Nancy J. D'Hondt
Oct 1, 2008; 21:255-261
Articles

Ruban Dhaliwal
Feb 1, 2014; 27:9-20
Research to Practice

Priscilla Hollander
Jul 1, 2007; 20:159-165
Articles

Jacob Oleck
Aug 1, 2016; 29:180-184
Pharmacy and Therapeutics

Ryan A. Ristau
Nov 1, 2013; 26:211-215
From Research to Practice

Jeanette Ezzo
Oct 1, 2001; 14:
Articles

Ekta Singh
Nov 1, 2012; 25:217-221
From Research to Practice

Ji Chun
May 1, 2019; 32:104-111
Feature Articles

Sue McLaughlin
Oct 1, 2010; 23:272-277
Special Report

Jennal L. Johnson
Jul 1, 2006; 19:148-153
Articles

John Zrebiec
Oct 1, 2006; 19:212-215
Clinical Decision Making

Joseph B. Nelson
Aug 1, 2017; 30:171-174
From Research to Practice

Mays H. Vue
Aug 1, 2011; 24:171-177
Pharmacy and Therapeutics

Pasquale Passarella
Aug 1, 2018; 31:218-224
From Research to Practice

Katherine S. O’Neal
Nov 1, 2016; 29:249-252
Pharmacy and Therapeutics

Deborah Hinnen
Aug 1, 2017; 30:202-210
Feature Articles

Jul 1, 2002; 15:
Patient Information

Abdur Rehman
Nov 1, 2011; 24:234-238
Pharmacy and Therapeutics

Shani V. Davis
Aug 1, 2011; 24:148-153
Feature Article/Vitamin D in African Americans

Howard Craig Zisser
Apr 1, 2007; 20:85-89
Articles

Peggy Yarborough
Jan 1, 2003; 16:
Case Studies

Betsy B. Dokken
Jul 1, 2008; 21:160-165
From Research to Practice/Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes

Donna Tomky
Jan 1, 2005; 18:39-44
Articles

Curtis Triplitt
Oct 1, 2006; 19:202-211
Pharmacy Update

Stephen L. Aronoff
Jul 1, 2004; 17:183-190
Feature Articles

Guillermo E. Umpierrez
Jan 1, 2002; 15:
Articles

Geralyn Spollett
Jan 1, 2003; 16:
Case Studies

Property management companies and owners’ organisations which have successfully applied for an anti-epidemic support scheme were reminded today to disburse the hardship allowance to frontline workers as soon as practicable upon receiving the subsidies.

The Home Affairs Department said the workers concerned shall acknowledge receipt of the allowance using the prescribed forms.

The property management companies or owners’ organisations shall submit a report on the allowance’s overall payment to the Property Management Services Authority within three months of receiving the subsidies.

The department and/or the authority will conduct a random review and check to ensure that the frontline property management workers have received the allowance.

As of today, more than 8,160 applications have been received for the Anti-epidemic Support Scheme for Property Management Sector under the Anti-epidemic Fund.

About 2,850 applications have been approved, involving more than $100 million in subsidies and benefitting more than 17,500 building blocks and about 25,500 frontline workers.

Call 3696 1156 or 3696 1166 for enquiries.

The Government is set to revive the economy through different measures and everyone should act together to attain this goal.

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui made the remarks today after attending a radio programme, saying the economy has been seriously affected by the epidemic.

“I think right now the immediate priority is definitely to revive the economy because after all, we have been subjected to many restrictions on all you can imagine in the past few months due to COVID-19.

“So the immediate priority is really for us to act together to revive the economy through different measures.

“And the measures that are subject to the Legislative Council’s approval as you have seen over the past few days, I think are definitely something that we want to do in order to provide a sort of foundation for our economic recovery.”

(To watch the whole media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Hong Kong's economy in the first quarter of 2020 contracted 8.9% over a year earlier, the largest decline on record since 1974.

The Census & Statistics Department announced the findings today as it released advance estimates on Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter.

Addressing the media today, Financial Secretary Paul Chan noted the economic recession deepened in Hong Kong in the first quarter of 2020.

“Although locally, the epidemic situation seems to be under control, but the external environment is still very challenging. Globally, the epidemic is yet to be put under complete control. That will affect our exports. That will also affect international travelling and business investments. 

“So, going forward in the second quarter, we believe that even if there is improvement, the improvement will be gradual and small.”

