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Background The aim of this study is to address the paucity of epidemiological data regarding the characteristics, treatment patterns and survival outcomes of Chinese glioblastoma patients. Methods This was a population-level study of Hong Kong adult (>18 years) Chinese patients with newly diagnosed histologically confirmed glioblastoma between 2006 and 2019. The age standardized incidence rate (ASIR), patient-, tumor- treatment-related characteristics, overall survival (OS) as well as its predictors were determined. Results One thousand and ten patients with a median follow-up of 10.0 months were reviewed. The ASIR of glioblastoma was 1.0 per 100 000 population with no significant change during the study period. The mean age was 57 + 14 years. The median OS was 10.6 months (IQR: 5.2–18.4). Independent predictors for survival were: Karnofsky performance score >80 (adjusted OR: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.6–0.9), IDH-1 mutant (aOR: 0.7; 95% CI: 0.5–0.9) or MGMT methylated (aOR: 0.7; 95% CI: 0.5–0.8) glioblastomas, gross total resection (aOR: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.5–0.8) and temozolomide chemoradiotherapy (aOR 0.4; 95% CI: 0.3–0.6). Despite the significant increased administration of temozolomide chemoradiotherapy from 39% (127/326) of patients in 2006–2010 to 63% (227/356) in 2015–2019 (P-value < .001), median OS did not improve (2006–2010: 10.3 months vs 2015–2019: 11.8 months) (OR: 1.1; 95% CI: 0.9–1.3). Conclusions The incidence of glioblastoma in the Chinese general population is low. We charted the development of neuro-oncological care of glioblastoma patients in Hong Kong during the temozolomide era. Although there was an increased adoption of temozolomide chemoradiotherapy, a corresponding improvement in survival was not observed.

Background Young people are most vulnerable to suicidal behaviours but least likely to seek help. A more elaborate study of the intrinsic and extrinsic correlates of suicidal ideation and behaviours particularly amid ongoing population-level stressors and the identification of less stigmatising markers in representative youth populations is essential. Methods Participants (n = 2540, aged 15–25) were consecutively recruited from an ongoing large-scale household-based epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong between September 2019 and 2021. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt were assessed, alongside suicide-related rumination, hopelessness and neuroticism, personal and population-level stressors, family functioning, cognitive ability, lifetime non-suicidal self-harm, 12-month major depressive disorder (MDD), and alcohol use. Results The 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, ideation-only (no plan or attempt), plan, and attempt was 20.0, 15.4, 4.6, and 1.3%, respectively. Importantly, multivariable logistic regression findings revealed that suicide-related rumination was the only factor associated with all four suicidal outcomes (all p < 0.01). Among those with suicidal ideation (two-stage approach), intrinsic factors, including suicide-related rumination, poorer cognitive ability, and 12-month MDE, were specifically associated with suicide plan, while extrinsic factors, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stressors, poorer family functioning, and personal life stressors, as well as non-suicidal self-harm, were specifically associated with suicide attempt. Conclusions Suicide-related rumination, population-level COVID-19 stressors, and poorer family functioning may be important less-stigmatising markers for youth suicidal risks. The respective roles played by not only intrinsic but also extrinsic factors in suicide plan and attempt using a two-stage approach should be considered in future preventative intervention work.

