A postgraduate diploma course in community geriatrics for primary care doctors: Experience of first three years

This paper describes the setting up of a postgraduate diploma course in Community Geriatrics for primary care physicians and the experience gained in its first three years of running. This study programme was set up in response to the rapidly rising elderly population in Hong Kong and the fact that most of the primary care doctors practising today had an inadequate undergraduate curriculum in the health care issues that are relevant to older people. The objectives of the Course are to improve the knowledge, skills and confidence of primary care physicians in the care of elderly people. It also emphasises the aspects of care that are unique to elderly people. The Course is delivered by different modes of learning: distance learning, face-to-face problem-orientated seminars and small group clinical teaching. Learning centres are established in different regional hospitals in Hong Kong in order to allow small group clinical teaching while, at the same time, reducing travelling time for the students. Information technology is also used to facilitate teaching and learning, as well as to encourage communication among teachers and students. The Course was oversubscribed for all its intakes in the first three years of running. Some graduates have taken on visiting medical officer positions at elderly homes.published_or_final_versio

Novel geometric coordination registration in cone-beam computed tomogram

Paper ID: AIPR-140701-9The use of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in medical field can help the clinicians to visualize the hard tissues in head and neck region via a cylindrical field of view (FOV). The images are usually presented with reconstructed three-dimensional (3D) imaging and its orthogonal (x-, y-and z-planes) images. Spatial relationship of the structures in these orthogonal views is important for diagnosis of diseases as well as planning for treatment. However, the non-standardized positioning of the object during the CBCT data acquisition often induces errors in measurement since orthogonal images cut at different planes might look similar. In order to solve the problem, this paper proposes an effective mapping from the Cartesian coordinates of a cube physically to its respective coordinates in 3D imaging. Therefore, the object (real physical domain) and the imaging (computerized virtual domain) can be linked up and registered. In this way, the geometric coordination of the object/imaging can be defined and its orthogonal images would be fixed on defined planes. The images can then be measured with vector information and serial imagings can also be directly compared. © 2014 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Validation of a novel geometric coordination registration using manual and semi-automatic registration in cone-beam computed tomogram

Session - Image Processing: Machine Vision Applications 9Cartesian coordinates define on a physical cubic corner (CC) with the corner tip as the origin and three corresponding line angles as (x, y, z)-axes. In its image (virtual) domains such as these obtained by cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and optical surface scanning, a single coordinate can then be registered based on the CC. The advantage of using a CC in registration is simple and accurate physical coordinate measurement. The accuracy of image-to-physical (IP) and imageto-image (II) transformations, measured by target registration error (TRE), can then be validated by comparing coordinates of target points in the virtual domains to that of the physical control. For the CBCT, the registration may be performed manually using a surgical planning software SimPlant Pro (manual registration (MR)) or semi-automatically using MeshLab and 3D Slicer (semiautomatic registration (SR)) matching the virtual display axes to the corresponding (x-y-z)-axes. This study aims to validate the use of CC as a surgical stereotactic marker by measuring TRE in MR and SR respectively. Mean TRE is 0.56 +/- 0.24 mm for MR and 0.39 +/- 0.21 mm for SR. The SR results in a more accurate registration than the MR and point-based registration with 20 fiducial points. TRE of the MR is less than 1.0 mm and still acceptable clinically.postprin

Nostalgia and temporal life satisfaction

Recent research has shown that nostalgia, an apparently past-oriented emotion, may render the present self more positive and promote a brighter outlook on the future. The current study examined whether experimentally induced nostalgia would impact the levels of and associations among past, present, and future life satisfaction. Among 250 university students (86 males and 164 females, aged 16–26 years), nostalgia was manipulated through the recollection of nostalgic (vs. ordinary) events. In support of our hypotheses, the results showed that nostalgic experiences not only led to a larger contrast between past life satisfaction versus present and future life satisfaction, but also weaker associations between past and future life satisfaction and between present and future life satisfaction. Overall, the findings suggest that nostalgic experiences can render more distinct judgements on temporal life satisfaction

Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant intestinal flora in patients undergoing transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostate biopsy (TRUS-Bx) and its implication for clinical practice: preliminary results