According to those estimates, private consumption expenditure decreased 10.2% in real terms in the first quarter from a year earlier, deteriorating from the 2.9% decline in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Government consumption expenditure grew 8.3% year-on-year, after the increase of 6.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Gross domestic fixed capital formation dropped by 13.9%, compared with the decrease of 16.8% in the previous quarter.

Over the same period, total exports of goods declined 9.7% and imports of goods also fell 10.9%.

Exports of services dropped 37.8% and imports of services decreased 25.4%.

Mr Chan called on people to work together to promote economic development by consumption.

“If we are able to work together, if we can unite together - not just to fight the virus, but to stimulate consumption to promote economic development - I think the economic situation will be able to stabilise somewhat in the second quarter. 

“If the global epidemic situation improves, we will be able to come out of recession gradually towards the end of this year. 

“I will appeal to our people's support for us to roll out various measures in the Anti-epidemic Fund - round one and round two - as well as the relief packages in the 2020-21 Budget as soon as possible.

“Many of those initiatives are still yet to be implemented. Upon full implementation of those measures, I think the positive impact on the economy would be better felt by the community. We will be monitoring the situation carefully.”

The Government stands ready to roll out additional measures to support Hong Kong people and the businesses, Mr Chan added.

The Food & Environmental Hygiene Department announced that applications for the Catering Business (Social Distancing) Subsidy Scheme, under the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund, will start from May 5.

The department said the scheme, which is estimated to benefit 16,000 catering outlets and their employees, will provide financial relief measures to the catering businesses which have been hard hit by the COVID-19 epidemic and social distancing measures.

It will provide subsidies ranging from $250,000 to $2,200,000 to eligible licence holders of general restaurants, light refreshment restaurants, marine restaurants and factory canteens in operation according to the floor area of the premises as specified on the licence.

The primary goal of the scheme is to support the payment of employees' salaries during a six-month period following application approval.

To provide immediate relief to the catering sector, the subsidy will be dished out upfront, in two tranches.

To avoid abuse, applicants should undertake that there will be no redundancy of staff for three months on receipt of the first tranche of subsidy and another three months on receipt of the second tranche.

They should also undertake that not less than 80% of the subsidies for respective months would be used to pay salaries of staff working at the premises.

Applicants should submit within a specified period a certificate issued by a Certified Public Accountant (practising) on its total staff salaries and total number of salaried staff for each of the months covered by the subsidy.

They should also submit a certificate issued by a CPA on its total staff salaries and total number of staff working at the premises for the month of March this year.

To avoid double benefits, applicants should declare that they have not and will not submit any application under the Employment Support Scheme.

Each catering outlet directed to close its licensed premises under the Prevention & Control of Disease (Requirements & Directions) (Business & Premises) Regulation, including karaoke establishments, nightclubs and bars or pubs, is eligible for a further one-off subsidy of $50,000.

Applications should be submitted to the department's District Environmental Hygiene Offices in person or by mail. Food licence holders can also submit their applications through the website.

The deadline for application is June 5.

Upon receipt of the completed application form and supporting documents and after verification, the disbursement of the first tranche of subsidies can generally be made in two to three weeks by crossed cheques to the corresponding licensed food premises.

To align with the phased resumption of public services, various government departments have announced their latest arrangements.

The Department of Justice’s public services will resume normal from May 4. The reception counters of the department’s Prosecutions Division and Civil Division will be open Monday to Friday from 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm.

The Legal Aid Department’s offices will resume normal office hours on May 4 to provide public services including civil and criminal legal aid application and litigation services.

The Government Logistics Department’s collection office will resume normal operation from May 4 and open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm.

The Lands Department's offices will resume public counter services and enquiry telephone lines on May 4, providing services such as payment of government rent and premiums, map sales, and collection of compensation for land resumption.

Except for the surveying services to be conducted outside Hong Kong, all services of the Marine Department will resume starting May 4.

The Rating & Valuation Department will resume normal operation of public services from May 4, with its enquiry counters opening from 8.15am to 6pm from Monday to Friday, except on public holidays.

The Civil Engineering & Development Department said office hours for the Civil Engineering Library, applications for dumping licences and sand removal permits, and the Mines Division’s Permit & Licensing Office will return to normal on May 4.