Aims Brief measurements of the subjective experience of stress with good predictive capability are important in a range of community mental health and research settings. The potential for large-scale implementation of such a measure for screening may facilitate early risk detection and intervention opportunities. Few such measures however have been developed and validated in epidemiological and longitudinal community samples. We designed a new single-item measure of the subjective level of stress (SLS-1) and tested its validity and ability to predict long-term mental health outcomes of up to 12 months through two separate studies. Methods We first examined the content and face validity of the SLS-1 with a panel consisting of mental health experts and laypersons. Two studies were conducted to examine its validity and predictive utility. In study 1, we tested the convergent and divergent validity as well as incremental validity of the SLS-1 in a large epidemiological sample of young people in Hong Kong (n = 1445). In study 2, in a consecutively recruited longitudinal community sample of young people (n = 258), we first performed the same procedures as in study 1 to ensure replicability of the findings. We then examined in this longitudinal sample the utility of the SLS-1 in predicting long-term depressive, anxiety and stress outcomes assessed at 3 months and 6 months (n = 182) and at 12 months (n = 84). Results The SLS-1 demonstrated good content and face validity. Findings from the two studies showed that SLS-1 was moderately to strongly correlated with a range of mental health outcomes, including depressive, anxiety, stress and distress symptoms. We also demonstrated its ability to explain the variance explained in symptoms beyond other known personal and psychological factors. Using the longitudinal sample in study 2, we further showed the significant predictive capability of the SLS-1 for long-term symptom outcomes for up to 12 months even when accounting for demographic characteristics. Conclusions The findings altogether support the validity and predictive utility of the SLS-1 as a brief measure of stress with strong indications of both concurrent and long-term mental health outcomes. Given the value of brief measures of mental health risks at a population level, the SLS-1 may have potential for use as an early screening tool to inform early preventative intervention work.

Background Intracoronary imaging during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) allows better delineation of lesion characteristics and more accurate vessel sizing compared with angiogram alone. However, the benefit and safety of its use in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is uncertain. Purpose To determine whether the use of intracoronary imaging with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) or optical coherence tomography (OCT)/ optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) in PPCI is associated with better outcome. Method From Jan 2014 to Dec 2018, all patients with PPCI performed in our hospital were retrospectively studied. Baseline and procedural characteristics of angiographic-guided versus imaging-guided PCI were analyzed. Primary endpoint was target vessel failure, and procedural outcomes were contrast volume, number of stents implanted, mean stent length and diameter and use of post-dilatation. Safety outcomes were post-operative acute kidney injury (AKI), need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) and occurrence of no/slow reflow. Results A total of 408 patients were included, of which 223 (54.7%) used IVUS (n=176 80.3%) or OCT/OFDI (n=44 19.7%) during the procedure. Baseline and procedural characteristics were similar between both groups except more patients had history of PCI (12.6% vs 4.3% p=0.004) and left-main/ bifurcation lesions (12.6% vs 2.7% p Conclusion Use of intra-vascular imaging during PPCI was associated with less target vessel failure, longer and more stents implanted and more frequent use of post-dilatation. Further prospective randomized controlled trial is suggested to confirm this benefit. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Esophageal cancer is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide with poor survival and limited therapeutic options. The discovery of microRNAs created a new milestone in cancer research. miR-377 is located in chromosome region 14q32, which is frequently deleted in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but the biological functions, clinical significance and therapeutic implication of miR-377 in ESCC are largely unknown. In this study, we found that miR-377 expression was significantly downregulated in tumor tissue and serum of patients with ESCC. Both tumor tissue and serum miR-377 expression levels were positively correlated with patient survival. Higher serum miR-377 expression was inversely associated with pathologic tumor stage, distant metastasis, residual tumor status and chemoradiotherapy resistance. The roles of miR-377 in suppressing tumor initiation and progression, and the underlying molecular mechanisms were investigated. Results of in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that miR-377 overexpression inhibited the initiation, growth and angiogenesis of ESCC tumors as well as metastatic colonization of ESCC cells, whereas silencing of miR-377 had opposite effects. Mechanistically, miR-377 regulated CD133 and VEGF by directly binding to their 3′ untranslated region. Moreover, systemic delivery of formulated miR-377 mimic not only suppressed tumor growth in nude mice but also blocked tumor angiogenesis and metastasis of ESCC cells to the lungs without overt toxicity to mice. Collectively, our study established that miR-377 plays a functional and significant role in suppressing tumor initiation and progression, and may represent a promising non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarker and therapeutic strategy for patients with ESCC.

