Patients’ perceptions on non‐specific effects of acupuncture: Qualitative comparison between responders and non‐responders

Ho Robin S.T.,Ho Fai Fai,Adams Jon,Cramer Holger,Leung Brenda,Ward Lesley,Zhang Yan,Chung Vincent C.H. 한국한의학연구원 2022 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.11 No.1

Background: Non-specific effect of acupuncture constitutes part of the overall effect generated via clinical encounter beyond needle insertion and stimulation. It is unclear how responders and non-responders of acupuncture experience non-specific effects differently. We aimed to compare their experiences in a nested qualitative study embedded in an acupuncture randomized trial on functional dyspepsia. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to capture experience of responders (n=15) and non-responders (n=15) to acupuncture via individual in-depth interviews. Design and analysis followed a framework analysis approach, with reference to an existing model on acupuncture non-specific effects. Themes emerging outside of this model were purposefully explored. Results: Responders had a more trusting relationship with acupuncturist in response to their expression of empathy. In turn they were more actively engaged in lifestyle modifications and dietary advice offered by acupuncturists. Non-responders were not satisfied with the level of reassurance regarding acupuncture safety. They were also expecting more peer support from fellow participants, regarded that as an empowerment process for initiating and sustaining lifestyle changes. Conclusions: Our results highlighted key differences in acupuncture non-specific effect components experienced by responders and non-responders. Positive non-specific effects contributing to overall benefits could be enhanced by emphasizing on empathy expression from acupuncturists, trust-building, offering appropriate explanations on safety, and organizing patient support groups. Further research on the relative importance of each component is warranted. Background: Non-specific effect of acupuncture constitutes part of the overall effect generated via clinical encounter beyond needle insertion and stimulation. It is unclear how responders and non-responders of acupuncture experience non-specific effects differently. We aimed to compare their experiences in a nested qualitative study embedded in an acupuncture randomized trial on functional dyspepsia. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to capture experience of responders (n=15) and non-responders (n=15) to acupuncture via individual in-depth interviews. Design and analysis followed a framework analysis approach, with reference to an existing model on acupuncture non-specific effects. Themes emerging outside of this model were purposefully explored. Results: Responders had a more trusting relationship with acupuncturist in response to their expression of empathy. In turn they were more actively engaged in lifestyle modifications and dietary advice offered by acupuncturists. Non-responders were not satisfied with the level of reassurance regarding acupuncture safety. They were also expecting more peer support from fellow participants, regarded that as an empowerment process for initiating and sustaining lifestyle changes. Conclusions: Our results highlighted key differences in acupuncture non-specific effect components experienced by responders and non-responders. Positive non-specific effects contributing to overall benefits could be enhanced by emphasizing on empathy expression from acupuncturists, trust-building, offering appropriate explanations on safety, and organizing patient support groups. Further research on the relative importance of each component is warranted.

Toyota: The Innovator from The Future

Fung Ho Yin,Ho Tsun Ki Vincent,Cheung Wing Yin Christy,Lee Mui Fong Heather Academy of Asian Business (AAB) 2021 Academy of Asian Business Review Vol.7 No.1

Toyota is a good example of a successful Asian brand which has remained one of the leading automotive brands worldwide. Shadowed by its glory, Toyota’s suffering from failure and surmounting obstacles have been mostly neglected. The upturning of Toyota is an exemplary model to be referenced on how Asian brands glide in triumph and hurdle barriers in their paths. Despite experiencing geopolitical and financial crises, Toyota’s quick resilience, learning from their mistakes, and utilizing future opportunities and innovation have allowed them to remain one of the leaders among the automotive industry. This article contributes insights into Toyota’s resilience after various crises from a holistic perspective. Also, it sheds light how Toyota differentiates itself from other competitors and hence possibly inspires Asian companies to understand and appreciate Toyota’s accomplishments from a new angle. Toyota is a good example of a successful Asian brand which has remained one of the leading automotive brands worldwide. Shadowed by its glory, Toyota’s suffering from failure and surmounting obstacles have been mostly neglected. The upturning of Toyota is an exemplary model to be referenced on how Asian brands glide in triumph and hurdle barriers in their paths. Despite experiencing geopolitical and financial crises, Toyota’s quick resilience, learning from their mistakes, and utilizing future opportunities and innovation have allowed them to remain one of the leaders among the automotive industry. This article contributes insights into Toyota’s resilience after various crises from a holistic perspective. Also, it sheds light how Toyota differentiates itself from other competitors and hence possibly inspires Asian companies to understand and appreciate Toyota’s accomplishments from a new angle.

