Diagnostic conversion to bipolar disorder in unipolar depressed patients in Hong Kong: A 20-year follow-up study.

Background: Bipolar (BP) disorder, especially BP depression is common and yet remains enigmatic until the emergence of mania. The rates and risk factors of conversion from unipolar (UP) depression to BP disorder reported vary.

Objective: To study the long-term conversion rate from UP depression to BP disorder of an inpatient sample and identify the associated risk factors.

White matter integrity in young medication-naïve bipolar II depressed adults.

It is unknown if young medication-naïve bipolar II (BPII) depressed patients have increased white matter (WM) disruptions. 27 each of young (average 23 years) and treatment-naïve BPII depressed, unipolar depressed (UD) patients and age-sex-education matched healthy controls (HC) underwent 3 T MRIs with diffusion tensor imaging. Diagnostic ratings included Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID), Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A).

MegaPath: sensitive and rapid pathogen detection using metagenomic NGS data.

Background: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) enables unbiased detection of pathogens by mapping the sequencing reads of a patient sample to the known reference sequence of bacteria and viruses. However, for a new pathogen without a reference sequence of a close relative, or with a high load of mutations compared to its predecessors, read mapping fails due to a low similarity between the pathogen and reference sequence, which in turn leads to insensitive and inaccurate pathogen detection outcomes.

Results: We developed MegaPath, which runs fast and provides high sensitivity in detecting new pathogens.

Covalent and Non-covalent Conjugation of Few-Layered Graphene Oxide and Ruthenium(II) Complex Hybrids and Their Energy Transfer Modulation via Enzymatic Hydrolysis.

Pyrene-containing ruthenium(II) tris-bipyridine complexes have been prepared. These complexes have been non-covalently attached onto the few-layered graphene oxide (GO) sheets through their high binding affinity for flat π-surfaces. Alternatively, the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets have also been covalently functionalized with the ruthenium(II) tris-bipyridine complex.

MegaGTA: a sensitive and accurate metagenomic gene-targeted assembler using iterative de Bruijn graphs.

Background: The recent release of the gene-targeted metagenomics assembler Xander has demonstrated that using the trained Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to guide the traversal of de Bruijn graph gives obvious advantage over other assembly methods. Xander, as a pilot study, indeed has a lot of room for improvement. Apart from its slow speed, Xander uses only 1 k-mer size for graph construction and whatever choice of k will compromise either sensitivity or accuracy.

Outcome of first-episode acute and transient psychotic disorder in Hong Kong Chinese: a 20-year retrospective follow-up study.

Background: 'Acute and transient psychotic disorder' (ATPD) is a category in ICD-10 marked by psychosis with acute onset and early remission. It remains relatively under-researched, despite controversies over its nosological status in the current classification system.

Aims: (1) To assess the changes in diagnosis over time in patients initially diagnosed as ATPD.

Conceptual issues behind the Chinese translations of the term 'Bipolar Disorder'.

The paper examines the problems of the existing nomenclature in Chinese psychiatry with special reference to the Chinese translation of bipolar disorder in the context of stigma of mental illness in the Chinese culture. The development of the concept of bipolar disorder is reviewed, followed by a critical examination of the accuracy and validity of the current translation of bipolar disorder in the Chinese psychiatric literature. A new translation is suggested with consideration for literal accuracy and social acceptance.

MEGAHIT v1.0: A fast and scalable metagenome assembler driven by advanced methodologies and community practices.

The study of metagenomics has been much benefited from low-cost and high-throughput sequencing technologies, yet the tremendous amount of data generated make analysis like de novo assembly to consume too much computational resources. In late 2014 we released MEGAHIT v0.1 (together with a brief note of Li et al.

The Bipolar II Depression Questionnaire: A Self-Report Tool for Detecting Bipolar II Depression.

Bipolar II (BP-II) depression is often misdiagnosed as unipolar (UP) depression, resulting in suboptimal treatment. Tools for differentiating between these two types of depression are lacking. This study aimed to develop a simple, self-report screening instrument to help distinguish BP-II depression from UP depressive disorder.

Psychometric properties of the Hong Kong Chinese (Cantonese) TEMPS-A in medical students.

Background: The self-rated auto-questionnaire, the Temperament Scale of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego (TEMPS-A) is the latest development in the study of temperamental attributes. It has been used and validated in different cultures and countries. The current study aims at validating the Chinese (Cantonese) version of the TEMPS-A and comparing the psychometric properties of the long and short forms of the translated scale.

Metabolic profile of first and second generation antipsychotics among Chinese patients.