On Behalf Cardiac Team, Department of Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Background Management of significant pericardial effusion in cancer patients is controversial. These patients have poor prognosis, and avoiding unnecessary intervention is important. Close monitoring of symptoms and echocardiogram is often a reasonable option, but inherits risk of cardiac tamponade. Whether pericardial drainage by means of percutaneous pericardiocentesis or surgical pericardiotomy could prevent future deterioration or affect survival is unknown. Purpose To evaluate the benefit of elective pericardial drainage in malignancy associated pericardial effusion without echocardiographic or clinical evidence of tamponade effect. Methods From 1st Jul 2014 to 31st Dec 2017, all patients with new onset malignancy-associated pericardial effusion with size more than 1cm were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with clinical or echocardiographic evidence of cardiac tamponade were excluded. We compared pericardial drainage versus monitoring for short-term (30-day), mid-term (90-day) and long term (1 year) survival without need for drainage. Results 101 patients were retrospectively analyzed. 40 (39.6%) patients underwent drainage. Overall median survival free from drainage was 4 months. There were no significant difference in short-term (30-day), mid-term (90-day) and long term (1-year) survival free from drainage or mortality between treatment and monitoring group. Size of pericardial effusion did not predict mortality or future need of drainage. Chemotherapy was associated with improved 30-day mortality (RR 0.53 CI 0.32-0.87 p = 0.025) but not survival free from drainage or longer term mortality. Conclusion Close monitoring could be a feasible strategy in cancer patients with significant pericardial effusion without tamponade effect. Baseline characteristics Factor Drainage (n = 40) monitoring (n = 61) p-value method of drainage pericardiocentesis alone 17 NA pericardiotomy alone 13 both 10 Male 19 (47.5%) 27 (44.3%) 0.749 mean size (cm) 1.93 2.77 Abstract 224 Figure. Survival free from drainage

Post-transplantation primary central nervous system lymphoma is an uncommon and fatal post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder. Such lymphomas have been described in only a few case series in the literature. The incidence of this condition is rising with improved survival after organ transplantation. A case of post-transplantation primary central nervous system lymphoma in a young Chinese woman with systemic lupus erythematosus is described here. She presented with right-sided weakness and memory loss after tooth extraction 2 weeks before admission. Contrast computed tomography of the brain demonstrated a contrast rim-enhancing lesion over the left frontal lobe. With a history of recent dental procedure, long-term immunosuppressive therapy and computed tomography findings, cerebral abscess was highly suspected. Emergency operation was performed. Histopathology showed post-transplantation primary central nervous system lymphoma, with cells positive for B-cell marker CD20. Immunosuppressant was stopped and she was treated with radiotherapy and rituximab (anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody). She remained disease-free at 16 months. Post-transplantation primary central nervous system lymphoma is rare with variable presentation and radiological features. We believe rituximab may have a role in the treatment of such lymphomas.

As the nano-motor becomes a mechanical reality, its prototype can be envisaged as nano-sized rotating machinery at a situation, albeit for different purposes, like that in the first half of the 20th century during which rotor dynamics has contributed to boosting machine power capacity. Accordingly, we take the benefit of hindsight to develop a classical framework of vibration analysis. Essentially, the equations of motion are formulated to cope with both the special carbon-nanotube properties and the first author's previously developed spinning beam formalism, establishing a model satisfactorily verified by some available molecular dynamics (MD) data and classical spinning beam results extracted from the literature. The model is inexpensive based on continuum mechanics as an alternative to the less-flexible MD method for simulating wave motion of the spinning single-walled carbon nanotube, yielding several interesting phenomena, including the fall-off and splitting of the wave characteristic curves and the unexpected gyroscopic phase property. Potential applications are proposed.

A speckle shearing interferometer with a simple setup is designed and tested for full-field characterization of the elastic properties of isotropic and orthotropic composite plates. The technique is straightforward and provides comparable results obtained by standard methods. The proposed method has the advantages of being noncontact and full field in nature. Beam specimens cut from the plate were loaded under the standard four-point bending configuration. Gradients of bending deformation are measured by the speckle shearing interferometer directly. Curvature of each bended beam is calculated from the slope of the fitted line of the gradient data. The elastic moduli and Poisson's ratios of the plate material are determined from the curvature of the beam specimens. Comparing the present approach to other full-field techniques reported in literature that are mostly based on deformation measurement of a specimen subjected to a complicated load field, the present method is much easier to apply, and the image analysis procedure is much simpler.

