Mental Health Youth Ambassador Programme for Anti-Stigma Among Secondary Students in Hong Kong: a Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the Mental Health Youth Ambassador Programme between 2016 and 2019 in terms of participants' improvement in attitudes towards individuals with depression or psychosis. METHODS: This anti-stigma programme was provided to secondary students (form 3 and above) and comprised three levels. Level 1 involved attending lectures about mental health; level 2 and level 3 involved social contact with persons-in-recovery. Students' attitudes towards those with depression and those with psychosis were assessed at baseline and after completion of each level of programme using the Chinese version of the Social Distance Scale. RESULTS: Only 25 students who were assessed at all four time points were included in analysis. The mean Social Distance Scale scores for attitudes towards depression and psychosis improved significantly across all time points. Specifically, significant improvement occurred after completion of level 2 and level 2 but not after completion of level 1. CONCLUSION: Social contact with people with mental illness (rather than attending lectures about mental health) contributed significantly to the improvement in students' attitude towards depression and psychosis. With the positive preliminary results, the Mental Health Youth Ambassador Programme should be extended to more students.

Influences of ammonia-nitrogen and dissolved oxygen on lysosomal integrity in green-lipped mussel Perna viridis: laboratory evaluation and field validation in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.

Lysosomal integrity in mussels has been applied as a biomarker to detect the pollution of trace organics and metals in the natural environments. However, few studies have examined the effects of water quality on the response of lysosomal integrity, in particular total ammonia-nitrogen (TAN) and dissolved oxygen (DO). This study demonstrated that high level of TAN (2.0mg/l) and low DO (2.5mg O(2)/l) could significantly reduce the lysosomal integrity in green-lipped mussel Perna viridis, respectively by 33% and 38%, whereas the mussel lysosomal integrity decreased by 70% in the combined treatment of TAN and low DO under laboratory conditions after one week. The mussel lysosomal integrity of all treatment groups could return to the control level after a three week recovery period. In the field validation in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong during an one-year study period, lysosomal integrity in P. viridis identified the cleanest site east to the harbour, where the lowest TAN and highest DO concentrations were found. While lysosomal integrity in mussels seemed not affected by seasonal changes, approximately 40% of the variation of this biomarker could be attributable to the changes in TAN and DO in seawater. In conclusion, the response of the mussel lysosomal integrity can be confounded by both TAN and DO prevailing in the natural environments and thus caution must be exercised in relating the observed changes in lysosomal integrity to any specific pollutant in coastal water quality monitoring studies.

Microplastic ingestion reduces energy intake in the clam Atactodea striata.

The effects of microplastic concentrations (10itemsl-1 and 1000itemsl-1) on the physiological responses of Atactodea striata (clearance rate, absorption efficiency, respiration rate) were investigated. The fates of ingested microplastics and the efficiency of depuration in removing ingested microplastics were also studied. A. striata ingested microplastics and the clearance rate was reduced at high concentration of microplastics. Since the respiration rate and absorption efficiency remained unchanged in exposed A. striata, reduction in the clearance rate would reduce the energy intake. Ingestion and retention of microplastics in the body were further limited by the production of pseudofaeces and faeces, and depuration in clean water, resulting in a very small amount of microplastics stored in the body of the clam.

Magnetic resonance coronary angiography with 3D TrueFISP: breath-hold versus respiratory gated imaging.

To compare the diagnostic accuracy of coronary magnetic resonance angiography with three-dimensional (3D) trueFISP breath-hold and respiratory gated techniques for the detection of significant coronary artery stenosis. 15 patients who recently underwent elective coronary angiogram were studied and a total of 60 arteries and 48 arteries were assessed by breath-hold and respiratory gated 3D trueFISP techniques, respectively. The image quality, length of artery visualized and the presence or absence of significant coronary artery stenosis were recorded. 83.3% and 81.7% of the arteries obtained with the respiratory gated and the breath-hold techniques, respectively, had an image quality suitable for further analysis. There was no significant difference in the length of artery visualized. Sensitivity and specificity of 80%, 100% and 75% and 100%, respectively, were obtained with the breath-hold and respiratory gated techniques in detecting significant stenosis in the coronary arteries. Both techniques have moderate sensitivity and high specificity in detection of significant stenosis in the visualized segments of the major coronary arteries. However, they cannot replace conventional coronary angiogram for diagnosing coronary artery disease at present. Further studies are required to evaluate whether breath-hold approach is more efficient, therefore should be performed first and respiratory gated approach reserved for those who cannot breath-hold.