The CuMask online registration system received over 720,000 registrations, covering two million registrants in total on the first day of registration on May 6, the Innovation & Technology Bureau announced today.

The bureau said the response is overwhelming and it is encouraged to see support for local invention.

"Our thanks go to support from all sides, including the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles & Apparel (HKRITA) which has been commissioned to oversee the project, the Crystal International Group Limited which is responsible for the production, the Novetex Textiles Limited in Tai Po Industrial Estate for providing clean room for sterilisation, The Mills and the TAL Apparel Limited for lending premises to set up workshops as well as the frontline workmen for their hard work over the past few months.

“This unrivalled challenge cannot be met without their joint efforts and the collaboration of the industry and our team,” the bureau stated.

The bureau commissioned the HKRITA to oversee the CuMask project in order to meet the imminent needs for masks in Hong Kong.

It pointed out that the Government Stores & Procurement Regulations do allow direct purchase to be made under extreme urgency.

The whole procurement process was conducted in accordance with the Government's procurement regulations and procedures and with confirmation that the conditions under the Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization could be met.

The bureau further explained that in February and March this year, the Government contacted various suppliers of reusable masks. However, most stated that they had either stopped production, did not have enough stock, were unable to export materials due to export control, or unable to produce testing certification.

The epidemic at that time was serious and the supplies of anti-epidemic items were becoming scarce. Hong Kong did not have any raw materials or production lines.

Taking into account the aggressive procurement actions of anti-epidemic items by different countries, export control and suspension of production lines all over the world, the Government had to consider urgently the feasibility of manufacturing reusable masks that would be up to standard for use by the whole community.

On reviewing the reusable mask developed by the HKRITA, the Government considered that the design of the mask and materials used could meet the requirement, as there were supporting certifications proving its compliance with relevant international standards.

As for mass production, it depends on the availability of supply of raw materials. Having wide network in the industry, the HKRITA was able to acquire quality raw materials within a short period and put production lines in place.

The Government therefore commissioned the HKRITA to oversee the coordination of production through direct purchase with a view to supplying reusable masks to all Hong Kong residents as soon as possible.

The bureau added the HKRITA is a non-profit-making R&D centre fully subsidised by the Government, with most of their R&D projects funded by the Innovation & Technology Fund.

The HKRITA oversees the CuMask project on a non-profit-making basis. All expenses will be reimbursed to the HKRITA on the basis of actual spending.

People concerned with the effectiveness of the CuMask may browse the website for testing reports and patent information.

A 53-year-old building on Fa Yuen Street near Prince Edward, like most of the buildings in Yau Tsim Mong District, was in poor condition two years ago. Walls, both inside and out, were worn down, staircases were broken, and with electrical installation panels exposed on the outside. 

But with the help of various subsidy schemes launched by the Government and Urban Renewal Authority, older buildings are being given a new lease of life. The schemes include Operation Building Bright 2.0 (OBB 2.0), the Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme (FSWS) and the Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme (LIMSS).
 

Helping hand

Octogenarian owner-occupiers Leung Ting-lam and Chu Lai-chun have lived in this building on Fa Yuen Street for more than two decades. They welcome the improvements, which include a new metal gate and lift.

“Modernising the lift was done so quickly. It only took a few months and that was the most satisfying part,” said Mr Leung. Ms Chu agreed that the lift no longer breaks down so regularly.

It cost $800,000 just to modernise the lift. Add to that the other repair and maintenance works, and the total cost exceeded $3 million. Those who own a flat had to shoulder tens of thousands of dollars in the 10-storey building containing 19 units.

For seniors on a fixed income, it is not easy to cover the full cost of repair works. With the government subsidies, they no longer have to worry about the financial burden of upgrading their buildings on their own.

Popular services

The lift modernisation work under the LIMSS is assisted by the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department. The department’s Assistant Director Raymond Poon said the subsidy can cover up to 60% of the total cost of the works - plus a consultation fee - with a cap of $500,000 per lift for eligible buildings.

For elderly owner-occupiers, they can receive the full cost of relevant works capped at $50,000 per domestic unit.

Up until August 1, the department received around 1,171 applications for the scheme involving nearly 5,000 lifts in the first round of applications. This far exceeded the quota of 1,400 lifts set for the round, a response Mr Poon described as overwhelming.

Apart from the LIMSS, owner-occupiers can also apply for OBB 2.0 and other schemes to cover maintenance costs.

In one 58-year-old Hung Hom building, residents had to spend more than $800,000 to paint the common areas, replace above-ground drainage pipework and other structural upgrades.