A Hybrid Macrocycle with a Pyridine Subunit Displays Aromatic Character upon Uranyl Cation Complexation

Ho, I-Ting,Zhang, Zhan,Ishida, Masatoshi,Lynch, Vincent M.,Cha, Won-Young,Sung, Young Mo,Kim, Dongho,Sessler, Jonathan L. American Chemical Society 2014 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY - Vol.136 No.11

<P>Reported here is a new hybrid macrocycle, cyclo[1]furan[1]pyridine[4]pyrrole (<B>1</B>), that bears analogy to the previously reported mixed heterocycle system cyclo[2]pyridine[4]pyrrole (<B>2</B>) and cyclo[6]pyrrole <B>3</B>, an all-pyrrole 22 π-electron aromatic expanded porphyrin. The oxidized, dianionic form of <B>1</B>, [<B>1</B> – 4H]<SUP>2–</SUP>, has been characterized as its uranyl complex. In contrast to <B>2</B> and <B>3</B> and in spite of the presence of a 2,6-disubstituted pyridine subunit, the uranyl complex of [<B>1</B> – 4H]<SUP>2–</SUP> displays solid-state structural and solution-phase spectroscopic features consistent with contributions to the overall electronic structure that involve a conjugated, (4<I>n</I> + 2) π-electron aromatic periphery.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/jacsat/2014/jacsat.2014.136.issue-11/ja412520g/production/images/medium/ja-2013-12520g_0014.gif'></P><P><A href='http://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/ja412520g'>ACS Electronic Supporting Info</A></P>

The influence of CEO equity incentives on licensing

O'Connell, Vincent,Lee, Jong-Ho,O'Sullivan, Don Elsevier 2018 European Management Journal Vol.36 No.2

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>In a study of life science firms, we find that, in accordance with predictions drawn from agency theory and behavioral agency theory, CEO stock ownership is negatively associated with licensing while CEO stock options are positively associated with licensing. Furthermore, by combining theoretical insights from the capabilities literature with both agency theory and behavioral agency theory, we predict that a key measure of capabilities in the licensing context—a firm's alliance experience—significantly influences the ways in which CEO equity incentives impact licensing. More specifically, we find that, in accordance with our theoretical predictions, alliance experience positively (negatively) moderates the relationship between CEO stock ownership (CEO stock options) and licensing. Our study contributes to the wider literature on the determinants of licensing by examining whether licensing is sensitive to CEO equity incentives. We also extend the capabilities literature on licensing by examining the contrasting influences of a firm's alliance experience on the relationship between CEO equity incentives and licensing. Our findings also inform behavioral agency-based research on the effects of equity incentives by highlighting the usefulness of a capabilities perspective in augmenting our understanding of the behavioral role of CEO equity incentives.</P>

Evaluating traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic instruments for functional dyspepsia: systematic review on measurement properties

Leonard TF Ho,Vincent C.H. Chung,Charlene H.L. Wong,Irene XY Wu,Kun Chan Lan,Darong Wu,Jerry WF Yeung,Nevin L Zhang,Ting Hung Leung,Justin C Y Wu 한국한의학연구원 2021 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.10 No.3

Background: Pattern diagnosis-guided treatments in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been recognised by the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). Accurate pattern diagnosis requires reliable and valid diagnostic instruments that guide the collection of TCM clinical data without bias. This study synthesised the existing TCM diagnostic instruments for functional dyspepsia (FD) and appraised their quality regarding their development process and measurement properties. Methods: Seven electronic databases were searched for validation studies on TCM diagnostic instruments for FD. Synthesis and appraisal of the included studies were performed following the COSMIN (COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments) Initiative guidelines adapted for TCM diagnostic instruments. Risk of bias assessment was conducted using the COSMIN Risk of Bias Checklist. Results: Five studies were included, with five unique TCM diagnostic instruments for FD identified. All five diagnostic instruments were of inadequate quality in terms of their development process, implying a shortcoming in their relevance, comprehensibility, and comprehensiveness. Only the criterion validity of Stomach Qi Deficiency Pattern Assessment Scale was of sufficient quality and had no risk of bias in its validation. Conclusion: The quality of TCM diagnostic instruments for FD warrants urgent improvements. None of them was considered reliable or valid for guiding TCM pattern diagnosis. To support the evidence base of the standardization of TCM patterns in ICD-11, TCM diagnostic instruments should be developed and validated rigorously under the COSMIN guidelines. Amendments should be made on the guidelines to accommodate the features and uniqueness of TCM diagnostic process.

