Experiences of COVID-19 among Chinese-speaking lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Hong Kong: an inductive thematic analysis of survey response data

As social inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic have been recognised, emerging research showed that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people may be additionally affected during the pandemic. This paper adds to the understanding of the experiences of LGB people during the pandemic with a focus on Hong Kong, where issues of space significantly influence LGB people’s lives in this city with high population density. As part of a larger community study of LGB lives in Hong Kong, COVID-19-related impact on 434 Chinese-speaking LGB people was explored. Data collection was conducted from 20 May to 30 June 2020. Inductive thematic analysis of the open-text response survey data found that the LGB participants described both negative and positive impacts brought by COVID-19. Such impacts could be dimensionalised into those related to personal space and privacy, romantic and sexual space, and community space. It was also found that the experiences of COVID-19 among LGB people in Hong Kong were intersectional, along the lines of living arrangement and relationship status. Such findings make unique contributions to the emerging literature. First, there needs to be a more nuanced understanding of sexual minority individuals’ experiences during COVID-19 across cultural contexts. Second, COVID-19 was described as having brought positive impact in addition to its widely known negative impact

An exploratory study of factors associated with difficulties in accessing HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic among Chinese gay and bisexual men in Hong Kong

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in the disruption of provision of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) services. This study examined the factors associated with difficulties in accessing HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online survey of 236 Chinese-speaking gay and bisexual men in Hong Kong conducted in 2020. Results: Among those who expressed a need to access HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic, 22.9%, 33.9% and 43.2% indicated moderate-to-high, mild and no difficulties in accessing these services, respectively. Difficulties in accessing HIV services were positively related to concerns about potential COVID-19 infection, experience of actual impact on health because of COVID-19, disruption in work/studies, and reduced connection to the LGBT+ community during the pandemic. It was also found that difficulties in accessing HIV services were positively associated with frequency of having sex with casual partners, but were not significantly associated with frequency of having sex with regular partners. Conclusions: This study provides novel empirical evidence for understanding difficulties in accessing HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic. It found that disruption in work/studies and frequency of having sex with casual partners were associated with difficulties in accessing HIV services

Preliminary results of trial NPC-0501 evaluating the therapeutic gain by changing from concurrent-adjuvant to induction-concurrent chemoradiotherapy, changing from fluorouracil to capecitabine, and changing from conventional to accelerated radiotherapy fractionation in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

© 2014 American Cancer Society. BACKGROUND A current recommendation for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is conventional fractionated radiotherapy with concurrent cisplatin plus adjuvant cisplatin and fluorouracil (PF). In this randomized trial, the authors evaluated the potential therapeutic benefit from changing to an induction-concurrent chemotherapy sequence, replacing fluorouracil with oral capecitabine, and/or using accelerated rather than conventional radiotherapy fractionation. METHODS Patients with stage III through IVB, nonkeratinizing NPC were randomly allocated to 1 of 6 treatment arms. The protocol was amended in 2009 to permit confining randomization to the conventional fractionation arms. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival. Secondary endpoints included overall survival and safety. RESULTS In total, 803 patients were accrued, and 706 patients were randomly allocated to all 6 treatment arms. Comparisons of induction PF versus adjuvant PF did not indicate a significant improvement. Unadjusted comparisons of induction cisplatin and capecitabine (PX) versus adjuvant PF indicated a favorable trend in progression-free survival for the conventional fractionation arm (P = .045); analyses that were adjusted for other significant factors and fractionation reflected a significant reduction in the hazards of disease progression (hazard ratio [HR], 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36-0.80) and death (HR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.25-0.70). Unadjusted comparisons of induction sequences versus adjuvant sequences did not reach statistical significance, but adjusted comparisons indicated favorable improvements by induction sequence. Comparisons of induction PX versus induction PF revealed fewer toxicities (neutropenia and electrolyte disturbance), unadjusted comparisons of efficacy were statistically insignificant, but adjusted analyses indicated that induction PX had a lower hazard of death (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.34-0.97). Changing the fractionation from conventional to accelerated did not achieve any benefit but incurred higher toxicities (acute mucositis and dehydration). CONCLUSIONS Preliminary results indicate that the benefit of changing to an induction-concurrent sequence remains uncertain; replacing fluorouracil with oral capecitabine warrants further validation in view of its convenience, favorable toxicity profile, and favorable trends in efficacy; and accelerated fractionation is not recommended for patients with locoregionally advanced NPC who receive chemoradiotherapy.postprin

