4,858 research outputs found
An EP Introducing Chinese Music Elements: Hong Kong
No full textThis project aims at creating music based on the theme of Hong Kong. The author will use four Chinese music elements: instruments, performance techniques, emotional expressions, and flexibility of Chinese music instruments adapting to different music genres to create an EP that intends to talk about the history of Hong Kong, emotional changes, freedom, and hope. Four elements will all appear in each song. Four songs will be presented in the EP based on the four points of Hong Kong. By taking the advantages of technology in recording and social media platforms, Chinese music can be heard widely in the world. The EP will be focusing on using GuZheng to present by using audio visual materials, remixes, improvisation, and collaboration. The purpose of this EP is twofold: to break the stereotypes of Chinese music and to allow more people to know about the beauty of Chinese music.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-production-technology/1200/thumbnail.jp
Understanding the European Parliament role in the EU response to the Hong Kong protests of 2019
No full textopenThe thesis explores the debates held and declarations approved by the European Parliament (EP) in regard to the Hong Kong protests unfolded in 2019 against the “Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Bill”. The proposed amendment bill threatened the “one country, two systems” principle which governs Hong Kong and China’s relations. Adopting a constructivist approach, the thesis analyses the role of the EP in EU foreign policy and its formal and informal powers. Indeed, although the EP does not possess great formal power in EU external actions, it manages to impact EU decisions using alternative strategies. Within the EU, the Parliament is the body that gives democratic legitimacy to the Community and throughout its history was able to slowly gain more influence and powers. By using a discourse analysis on the scripts produced by the EP, it is possible to examine its point of view on the matter, as well as identify the self-perception of the Parliament in EU foreign affairs. The EP employs various technics and strategies to fulfil its role as watchdog of European values and normative power among EU institutions. In its interventions about the Hong Kong predicament the EP clearly shows its disapproval of China’s actions and urges for a strong and united European stance. Its activities are in line with the identity the EP has built within the EU and international framework
Direct conversion RF front-end with a low-power consumption technique for 2.4 GHz ISM band
No full textThe implementation and performance measurements of RF front-end are presented. The low-power RF front-end designed in TSMC 0.18 mm process for 2.4 GHz ISM band direct conversion is presented. The proposed RF front-end is comprised of the folded mixer, fully differential low-noise amplifier (LNA) and interstage matching network. Gilbert-cell mixers using the folded technique and current reused LNA are designed for low power consumption. The folded mixers are implemented by using PMOS devices in the switching stage of mixers with a resonating inductor for low flicker noise. The proposed RF front-end consumes 7.2 mW from the 1.2 V supply and a conversion gain of 23 dB is achieved. The third-order intercept point (IIP3) is -10.5 dBm, and the proposed RF front-end has good linearity. By using PMOS devices and the folded technique, low flicker noise of 10 dB at 10 kHz is achieved, and thus the proposed RF front-end can be used in the direct conversion receiver for narrow bandwidth
Recommendations on prevention and screening for breast cancer in Hong Kong
No full textIn Hong Kong, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and poses a significant health care burden. The Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening (CEWG) was set up in 2002 by the Cancer Coordinating Committee to review and assess local and international scientific evidence, and to formulate recommendations for cancer prevention and screening. After considering the local epidemiology, emerging scientific evidence, and local and overseas screening practices, the CEWG concluded that it was unclear whether population-based breast cancer screening did more harm than good in local asymptomatic women at average risk. The CEWG considers that there is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against population-based mammography screening for such individuals. Women who consider breast cancer screening should be adequately informed about the benefits and harms. The CEWG recommends that all women adopt primary preventive measures, be breast aware, and seek timely medical attention for suspicious symptoms. For women at high risk of breast cancer, such as carriers of confirmed BRCA1/2 deleterious mutations and those with a family history of breast cancer, the CEWG recommends that they seek doctor's advice for annual mammography screening and the age at which the process should commence. Additional annual screening by magnetic resonance imaging is recommended for confirmed BRCA1/2 mutation carriers or women who have undergone radiation therapy to the chest between the age of 10 and 30 years. Women at moderate risk of breast cancer should discuss with doctors the pros and cons of breast cancer screening before making an informed decision about mammography screening every 2 to 3 years.published_or_final_versio
Update on the recommendations on breast cancer screening by the cancer expert working group on cancer prevention and screening
No full textBreast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women in Hong Kong. The Food and Health
Bureau commissioned The University of Hong Kong (HKU) to conduct the Hong Kong Breast Cancer
Study (HKBCS) with the aim of identifying relevant risk factors for BC in Hong Kong and developing a
locally validated BC risk assessment tool for Hong Kong Chinese women. After consideration of
the most recent international and local scientific evidence including findings of the HKBCS, the Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening (CEWG) has reviewed and updated its BC screening recommendations. Existing recommendations were preserved for women at high risk and slightly changed for women at moderate risk. The following major updates have been made concerning recommendations for other women in the general population:
• Women aged 44 to 69 with certain combinations of personalised risk factors (including presence of history of BC among first-degree relative, a prior diagnosis of benign breast disease, nulliparity and late age of first live birth, early age of menarche, high body mass index and physical inactivity) putting them at increased risk of BC are recommended to consider mammography screening every 2 years. They should discuss with their doctors on the potential benefits and harms before undergoing mammography screening.