Geometric Regualrization of Irregular Building Polygons: A Comparative Study

Sohn, Gun-Ho,Jwa, Yoon-Seok,Tao, Vincent,Cho, Woo-Sug Korean Society of Surveying 2007 한국측량학회지 Vol.25 No.6

3D buildings are the most prominent feature comprising urban scene. A few of mega-cities in the globe are virtually reconstructed in photo-realistic 3D models, which becomes accessible by the public through the state-of-the-art online mapping services. A lot of research efforts have been made to develop automatic reconstruction technique of large-scale 3D building models from remotely sensed data. However, existing methods still produce irregular building polygons due to errors induced partly by uncalibrated sensor system, scene complexity and partly inappropriate sensor resolution to observed object scales. Thus, a geometric regularization technique is urgently required to rectify such irregular building polygons that are quickly captured from low sensory data. This paper aims to develop a new method for regularizing noise building outlines extracted from airborne LiDAR data, and to evaluate its performance in comparison with existing methods. These include Douglas-Peucker's polyline simplication, total least-squared adjustment, model hypothesis-verification, and rule-based rectification. Based on Minimum Description Length (MDL) principal, a new objective function, Geometric Minimum Description Length (GMDL), to regularize geometric noises is introduced to enhance the repetition of identical line directionality, regular angle transition and to minimize the number of vertices used. After generating hypothetical regularized models, a global optimum of the geometric regularity is achieved by verifying the entire solution space. A comparative evaluation of the proposed geometric regulator is conducted using both simulated and real building vectors with various levels of noise. The results show that the GMDL outperforms the selected existing algorithms at the most of noise levels.

Workplace Problems and Coping Strategies for Police in South Korea and the United States

Merry Morash,Sun Ho Cho,Seok Jin Jeong,Vincent J. Hoffman 아시아경찰학회 2006 Asia Pacific Journal of Police & Criminal Justice Vol.4 No.1

  The present study compared workplace problems and coping strategies of South Korean and U.S. police. Data were from surveys of 700 South Korean and 849 U.S. officers. Women and men in both countries experience a similar lack influence on how policing accomplished. There are more national differences than gender differences. South Korean police see the least opportunity for advancement, and South Korean women report the highest levels of harassment and stigmatization. U.S. Caucasian male police officers and African American police officers, and to somewhat a lesser extent U.S. Caucasian female officers have the least workplace problems. Perhaps because they experience more problems, South Korean officers are more active than those in the U.S in using several different kinds of coping strategies.

Overview of systematic reviews with meta-analyses on acupuncture in post-stroke cognitive impairment and depression management

Caroline Yik-fong Hung,Xin-yin Wu,Vincent Chi-ho Chung,Endy Chun-hung Tang,Justin Che-yuen Wu,Alexander Yuk-lun Lau 한국한의학연구원 2019 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.8 No.3

Background: Acupuncture has been using as an alternative non-pharmacological therapy in the management of post stroke depression and cognitive impairment but its effectiveness and safety remain controversial. We conducted an overview of systematic reviews with meta-analyses to evaluate the evidence on the effect of acupuncture in the treatment of stroke with conventional medicine intervention. Methods: Systematic reviews summarized the treatment effects of acupuncture for post stroke cognitive impairment and post stroke depression were considered eligible. Methodological quality of included systematic reviews was assessed using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2). Results: Four systematic reviews on post stroke cognitive impairment and ten systematic reviews on post stroke depression with good methodological quality were included. Meta-analyses revealed that acupuncture plus cognitive rehabilitation; and acupuncture or moxibustion plus cognitive rehabilitation, versus cognitive rehabilitation demonstrated statistically significant increase in Mini-Mental State Examination scores in compared to cognitive rehabilitation after 4 weeks treatment [Pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) = 3.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.06 to 4.21, I2 = 36%]; and (Pooled WMD = 3.22, 95% CI = 2.09 to 4.34, I2 = 0%). Furthermore, acupuncture versus antidepressant demonstrated statistically significant improve depression measured by increasing in 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale in comparing to cognitive rehabilitation after 2 weeks treatment (Pooled WMD= -2.34, 95% CI= -3.46 to -1.22, I2 = 5%). Acupuncture usage was not associated with increased risk of adverse events. Conclusions: Acupuncture is safe and improves cognitive function and depressive disorder without obvious serious adverse events for post stroke patients.

