Working With Chinese Triad Youth Gangs: Correct Diagnosis and Strategic Intervention.

Across the world, youth workers have been active in helping vulnerable youth groups. In Hong Kong, government-funded youth services are conducted by professional social workers to help vulnerable youths. This article adopted a case study approach to investigate a youth group who committed a murder. Nine murderers and two social workers were interviewed. It aims to uncover the structure and activities of the group and analyse the gang intervention prior to the murder to find out what had gone wrong and identify the lessons that social workers can learn from the murder. Four misconceptions in gang intervention have been identified. First, because of the Triad (Chinese-organised crime) affiliation, this is not just a group of deviant youths but a youth gang. Second, because it is a gang, the social workers should not group them but should instead degroup them to avoid contamination. Third, diagnosis is different from labelling. With the right diagnosis, services can be tailor-made to delabel them. Fourth, when the youths are diagnosed as a gang, outreach work instead of centre work should be provided-social workers should reach out to the gangland to uncover the youths' gang participation and crime involvement.

A strong two-photon induced phosphorescent Golgi-specific in vitro marker based on a heteroleptic iridium complex.

A new heteroleptic iridium complex demonstrated low cytotoxicity and near-infrared excitation (via two-photon absorption) for target-specific in vitro Golgi imaging in various cell lines (HeLa and A549 cells) with two-photon absorption cross section (~350 GM) in DMSO.

Near field imaging from multilayer lens.

Multilayer superlens has been reported that it had advantages over the single metal layer superlens. In this work, single silver layer and Ag-SiO2 multilayer superlens devices working at wavelength of 365 nm were fabricated using standard photolithography method. Grating objects with line/space (190 nm/190 nm) resolution could be resolved through both kinds of lens structures with working distance up to 128 nm. However, Ag-SiO2 multilayer lens shows higher transmittance and image contrast than the single silver layer device, the experimental result proves the theoretical calculation.

Near field imaging with resonant cavity lens.

We showed that a Ag-SiO(2)-Ag Fabry-Pérot cavity can be used in near-field imaging based on omnidirectional resonance tunneling. The omnidirectional resonance was experimentally demonstrated in the Ag-SiO(2)-Ag resonant cavity working at a wavelength of 365 nm. The resonant cavity lens with high transmittance and high image fidelity was fabricated using standard photolithography method. Grating source with 190 nm line resolution was imaged through the resonant cavity lens with a total thickness of 128 nm.

Effects of atorvastatin on serum soluble receptors for advanced glycation end-products in type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: The receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications and atherosclerosis. Interfering with the activation of RAGE by using a soluble form of the receptor (sRAGE) ameliorates the vascular complications of diabetes in animal models. We have investigated whether statin can influence the expression of sRAGE and esRAGE (a splice variant of sRAGE) in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: THP-1 cells were incubated with atorvastatin in vitro and sRAGE and esRAGE in the medium was measured by Western immunoblot. Serum levels of sRAGE and esRAGE were measured by ELISA in archived serum samples from a previous randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial that explored the cardiovascular effects of atorvastatin in hypercholesterolemic Chinese type 2 diabetic patients. RESULTS: sRAGE and esRAGE were induced by atorvastatin in a time- and dose-dependent manner in THP-1 cells. In the diabetic patients, there was a significant increase in serum sRAGE (p<0.05) and esRAGE (p<0.01) in the atorvastatin group at 6-month, but no change in placebo group. Serum esRAGE was higher in atorvastatin group than placebo group [median 240.5pg/ml (interquartile range 186.5-377.3) vs 194.8pg/ml (124.1-347.9) respectively, p<0.01] at 6-month, whereas the differences in sRAGE did not reach statistical significance (p=0.051). There was a correlation between the increase of serum esRAGE and reduction of serum LDL (r=-0.36, p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Statins are known to have pleiotropic effects and we have shown that atorvastatin can increase circulating esRAGE levels in type 2 diabetic patients.

