Determination of Volatile Components of Ping-wei Powder(II) - Analysis of the Volatile Oil in Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis with GC/MS

2001-2002 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Conceptualizing and assessing spirituality among Chinese elders: towards evidence-based practice

published_or_final_versio

Selective over-expression of endothelin-1 in endothelial cells exacerbates inner retinal edema and neuronal death in ischemic retina

The level of endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor, was associated with retinopathy under ischemia. The effects of endothelial endothelin-1 (ET-1) over-expression in a transgenic mouse model using Tie-1 promoter (TET-1 mice) on pathophysiological changes of retinal ischemia were investigated by intraluminal insertion of a microfilament up to middle cerebral artery (MCA) to transiently block the ophthalmic artery. Two-hour occlusion and twenty-two-hour reperfusion were performed in homozygous (Hm) TET-1 mice and their non-transgenic (NTg) littermates. Presence of pyknotic nuclei in ganglion cell layer (GCL) was investigated in paraffin sections of ipsilateral (ischemic) and contralateral (non-ischemic) retinae, followed by measurement of the thickness of inner retinal layer. Moreover, immunocytochemistry of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), glutamine synthetase (GS) and aquaporin-4 (AQP4) peptides on retinal sections were performed to study glial cell reactivity, glutamate metabolism and water accumulation, respectively after retinal ischemia. Similar morphology was observed in the contralateral retinae of NTg and Hm TET-1 mice, whereas ipsilateral retina of NTg mice showed slight structural and cellular changes compared with the corresponding contralateral retina. Ipsilateral retinae of Hm TET-1 mice showed more significant changes when compared with ipsilateral retina of NTg mice, including more prominent cell death in GCL characterized by the presence of pyknotic nuclei, elevated GS immunoreactivity in Müller cell bodies and processes, increased AQP-4 immunoreactivity in Müller cell processes, and increased inner retinal thickness. Thus, over-expression of endothelial ET-1 in TET-1 mice may contribute to increased glutamate-induced neurotoxicity on neuronal cells and water accumulation in inner retina leading to edema. © 2011 Cheung et al.published_or_final_versio

Development and validation of a spirituality scale for Chinese elders: a mixed approach

Free Paper Presentation 5 – Geriatric Assessment: no. F5-4會議主題:「 卓越康齡服務 - 倡議、前進與成果 」Conference Theme: 3As in Aged Care- Advocacy, Advancement and AchievementpostprintThe 8th World Congress on Long Term Care in Chinese Communities and Asian Ageing Development Conference, Hong Kong, 24-26 November 2011

Acupuncture improves cognitive function: A systematic review

link_to_OA_fulltex

Measuring transcednence among Chinese older adults: a spiritual approach

Session 1070 (Poster)This journal suppl. contains 2011 GSA Annual Scientific Meeting AbstractsOBJECTIVE: Spiritual care is one of the key elements of the holistic care perspective. In our previous studies, we reflected that spirituality among Chinese older adults should be understood in a context of nonreligious lifestyle. This study aims to validate the spirituality measure, Transcendence Scale for Chinese Elders (TSCE). METHOD: The draft version of TSCE was developed based on focus groups, in-depth interviews and a Delphi process. Together with other standardized measures, including World Health Organization Quality of Life measures (WHOQoL), Purpose in Life (PIL), and Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PNAS), the 16-items, 5-point TSCE draft was administered to 825 older adults in Hong Kong and Shanghai. RESULTS: Face and content validity of TSCE were established during a Delphi process. Confirmatory factor analysis identified a six-item, one-factor model that showed satisfactory model fit indexes (SRMR=.036, C-CFI=.953, R-RMSEA=.063). The internal consistency reliability of the 6-item TSCE was satisfactory as indicated by Chronbach’s alpha of .70. TSCE also showed satisfactory criterion-related reliability as indicated by having moderate correlation with PNAS (r=.47), Purpose in Life (r=.35), and psychological well-being as measured by WHOQoL (r=.35). CONCLUSION: TSCE was developed to measure transcendence among Chinese older adults’ spirituality. Results of the present study showed that TSCE was a reliable and valid measure that assesses transcendence among the Chinese older population in which the social cultural context is featured by non-religious, relationship-oriented and interdependent self-construct. Implications for how to enhance spirituality among Chinese older adults will be discussed.link_to_OA_fulltextThe 64th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), Boston, MA., 18-22 November 2011. In The Gerontologist, 2011, v. 51 suppl. 2, p. 32

