| the contribution of social behaviour to the transmission of influenza a in a human population. | variability in the risk of transmission for respiratory pathogens can result from several factors, including the intrinsic properties of the pathogen, the immune state of the host and the host's behaviour. it has been proposed that self-reported social mixing patterns can explain the behavioural component of this variability, with simulated intervention studies based on these data used routinely to inform public health policy. however, in the absence of robust studies with biological endpoints f ... | 2014 | 24968312 |
| serologic assays for the detection and strain identification of pteropine orthoreovirus. | pteropine orthoreovirus (prv), potentially of bat origin, is reported to be a causative agent of emerging respiratory tract infections among humans in southeast asia. we evaluated the efficacy of serologic assays using the major outer capsid and cell attachment proteins (cap) of prv strains in the screening, confirmation and identification of three groups of human prv infections; indonesian/japanese, indonesian/hong kong and malaysian strains. the different serologic assays were tested using rab ... | 2016 | 27165561 |
| 2015 epidemic of severe streptococcus agalactiae sequence type 283 infections in singapore associated with the consumption of raw freshwater fish: a detailed analysis of clinical, epidemiological, and bacterial sequencing data. | streptococcus agalactiae (group b streptococcus [gbs]) has not been described as a foodborne pathogen. however, in 2015, a large outbreak of severe invasive sequence type (st) 283 gbs infections in adults epidemiologically linked to the consumption of raw freshwater fish occurred in singapore. we attempted to determine the scale of the outbreak, define the clinical spectrum of disease, and link the outbreak to contaminated fish. | 2017 | 28475781 |
| development of a quechers-based method for determination of carcinogenic 2-nitrofluorene and 1-nitropyrene in rice grains and vegetables: a comparative study with benzo[a]pyrene. | nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-pahs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants attracting increasing attention because of their potent mutagenicity to humans. previous studies of nitro-pahs focused on investigating their formation mechanisms and detecting them in atmospheric environment; however, few studies have reported their occurrence in food samples, and regulations on nitro-pahs are still lacking. we report in this study the development and application of a quick, easy, che ... | 0 | 28215082 |
| dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic of the hong kong population: results of the first hong kong total diet study. | inorganic arsenic, a human carcinogen, can be found in the environment and food. in the first hong kong total diet study, the dietary exposure of the hong kong people, including various age-gender subgroups, to inorganic arsenic was estimated for assessing the associated health risk. food samples, which represented the hong kong people's diet, were collected and prepared "as consumed" for analysis. concentrations of inorganic arsenic, as sum of arsenite (as(iii)) and arsenate (as(v)) were determ ... | 0 | 23104246 |
| high diversity of picornaviruses in rats from different continents revealed by deep sequencing. | outbreaks of zoonotic diseases in humans and livestock are not uncommon, and an important component in containment of such emerging viral diseases is rapid and reliable diagnostics. such methods are often pcr-based and hence require the availability of sequence data from the pathogen. rattus norvegicus (r. norvegicus) is a known reservoir for important zoonotic pathogens. transmission may be direct via contact with the animal, for example, through exposure to its faecal matter, or indirectly med ... | 2016 | 27530749 |
| glucuronide and sulfate conjugates of bisphenol a: chemical synthesis and correlation between their urinary levels and plasma bisphenol a content in voluntary human donors. | bisphenol a (bpa) glucuronide and sulfate conjugates are major products of phase ii metabolism of bpa in humans. in the past, their determination in body fluids usually involves tedious enzymatic hydrolysis and multiresidual analysis. the recent availability of authentic standards of these conjugates enables our better understand of the human metabolism of bpa and the distribution of their metabolites in body fluids. in this work, we report the chemical synthesis and purification of bpa mono- an ... | 2017 | 28770280 |
| high prevalence of four novel astrovirus genotype species identified from rodents in china. | astroviruses cause gastrointestinal and neurological infections in humans and animals. since astrovirus is genetically diverse and different astrovirus genotypes can be found in the same animal species, astrovirus is a potential zoonotic threat to humans. in this study, we screened for astroviruses in rodents from hong kong, hunan and guangxi. astrovirus was detected in 11.9 % (67/562) of rectal swab specimens. phylogenetic analysis of the orf1b region, which encodes the rdrp, showed that there ... | 2017 | 28537544 |