A wave mechanics approach is used to solve the Timoshenko beam equation, revealing that two waves exist. One is called the s a –wave and the other the s b –wave. These two waves are found to be the basic constituent components of the mode shapes of the beam. An experiment was carried out and the measured mode shapes of a free–free beam are shown to consist of one s a –wave and one s b –wave in superposition for each of the modes. The measured s a –wave and s b –wave exhibit the Rayleigh–Lamb first (with anomalous dispersion) and Rayleigh–Lamb second (with normal dispersion) flexural modes, respectively. The issue of the second spectrum is addressed and it is shown that, within the measurable frequency range, Rayleigh–Lamb second flexural modes are present in the free–free beam. The s b –wave is identified as the second–spectrum mode. The role of shear deformation is also investigated in explaining the basic difference in the behaviour of the s a – and s b –waves. This paper also contributes to a physical interpretation of the hyperbolic functions in the classical solution of beam vibration problems.

Primary, high density bovine articular chondrocyte (BAC) cultures, stimulated with transforming growth factor-beta-1, elaborated a high molecular weight anionic glycoconjugate, kDa 540, which does not contain glycosaminoglycan chains (Chan and Anastassiades, 1996). The effect of exogenously added transforming growth factor-beta-1 on the elaboration of the high molecular weight glycoconjugate and of proteoglycans was studied during dedifferentiation of the chondrocytes, utilizing a serial subculture technique under anchorage-dependent conditions, up to four subcultures. The high molecular weight glycoconjugate was detected in the media of all growth-factor-stimulated chondrocyte subcultures, as well as stimulated primary cultures, but not in unstimulated primary cultures or subcultures. By contrast, a large proteoglycan, was only secreted by primary cultures and first subcultures, whether treated with transforming growth factor-beta-1 or untreated. This proteoglycan contained mostly chondroitin sulfate chains, whose hydrodynamic size was increased by the addition of transforming growth factor-beta-1. Further, the pattern of the proteoglycans appearing in the media of subcultures 2-4 was influenced by the addition of transforming growth factor-beta-1, so that while these control subcultures elaborated both the large and small chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, the equivalent stimulated subcultures elaborated only intermediate sized chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan(s). These results suggest that while dedifferentiation of articular chondrocytes, achieved by subculturing, strongly modulates the effect of exogenously added transforming growth factor-beta-1 on the type of proteoglycan elaborated, the process of dedifferentiation does not influence the transforming-growth-factor-beta-dependent synthesis of the high molecular weight anionic glycoconjugate.

The influence of polystyrene beads (80 μm) and nylon fibres on the water permeability of bleached kraft wood pulp fibre pads was measured and the results were regressed to the Kozeny-Carman equation. SEM micrographs of pad cross sections showed that the beads, which were uniformly distributed, had little effect on pad structure whereas the long rigid nylon fibres made the pads more difficult to compress. The pad specific surface areas and swollen volumes were linear functions of the content of beads or nylon fibres. This suggests that the fibre pad permeability characteristics could be adequately modeled from the linear superposition of geometric properties of the pad constituents. L'influence des billes de polystyrene (80 μm) et des fibres de nylon sur la permeabilite a l'eau de tampons de fibre de pǎte a papier Kraft blanchie a ete mesuree, et les resultats sont traites avec l'equation de Kozeny-Carman. Des micrographies SEM (microscopie electronique a balayage) de sections transversales des tampons montrent que les billes, qui sont uniformement distribuees, ont peu d'effet sur la structure des tampons, alors que les fibres de nylon rigides longues rendent les tampons plus difficiles a comprimer. La surface specifique des tampons et les volumes gonfles sont des fonctions lineaires de la teneur en billes ou en fibres de nylon. Ceci suggere que les caracteristiques de permeabilite des tampons de fibres pourrait ětre adequatement modelisees par la superposition lineaire des proprietes geometriques des constituants des tampons.

