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Assisted technology for daily living
Get PDFProf Tong will introduce two major assisted technologies he recently developed to assist elderly people’s daily living and promote healthy ageing : i) the telecare system for monitoring the safety of single elderly at home; and ii) Kinect system for elderly to carry out home-based exercise
Mechanisms underlying the effect of acupuncture on cognitive improvement: a systematic review of animal studies
No full textAcupuncture has been reported to be beneficial in treating cognitive impairment in various pathological conditions. This review describes the effort to understand the signaling pathways that underlie the acupunctural therapeutic effect on cognitive function. We searched the literature in 12 electronic databases from their inception to November 2013, with full text available and language limited to English. Twenty-three studies were identified under the selection criteria. All recruited animal studies demonstrate a significant positive effect of acupuncture on cognitive impairment. Findings suggest acupuncture may improve cognitive function through modulation of signaling pathways involved in neuronal survival and function, specifically, through promoting cholinergic neural transmission, facilitating dopaminergic synaptic transmission, enhancing neurotrophin signaling, suppressing oxidative stress, attenuating apoptosis, regulating glycometabolic enzymes and reducing microglial activation. However, the quality of reviewed studies has room for improvement. Further high-quality animal studies with randomization, blinding and estimation of sample size are needed to strengthen the recognition of group differences
Facile synthesis of TiO2 hollow spheres composed of high percentage of reactive facets for enhanced photocatalytic activity
No full textIn this study, facile synthesis of hollow TiO2 spheres composed of a high percentage of reactive facets (~85%) is successfully prepared with TiOSO4 and HBF4 by the hydrothermal method. Results reveal that hollow TiO2 spheres of 605 nm to 1.21 μm in size are in the anatase phase with sulfur doping. The variation in shell morphologies (e.g. polyhedron and nanosheet) can be realized by adjusting the reactant concentrations, while the molar ratio of TiOSO4 to HBF4 is maintained at 5:3. Based on the time-dependent morphology evolution study, the growth mechanism of hollow structure formation via self-templating and dissolution–recrystallization processes is discussed. The effects of reactant concentrations on TiO2 morphology are investigated to understand the dual roles of HBF4. Results also indicate that hollow TiO2 spheres with nanosheet morphology having 85% (001) facets exhibit 1.4–5 times higher performance than their counterparts in photocatalytic hydrogen production. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is ascribed to the combined effects of their unique hollow structure, high BET specific surface area (139.1 m2 g−1) and high percentage of exposed reactive facets (85%). This study demonstrates a promising strategy for large-scale production of hollow TiO2 spheres using a template- and surfactant-free process for photocatalysis applications
Vertically transmitted nasopharyngeal infection of the human papillomavirus: does it play an aetiological role in nasopharyngeal cancer?
No full textObjectives: Despite identification of important risk factors, aetiology of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) remained enigmatic. Oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a cause of cervical and genital tract epithelial cancers, has recently been isolated from NPC tumour tissues, raising the question of whether HPV may play a role in NPC. Accumulating evidence showed that perinatal HPV transmission to newborns can occur through exposures to genital tract secretions, amniotic fluid, or blood during vaginal delivery in mothers with cervical HPV infection, with viral DNA fingerprint showing maternal–foetal concordance. Persistence of perinatally acquired oncogenic HPV infection presents clear biological plausibility as an aetiological agent. Co-infection of HPV and EBV may also co-operatively impact on neoplastic transformation. Our findings also suggest that regional disease burdens of oncogenic HPV strains have strong type-specific associations with regional risk of NPC. If true, this hypothesis presents immense potentials for preventive interventions through community control of HPV infection and newborn vaccination
Knowledge sharing and social media: Altruism, perceived online attachment motivation, and perceived online relationship commitment
Get PDFSocial media, such as Facebook and Twitter, have become extremely popular. Facebook, for example, has more than a billion registered users and thousands of millions of units of information are shared every day, including short phrases, articles, photos, and audio and video clips. However, only a tiny proportion of these sharing units trigger any type of knowledge exchange that is ultimately beneficial to the users. This study draws on the theory of belonging and the intrinsic motivation of altruism to explore the factors contributing to knowledge sharing behavior. Using a survey of 299 high school students applying for university after the release of the public examination results, we find that perceived online attachment motivation (β = 0.31, p \u3c 0.001) and perceived online relationship commitment (β = 0.49, p \u3c 0.001) have positive, direct, and significant effects on online knowledge sharing (R2 0.568). Moreover, when introduced into the model, altruism has a direct and significant effect on online knowledge sharing (β = 0.46, p \u3c 0.001) and the total variance explained by the extended model increases to 64.9%. The implications of the findings are discussed
再生水无计划间接补充饮用水的雌激素健康风险 Health risk induced by estrogens during unplanned indirect potable reuse of reclaimed water from domestic wastewater
No full text以城市污水为水源的再生水中含有一定量的雌激素类内分泌干扰物，其在无计划间接补充饮用水过程中存在潜在健康风险。针对再生水经河流补给湖库型水源地的典型场景，研究了再生水中雌酮、雌二醇、17α-乙炔基雌二醇、双酚A、壬基酚和辛基酚在水体中的变化规律，评价了雌激素的健康风险。结果表明，再生水(二级出水)中雌激素类物质的质量浓度多分布在0.1~100 ng·L-1水平；双酚A和壬基酚的浓度较高，可达到1~10μg·L-1水平。再生水间接补充饮用水过程中，雌激素的浓度受到上游来水稀释、河道湖库自然降解和饮用水处理工艺去除等作用的影响。雌酮、雌二醇、双酚A、壬基酚和辛基酚的非致癌风险较小，都低于规定值1。当湖库型水源地的水力停留时间大于30 d时，再生水中17α-乙炔基雌二醇对人体的非致癌风险值大多小于1；当停留时间小于10 d且再生水占饮用水比例达50%以上时，16%~47%样品的17α-乙炔基雌二醇的非致癌风险值大于1，其健康风险需优先关注。
The estrogenic endocrine disruptors in reclaimed water from domestic wastewater may induce health risks to human being, when reclaimed water is used for augmentation of drinking water unplannedly and indirectly. This study investigated changes in concentrations of estrone, estradiol, 17alpha-ethinyl estradiol, bisphenol A, nonylphenol and octylphenol in reclaimed water during the reuse of reclaimed water for augmentation to water source such as lakes and reservoir via river. Thereafter, health risk induced by estrogens during the resue of reclaimed water was evaluated. The concentration of estrogen in secondary effluent ranged 0.1-100 ng x L(-1). The highest concentrations of bisphenol A and nonylphenol reached up to 1-10 microg x L(-1). During the indirect reuse of reclaimed water as potable water, the dilution and degradation in river and lake, and the removal by drinking water treatment process could change the concentrations of estrogen. The non-carcinogenic risks of estrone, estradiol, bisphenol A, nonylphenol and octylphenol were lower than 1. When the hydraulic retention time of 17alpha-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) in lakes and reservoir was higher than 30 days, the non-carcinogenic risk of EE2 was lower than 1 in most cases. When the hydraulic retention time of EE2 in lakes and reservoir was less than 30 days and the percentages of reclaimed water in drinking water were higher than 50%, the non-carcinogenic risk induced by EE2 was higher than 1 in 20%-50% samples. This indicated that the risks of EE2 should be concerned