| the association of air pollution with pubertal development: evidence from hong kong's "children of 1997" birth cohort. | many pollutants are endocrine disruptors with impacts on reproduction and health in animals, but evidence in humans, of which sex-specific effects on pubertal development may be an indicator, is less clear. we examined the association of air pollution in utero and during early life with pubertal development in hong kong, china, an area with a high level of air pollution compared with other similarly developed cities. we assessed sex-specific associations of particulate matter less than or equal ... | 2017 | 28444106 |
| comparison of green pit viper and agkistrodon halys antivenom in inhibition of coagulopathy due to trimeresurus albolabris venom: an in-vitro study using human plasma. | there are two antivenoms that may be administered in hong kong following a bite by trimeresurus albolabris: the green pit viper antivenom from the thai red cross society in thailand and the agkistrodon halys antivenom from the shanghai institute of biological products in china. both are recommended by the central coordinating committee of accident and emergency services of the hospital authority for treating patients with a bite by trimeresurus albolabris. the choice of which antivenom to use is ... | 2017 | 27909267 |
| skin fungal community and its correlation with bacterial community of urban chinese individuals. | high-throughput sequencing has led to increased insights into the human skin microbiome. currently, the majority of skin microbiome investigations are limited to characterizing prokaryotic communities, and our understanding of the skin fungal community (mycobiome) is limited, more so for cohorts outside of the western hemisphere. here, the skin mycobiome across healthy chinese individuals in hong kong are characterized. | 2016 | 27558504 |
| source apportionment and health effect of nox over the pearl river delta region in southern china. | as one of the most notorious atmospheric pollutants, nox not only promotes the formation of ozone but also has adverse health effects on humans. it is therefore of great importance to study the sources of nox and its effects on human health. the comprehensive air quality model (camx) modeling system and ozone source apportionment technology (osat) were used to study the contribution of nox from different emission sources over southern china. the results indicate that heavy duty diesel vehicles ( ... | 2016 | 26845361 |
| strategic measures for the control of surging antimicrobial resistance in hong kong and mainland of china. | antimicrobial-resistant bacteria are either highly prevalent or increasing rapidly in hong kong and china. treatment options for these bacteria are generally limited, less effective and more expensive. the emergence and dynamics of antimicrobial resistance genes in bacteria circulating between animals, the environment and humans are not entirely known. nonetheless, selective pressure by antibiotics on the microbiomes of animal and human, and their associated environments (especially farms and he ... | 2015 | 26038766 |
| indoor air bacterial communities in hong kong households assemble independently of occupant skin microbiomes. | more than in any other habitat, humans exert a large influence on microbial communities indoors. frequent contact between occupant skin and indoor surfaces causes indoor surface microbial communities to be largely assembled from and thus closely resemble occupant skin microbiomes. while indoor air and dust are known to also contain many human-associated taxa, household air communities have not yet been directly compared with occupant skin microbiomes. we sampled microorganisms from air, surfaces ... | 2016 | 25923292 |
| urinary bromophenol glucuronide and sulfate conjugates: potential human exposure molecular markers for polybrominated diphenyl ethers. | one possible source of urinary bromophenol (bp) glucuronide and sulfate conjugates in mammalian animal models and humans is polybromodiphenyl ethers (pbdes), a group of additive flame-retardants found ubiquitously in the environment. in order to study the correlation between levels of pbdes in human blood plasma and those of the corresponding bp-conjugates in human urine, concentrations of 17 bde congeners, 22 oh-bde and 13 meo-bde metabolites, and 3 bps in plasma collected from 100 voluntary do ... | 2015 | 25817024 |
| oral bioaccessibility of toxic metals in contaminated oysters and relationships with metal internal sequestration. | the hong kong oysters crassostrea hongkongensis are widely farmed in the estuarine waters of southern china, but they accumulate cu and zn to alarmingly high concentrations in the soft tissues. health risks of seafood consumption are related to contaminants such as toxic metals which are bioaccessible to humans. in the present study, we investigated the oral bioaccessibility of five toxic metals (ag, pb, cd, cu and zn) in contaminated oysters collected from different locations of a large estuary ... | 2014 | 25265028 |