Public services of the Water Supplies Department, the Planning Department, the Drainage Services Department and the Inland Revenue Department will resume normal on May 4.

Starting from May 4, the Registration & Electoral Office’s enquiry counter and offices, the Buildings Department and the Environmental Protection Department’s public counter services and service counters under the Labour Department will reopen.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption's headquarters and regional offices will also resume normal services from May 4.

The Housing Authority's estate management offices, Public Rental Housing Application Office in the Lok Fu Customer Service Centre, the Clearance Housing Office and the Redevelopment Sub-section Offices will reinstate normal services from that date.

Flat selection sessions of the Territory-wide Overcrowding Relief Exercise, the Living Space Improvement Transfer Scheme and Sale of Home Ownership Scheme Flats 2019 will gradually resume from May 8.

Click here for the latest public service arrangements.

To align with the phased resumption of public services, the Information Services Department, Government Records Service and Civil Aviation Department have announced their latest arrangements.

The Information Services Department will resume sales counter services at its Publications Sales Unit and Photo Library at North Point Government Offices from May 4.

The sales office will be open from 9am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 6pm from Monday to Friday.

To reduce social contact and avoid people gathering, citizens are encouraged to purchase government publications and photos through the online bookstore and photo store.

The Government Records Service's Public Records Office will provide search room services, including onsite loan and circulation services, from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.45pm, for people who have made reservations through the online catalogue.

The office will also resume search room services from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays for people to inspect holdings which have been reserved online. 

Requests by up to 15 users will be accepted for search room services for each open day on a first-come, first-served basis. Users will be notified of the reservation results by email.

Visitor and public education programmes will continue to be suspended, while the Exhibition Hall at the Public Records Building will be temporarily closed for preparation of the new thematic exhibition until further notice.

Enquiries can be made to 2195 7700 or via email.

The Civil Aviation Department’s Personnel Licensing Office will continue to provide counter services from next Monday and resume relevant licensing examinations.

The office's opening hours are 8.45am to 12.45pm and 1.45pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Enquiries can be made to 2910 6046 or via email.

Click here for the latest public service arrangements.

The Government has mechanisms to investigate complaints against civil servants impartially, Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip said today.

Mr Nip made the remarks in response to media queries on recent allegations levelled against senior police officers.

He said: “There are established mechanisms to investigate every complaint in accordance with the procedures and rules. Depending on the circumstances and the case details, some are being handled by departments and bureaus. Some may be handled by the Civil Service Bureau.

“There are established mechanisms in dealing with that. Of course we would handle each and every complaint in a very serious and impartial manner.”

Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang today visited the temporary operation centre for the special scheme for delivering urgently needed prescription medication to Hong Kong people in Guangdong and Fujian.

Under the compulsory quarantine arrangements, many Hong Kong people who are staying in Guangdong and Fujian provinces are unable to attend follow-up consultations in Hong Kong to replenish their prescription medication and return to the Mainland on the same day.

The Government introduced a special scheme on February 24 to deliver medicine to them, with priority given to those who would run out of prescription medication by end-April.

Mr Tsang was pleased to learn that as of April 29, prescription medication deliveries had been made to more than 7,600 Hong Kong residents in need.

He thanked the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions for offering voluntary services for the drug delivery scheme with its well-established service networks on the Mainland.

Mr Tsang also thanked the Pharmaceutical Society of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Care Foundation for deploying pharmacists to the temporary operation centre to help verify drug records and patients' information.

During his visit, he gave encouragement to participating volunteers and thanked them for their support for the scheme.

Mr Tsang said as the expiry date for the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation has been extended to June 7, the special scheme will be extended and give priority to cases in which prescription drugs will run out on or before that date.

Call 2343 2255 for enquiries about the scheme.

GitHub is holding its annual 'Universe' conference in San Francisco this week.

Several fundamental weaknesses have been exposed in the most common Wi-Fi security protocols.

Education secretary, Damian Hinds, wants schools across the UK to “take advantage of all of the opportunities available through Edtech” in the government's new strategy

DeepMind's cofounder and head of applied artificial intelligence, Mustafa Suleyman, has abruptly left the company for an indefinite period

The 'unicorn letter', sent by some of the best-funded private technology companies in the country, asks the chancellor to form an urgent taskforce to give them access to government-backed lending schemes during the pandemic

Hong Kong’s foreign currency reserve assets rose to US$441.2 billion in April from March’s US$437.6 billion, the Monetary Authority announced today.

