Vocational Training Council
VTC Institutional Repository (Vocational Training Council)Not a member yet
3146 research outputs found
Sort by
Frameworks for nurturing and assessing students’ statistical thinking in regression modeling
No full text
Walk out of the shadows, live life to the fullest: views on independent living for Hong Kong’s senior citizens
No full text
Economic growth and employment in Vietnam
No full textVietnam has enjoyed significant economic success since the implementation of its doi moi reforms, including rapid growth in GDP, exports and foreign and domestic investment, and a shedding of poorly-performing state-owned enterprises. Despite this, however, the economic situation for many ordinary people in Vietnam is fragile, with income only just above the poverty line, and high unemployment, especially among the young. In addition, inflation is high, and the state-owned sector is still large, much of it still performing badly. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the current economic situation in Vietnam. It outlines the state of the economy, paying special attention to employment, discusses government policies including on trade and integration with the global economy, and concludes by assessing the key challenges facing Vietnam’s economy going forward
叩問寫作的時代意義: 論董啟章《天工開物．栩栩如真》和《時間繁史．啞瓷之光》對 作家身分 的自省 Inquisition into the epoch-making significance of writing: on Dong Qizhang\u27s introspection of his identity of writer in Tiangongkaiwu, xuxuruzhen and Shijianfanshi, yacizhiguang
No full textEczema phenotypes are associated with multiple vitamin D pathway genes in Chinese children
No full textBackground: Vitamin D is increasingly recognized to play crucial roles in cutaneous immunity, and vitamin D treatment improved eczema control in small clinical trials. Several vitamin D-related genes were associated with asthma, but there are no data for eczema.
Methods: Twenty-three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of five vitamin D-related genes (CYP27A1, CYP2R1, CYP27B1, GC and VDR) were genotyped in 1442 Chinese children with eczema and 1231 non-allergic controls. SNPs that followed Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and yielded ≥95% genotyping call-rate were included. Haplotypic associations and SNP–SNP interactions for eczema diagnosis and subphenotypes were analysed.
Results: Atopic eczema was associated with rs4674343 of CYP27A1 (odds ratio 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.53–0.83, P = 0.0004). Increased eosinophil percentage was associated with CYP2R1 rs2060793A (P = 0.001) and rs1933064A (P = 0.001). Two CYP2R1 haplotypes increased eczema risk whereas one VDR haplotype lowered eczema risk. GC rs7041 and CYP2R1 rs7935792 interacted to modulate total IgE (cross-validation consistency 10/10, P = 0.047). Specifically, high-risk eczema patients had higher log-transformed total IgE than low-risk patients (2.76 ± 0.76 vs 2.60 ± 0.80, P = 0.002).
Conclusion: A vitamin D-related SNP rs4674343 on CYP27A1 was found to be protective against atopic eczema. CYP2R1 and VDR haplotypes altered eczema susceptibility and eosinophil percentage, and GC and CYP2R1 interacted to determine total IgE among eczema patients
A review of the pharmacological effects of piceatannol on cardiovascular diseases
No full textThe incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is high in both developed and developing countries. It has a high global rate of mortality and causes heavy social burden. Drugs are available for managing or treating CVDs and its complications. Consumption of dietary supplements or functional foods for reducing the risk of CVDs has also gained wide recognition by the general public. Piceatannol, an analog and metabolite of resveratrol, is a natural stilbene commonly found in the skin of grapes and wine. Piceatannol is believed to be a potent compound with certain cardiovascular therapeutic effects, such as the prevention of hypercholesterolemia, arrhythmia, atherosclerosis, and angiogenesis. It also has vasorelaxation and antioxidant activities. A comprehensive review of piceatannol concludes that piceatannol has the potential to be developed into health products for the cardiovascular system to help modern society reduce the high CVD incidence. However, further investigations are warranted in order to increase the bioavailability and understand the biological mechanisms and safety of using piceatannol