「回首．動情．傳承」長者生命故事計劃

嶺南大學亞太老年學研究中心獲華人永遠墳場管理委員會（「華永會」）資助為期一年的「回首．動情．傳承」長者生命故事計劃(「計劃」)。此計劃旨在讓青年人認識長者生命經驗，學習克服困難與挫折以提升抗逆力，建立正向人生觀。 近年，主流媒體經常批評年輕人的負面人生觀，例如：「躺平主義」、「享樂主義」、「犬儒心態」等，亦不時看到青年人輕生的新聞。我們曾在大學內處理過不少受情緒困擾及企圖自殺的個案，與學生深入交流後，發現他們面對着沉重的學業壓力、財政困難或複雜的家庭關係，內心充滿掙扎不安。 此計劃讓嶺大學生與長者導師進行深度的對談，透過了解長者走過的路、他們經歷過的挫折和教訓，給予年輕人生命的啟示。如果我們以旅遊比喻人生，長者就像環遊世界的資深背包客，即使大家遊覽不同的地點、觀賞過不同的風景，他們總能夠分享一些旅遊的心得，讓新手遊客走少一點冤枉路，或領悟到旅遊的樂趣和意義。長者亦可以藉由敍述人生片段回顧他們生命中的故事，學習接納過去，增加自我認同感。青年人創作生命教育書冊，將長者積極的人生觀傳給年輕一代，並藉此鼓勵其他長者豁達地度過餘年。 我們於2022年初招募嶺南大學學生接受「生命故事敍述」培訓，內容包括：本港的人口老化現象、敍述治療理論、與長者溝通的技巧及模擬實踐練習等，以裝備同學的知識和技巧。本中心再向屯門、元朗區的長者機構發邀請信，誠邀長者擔任生命導師接受訪問。 嶺大安排同學以兩人一組的小隊形式，於2022年6至7月期間前往長者中心、日間護理中心、嶺南大學或長者家中，與十二位長者進行深入訪談。訪談結束後，同學根據訪談的內容，為長者書寫他們獨特的生命故事。例如在人離鄉賤的異國環境下，努力打拼事業的Alfred；堅持不懈持續進修的淑芹和馮春林；即使沒機會求學，仍憑一雙巧手闖出一片天的譚惠；在文化大革命的漩渦中，憑着熱忱而改變命運的蘭英；還有為家人無私奉獻的鳳群、歐婆婆、雅芳及細女；離鄉別井勇闖異地的阿美和阿水；即使被家人賣去做「妹仔」，仍能以「阿Q精神」面對的諒餘。 為保障長者的私隱權益，本書內所有刊登之故事皆經過受訪者或社工審閱，部份受訪者選擇以化名的形式來分享自己的故事，我們亦移除了部份敏感的個人資料。https://commons.ln.edu.hk/apias_guide/1008/thumbnail.jp

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

CZTalk: Applying information visualization techniques to analyze online discussions

The widespread use of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) applications has meant that almost anyone can communicate using, and benefit from, online discussions. However, research reveals that heavily text-based interfaces provide limited support for users wishing to understand such spaces more. This indicates a need for a new tool which will address this concern. This study is an investigation of CMC usage problems and solutions. Our goal is to apply information visualization techniques to help users, particularly post-secondary instructors, to better understand structured, course-based discussions to facilitate discussion evaluation. The solution we present is CZTalk, a multi-view visualization tool. CZTalk provides a network display of discussion messages which helps instructors understand individual messages, the context in which they occur, and various quantitative and qualitative measures of student performance in discussions. The results of our user study suggest CZTalk is more usehl in evaluating course-based online discussions than traditional text-based discussion environments