CT Based 3-Dimensional Treatment Planning of Intracavitary Brachytherapy for Cancer of the Cervix : Comparison between Dose-Volume Histograms and ICRU Point Doses to the Rectum and Bladder

Hashim, Natasha,Jamalludin, Zulaikha,Ung, Ngie Min,Ho, Gwo Fuang,Malik, Rozita Abdul,Ee Phua, Vincent Chee Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.13

Background: CT based brachytherapy allows 3-dimensional (3D) assessment of organs at risk (OAR) doses with dose volume histograms (DVHs). The purpose of this study was to compare computed tomography (CT) based volumetric calculations and International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) reference-point estimates of radiation doses to the bladder and rectum in patients with carcinoma of the cervix treated with high-dose-rate (HDR) intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT). Materials and Methods: Between March 2011 and May 2012, 20 patients were treated with 55 fractions of brachytherapy using tandem and ovoids and underwent post-implant CT scans. The external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) dose was 48.6Gy in 27 fractions. HDR brachytherapy was delivered to a dose of 21 Gy in three fractions. The ICRU bladder and rectum point doses along with 4 additional rectal points were recorded. The maximum dose ($D_{Max}$) to rectum was the highest recorded dose at one of these five points. Using the HDRplus 2.6 brachyhtherapy treatment planning system, the bladder and rectum were retrospectively contoured on the 55 CT datasets. The DVHs for rectum and bladder were calculated and the minimum doses to the highest irradiated 2cc area of rectum and bladder were recorded ($D_{2cc}$) for all individual fractions. The mean $D_{2cc}$ of rectum was compared to the means of ICRU rectal point and rectal $D_{Max}$ using the Student's t-test. The mean $D_{2cc}$ of bladder was compared with the mean ICRU bladder point using the same statistical test. The total dose, combining EBRT and HDR brachytherapy, were biologically normalized to the conventional 2 Gy/fraction using the linear-quadratic model. (${\alpha}/{\beta}$ value of 10 Gy for target, 3 Gy for organs at risk). Results: The total prescribed dose was $77.5Gy{\alpha}/{\beta}10$. The mean dose to the rectum was $4.58{\pm}1.22Gy$ for $D_{2cc}$, $3.76{\pm}0.65Gy$ at $D_{ICRU}$ and $4.75{\pm}1.01Gy$ at $D_{Max}$. The mean rectal $D_{2cc}$ dose differed significantly from the mean dose calculated at the ICRU reference point (p<0.005); the mean difference was 0.82 Gy (0.48-1.19Gy). The mean EQD2 was $68.52{\pm}7.24Gy_{{\alpha}/{\beta}3}$ for $D_{2cc}$, $61.71{\pm}2.77Gy_{{\alpha}/{\beta}3}$ at $D_{ICRU}$ and $69.24{\pm}6.02Gy_{{\alpha}/{\beta}3}$ at $D_{Max}$. The mean ratio of $D_{2cc}$ rectum to $D_{ICRU}$ rectum was 1.25 and the mean ratio of $D_{2cc}$ rectum to $D_{Max}$ rectum was 0.98 for all individual fractions. The mean dose to the bladder was $6.00{\pm}1.90Gy$ for $D_{2cc}$ and $5.10{\pm}2.03Gy$ at $D_{ICRU}$. However, the mean $D_{2cc}$ dose did not differ significantly from the mean dose calculated at the ICRU reference point (p=0.307); the mean difference was 0.90 Gy (0.49-1.25Gy). The mean EQD2 was $81.85{\pm}13.03Gy_{{\alpha}/{\beta}3}$ for $D_{2cc}$ and $74.11{\pm}19.39Gy_{{\alpha}/{\beta}3}$ at $D_{ICRU}$. The mean ratio of $D_{2cc}$ bladder to $D_{ICRU}$ bladder was 1.24. In the majority of applications, the maximum dose point was not the ICRU point. On average, the rectum received 77% and bladder received 92% of the prescribed dose. Conclusions: OARs doses assessed by DVH criteria were higher than ICRU point doses. Our data suggest that the estimated dose to the ICRU bladder point may be a reasonable surrogate for the $D_{2cc}$ and rectal $D_{Max}$ for $D_{2cc}$. However, the dose to the ICRU rectal point does not appear to be a reasonable surrogate for the $D_{2cc}$.

New Drugs; Pharmacological Advantage and Clinical Impact : A Phase I/IIa, Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial of a Novel Antiviral Agent, LB80380 in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Infection

( Man Fung Yuen ),( John Kim ),( Danny Ka Ho Wang ),( Vincent Wing Shun Ngai ),( John Chi Hang Yuen ),( Ching Lung Lai ) 대한간학회 2004 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology(대한간학회지) Vol.10 No.1(S)