The effectiveness of the Spiritual Enhancement Group for Chinese elders: evidence from a quasi-experiment

Free Paper Presentation: II - Mental HealthConference Theme: Promoting Choices and Frontiers in Elder Car

Association between body mass index and risk of formation of breast cancer in Chinese women

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the association between body mass index (BMI) and breast cancer risk among Chinese women in Hong Kong. METHODS: We conducted a population-based case control study of breast cancer in June 2002. Standardized questionnaires concerning BMI and other anthropometric data were completed by patients at the Queen Mary Hospital (QMH). The cases were 198 women aged 24-85 years who had documented breast cancer in 1995-2000 by triple assessment criteria, and the controls were 353 women who were followed up at QMH for benign breast disease after breast cancer had been excluded by triple assessment. The controls were frequency-matched to the cases by age. RESULTS: BMI at diagnosis was positively correlated with the risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women (p < 0.001 for trend). Also, when compared with women with a low BMI (< 19), women with a BMI of 23-27 and 27-31 had a 1.73-fold (95% confidence interval, CI, 1.04-2.86) and 2.06-fold (95% CI, 1.08-3.93) increased risk of breast cancer, respectively, after adjustment for non-anthropometric risk factors. BMI at diagnosis, however, was not related to the risk of breast cancer among premenopausal women. The odds ratios for premenopausal women with a BMI of 23-27 and 27-31 were 1.5 (95% CI, 0.82-2.71) and 1.32 (95% CI, 0.39-4.43), respectively. Furthermore, present BMI and BMI 5 years before diagnosis were poorly associated with breast cancer risk among both pre- and postmenopausal women. CONCLUSION: Weight control in obese women may be an effective measure for breast cancer prevention in postmenopausal women. © 2005 Elsevier. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Serum microRNAs as potential biomarker for screening colorectal cancer patients

Poster Presentation 1 - Biomarkers: no. 37PThis free journal suppl. entitled: ESMO Asia Congress, 18-21 December 2015, SingaporeAIM/BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the major healthcare problems worldwide. Both the incidence and death rates from CRC are increasing rapidly in Asian countries. CRC screening allows the detection and removal of early stage lesions, and has been demonstrated to reduce both CRC morbidity and mortality. Currently the clinical gold standard used in CRC to monitor disease development is serum CEA, yet the biomarker is frequented with low specificity and sensitivity. Recent epigenetic studies suggested that microRNAs (miRNAs) may help to better categorize the CRC subtypes and predict the outcomes. Owing to their small size, reduced degrading potential, remarkable stability in most tissues and liquid biopsies; they have been found to serve as valuable signatures for numerous disease conditions, particularly cancer. METHODS: In this study we investigated the potential of serum miRNAs as biomarker for screening CRC patients.We determined the serum miR-139-3p, miR-187 and miR-622 levels in 42 control subjects and 42 CRC patients, and expressed the results as delta Ct normalized by U6 (i.e., the higher the delta Ct, the lower the level). RESULTS: Serum miRNA-139-3p and miR-187 levels were significantly lower in CRC patients than in control (5.859 vs 0.428 and 7.461 vs 1.318, p < 0.001, respectively). On the other hand, serum miR-622 was detectable in 24 out of 42 (∼57%) CRC patients whereas in only 6 out of 42 (∼14%) control (p < 0.001).We further compared the performance of serum miR-139-3p with CEA as diagnostic biomarker. All control samples showed CEA value lower than 3 ng/ml, whereas 60% of CRC patients showed CEA value ≥ 3 ng/ml. The sensitivity was 60% and specificity was 100% (AUC: 0.845). The positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 62%, respectively. For miR-139-3p (threshold delta Ct = 2.205), the sensitivity was 100% and specificity was 80% (AUC: 0.971). The positive and negative predictive values were 87.7% and 100%, respectively. These results suggested that miR-139-3p was a better diagnostic biomarker for identifying all CRC patients. CONCLUSIONS: To conclude, our results showed that miRNAs serve as new approach of diagnostic biomarker, though a larger sample size and multi-centre performance test are warranted to validate the feasibility.link_to_OA_fulltex