The reserve assets represent over six times the currency in circulation or about 46% of Hong Kong dollar M3.

Including unsettled foreign exchange contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets at the end of April increased to US$440.7 billion from March’s US$437.6 billion.

The Development Bureau today briefed the Land & Development Advisory Committee on the major recommendations of the Planning & Urban Design Review for Developments at Kai Tak Runway Tip (KTRT).

Members noted the planning objectives, design principles and key study recommendations for the KTRT developments, including the existing and planned public open spaces as well as the Tourism Node site included in the 2020-21 Land Sale Programme.

They generally supported the recommendations of the KTRT study and provided comments on various aspects, such as ways to attract people to KTRT, the connectivity to and within the area, and promotion of healthy city and kid-friendly concepts.

The committee was also briefed on the proposed two-envelope tender arrangement, which refers to evaluation of both design and price proposals, for disposal of Site 3 of the New Central Harbourfront.

With a total area of 4.75 hectares, the site will comprise a commercial development in separate blocks mainly for office and retail, with a total gross floor area not exceeding 150,000 sq m, to be built alongside a spacious public open space of no less than 25,000 sq m to be opened round-the-clock.

There will be a continuous landscaped deck spanning across the site in a north-south direction, allowing visitors to walk all the way from the hinterland of the Central Business District to the harbourfront.

While noting that the two-envelope approach was rather unconventional for government land sale, members agreed that the approach would allow both quality and price considerations to be taken into account, and the setting of a reserve price would ensure reasonable protection to public revenue.

About $31 million in funding has been given to support 79 projects under the special round of the Public Policy Research (PPR) Funding Scheme, the Government announced today.

A total of 210 applications were received for the special round, which was launched last November to fund local research institutions and think tanks to research topics relating to the underlying causes of the social incidents that took place in the second half of 2019.

The research may also cover important political, economic, cultural and societal issues relating to deep-seated problems of society.

Assessment of the applications received under the special round was conducted by the independent assessment panel chaired by and comprising experienced academics.

The research quality of the proposal and relevance to the themes of the special round were the principal assessment criteria, with consideration given to factors such as whether the research proposal was solution-oriented, feasible and practical, whether the methodology was reasonable and sound, the applicant’s capability and whether the proposed budget was cost-effective. 

The assessment panel took a holistic view on each research proposal, reached a collective decision and made recommendations, the Policy Innovation & Co-ordination Office said, adding that a declaration of interest system was in place to ensure the assessments were fair and impartial.

In general, a sum of up to $500,000 has been granted to each approved project under the special round.

The approved projects have commenced progressively and are expected to be completed by the end of the year, with the first batch to be completed in late September to early October.

Click here for details of the funded projects.

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui today visited the Companies Registry (CR) to inspect its operation.

Mr Hui visited the New Companies Section, the Public Search Section and the Document Management Section at the registry and spoke with staff there to learn about their work conditions and the services that they provide.

He said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong's overall economy.

“To help enterprises cope with their operating pressure amid the economic downturn, the Financial Secretary announced in the 2020-21 Budget the waiver of registration fees for annual returns, except for late delivery, charged by the CR for two years.

“And with a view to encouraging the wider use of the CR's electronic services, we also propose to reduce the fees payable in relation to the incorporation of companies, including registration of non-Hong Kong companies, through electronic means by 10%."

The Companies (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2020 gazetted today will be tabled at the Legislative Council for negative vetting on May 13 for the waiver and reduction to take effect from October 1.

The waiver of registration fees for annual returns will benefit about 1.4 million companies.

Mr Hui added that he was pleased that the CR has been providing electronic services for filing of documents and company searches.

He appealed to the department to adopt wider use of technology, adding that a business-friendly environment is needed more than ever in the process of economic recovery.

Mr Hui also expressed gratitude to CR staff for their dedication in providing public services amid the pandemic.

There have been arrests, prosecutions and convictions of youngsters and students resulting from the social unrest since June last year. Recently, explosives and chemicals were found by Police. It would be catastrophic if they were used for unscrupulous purposes. Some of the youngsters might have been mistakenly led to believe that use of violence should be considered as a means to achieve their aspirations. However, I hope that they appreciate that law-breaking behaviour would always have legal consequences.

