Previous reports showed that bone mass and architecture only partially recovered by remobilization (RM) after immobilization (IM)-induced osteopenia, and that parathyroid hormone (PTH) had an anabolic effect on the skeleton. The aim of this study was to determine whether low doses of PTH could restore IM-induced cortical bone loss and whether a combination of PTH plus loading (RM) treatment would be more effective than the PTH in unloaded (IM) limbs. One hundred and sixty 6-month-old rats were divided into aging and IM groups. The right hindlimb of the rat was immobilized by elastic bandage for 18 weeks, and then groups of rats were either kept IM or RM and treated with 30 microgram or 80 microgram of hPTH(1-38)/kg/day for 2, 10, and 20 weeks. Fluorescent-labeled, undecalcified cross-sections of right tibial shafts were studied. We found that RM for 20 weeks after 18 weeks of IM only partially recovered IM-induced muscle weight loss and PTH had no effect on muscle weight in either IM or RM limbs; that RM for 20 weeks after 18 weeks of IM partially restored some minimal cortical width by stimulating periosteal and endocortical bone formation and decreasing endocortical resorption; that PTH treatment of IM limbs completely restored IM-induced cortical bone loss and added extra bone by stimulating bone formation indices on all bone surfaces and depressing bone resorption on endocortical surface; that PTH treatment of RM limbs produced similar anabolic effects as in IM limbs with 30 microgram/kg/day dose but the 80 microgram/kg/day dose-treated limbs had a higher periosteal bone formation rate, which created a larger cross-sectional area, more cortical bone area, and a thicker cortex than the same dose treated IM limbs; and that PTH 80 microgram/kg/day treatment produced more anabolic effect than the 30 microgram/kg/day in both IM and RM limbs. We concluded that reloading the hindlimb by RM after long-term IM could not recover the cortical bone mass. PTH at employed doses was able to completely restore IM-induced cortical bone loss, and this effect was independent of mechanical stimulation. However, when PTH was combined with mechanical loading (RM), a synergistic anabolic effect on periosteal bone formation occurred which increased the cross sectional area that can increase bone strength.

The Hong Kong Special Administration Region Government is promoting the use of Information Technology (IT) in education. A two-year IT-pilot scheme was launched among 10 primary and 10 secondary schools. This project aimed to study the planning and implementation of the pilot schools by adopting a case-study approach. Nine primary schools were studied. Data were collected via interviews, observations, and examinations of artefacts such as teaching plans, school web sites, and samples of students' work. A typical primary pilot school had two multimedia computer rooms, computer(s) in each classroom, and computers for teachers. All computers were connected to a LAN and the Internet. The findings of the study indicated that some formal school policies were emerging while the others were articulating. Some teachers accessed regularly to the IT facilities in their work especially for those schools provide individual portable computer and ceiling-mount digital projector in each classroom. Most students used computer once a week in computer awareness lessons. Most schools were planning to integrate IT to all primary curricular areas by developing or selecting courseware materials. Most schools were organising school-based training for developing teachers' competencies in using technology for teaching. Implications of these findings were discussed.

Background. Posttransplantation bone disease is a well-described phenomenon; among its etiology is immunosuppressant-induced bone disease. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) has emerged as a promising new immunosuppressant. Our study was designed to investigate the effect of MMF on in vivo bone mineral metabolism.Methods. Twenty-four 6-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into two groups to receive either MMF vehicle daily for 28 days or 30 mg/kg MMF daily for 28 days. The serum was assayed for osteocalcin and 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D-3. Subsequent to double-labeling, the right tibiae were removed on day 28 for histomorphometry.Results. MMF suppressed bone gla protein (osteocalcin) levels on days 14 and 28 (P<0.05). Except for percentage osteoid perimeter, there was no difference in bone histomorphometry between the two groups,Conclusion, In this relatively short-term study, MMF did not cause osteopenia in the rat model, but the suppressed bone gla protein merits further study.