• A risk assessment tool for local women (eg, one developed by HKU) is recommended to be used for estimating the risk of developing BC with regard to the personalised risk factors described above.published_or_final_versio
Impact and dynamic deformation behaviour of mechanically alloyed tungsten-based composites
No full textThe tensile properties, impact energy and dynamic deformation behavior were investigated to examine the effects of microstructural factors on the mechanical properties of mechanically alloyed tungsten-based composites. The 93W-5.6Ni-1.4Fe composites were fabricated by mechanical alloying process using elemental powders of tungsten, nickel and iron, followed by sintering at temperature ranged from 1445 to 1485 degrees C under hydrogen atmosphere. Tungsten-based composite sintered using mechanically alloyed powders showed finer tungsten particles about 5-18 mu m with high density above 99% at shorter sintering time than fabricated by conventional liquid phase sintering process. When solid state sintered at 1445 degrees C, the microstructure showed that the solid solution matrix phase was isolated within interconnected tungsten particles. While, when liquid phase sintered above 1460 degrees C, the microstructure showed that the spherical tungsten particles were distributed within continuous solid solution matrix phase. The elongation and impact energy were increased, maintaining similar tensile strength, with increasing matrix volume fraction and decreasing the W/W contiguity as the sintering temperature increased. The dynamic torsional behavior using Kolsky bar exhibited the brittle fracture in solid state sintered composite, while showed the shear fracture liquid phase sintered composite
Self-timed interconnect with layered interface based on distributed and modularized control for multimedia SoCs
No full textIn this paper, a high performance asynchronous on-chip bus designed in a Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous (GALS) style is proposed. The asynchronous on-chip bus is capable of handling multiple outstanding transactions and in-order completion to achieve a high performance, which is implemented with distributed and modularized control unit in a layered interface. The architecture of asynchronous on-chip bus is discussed and implemented for simulations. Simulation results show that throughput of the proposed asynchronous on-chip bus with multiple outstanding transactions and in-order transaction completion is increased by 31.3%, while power consumption overhead is only 6.76%, as compared to an asynchronous on-chip bus with a single outstanding transaction
Characterisation of vascular prostaglandin E receptors and neuronal prostacyclin receptors.
No full textby Yueming Qian.Publication date from spine.Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 209-244).ABSTRACT --- p.iACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iiiPUBLICATIONS --- p.ivChapter CHAPTER 1 --- General Introduction --- p.1Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- Methodology --- p.53Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- Characterisation of Vascular EP-Receptors --- p.76Chapter PART 1 --- EP-receptors on the human isolated pulmonary artery --- p.77Chapter PART 2 --- EP-receptors on the guinea-pig isolated aorta --- p.100Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- Neuronal IP-Receptors in the Rat Colon --- p.130Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- Differential Effects of Non-Prostanoid Prostacyclin Mimetics on Human Pulmonary Artery and Rat Colon --- p.173Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- General Discussion and Perspective --- p.200REFERENCES --- p.20
Which environmental measures matter more to real estate firm’s financial performance? : a case in Hong Kong
No full textThis study aims to investigate the relationship between environmental performance (EP) and financial performance (FP) of real estate firms in Hong Kong, with a focus on comparing the two most adopted environmental measures, namely 1) GHG intensity and 2) environmental score from ESG rating agencies (E score). To my knowledge, it is the first study to compare GHG intensity which is a more straight-forward EP measure that reflects current EP, with the E score which is a more comprehensive EP measure that reflects both current and future EP in the literature that studies the EP-FP relation in the real estate industry. The comparison is important because a firm’s FP –either accounting-based (return on assets and cost of debt) or market-based (Tobin’s Q) – could be sensitive to the choice of EP measures.