GaN/ZnO nanorod light emitting diodes with different emission spectra.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) consisting of p-GaN epitaxial films and n-ZnO nanorods have been fabricated and characterized. The rectifying behavior and emission spectra were strongly dependent on the electronic properties of both GaN film and ZnO nanorods. Light emission under both forward and reverse bias was obtained in all cases, and emission spectra could be changed by annealing the ZnO nanorods. The emission spectra could be further tuned by using a GaN LED epiwafer as a substrate. Both forward and backward diode behavior has been observed and the emission spectra were significantly affected by both the properties of the GaN substrate and the annealing conditions for the ZnO nanorods.

Novel hypoglycemic effects of Ganoderma lucidum water-extract in obese/diabetic (+db/+db) mice.

In this study, we evaluated the pharmacological effects of Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) (water-extract) (0.003, 0.03 and 0.3g/kg, 4-week oral gavage) consumption using the lean (+db/+m) and the obese/diabetic (+db/+db) mice. Different physiological parameters (plasma glucose and insulin levels, lipoproteins-cholesterol levels, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG CoA reductase) and isolated aorta relaxation of both species were measured and compared. G. lucidum (0.03 and 0.3g/kg) lowered the serum glucose level in +db/+db mice after the first week of treatment whereas a reduction was observed in +db/+m mice only fed with 0.3g/kg of G. lucidum at the fourth week. A higher hepatic PEPCK gene expression was found in +db/+db mice. G. lucidum (0.03 and 0.3g/kg) markedly reduced the PEPCK expression in +db/+db mice whereas the expression of PEPCK was attenuated in +db/+m mice (0.3g/kg G. lucidum). HMG CoA reductase protein expression (in both hepatic and extra-hepatic organs) and the serum insulin level were not altered by G. lucidum. These data demonstrate that G. lucidum consumption can provide beneficial effects in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by lowering the serum glucose levels through the suppression of the hepatic PEPCK gene expression.

Performance evaluation of hybrid and conventional sequencing batch reactor and continuous processes.

Bench-scale systems, using conventional and compact hybrid activated sludge configurations, were set up to evaluate the systems' nitrification-denitrification performance, operating sludge age/MLSS concentration and sludge settleability at a Hong Kong municipal STW. Configurations tested were the continuous clarifier modified Ludzack Ettinger (MLE) and the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with and without hybrid suspended biofilm carriers. Results demonstrated that the hybrid SBR and MLE systems consistently achieved close to complete nitrification (effluent NH4-N = 2.4 and 6.9 mg/L) and 75% and 67% removal of nitrogen (N) (effluent NO3-N < 10 mg/L) with an overall hydraulic retention time of only 7.5 hours, operating sludge age as short as 5.2 days, and mixed liquor suspended solids concentration of approximately 1,300 mg/L with a sludge volume index of 109 and 229 mL/g, respectively. The most sensitive and slowest growing nitrifiers attached to the hybrid biofilm carriers. This allowed the hybrid processes to be operated at a sludge age shorter than the critical nitrifying sludge age while still retaining near complete nitrification. In contrast, to achieve complete nitrification, the conventional MLE system needed to be operated at 1.5 to 2.5 times the critical sludge age. These results indicate that the hybrid MLE configuration is a suitable process for use in upgrading existing conventional works for N removal and for increasing hydraulic capacity of existing N removal works, without major civil works modifications, in Hong Kong. For new works, consideration might be given to the use of the hybrid SBR, which shows a more stable N removal performance than the MLE process due to its inherent in-basin equalization capacity and better reaction conditions for nitrification in terms of higher initial NH4-N level. It was also observed that the conventional SBR produced better nitrification performance than the hybrid MLE process tested. Design parameters and operating conditions of the hybrid systems should be subjected to further full-scale trial for higher hydraulic capacity and N removal performance.