Management of traumatic patellar dislocation in a regional hospital in Hong Kong

Introduction: The role of surgery for acute patellar dislocation without osteochondral fractures is controversial. The aim of this study is to report the short-term results of management of patellar dislocation in our institute. Methods: Patients who had patella dislocation seen in our institution from January 2011 to April 2014 were managed according to a standardized management algorithm. Pre-treatment and one-year post-treatment International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score, Tegner activity level scale and presence of apprehension sign were analysed. Results: 41 patients were studied. 20 patients were first time dislocators. 21 patients were recurrent dislocators. Among the first time dislocators, there was significant difference between patients receiving conservative treatment and surgical management. The conservative treatment group had 33% recurrent dislocation rate, whereas there were no recurrent dislocations for the surgery group. However, there was no difference in Tegner activity level scale and apprehension sign before and one year after treatment. Among the recurrent dislocators who received surgery, there was significant difference between patients receiving conservative treatment and surgical management. Recurrent dislocation rate was 71% in the conservative treatment group, whereas there were no recurrent dislocations for the surgery group. There was also significant improvement of IKDC score from 67.7 to 80 (p=0.02), and of apprehension sign from 62% to 0% (p<0.01). Conclusions: A management algorithm for patellar dislocation is described. Surgery is preferable to conservative treatment in treating patients suffering from recurrent patellar dislocations, and may be preferable for patients suffering from acute patellar dislocations.published_or_final_versio

EEG findings of reduced neural synchronization during visual integration in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia patients exhibit well-documented visual processing deficits. One area of disruption is visual integration, the ability to form global objects from local elements. However, most studies of visual integration in schizophrenia have been conducted in the context of an active attention task, which may influence the findings. In this study we examined visual integration using electroencephalography (EEG) in a passive task to elucidate neural mechanisms associated with poor visual integration. Forty-six schizophrenia patients and 30 healthy controls had EEG recorded while passively viewing figures comprised of real, illusory, or no contours. We examined visual P100, N100, and P200 event-related potential (ERP) components, as well as neural synchronization in the gamma (30-60 Hz) band assessed by the EEG phase locking factor (PLF). The N100 was significantly larger to illusory vs. no contour, and illusory vs. real contour stimuli while the P200 was larger only to real vs. illusory stimuli; there were no significant interactions with group. Compared to controls, patients failed to show increased phase locking to illusory versus no contours between 40-60 Hz. Also, controls, but not patients, had larger PLF between 30-40 Hz when viewing real vs. illusory contours. Finally, the positive symptom factor of the BPRS was negatively correlated with PLF values between 40-60 Hz to illusory stimuli, and with PLF between 30-40 Hz to real contour stimuli. These results suggest that the pattern of results across visual processing conditions is similar in patients and controls. However, patients have deficits in neural synchronization in the gamma range during basic processing of illusory contours when attentional demand is limited

A Case of Bowen’s Disease and Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma: Long-Term Consequences of Chronic Arsenic Exposure in Chinese Traditional Medicine

Chronic arsenic toxicity occurs primarily through inadvertent ingestion of contaminated water and food or occupational exposure, but it can also occur through medicinal ingestion. This case features a 53-year-old lifetime nonsmoker with chronic asthma treated for 10 years in childhood with Chinese traditional medicine containing arsenic. The patient was diagnosed with Bowen’s disease and developed extensive-stage small-cell carcinoma of the lung 10 years and 47 years, respectively, after the onset of arsenic exposure. Although it has a long history as a medicinal agent, arsenic is a carcinogen associated with many malignancies including those of skin and lung. It is more commonly associated with non–small-cell lung cancer, but the temporal association with Bowen’s disease in the absence of other chemical or occupational exposure strongly points to a causal role for arsenic in this case of small-cell lung cancer. Individuals with documented arsenic-induced Bowen’s disease should be considered for more aggressive screening for long-term complications, especially the development of subsequent malignancies

Cooling and control of a cavity optoelectromechanical system

We implement a cavity optoelectromechanical system integrating electrical actuation capabilities of nanoelectromechanical devices with ultrasensitive mechanical transduction achieved via intracavity optomechanical coupling. Electrical gradient forces as large as 0.40 mu N are realized, with simultaneous mechanical transduction sensitivity of 1.5 x 10(-18) mHz(-1/2) representing a 3 orders of magnitude improvement over any nanoelectromechanical system to date. Optoelectromechanical feedback cooling is demonstrated, exhibiting strong squashing of the in-loop transduction signal. Out-of-loop transduction provides accurate temperature calibration even in the critical paradigm where measurement backaction induces optomechanical correlations

Ambient-temperature incorporated hydrogen in Nb:SrTiO₃ single crystals

2002-2003 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Spontaneous recovery of hydrogen-degraded TiO₂ ceramic capacitors