The building’s owners’ corporation has applied for several funding schemes to get some financial relief, including OBB 2.0. Under this scheme, elderly recipients can receive the full cost of the work, subject to a cap of $50,000. Other owner-occupiers can receive 80%, capped at $40,000.

As of August, the owners or owners’ corporations of 479 Category One buildings were prepared to carry out the prescribed inspection and repair works for the common areas of their buildings under OBB 2.0. They can do so on a voluntary basis to comply with the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) statutory notices.

These buildings are in 13 districts. Among them, Yau Tsim Mong has the largest number of applications, followed by Kowloon City and Sham Shui Po.

More help ahead

In the future, another $3 billion will be injected into OBB 2.0. This means a total of $6 billion will be used to benefit 5,000 buildings.

Development Bureau Principal Assistant Secretary Jasmine Choi said they have received feedback from the community which hopes the operation will eventually allow younger buildings to join the rehabilitation schemes.

Upon review, buildings between 40 and 49 years old with an outstanding MBIS statutory notice not yet complied with will be accepted in the next round of applications.

Apart from these younger structures, OBB 2.0 will also accept buildings aged 50 and older, even if they do not have an outstanding notice.

(Simon Fraser University) SFU professor Caroline Colijn’s research and data modelling to map the spread of COVID-19 in British Columbia has helped her procure funding from Genome B.C., a non-profit research organization that leads genomics innovation on Canada’s West Coast.

(Florida Museum of Natural History) Florida and Georgia archaeologists have discovered the location of Fort San Antón de Carlos, home of one of the first Jesuit missions in North America. The Spanish fort was built in 1566 in the capital of the Calusa, the most powerful Native American tribe in the region, on present-day Mound Key in the center of Estero Bay on Florida's Gulf Coast.

(University of California - Santa Cruz) Restoration ecologist Karen Holl has a simple message for anyone who thinks planting 1 trillion trees will reverse the damage of climate change: 'We can't plant our way out of climate change.'

Introduction: Gastrin Releasing peptide receptors (GRPRs) are potential molecular imaging targets in a variety of tumors. Recently, a ⁶⁸Ga-labelled antagonist to GRPRs, NeoBOMB1, was developed for PET. We report on the outcome of a Phase I/IIa clinical trial (EudraCT 2016-002053-38) within the EU-FP7 project Closed-loop Molecular Environment for Minimally Invasive Treatment of Patients with Metastatic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (‘MITIGATE’) (grant agreement number 602306) in patients with oligometastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Materials and Methods: The main objectives were evaluation of safety, biodistribution, dosimetry and preliminary tumor targeting of ⁶⁸Ga-NeoBOMB1 in patients with advanced TKI-treated GIST using PET/CT. Six patients with histologically confirmed GIST and unresectable primary or metastases undergoing an extended protocol for detailed pharmacokinetic analysis were included. ⁶⁸Ga-NeoBOMB1 was prepared using a kit procedure with a licensed ⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga generator. 3 MBq/kg body-weight were injected intravenously and safety parameters were assessed. PET/CT included dynamic imaging at 5 min, 11 min and 19 min as well as static imaging at 1, 2 and 3-4 h p.i. for dosimetry calculations. Venous blood samples and urine were collected for pharmacokinetics. Tumor targeting was assessed on a per-lesion and per-patient basis. Results: ⁶⁸Ga-NeoBOMB1 (50 µg) was prepared with high radiochemical purity (yield >97%). Patients received 174 ± 28 MBq of the radiotracer, which was well tolerated in all patients over a follow-up period of 4 weeks. Dosimetry calculations revealed a mean adsorbed effective dose of 0.029 ± 0.06 mSv/MBq with highest organ dose to the pancreas (0.274 ± 0.099 mSv/MBq). Mean plasma half-life was 27.3 min with primarily renal clearance (mean 25.7 ± 5.4% of injected dose 4h p.i.). Plasma metabolite analyses revealed high stability, metabolites were only detected in the urine. In three patients a significant uptake with increasing maximum standard uptake values (SUV_max at 2h p.i.: 4.3 to 25.9) over time was found in tumor lesions. Conclusion: This Phase I/IIa study provides safety data for ⁶⁸Ga-NeoBOMB1, a promising radiopharmaceutical for targeting GRPR-expressing tumors. Safety profiles and pharmacokinetics are suitable for PET imaging and absorbed dose estimates are comparable to other ⁶⁸Ga-labelled radiopharmaceuticals used in clinical routine.

1 July 2007 , Number 2

Iran has energy that China needs and Beijing provides a counter balance to western pressures on Tehran. The benefits are clear, but so are the risks for a rising power in the labyrinthine politics of the Middle East.