Synthesis and catalytic properties of transition metal complexes with [beta]-cyclodextrin-functionalized phosphine ligands

Reaction of o-Ph2PC6H4CHO with 6-H2NCH2CH2CH2NH-β-CD produced the potentially tridentate mixed donor iminophosphine β-cyclodextrin (6-(o-Ph2PC6H4CH=NCH2CH2NH)-β-CD) (CDNNP). Reactions of CDNNP with MCI2(COD) (M = Pt, Pd) (COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) and [Pd(η3-C3H5)Cl]2 produced their platinum and palladium complexes. Reaction of mono-6-trifluoromethanesulfonyl permethylated β-cyclodextrin with (2S,4S)-(-)-(diphenylphosphino)-2-(diphenylphosphinomethyl) pyrrolidine in the presence of proton sponge in CH2Cl2 produced the mono-6-N-[4'-(diphenylphosphino)-2'-(diphenylphosphinomethyl)-pyrrolidinyl)]-6-deoxy permethylated β-cyclodextrin (PMβ-CDPPM). Mono-6-N-[4'-(diphenylphosphino)-2'-(diphenylphosphinomethyl)-pyrrolidinylmethyl-o-benzyl]-6-deoxy permethylated β-cyclodextrin (PMβ-CD-o-Ph-PPM) and mono-6-N-[4'-(diphenylphosphino)-2'-(diphenylphosphinomethyl)-pyrrolidinylmethyl-m-benzyl]-6-deoxy permethylated β-cyclodextrin (PMβ-CD-m-Ph-PPM) were also synthesized. Reactions of PtCl2(COD) and [Rh(COD)2]BF4 (COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) with PMβ-CDPPM, PMβ-CD-o-Ph-PPM and PMβ-CD-m-Ph-PPM produced their platinum and rhodium complexes. 6A,6X-bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) permethylated β-cyclodextrins (X = B, C and D) were synthesized by the reactions of 6A,6X-dihydroxy permethylated β-cyclodextrins (X = B, C and D) with trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride in the presence of 2,4,6-tri(tert-butyl)pyridine. Reaction of mono-6-trifluoromethanesulfonyl permethylated β-cyclodextrin with LiPPh2 produced monophosphine PMβ-CDP. Reactions of 6A,6X-bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) permethylated β-cyclodextrins (X= B, C and D) with LiPPh2 produced diphosphines 6A,6X-PMβ-CDP2 (X= B, C and D). Reactions of 6A,6X-PMβ-CDP2 (X= B, C and D) with [Rh(COD)2]BF4 and PtCl2(COD) (COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) produced their rhodium and platinum complexes. (S,S)-4,5-Bis(diphenylphosphino)-2-(3’-hydroxypheny1)-1,3-dioxolane (m-OH-Bz-DIOP) was synthesized by the reaction of m-hydroxybenzaldehyde with (2S,3S)-dihydroxy-1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid in dry benzene. Reaction of (S,S)-4,5-Bis(diphenylphosphino)-2-(3'-hydroxyphenyl)-1,3-dioxolane with mono-6-trifluoromethanesulfonyl permethylated β-cyclodextrin in the presence of NaH in THF gave β-cyclodextrin-functionalized DIOP ligand (PMβ-CD-m-DIOP). The analogous ligand PMβ-CD-p-DIOP could be prepared by similar procedure starting from p-hydroxybenzaldehyde. Their rhodium and platinum complexes have been synthesized. The β-cyclodextrin-functionalized phosphines have been evaluated for rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation, palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation and palladium-catalyzed allylic amination