The metabolic profiles of Chinese patients treated with second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) medication and first-generation antipsychotic (FGA) medication were compared. The sample comprised 99 patients treated with SGA (risperidone, olanzapine and ziprasidone) and 99 with FGA (chlorpromazine, haloperidol and trifluoperazine) from the outpatient clinic of a teaching hospital in Hong Kong. The most frequent psychiatric diagnosis was schizophrenia, followed by affective disorder and other psychiatric diagnoses.

Gender differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristic and the quality of life of Chinese schizophrenia patients.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the sociodemographic and clinical correlates of the gender of Chinese schizophrenia outpatients and their impact on patients quality of life (QOL).

Methods: Two hundred and fifty-five clinically stable schizophrenia outpatients were randomly selected in Hong Kong. Counterparts matched according to gender, age, age at onset, and length of illness were recruited in Beijing, China.

Psychometric evaluation of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in a large community sample of adolescents in Hong Kong.

Purpose: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is widely used in adult populations; however, its usefulness with adolescents has been explored less. This study sought to evaluate the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the Chinese version of HADS in a community sample of adolescents residing in Hong Kong.

Methods: A prospective cohort of 5,857 students recruited from 17 secondary schools completed the HADS.

Mental morbidities and chronic fatigue in severe acute respiratory syndrome survivors: long-term follow-up.

Background: Short-term follow-up studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) survivors suggested that their physical conditions continuously improved in the first year but that their mental health did not. We investigated long-term psychiatric morbidities and chronic fatigue among SARS survivors.

Methods: All SARS survivors from the hospitals of a local region in Hong Kong were assessed by a constellation of psychometric questionnaires and a semistructured clinical interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) to determine the presence of psychiatric disorders and chronic fatigue problems.

Prevalence and correlates of insomnia and its impact on quality of life in Chinese schizophrenia patients.

Study Objectives: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the sociodemographic and clinical correlates of insomnia in Chinese schizophrenia outpatients and its impact on patients' quality of life (QOL).

Design: Two hundred fifty-five clinically stable schizophrenia outpatients were randomly selected in Hong Kong and their counterparts matched according to sex, age, age at onset, and length of illness were recruited in Beijing, China. All subjects at both sites were interviewed by the same investigator using standardized assessment instruments.

Long-term use of mood stabilizers and its impact on the quality of life of chinese patients with schizophrenia.

Objectives: To date, no studies have investigated the prescription patterns of mood stabilizers (MSs) in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. This study examined the frequency and sociodemographic and clinical correlates of MS prescription for outpatients with schizophrenia in Hong Kong (HK) and Beijing (BJ), China.

Methods: Five hundred five clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia were randomly selected and interviewed in HK and BJ using standardized assessment instruments.

Modified and unmodified electroconvulsive therapy: a comparison of attitudes between psychiatrists in Beijing and Hong Kong.

Objective: Unmodified electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is still widely practiced in many psychiatric institutions in China. The study reported herein aimed to explore the attitudes of psychiatrists in Beijing toward unmodified and modified ECT and compare them with those of psychiatrists in Hong Kong, where only modified ECT has been used during the past 40 years.

Method: One hundred five psychiatrists of a university-affiliated psychiatric hospital in Beijing and all psychiatrists (n = 238) currently practicing in Hong Kong were invited to complete a questionnaire exploring their attitudes toward unmodified and modified ECT.

Clinical utility and validation of two instruments (the Confusion Assessment Method Algorithm and the Chinese version of Nursing Delirium Screening Scale) to detect delirium in geriatric inpatients.

Objective: There is no valid instrument to aid delirium detection in Hong Kong. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Confusion Assessment Method Diagnostic Algorithm (CAM algorithm) and the bilingual version of Nursing Delirium Screening Scale (Nu-DESC) among geriatric inpatients in a Chinese population.

Methods: Between January and March 2007, 100 newly admitted geriatric patients were assessed by physician and bedside nurses, using the CAM algorithm and bilingual version of Nu-DESC, respectively.

Impact of the priority follow-up system on quality of life in Chinese schizophrenia patients.

Objective: Priority follow up (PFU) is a particular aspect of mental health care in Hong Kong whereby psychiatric patients with a history of violence or suspected proclivity to violence are identified and their management is closely monitored. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of a PFU system on quality of life (QOL) in schizophrenia patients.

Methods: Two hundred and sixty-seven clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia were randomly selected and interviewed in Hong Kong using standardized assessment instruments that covered their clinical condition and QOL.

Impact of sociodemographic and clinical factors on subjective quality of life in schizophrenia patients in Beijing, China.

The impact of sociodemographic and clinical factors on subjective quality of life (SQOL) in Chinese schizophrenia outpatients was explored. Randomly selected subjects with schizophrenia (N = 273) were assessed with respect to their sociodemographic, clinical characteristics, and SQOL. Compared with the Chinese general population, patients had significantly lower scores in the physical and social SQOL domains.