In this study, we evaluated the rat cortical bone changes after a two‐cycle, 60‐day each (ON/OFF/ON/OFF) treatment with either prostaglandin E2 (OVX/c‐PGE2) alone or in combination with risedronate (OVX/c‐PGE2+Ris), in comparison with daily treatment with PGE2 for 240 days (OVX/PGE2−240d) in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. At the end of the study, we found that: (1) the overall effectiveness of the treatment on bone mass in the tibial shaft indicates the following ranking: OVX/PGE2−240d = OVX/c‐PGE2+Ris > OVX/c‐PGE2 > OVX/c‐Ris ≥ OVX = aging; (2) the same bone mass and architecture were produced in the OVX/PGE2−240d and the OVX/c‐PGE2+Ris groups, but the histomorphometric profiles differed in that the former exhibited a higher bone turnover and index of resorption; (3) OVX/c‐PGE2+Ris treatment prevented endocortical bone loss and minimized trabecular bone loss during the OFF periods; and (4) the OVX/c‐PGE2 alone treatment resulted in the accumulation of less total bone than OVX/PGE2−240d and OVX/c‐PGE2+Ris because it could not maintain most of the new subendocortical and marrow trabecular bone generated earlier. In summary, both continuous daily PGE2 and two cycles ON/OFF combined PGE2 and Ris treatments result in more bone mass than two cycles ON/OFF PGE2 alone and Ris alone in estrogen‐deficient rats. This study showed that the anabolic effects of PGE2 can be induced and maintained either by continuous administration or by cyclical PGE2+Ris.

BACKGROUND:The skeletal impact of estrogen deficiency on subjects with hypertension has not been studied previously. In this study, we examined the skeletal characteristics of female spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and their normotensive genetic control Wistar-Kyoto rat (WKY). We aimed to reveal: 1) the skeletal characters of female SHR, and 2) the response of SHR to ovariectomy (ovx) when compared to WKY and other strains.METHODS:Undecalcified double-fluorescent labeled cancellous (proximal tibial metaphysis, PTM) and cortical (tibial shaft, TX) bones from 23-weeks-old, and from rats 2 and 8 weeks post-ovx were studied.RESULTS:The SHR showed lower body weight, higher heart rate, and higher blood pressure than the WKY. Female SHR possessed more percent cancellous bone, less net cortical bone, smaller tissue area, and thinner cortex than WKY. Furthermore, SHR exhibited an age-related cancellous (-18%) and cortical (-7%) bone loss associated with a decrease in the longitudinal growth rate and bone balance and a decrease in periosteal bone formation in cortical bone. In contrast, the WKY maintained most of these parameters unchanged at their 23-week-old levels. Ovariectomy induced earlier and greater cancellous bone loss in the SHR than in the WKY, with greater increases in bone turnover rate, eroded surface, activation frequency, and a decrease in the ratio of labeled to eroded perimeter in PTM at 2 weeks postsurgery. However, the two groups exhibited no differences in bone loss at 8 weeks after ovx in PTM and TX.CONCLUSIONS:Spontaneously hypertensive rats were highly sensitive to estrogen deficiency. This might have clinical relevance to those postmenopausal women who suffer from hypertension, in that they may be more susceptible to osteopenia. If so, preventive measures should be initiated sooner than otherwise.

The existing framework of teachers' information technology (IT) training in Hong Kong, with a series of programmes aiming to develop teachers' IT competency at Basic (BIT), Upper Intermediate (UIT) and Advanced (AIT) Levels, was launched under the Five-year Information Technology in Education (ITEd) Strategy in 1998. With the inception of the IT in education strategy in 2004, it is anticipated that more emphasis should be centered upon using IT to enhance teaching and learning as well as the development of students' information literacy and high-order thinking. In light of this, revamping the teacher professional development framework is thus of paramount importance. A Joint Consultation Service Team (JCST) from CUHK, HKBU, HKIED and HKU has been formed and is now undertaking a consultancy service for Information Technology in Education Section, EMB. The outcome of this service would be a proposal for the revamp of teachers' information technology (IT) training framework. Thus, this consultation seminar endeavours to solicit opinions from the stakeholders and to establish a rapport and a dialogue with frontline teachers regarding the proposed revamped framework