When you register an Oracle table to the metadata, it might fail and generate an error similar to the following: "ERROR: An exception has been encountered...ERROR: Read Access Violation METALIB..."

THE EDITOR, Madam: I arrived at the Constant Spring tax office at 6:05 a.m. on Monday, May 4 to renew my vehicle registration. At that hour, there were already 30 persons ahead of me. Persons related horror stories of spending up to five hours in...

THE EDITOR, Madam: THE JAMAICA Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) – an agency of the Ministry of Labour...

Gina Agiostratidou
Dec 1, 2017; 40:1622-1630
Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Risk of Hypoglycemia

Kellee M. Miller
Jun 1, 2015; 38:971-978
Type 1 Diabetes at a Crossroads

The American Dental Association is urging Congress to include oral health care providers and their patients in any legislation proposed to confront the coronavirus disease outbreak.

As Congress works on legislation in response to the coronavirus disease outbreak, the ADA is working to ensure that those bills include provisions that are beneficial to dentists — particularly dental practice owners — and their patients.

The Senate and House have passed a coronavirus legislation package that includes three issues important to dentistry that will next head to the White House where President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law.

The American Dental Association and Florida Dental Association have postponed registration for the ADA FDC Annual Meeting from April 22 to early summer, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Congress works on the next coronavirus-related relief package, the ADA and 37 other health care organizations are asking lawmakers to support nonprofit groups in those efforts.

As Congress works on the next COVID-19 relief package, the ADA is asking lawmakers to include a number of provisions to assist the dental profession in recovery efforts.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to determine the prevalence of diabetes and associated cardiovascular outcomes in a contemporary cohort of young individuals presenting with their first myocardial infarction (MI) at age ≤50 years.

You can find all of the same articles in a more visually appealing Blog.  From now on use www.schoolpsychologistfiles.com/blog.  Thanks!

With the Trump administration having announced the end of the DACA program, Congress is facing growing calls to protect unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. This fact sheet examines DREAM Act bills introduced in Congress as of mid-2017, offering estimates of who might earn conditional legal status—and ultimately legal permanent residence—based on educational, professional, and other requirements in the legislation.

This fact sheet compares key components of immigration reform outlined in the 2013 Senate immigration bill against provisions included in bills considered by the Senate in 2006 and 2007: border security, detention, and enforcement; worksite enforcement; visa reforms; earned legalization of unauthorized immigrants; strengthening the U.S. economy and workforce; and integration of new Americans.

MPI has completed an analysis of the major provisions in the 2013 framework, comparing them to provisions of the legislation the Senate considered in 2006 and 2007. 

This fact sheet is formatted as a chart comparing the framework of comprehensive immigration reform outlined in the 2013 Senate immigration bill against provisions included in bills considered by the Senate in 2006 and 2007.

Lawmakers in Hong Kong broke out in a scuffle Friday as they fought over who would take control of a committee.

Tiger Woods says he was hurt by a racist slur from his former caddie Steve Williams, who referred to him as a "black arsehole".

OBJECTIVE

Prevalence and prognostic impact of cardiovascular disease differ between patients with or without diabetes. We aimed to explore differences in the prevalence and prognosis of myocardial ischemia by automated quantification of total perfusion deficit (TPD) among patients with and without diabetes.

What if the government ran more like Silicon Valley? Engineer Matt Cutts shares why he decided to leave Google (where he worked for nearly 17 years) for a career in the US government -- and makes the case that if you really want to make an impact, go where your help is needed most.

Several states this year sought to replace their funding formulas, a monumental fiscal and political feat, but only a handful of legislatures have been able to get proposals to their governors' desks.

Several states this year sought to replace their funding formulas, a monumental fiscal and political feat, but only a handful of legislatures have been able to get proposals to their governors' desks.

A bill in Nebraska would require high school students to take a civics examination before graduating.

Two proposed bills are intended to create a housing-voucher program for full-time teachers employed by the Hawaii education department or at public charter schools.

Washington lawmakers last week reached a deal to lift the state's "levy lid," blunting tighter limits on voter-approved local taxes for schools that were set to take effect this year. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, was expected to sign the legislation that Republicans had criticized.

Celiac disease.

The state's supreme court said last year the state's legislature must come up with more money for its school system by the end of this month. Many predict $534 million won't be enough.

While the court said the state is moving in the right direction, it also said it doesn't feel comfortable closing a funding lawsuit and wants to make sure the state keeps up with the costs of inflation.

Leipzig : G. Thieme, 1890-1891.

Wien : M. Perles, 1878.