja mogu se liječiti artroskopski primjenom koštano-hrskavičnih transplantata

Assessment of Extracts from Red Yeast Rice for Herb-Drug Interaction by in-vitro and in-vivo assays

Red yeast rice (RYR) is made by fermenting the yeast Monascus purpureus over rice. It is a source of natural red food colorants, a food garnish and a traditional medication. Results of the current study demonstrated that polar fractions of the RYR preparations contained herbal-drug interaction activity, which if left unremoved, enhanced P-glycoprotein activity and inhibited the major drug metabolizing cytochromes P450, i,e, CYP 1A2, 2C9 and 3A4. The data from Caco-2 cell absorption and animal model studies further demonstrated that the pharmacokinetic modulation effect by RYR preparations containing the polar fractions (“untreated” preparation) was greater than that from RYR preparations with the polar fractions removed (“treated” preparation). The data indicates a potential for herb-drug interactions to be present in RYR commonly sold as nutritional supplements when the polar fractions are not removed and this should be taken into consideration when RYR is consumed with medications, including verapamil

Panton-Valentine Leukocidin–Positive MRSA, Shanghai

link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Transmission dynamics of the etiological agent of SARS in Hong Kong: impact of public health interventions.

We present an analysis of the first 10 weeks of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Hong Kong. The epidemic to date has been characterized by two large clusters-initiated by two separate "super-spread" events (SSEs)-and by ongoing community transmission. By fitting a stochastic model to data on 1512 cases, including these clusters, we show that the etiological agent of SARS is moderately transmissible. Excluding SSEs, we estimate that 2.7 secondary infections were generated per case on average at the start of the epidemic, with a substantial contribution from hospital transmission. Transmission rates fell during the epidemic, primarily as a result of reductions in population contact rates and improved hospital infection control, but also because of more rapid hospital attendance by symptomatic individuals. As a result, the epidemic is now in decline, although continued vigilance is necessary for this to be maintained. Restrictions on longer range population movement are shown to be a potentially useful additional control measure in some contexts. We estimate that most currently infected persons are now hospitalized, which highlights the importance of control of nosocomial transmission

Anti-inflammatory effect of gallic acid on HaCaT keratinocytes through the inhibition of MAPK-, NF-kB-, and Akt-dependent signaling pathways

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of gallic acid, a naturally occurring triphenolic compound, on HaCaT keratinocytes and study its mechanisms of action. The results showed that gallic acid at concentrations lower than 30 µM was non-toxic to HaCaT cells, reduced the intracellular level of reactive oxygen species, and suppressed the release of chemokines interleukin-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in tumor necrosis factor-α- and interferon-γ-stimulated HaCaT keratinocytes. In addition, gallic acid reduced the total protein expression of NF-κB and inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38 MAPK, and Akt in stimulated HaCaT keratinocytes. In conclusion, our study revealed that gallic acid exhibited antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on keratinocytes, probably through the inhibition of MAPK-, NF-κB-, and Akt-dependent signaling pathways