It is very troubling to see from the media reports that underage children or students are taking part in unlawful activities and even getting involved in violence. In so doing, they would not only put their own and others' safety at risk, but could also be arrested and prosecuted resulting in criminal records upon convictions. Their future in education and employment would inevitably be affected.

There are misleading suggestions that all young offenders would only be cautioned under the Police Superintendent's Discretion Scheme without criminal records. One must understand that Police, in deliberating whether to administer a caution, have to take into account a number of factors, such as whether the juvenile offender was under the age of 18 at the time of committing the offence; the seriousness and nature of the offence; whether the offender voluntarily and unequivocally admits the offence; whether the offender is remorseful and so on. Therefore, the scheme does not apply to all young offenders indiscriminately.

Similarly, bind over orders are only appropriate for first-time offenders involving minor offences and they have to be agreed by the courts. Under the bind over arrangement, offenders are required to admit the wrongdoings and are admonished in an open court. They also need to give an undertaking to the court to be of good behaviour. Imprisonment might be imposed for breaching the undertaking. Before agreeing to such a procedure on specified conditions, the prosecution has to give considerations to various factors including the age of the offender, criminal record, and attitude of the offender such as remorsefulness and so on.

There are also comments that prosecutions against young offenders should be withdrawn on the basis of public interest. I have to stress again that the Department of Justice (DoJ) must strictly make our prosecutorial decisions in accordance with admissible evidence, applicable laws and the Prosecution Code. The non-exhaustive list of considerations to be addressed when making assessment in considering public interest, including those applicable to juvenile offenders, were set out in 5.9 and 15.4 of the Prosecution Code, which include the nature of the offence, the seriousness of the offence, the criminal history of the suspect, remorsefulness of the suspect and the sentencing options available to the court and so on. Prosecutors should follow the above principles in making their decisions and must not withdraw charges unjustifiably under the pretext of public interest.

In considering the above arrangements, the DoJ has to carefully examine the circumstances of each case in an objective manner and strictly in accordance with the established principles. A decision cannot be made solely based on the age of the offenders. Their legal representatives are not only duty bound to inform them of their rights but also have an obligation to remind them of the legal consequences and the availability and considerations in relation to the above arrangements.

As observed by Lord Diplock, "[t]he acceptance of the rule of law as a constitutional principle requires that a citizen, before committing himself to any course of action, should be able to know in advance what are the legal consequences that will flow from it". Every member of the public must be aware that one has to bear the legal responsibility resulting from law-breaking behaviour. I sincerely hope that every one, in particular the youngsters, should exercise their independent thinking and judgement, and, more importantly, stay away from violence and not commit mistakes that might ruin their lives in the future.

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng wrote this article and posted it on her blog on May 9.

17 individuals in the mathematical sciences are among the 126 new members and foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2020.

Members: Ivet Bahar, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Abhijit Banerjee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Gerard Ben Arous, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University; Bonnie Berger, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Laura G. DeMarco, Northwestern University; Ronald Fagin, IBM Almaden Research Center; Katherine Freese, The University of Texas at Austin; Dennis Gaitsgory, Harvard University; Robert L. Griess, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Jacob Lurie, Institute for Advanced Study; Terence T. Hwa, University of California, San Diego; Wilfried Schmid, Harvard University; Jeffrey D. Ullman, Stanford University; Lai-Sang Young, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University; and Ofer Zeitouni, Weizmann Institute of Science; Foreign Associates: Yoav Benjamini, Tel Aviv University (Israel) and Jürg Fröhlich, ETH Zurich (Switzerland). Berger, DeMarco, Griess, Schmid, and Zeitouni are members of the AMS and Fellows of the AMS. Fagin is a member of the AMS.

The NAS recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and—along with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine—provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations. See the full list of this year's honorees. (Image courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences.)

Below, Mac Hyman, Tulane University, talks about types of mathematical models--their strengths and weaknesses--the data that we currently have and what we really need, and what models can tell us about a possible second wave.

At the beginning of the video, he thanks the mathematics community for its work, and near the end says, "Our mathematical community is really playing a central role in helping to predict the spread, and help mitigate this epidemic, and prioritize our efforts. …Do not underestimate the power that mathematics can have in helping to mitigate this epidemic—-we have a role to play."

See the full set of videos on modeling COVID-19 and see media coverage of mathematics' role in modeling the pandemic.