2003-2004 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Incorporation of albumin fusion proteins into fibrin clots in vitro and in vivo: comparison of different fusion motifs recognized by factor XIIIa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The transglutaminase activated factor XIII (FXIIIa) acts to strengthen pathological fibrin clots and to slow their dissolution, in part by crosslinking active α₂-antiplasmin (α₂AP) to fibrin. We previously reported that a yeast-derived recombinant fusion protein comprising α₂AP residues 13-42 linked to human serum albumin (HSA) weakened <it>in vitro </it>clots but failed to become specifically incorporated into <it>in vivo </it>clots. In this study, our aims were to improve both the stability and clot localization of the HSA fusion protein by replacing α₂AP residues 13-42 with shorter sequences recognized more effectively by FXIIIa.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Expression plasmids were prepared encoding recombinant HSA with the following N-terminal 23 residue extensions: H₆NQEQVSPLTLLAG₄Y (designated XL1); H₆DQMMLPWAVTLG₄Y (XL2); H₆WQHKIDLPYNGAG₄Y (XL3); and their 17 residue non-His-tagged equivalents (XL4, XL5, and XL6). The HSA moiety of XL4- to XL6-HSA proteins was C-terminally His-tagged. All chimerae were efficiently secreted from transformed <it>Pichia pastoris </it>yeast except XL3-HSA, and following nickel chelate affinity purification were found to be intact by amino acid sequencing, as was an N-terminally His-tagged version of α₂AP(13-42)-HSA. Of the proteins tested, XL5-HSA was cross-linked to biotin pentylamine (BPA) most rapidly by FXIIIa, and was the most effective competitor of α₂AP crosslinking not only to BPA but also to plasma fibrin clots. In the mouse ferric chloride <it>vena cava </it>thrombosis model, radiolabeled XL5-HSA was retained in the clot to a greater extent than recombinant HSA. In the rabbit jugular vein stasis thrombosis model, XL5-HSA was also retained in the clot, in a urea-insensitive manner indicative of crosslinking to fibrin, to a greater extent than recombinant HSA.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Fusion protein XL5-HSA (DQMMLPWAVTLG₄Y-HSAH₆) was found to be more active as a substrate for FXIIIa-mediated transamidation than seven other candidate fusion proteins <it>in vitro</it>. The improved stability and reactivity of this chimeric protein was further evidenced by its incorporation into <it>in vivo </it>clots formed in thrombosis models in both mice and rabbits.</p

VISJET & VISFLOOD: Software for environment hydraulic modeling & visualization

We present two general interactive PC-based modeling and visualization software systems developed for the study of two types of environmental water flows: buoyant jet mixing and urban drainage problems. VISJET (http://www.aoe-water.hku.hk/visjet) is arguably the most robust software with advanced graphics for the prediction of mixing and transport of effluent discharges into a stratified crossflow. The prediction engine is a Lagrangian model for buoyant jets with three-dimensional trajectories, and is based on extensive basic experiments and turbulence model calculations. It can be used in outfall design and environmental impact assessment, and as an educational or training tool. VISFLOOD (http://www.aoe-water.hku.hk/visflood) is based on the numerical solution of the Saint-Venant equations, and caters for the simulation of unsteady flood propagation in urban drainage systems. Both software systems are fully interactive with data interrogation; the 3D visualization is fully integrated with the model engine, and enables the user to appreciate the context of the problem in a most effective way. Both models have been well-validated against laboratory and field data, and have been applied to many actual engineering projects. This software product is an outcome of a grant by the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF).published_or_final_versio

Galactic and Extragalactic Samples of Supernova Remnants: How They Are Identified and What They Tell Us

Supernova remnants (SNRs) arise from the interaction between the ejecta of a supernova (SN) explosion and the surrounding circumstellar and interstellar medium. Some SNRs, mostly nearby SNRs, can be studied in great detail. However, to understand SNRs as a whole, large samples of SNRs must be assembled and studied. Here, we describe the radio, optical, and X-ray techniques which have been used to identify and characterize almost 300 Galactic SNRs and more than 1200 extragalactic SNRs. We then discuss which types of SNRs are being found and which are not. We examine the degree to which the luminosity functions, surface-brightness distributions and multi-wavelength comparisons of the samples can be interpreted to determine the class properties of SNRs and describe efforts to establish the type of SN explosion associated with a SNR. We conclude that in order to better understand the class properties of SNRs, it is more important to study (and obtain additional data on) the SNRs in galaxies with extant samples at multiple wavelength bands than it is to obtain samples of SNRs in other galaxiesComment: Final 2016 draft of a chapter in "Handbook of Supernovae" edited by Athem W. Alsabti and Paul Murdin. Final version available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20794-0_90-

Sentrin/sumo Specific Proteases As Novel Tissue-selective Modulators Of Vitamin D Receptor-mediated Signaling

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