The Overall Thermal Transfer Values (OTTVs) of building envelopes in Hong Kong have been considered. Parametric studies on a centrally air-conditioned building were performed. The DOE-2 program, developed at the US Department of Energy, has been used as the energy behaviour simulation tool. The year 1980 is taken as the reference weather year for Hong Kong. The window-to-wall ratio as well as the orientation of the windows for the example building were varied. Two values of OTTV, one for summer and the other for winter, have been established for accounting for seasonal changes in Hong Kong. The summer OTTV, calculated from the heat gain in the hot season, is recommended as the more important value for evaluating the thermal performance of building envelopes in Hong Kong.

1. A recombinant adenovirus encoding SARS coronavirus(SARS-CoV) nucleocapsid protein (rAd-N) was constructed. 2. The ability of the rAd-N to induce anti-SARS-CoV N antibody production and cellular immune responses was evaluated in an HLA-A2.1/Kb transgenic mouse model.

1. A novel HLA-A2.1-specific SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) nucleocapsid (N) protein epitope (N220-N228 LALLLLDRL) able to activate cytotoxic T cells in vitro has been identified. 2. When used with a single-chain-trimer system, the SARS-CoV N protein epitope (N220-N228 LALLLLDRL) can stimulate a cytotoxic T-cell response against N-protein expressing cells in the HLA-A2.1K(b) transgenic mouse model.

For organometallic vapor phase epitaxial (OMVPE) grown InP, the change in lattice constant is measured as a function of tellurium (Te) dopant concentration. We observe ~0.15% dilation in the InP lattice constant at a Te concentration of ~1020 cm-3. Our measurements are compared to predictions from Vegard’s Law.

We have successfully grown bulk In0.53Ga0.47As on InP using tertiarybutylarsine (TBA), trimethylindium and trimethylgallium. The growth temperature was 602° and the V/III ratio ranged from 19 to 38. Net carrier concentrations were 2 – 4 × 1015 cm-3, n-type, with a peak 77 K mobility of 68,000 cm2/V. sec. Increasing compensation was observed in In0.53Ga0.47As grown at higher V/III ratios. PL spectra taken at 5 K revealed strong near bandgap emission at 0.81 eV—with the best sample having a FWHM of 2.5 meV. At lower energies, donor-acceptor pair transitions were evident. Strong and sharp 5 K PL emission was observed from InP/In0.53Ga0.47As/InP quantum wells grown with TBA.

Treatment of long, diffuse in-stent restenosis remains a therapeutic challenge. We report the successful use of multiple sirolimus-eluting stents (three 33-mm long stents) in a long, diffuse in-stent restenotic lesion. No major adverse cardiovascular events, including acute/subacute/delayed stent thrombosis, were noted at ten months. Angiography at six months showed widely patent stents with 19% restenosis only at the worst segment.

Anchorage-dependent cultures of a population of cells derived from the outer part of the rat calvaria demonstrated decreased net accumulation of radiolabeled chondroitin sulfate (CS) and hyaluronic acid (HA) per cell as the cell density of the cultures increased. The addition of TGF-beta 1 resulted in large stimulations of the net CS, but not of the net HA, accumulating in the medium at all cell densities and an abolition of the density-dependent effect. These effects were largely due to increases in newly synthesized CS appearing in the medium. Supplementation of the culture media with CS had complex but relatively small effects on the stimulation of the net accumulation of radiolabeled medium CS by TGF-beta 1. The addition of TGF-beta 1 also resulted in a biphasic effect on cell growth that depended on the plating density, but cell growth differences could not account for the marked stimulation of CS synthesis by TGF-beta 1. Experiments with cycloheximide and beta-xyloside and isolation of the intact anionic glycoconjugates (AG) indicated that although synthesis of core protein was the limiting factor in CS synthesis, TGF-beta 1 stimulated the synthesis of CS chain when sufficient beta-xyloside acceptor was available. The overall results suggest that, in this cell system, the action of TGF-beta 1 on the synthesis of the major extracellular AGs is characterized by a relatively specific upregulation of CS proteoglycan (PG) synthesis and an uncoupling of the inhibitory effect of high cell density on CS PG synthesis.