To investigate the above relationship, regression analyses using data from 20 real estate firms that are listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange market over the period 2011-2021 are conducted. It is first found that while the return on assets of real estate firms is boosted by better EP, in other words, lower GHG intensity or higher E score, it is more sensitive to GHG intensity than the E score. When the EP measures adopted are lagged by one year, both show no significant relation with return on assets. These results suggest that the return on assets, as a measure of a firm’s profitability in the current year, is largely affected by the current EP as reflected in the current level of GHG intensity and E score.
Second, it is found that when real estate firms’ GHG intensity is lower, their cost of debt is also lower. However, the cost of debt of real estate firms shows no relation with the E score. When the EP measures are lagged by one year, lower GHG intensity would also lower the cost of debt for the next year, while a higher E score surprisingly increases the cost of debt. One potential reason for the surprising result is that a higher E score means more commitments for future EP, and therefore real estate firms are borrowing more capital (which incurs higher interest rates) the next year to support the achievement of the commitments (e.g. meeting emission targets).
Third, Tobin’s Q which equals the firm’s market capitalization divided by total assets, is largely determined by the securities parties who make investment decisions based on the firm’s past, current and future performance on various aspects including EP. It is found that Tobin’s Q of real estate firms are positively related to their E score but is not correlated with the level of GHG intensity. The same conclusion is found when the EP measures are lagged by one year.
In general, the results suggest that the accounting-based FP is more sensitive to GHG intensity while the market-based FP is more sensitive to the E score. The results lead to several implications for real estate firms in Hong Kong. Firstly, they should focus on reducing GHG intensity instead of boosting the E score to enjoy a lower cost of debt from the lenders. Moreover, lower GHG intensity being more sensitive to improving return on assets does not necessarily mean real estate firms should put more resources into the reduction of GHG intensity. They should also consider the expenses of improving the GHG intensity and compared them to that of improving the E score, to determine the most cost-effective way to enhance the return of assets. On the other hand, if the real estate firms concern about the market valuation as depicted by Tobin’s Q, they should concentrate on ESG reporting to increase the E score for potential future opportunities on financial return.published_or_final_versionBachelorBachelor of Science in Surveyin
Construction of interference vector targeting Ep-CAM gene and its effects on colorectal cancer cell proliferation
No full textYanmei Qi,1 Fengqiang Zhou,2 Lu Zhang,2 Lei Liu,2 Hong Xu,2 Huiguang Guo2 1Department of Gastroenterology, 2Department of General Surgery, Binzhou People’s Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, People’s Republic of China Background: Prior study indicates that abnormal protein expression and functional changes in the development and progression of colorectal cancer is related to gene expression. The aim of this study was to construct an interference plasmid targeting the Ep-CAM gene and to investigate its effects on the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells. Methods: In this study, HT-29 and HCT-116 colorectal cancer cell lines were selected as cell models. The double-stranded micro (mi)RNA oligo was inserted into the pcDNATM6.2-GW/EmGFPmiR vector, which is an expression of miRNA. Lipofectamine™ 2000 was used to transfer plasmid into the empty plasmid group (transfected pcDNATM6.2-GW/EmGFPmiR-neg) and the interference group (transfected pcDNATM6.2-GW/EmGFPmiR-Ep-CAM-1), respectively. Meanwhile, the nontransferred HT-29 and HCT-116 acts as the blank control group. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the transfection efficiency. Western blot was used to detect Ep-CAM protein expression. The cell proliferation in each group was detected by using 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results: The results indicated that the Ep-CAM messenger (m)RNA expression in the interference group was lower significantly compared with that of the empty plasmid group and control group (P<0.01). Western blot analysis results showed that Ep-CAM protein expression was significantly lower in interference group compared with that of the empty plasmid group and the control group (P<0.01). MTT assay results demonstrated that the proliferation ability of cells in the interference group was significantly inhibited compared with the two other groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: Silencing of Ep-CAM can significantly inhibit the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells. Keywords: epidermal growth factor, Ep-CAM, colorectal cancer, vector constructio
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