Hong Kong Baptist University

About: Hong Kong Baptist University is a education organization based out in Hong Kong, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: China & Population. The organization has 7811 authors who have published 18919 publications receiving 555274 citations. The organization is also known as: Hong Kong Baptist College & HKBU.

Metal Concentrations of Common Freshwater and Marine Fish from the Pearl River Delta, South China

Abstract: Sediments and fish, including tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus), bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), and mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) were collected from different fish ponds in the Pearl River Delta (Tanzhou, Sanjiao, Guangzhou, Shipai, Changan, and Mai Po) for the analysis of metalloids and heavy metals [arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb)]. The pollution of As in pond sediments was great; however, As in the edible parts of pond fish were within the international permissible safety levels for human consumption. Axial muscles from 10 species each of freshwater and marine fish purchased from markets in Hong Kong were also analyzed for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn. Freshwater fish contained 0.24 to 2.13 mg/kg As, 0.10 to 0.17 mg/kg Cd, 0.09 to 0.36 mg/kg Cr, 0.06 to 0.35 mg/kg Cu, 0.07 to 0.34 mg/kg Hg, 0.04 to 0.36 mg/kg Ni, 0.11 to 0.52 mg/kg Pb, and 2.67 to 19.1 mg/kg Zn (wet weight). Marine fish had higher Hg and lower Pb concentrations than freshwater fish. A few fish species had average concentrations greater than the international standards for Cd and Pb established by the European Union and the China National Standard Management Department. Total Hg concentrations in 10 of 20 market fish species were generally greater than those of the World Health Organization’s recommended limit of 0.2 mg/kg for at-risk groups, such as children and pregnant women. Daily intake through fish consumption of these metals were compared with the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake proposed by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives. There appears to be potential threat to local people from Hg contamination because of the high marine fish consumption rate (142 g/d/person).

Housing Preferences in a Transitional Housing System: The Case of Beijing, China

Abstract: For a prolonged period of time, the Chinese state had monopolised housing provision. Chinese people had virtually no choice of housing. Much has changed with the deepening of the market-oriented reform launched since 1979. A housing market, though not yet a full-fledged one, has been established. People now have greater freedom to choose their homes. More and more people buy houses from the market. There is, therefore, an urgent need for an inquiry into how housing decisions in China are made, what people's preferences for housing are, and what factors influence their housing choices. To this end, the authors study the joint choice of dwelling and neighbourhood by potential homebuyers in Beijing. Because the housing market in China is still in an embryonic state and highly regulated by the government, one may not be able to get information on actual housing choices to reveal housing preferences. This study thus adopts the stated preference modelling approach. Data were collected in 2001 in Beijing, capita...

Optical Power Limiters Based on Colorless Di-, Oligo-, and Polymetallaynes: Highly Transparent Materials for Eye Protection Devices

Abstract: The synthesis, characterization, and photophysics of a series of solution-processable and tractable di-, oligo-, and polymetallaynes of some group 10-12 transition metals are presented. Most of these materials are colorless with very good optical transparencies in the visible spectral region and exhibit excellent optical power limiting (OPL) for nanosecond laser pulse. Their OPL responses outweigh those of the state-of-the-art reverse saturable absorption dyes such as C 60 , metalloporphyrins, and metallophthalocyanines that are all associated with very poor optical transparencies. On the basis of the results from photophysical studies and theoretical calculations, both the absorption of triplet and intramolecular charge-transfer states can contribute to the enhancement of the OPL properties for these materials. Electronic influence of the type, spatial arrangement, and geometry of metal groups on the optical transparency/nonlinearity optimization is evaluated and discussed in detail. The positive contribution of transition metal ions to the OPL of these compounds generally follows the order: Pt > Au >Hg > Pd. The optical-limiting thresholds for these polymetallaynes can be as low as 0.07 J cm -2 at 92 % linear transmittance and these highly transparent materials manifest very impressive figure of merit δex/δovalues (up to 22.48), which are remarkably higher than those of the benchmark C 60 and metal phthalocyanine complexes. The present work demonstrates an attractive approach to developing materials offering superior OPL/optical transparency trade-offs and these metallopolyynes are thus very promising candidates for use in practical OPL devices for the protection of human eyes and other delicate optical sensors.

Sinomenine versus NSAIDs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract: Sinomenine (SIN), an alkaloid isolated from CAULIS SINOMENII, has been used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) clinically. This study aimed to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of SIN by a comparison between SIN and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Forty-three electronic databases were systematically searched. The quality of eligible trials was assessed by Jadad's scale. Revman 5.0 software was used for data syntheses and meta-analyses. The results showed that (i) of the 121 potential studies identified, 10 clinical trials involving 1185 patients met the inclusion criteria; (ii) improved patients and rheumatoid factor disappearance patients after SIN treatments were significantly more than those treated by NSAIDs ( P 0.05); and (iv) adverse events occurred less frequently in the digestive system during SIN treatment than during NSAID treatment ( P = 0.0003) but occurred more frequently in the dermatomucosal system with SIN treatment ( P = 0.03), while adverse events of the nervous system were similar for both treatments ( P = 0.31). In conclusion, SIN may be a valuable remedy to treat RA clinically, although current evidence needs to be further verified by more high-quality trials.