Publications by authors named "Tim Li"

: The voluntary recall and ban of several textured breast implant models worldwide, secondary to their association with Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, has limited the key benefit of a textured surface─positional stability. We have engineered a Positionally Stable Smooth Implant (PSSI) containing millimeter-scaled cylindrical wells on the implant surface for capsule ingrowth and device stabilization. : To evaluate the long-term positional stability of PSSI designs and characterize capsule formation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Identification of peripheral nerve injuries of the head and neck can be challenging due to a broad spectrum of symptoms from neuropathic pain to headaches and migraine. This article aimed to present the clinical features and diagnostic workup of patients with acute and chronic peripheral nerve injuries of the head and neck using magnetic resonance neurography (MRN), to demonstrate potential advantages compared with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Patients who presented with suspected peripheral nerve injury were either referred for a conventional MRI or MRN.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Participants kept a sleep diary, wore actigraphy devices, and provided urine samples to measure melatonin levels, with PIPR assessed after exposure to blue and red light.
  • * Findings showed that lower PIPR responses were linked to reduced sleep quality and circadian rhythm function, suggesting age-related changes in light sensitivity may disrupt circadian regulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * This study reveals that tropical Indo-Pacific convection influences Arctic SAT through the movement of Rossby waves, which are affected by sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the Russian Arctic.
  • * Negative SSTA in the Russian Arctic weaken the East Asia westerly jet, enhancing the connection between tropical convection and Arctic temperatures, while positive SSTA disrupt this relationship by strengthening the westerly jet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - This study is the first to investigate the effectiveness and safety of transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) as a treatment for ADHD in young adolescents (ages 12-17) in Hong Kong.
  • - Conducted as a double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial with 30 ADHD-diagnosed participants, evaluations were made before and after TPS treatment as well as at 1 and 3-month follow-ups.
  • - Results showed that the TPS group had a consistent 30% reduction in ADHD symptoms, as measured by SNAP-IV scores, indicating that TPS is a promising and safe add-on treatment for managing ADHD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, clinical correlates and the relationship between hypersomnolence and clinical outcomes in a cohort of MDD patients.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of a MDD cohort in an university-affiliated adult psychiatric outpatient clinic. The diagnosis of MDD and severity of depression were ascertained by the clinician with structured clinical interviews.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There is an emerging potential for digital assessment of depression. In this study, Chinese patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and controls underwent a week of multimodal measurement including actigraphy and app-based measures (D-MOMO) to record rest-activity, facial expression, voice, and mood states. Seven machine-learning models (Random Forest [RF], Logistic regression [LR], Support vector machine [SVM], K-Nearest Neighbors [KNN], Decision tree [DT], Naive Bayes [NB], and Artificial Neural Networks [ANN]) with leave-one-out cross-validation were applied to detect lifetime diagnosis of MDD and non-remission status.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose Of Review: Social media use (SMU) and other internet-based technologies are ubiquitous in today's interconnected society, with young people being among the commonest users. Previous literature tends to support that SMU is associated with poor sleep and mental health issues in youth, despite some conflicting findings. In this scoping review, we summarized relevant studies published within the past 3 years, highlighted the impacts of SMU on sleep and mental health in youth, while also examined the possible underlying mechanisms involved.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The radiographic assessment of bone morphology impacts implant selection and fixation type in total hip arthroplasty (THA) and is important to minimize the risk of periprosthetic femur fracture (PFF). We utilized a deep-learning algorithm to automate femoral radiographic parameters and determined which automated parameters were associated with early PFF.

Methods: Radiographs from a publicly available database and from patients undergoing primary cementless THA at a high-volume institution (2016 to 2020) were obtained.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Objectives: This study examines the (dis)agreement between objective and subjective sleep and their prospective changes in a randomized controlled trial of bright light therapy (BLT) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and eveningness.