| a novel missense mutation in ccdc88c activates the jnk pathway and causes a dominant form of spinocerebellar ataxia. | spinocerebellar ataxias (scas) are a group of clinically and genetically diverse and autosomal-dominant disorders characterised by neurological deficits in the cerebellum. at present, there is no cure for scas. of the different distinct subtypes of autosomal-dominant scas identified to date, causative genes for only a fraction of them are currently known. in this study, we investigated the cause of an autosomal-dominant sca phenotype in a family that exhibits cerebellar ataxia and pontocerebella ... | 2014 | 25062847 |
| plasma mercury levels in hong kong residents: in relation to fish consumption. | mercury exposure is of particular concern since mercury is a neurotoxin and the developing fetus is most sensitive to its adverse effect. human blood is routinely used as an indicator for the evaluation of human exposure to hg. to investigate hg species in human plasma for hong kong residents and the relationship between fish consumption and hg species in plasma, 151 plasma samples were analyzed for hg species. the mean values of total hg (thg) and methyl-mercury (mehg) concentration in plasma w ... | 2013 | 23680090 |
| cancer risk assessments of hong kong soils contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. | the aim of this study was to evaluate soils from 12 different land use types on human cancer risks, with the main focus being on human cancer risks related to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pahs). fifty-five locations were selected to represent 12 different types of land use (electronic waste dismantling workshop (ew (dw)); open burning site (obs); car dismantling workshop (cdw) etc.). the total concentrations of 16 pahs in terms of total burden and their bioaccessibility were analysed using ... | 2013 | 23465409 |
| hydroxylated and methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers in blood plasma of humans in hong kong. | hydroxylated (oh-) and methoxylated (meo-) polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbde) are suspected endocrine disruptors. little is known about the accumulation or sources of these chemicals in tissues of humans, particularly those residing in hong kong, which is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. seven meo-bdes, fifteen oh-bdes and three bromophenols (brps) were analyzed in blood plasma of 116 humans that had been collected by the hong kong red cross. total concentrations of meo- ... | 2012 | 22771521 |
| families and family therapy in hong kong. | family therapy views humans not as separate entities, but as embedded in a network of relationships, highlighting the reciprocal influences of one's behaviours on one another. this article gives an overview of family demographics and the implementation of family therapy in hong kong. we start with a review of the family demographics in hong kong and brief notes on families in mainland china. demographics show that the landscape has changed markedly in the past decade, with more cross-border marr ... | 2012 | 22515459 |
| social network characteristics and salivary cortisol in healthy older people. | psychobiological research on aging in humans has been confounded by individual differences that have not been adequately characterized in the literature. this paper is an attempt to shed light on this issue by examining the impact of social network characteristics predictive of successful aging on salivary cortisol among 78 older chinese people in hong kong. eight salivary cortisol samples were collected each day for two consecutive days from immediately after awakening to 12 hours later. two co ... | 2012 | 22489206 |
| cancer risk assessment of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbdes) and polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) in former agricultural soils of hong kong. | the major objective of this study was to evaluate the carcinogenic risk posed to humans through pbdes and pcbs of changing agricultural land use for recycling of e-waste and open burning of municipal waste. nine locations were selected to represent 6 different types of land use such as e-waste dismantling workshop (ew (dw)) and e-waste open burning site (ew (obs)). the total concentrations for pbdes and pcbs, and the bioaccessibility of pcbs were determined using soxhlet extraction and in vitro ... | 2011 | 21871716 |
| assessment of risk to humans of bisphenol a in marine and freshwater fish from pearl river delta, china. | bisphenol a (bpa) is a high production-volume chemical used in the manufacture of a wide variety of consumer products. however it is also a ubiquitous contaminant that can interfere with endocrine systems of wildlife and humans. china is the "world factory" and the pearl river delta is the major manufacturing center and is consequently polluted. concentrations of bpa in meats of marketable fish had not been previously reported for this region. in the study upon which we report here concentration ... | 2011 | 21700311 |
| humans are equal: lessons to learn from the world health organization prescriptive growth standards. | | 2011 | 21636862 |
| modulation of steroidogenesis by coastal waters and sewage effluents of hong kong, china, using the h295r assay. | the presence of a variety of pollutants in the aquatic environment that can potentially interfere with the production of sex steroid hormones in wildlife and humans has been of increasing concern. the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of extracts from hong kong marine waters, and influents and effluents from wastewater treatment plants on steroidogenesis using the h295r cell bioassay. after exposing h295r cells to extracts of water, the expression of four steroidogenic gene ... | 2008 | 18493807 |
| theory of mind development in chinese children: a meta-analysis of false-belief understanding across cultures and languages. | theory of mind is claimed to develop universally among humans across cultures with vastly different folk psychologies. however, in the attempt to test and confirm a claim of universality, individual studies have been limited by small sample sizes, sample specificities, and an overwhelming focus on anglo- european children. the current meta-analysis of children's false-belief performance provides the most comprehensive examination to date of theory-of-mind development in a population of non-weste ... | 2008 | 18331141 |
| gender difference in achieving rate of maturity of the vesicoureteric junction. | our previous study on the doppler waveform of the urinary jet at the vesicoureteric junction (vuj) indicates that there is an active sphincteric mechanism in humans. we have also shown that there are immature and mature patterns of the jet, and the vuj matures around the age of 4 years. | 2007 | 17180364 |
| transmission dynamics and control of severe acute respiratory syndrome. | severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) is a recently described illness of humans that has spread widely over the past 6 months. with the use of detailed epidemiologic data from singapore and epidemic curves from other settings, we estimated the reproductive number for sars in the absence of interventions and in the presence of control efforts. we estimate that a single infectious case of sars will infect about three secondary cases in a population that has not yet instituted control measures. ... | 2003 | 12766207 |
| an efficacy-driven approach to the research and development of traditional chinese medicine. | research activities in traditional chinese medicine have, to date, focused on the search for relevant active substances and mechanisms of action. this research approach is shaped partly by the conventional drug development model, which commences with determining the mechanism of disease, followed by the design and synthesis of therapeutically active compounds or molecules, animal and in vitro studies, and finally clinical trials in humans. demonstration of clinical efficacy in humans using rando ... | 2001 | 11773672 |
| the monoamine oxidase b gene gt repeat polymorphism and parkinson's disease in a chinese population. | monoamine oxidase b (maob) metabolises dopamine and activates neurotoxins known to induce parkinsonism in humans and primates. therefore the maob gene (maob; xp15.21-4) is a candidate gene for parkinson's disease (pd). longer length dinucleotide repeat sequences in a highly polymorphic gt repeat region of intron 2 of this gene showed an association with pd in an australian cohort. we repeated this allele-association study in a population of 176 chinese pd patients (90 men, 86 women) and 203 agem ... | 2000 | 10701898 |
| monitoring the safety of herbal medicines. | extremely limited knowledge about the ingredients in herbal medicines and their effects in humans, the lack of stringent quality control and the heterogenous nature of herbal medicines all necessitate the continuous monitoring of the safety of these products. in hong kong, safety information on herbal medicines has come from the enquiries and reports received by our drug and poisons information service, on-going surveillance of patients treated in a large general teaching hospital and review of ... | 1997 | 9352957 |
| aconitine poisoning due to chinese herbal medicines: a review. | both "chuanwu", the main root of aconitum carmichaeli, and "caowu", the root of a kusnezoffii, are believed to possess anti-inflammatory, analgesic and cardiotonic effects and have been used in chinese materia medica mainly for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. they contain the highly toxic c19 diterpenoid alkaloids of aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine. after ingestion, patients may present with signs and symptoms that are typical of aconitine poisoning. death may occur from ven ... | 1994 | 7839574 |
| assessment of epidemiological evidence that exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation causes cataract. | in this paper an assessment is made of the evidence that exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation is causally associated with cataract. the evidence is reviewed separately for cortical, nuclear and posterior subcapsular cataract. the assessment examines the consistency and magnitude of an association, the dose-response relationship, supporting ecological data, and data from animal studies. based on the assessment, it is concluded that there is sufficient experimental evidence that exposure to art ... | 2017 | 7635000 |