Oral (Free Paper) Session I - Prostate Cancer: Diagnosis to Treatment: OP.1-2香港泌尿外科學會OBJECTIVE: An important factor determining the choice of antibiotic for TRUS-Bx prophylaxis and treatment of post-biopsy infection is the prevalence of quinolone-resistant and ESBL-producing organisms in the rectum of patients undergoing this procedure. We aim to determine these prevalence values in patients undergoing TRUS-Bx and to study their correlation with the microbiological data of patients ...published_or_final_versionThe 17th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Hong Kong Urological Association, Hong Kong, 6 November 2011. In Program Book, 2011, p. 3

Use of interferon gamma release assay to assess latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers in Hong Kong

Key Messages 1. Overall baseline interferon gamma release assay positivity was 20.7%. 2. The conversion to interferon gamma release assay positivity at 3 months was 8.85% in the exposed group and 4.54% in the non-exposed group using the conventional cut-off of 0.35 IU/mL. 3. When grey zone results (0.2I-0.7 IU/mL) were included, the proportion of non-specific conversions and reversions could be reduced. 4. Interferon gamma release assay can be an adjunct tool in contact investigation of latent tuberculosis infection in healthcare workers.published_or_final_versio

Recalculation of 11‐year total ozone of Brewer spectrophotometer 115

Author name used in this publication: K. S. Lam2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Intraspecfic variation in cold-temperature metabolic phenotypes of Arabidopsis lyrata ssp petraea

Atmospheric temperature is a key factor in determining the distribution of a plant species. Alongside this, plant populations growing at the margin of their range may exhibit traits that indicate genetic differentiation and adaptation to their local abiotic environment. We investigated whether geographically separated marginal populations of Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea have distinct metabolic phenotypes associated with exposure to cold temperatures. Seeds of A. petraea were obtained from populations along a latitudinal gradient, namely Wales, Sweden and Iceland and grown in a controlled cabinet environment. Mannose, glucose, fructose, sucrose and raffinose concentrations were different between cold treatments and populations, especially in the Welsh population, but polyhydric alcohol concentrations were not. The free amino acid compositions were population specific, with fold differences in most amino acids, especially in the Icelandic populations, with gross changes in amino acids, particularly those associated with glutamine metabolism. Metabolic fingerprints and profiles were obtained. Principal component analysis (PCA) of metabolite fingerprints revealed metabolic characteristic phenotypes for each population and temperature. It is suggested that amino acids and carbohydrates were responsible for discriminating populations within the PCA. Metabolite fingerprinting and profiling has proved to be sufficiently sensitive to identify metabolic differences between plant populations at different atmospheric temperatures. These findings show that there is significant natural variation in cold metabolism among populations of A. l. petraea which may signify plant adaptation to local climates

Image calibration and registration in cone-beam computed tomogram for measuring the accuracy of computer-aided implant surgery

Medical radiography is the use of radiation to “see through” a human body without breaching its integrity (surface). With computed tomography (CT)/cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), three-dimensional (3D) imaging can be produced. These imagings not only facilitate disease diagnosis but also enable computer-aided surgical planning/navigation. In dentistry, the common method for transfer of the virtual surgical planning to the patient (reality) is the use of surgical stent either with a preloaded planning (static) like a channel or a real time surgical navigation (dynamic) after registration with fiducial markers (RF). This paper describes using the corner of a cube as a radiopaque fiducial marker on an acrylic (plastic) stent, this RF allows robust calibration and registration of Cartesian (x, y, z)- coordinates for linking up the patient (reality) and the imaging (virtuality) and hence the surgical planning can be transferred in either static or dynamic way. The accuracy of computer-aided implant surgery was measured with reference to coordinates. In our preliminary model surgery, a dental implant was planned virtually and placed with preloaded surgical guide. The deviation of the placed implant apex from the planning was x=+0.56mm [more right], y=- 0.05mm [deeper], z=-0.26mm [more lingual]) which was within clinically 2mm safety range. For comparison with the virtual planning, the physically placed implant was CT/CBCT scanned and errors may be introduced. The difference of the actual implant apex to the virtual apex was x=0.00mm, y=+0.21mm [shallower], z=-1.35mm [more lingual] and this should be brought in mind when interpret the results

Mp1p Is a Virulence Factor in Talaromyces (Penicillium) marneffei

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