Methods: A total of 93 adults were randomized to receive either 30-min daily of 10,000 lux BLT or 50lux placebo dim red light therapy (DRL group) for a total of 5 weeks. Actigraphic data were collected at the baseline and during the last week of treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Transcranial pulse stimulation has been proven effective to improve cognition, memory and depressive symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, but supporting evidence on other neurological diseases or neuropsychiatric disorders remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the effects of transcranial pulse stimulation on the right temporoparietal junction, which is a key node for social cognition for autism spectrum disorder, and to examine the association between transcranial pulse stimulation and executive and social functions. This double-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled trial included 32 participants (27 males), aged 12-17 years with autism spectrum disorder.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

According to twenty-first century climate-model projections, greenhouse warming will intensify rainfall variability and extremes across the globe. However, verifying this prediction using observations has remained a substantial challenge owing to large natural rainfall fluctuations at regional scales. Here we show that deep learning successfully detects the emerging climate-change signals in daily precipitation fields during the observed record.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction/aims: Hourglass-like constrictions (HGCs) of involved nerves in neuralgic amyotrophy (NA) (Parsonage-Turner syndrome) have been increasingly recognized with magnetic resonance neurography (MRN). This study sought to determine the sensitivity of HGCs, detected by MRN, among electromyography (EMG)-confirmed NA cases.

Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed records of patients with the clinical diagnosis of NA, and with EMG confirmation, who underwent 3-Tesla MRN within 90 days of EMG at a single tertiary referral center between 2011 and 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The primary objective of this study is to determine if ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane blocks (ESPB) prior to thoracolumbar spinal fusion reduces opioid consumption in the first 24 hours postoperatively. Secondary objectives include ESPB effects on administration of opioids, utilization of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA), pain scores, length of stay, and opioid related side effects.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was performed on consecutive, adult patients undergoing primary thoracolumbar fusion procedures.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Accurate and rapid identification of implant manufacturer and model is critical in the evaluation and management of patients requiring revision total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). Failure to correctly identify implant designs in these circumstances may lead to delay in care, unexpected intraoperative challenges, increased morbidity, and excess health care costs. Deep learning (DL) permits automated image processing and holds the potential to mitigate such challenges while improving the value of care rendered.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The prevalence of symptoms of anxiety is increasing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. A home use transdermal neurostimulation device might help to minimize the severity of anxiety disorder. To the best of our knowledge, there is no clinical trial using transdermal neurostimulation to treat individuals with symptoms of anxiety in Asia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Insomnia is a common health problem in the general population. There are different ways to improve sleeping habits and quality of sleep; however, there is no clinical trial using transdermal neurostimulation to treat individuals with symptoms of insomnia in Asia. This gives us the impetus to execute the first study in Asia which aims to evaluate the efficacy of Electrical Vestibular Stimulation (VeNS) on individuals with insomnia in Hong Kong.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Sensorimotor performance is influential in Chinese handwriting, but few studies have examined the efficacy of sensorimotor-based interventions on Chinese handwriting among primary school students with poor handwriting performance. The study aims to evaluate a sensorimotor-based intervention to improve handwriting in the mainstream primary schools.

Methods: This study adopted a two-group pretest-posttest design.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

By exciting subtropical teleconnections, sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the North Tropical Atlantic (NTA) during boreal spring can trigger El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events in the following boreal winter, thereby providing a precursor for ENSO predictability. However, this NTA-ENSO connection is not stationary, and it varies considerably over multidecadal timescales, which cannot be directly explained by the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation or the global warming trend. Here we show that multidecadal changes in the NTA-ENSO connection are principally controlled by multidecadal variability associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) has shown promise in enhancing cognitive functions in Alzheimer’s patients, but its effectiveness for major depressive disorder (MDD) had not been previously tested on a wide scale until this trial.
  • - In a 2-week study with 30 participants aged 18-54, who were split into a TPS group and a waitlist control group, results indicated a significant reduction in depressive symptoms for those receiving TPS therapy as measured by the Hamilton depression rating scale-17.
  • - The findings revealed that TPS not only effectively reduced depression severity but also showed strong and lasting effects observed during a follow-up three months post-treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Asian summer monsoon (ASM) is the most energetic circulation system. Projecting its future change is critical for the mitigation and adaptation of billions of people living in the region. There are two important components within the ASM: South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Despite decades of effort, predicting the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) since the 2000s has become increasingly challenging. This is due to the weaker coupling between the ENSO and well-known precursors in tropical ocean basins, particularly in the Indian Ocean. Here we show that the Southern Indian Ocean Dipole (SIOD), which is characterized by an east-west-oriented sea surface temperature dipole pattern over the southern Indian Ocean, has become a key precursor of Central Pacific El Niño since the 2000s with a 14-month lead.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF