Evaluation of a computer-assisted errorless learning-based memory training program for patients with early Alzheimer's disease in Hong Kong : a pilot study

2012-2013 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordSelf-fundedPublishe

Omicron variant susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies induced in children by natural SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccine

The novel SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant may increase the risk of re-infection and vaccine breakthrough infections as it possesses key mutations in the spike protein that affect neutralizing antibody response. Most studies on neutralization susceptibility were conducted using specimens from adult COVID-19 patients or vaccine recipients. However, since the paediatric population has an antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection that is distinct from the adult population, it is critical to assess the neutralization susceptibility of pediatric serum specimens. This study compared the neutralization susceptibility of serum specimens collected from 49 individuals of <18 years old, including 34 adolescent BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine recipients, and 15 recovered COVID-19 patients aged between 2 and 17. We demonstrated that only 38.2% of BNT162b2 vaccine recipients and 26.7% of recovered COVID-19 patients had their serum neutralization titre at or above the detection threshold in our live virus microneutralization assay. Furthermore, the neutralizing antibody titer against the Omicron variant was substantially lower than those against the ancestral virus or the Beta variant. Our results suggest that vaccine recipients and COVID-19 patients in the pediatric age group will likely be more susceptible to vaccine breakthrough infections or reinfections due to the Omicron variant than previous variants

Homologous and heterologous enhancers modulate spatial expression but not cell-type specificity of the murine γF-crystallin promoter

Previous studies have shown that mouse γF-crystallin sequences -759 to +45, which include the core promoter and two upstream enhancer elements, contain sufficient information for directing gene expression to terminally differentiated fiber cells of the ocular lens. To investigate the role that proximal sequences of the mouse γF-crystallin promoter play in the developmental regulation of gene expression, we generated transgenic mice containing the lacZ gene driven by either mouse γF-crystallin sequences -171 to +45, which lack functional enhancers, or a hybrid hamster αA-/mouse γF-crystallin promoter, which contains the hamster αA-crystallin enhancer instead of operational γF-crystallin enhancers. In situ analysis of lacZ expression in these mice revealed that the mouse γF-crystallin promoter segment -171 to +45, which shows low activity in vitro, is able to direct gene expression to the fiber cells in the nucleus of the lens. However, animals expressing γ171-lacZ show both a lower level of expression of the lacZ gene and a narrower pattern of staining in the lens nucleus than mice expressing γ759-lacZ, which contains the two enhancer elements located between -392 and -278 and -226 to -123. Moreover, animals expressing the lacZ gene driven by the hybrid αA-/γF-crystallin promoter show a pattern of staining in the lens nucleus similar to that of mice expressing γ759-lacZ, indicating that although the γA-crystallin enhancer is unable to alter the cell-type specificity conferred by the mouse γF-crystallin proximal promoter segment -171 to +45, it is able to expand the spatial domain of gene expression in a manner similar to the native γF-crystallin enhancers. The significance of these results, in terms of the mechanisms governing spatial regulation of gene expression, is discussed.link_to_OA_fulltex

Validation of the virtual-reality prospective memory test (Hong Kong Chinese version) for individuals with first-episode schizophrenia

Title on author’s file: Validation of the virtual-reality prospective memory test (VRPMT) for individuals with first-episode schizophrenia202303 bckwAccepted ManuscriptOthersGriffith UniversityPublishe

Optimization of 2D-BM3D denoising for long-range brillouin optical time domain analysis

Asia Communications and Photonics Conference 2020, Beijing China, 24-27 October 2020202405 bcchVersion of RecordOthersHUST Startup Grant; Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems Networks, ChinaPublishedVoR allowe