關於 why medical research is important ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

今早為Asian Medical Students Association Hong Kong (AMSAHK)的新一屆執行委員會就職典禮作致詞分享嘉賓，題目為「疫情中的健康不公平」。
感謝他們的熱情款待以及為整段致詞拍了影片。以下我附上致詞的英文原稿：

It's been my honor to be invited to give the closing remarks for the Inauguration Ceremony for the incoming executive committee of the Asian Medical Students' Association Hong Kong (AMSAHK) this morning. A video has been taken for the remarks I made regarding health inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic (big thanks to the student who withstood the soreness of her arm for holding the camera up for 15 minutes straight), and here's the transcript of the main body of the speech that goes with this video:

//The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, continues to be rampant around the world since early 2020, resulting in more than 55 million cases and 1.3 million deaths worldwide as of today. (So no! It’s not a hoax for those conspiracy theorists out there!) A higher rate of incidence and deaths, as well as worse health-related quality of life have been widely observed in the socially disadvantaged groups, including people of lower socioeconomic position, older persons, migrants, ethnic minority and communities of color, etc. While epidemiologists and scientists around the world are dedicated in gathering scientific evidence on the specific causes and determinants of the health inequalities observed in different countries and regions, we can apply the Social Determinants of Health Conceptual Framework developed by the World Health Organization team led by the eminent Prof Sir Michael Marmot, world’s leading social epidemiologist, to understand and delineate these social determinants of health inequalities related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to this framework, social determinants of health can be largely categorized into two types – 1) the lower stream, intermediary determinants, and 2) the upper stream, structural and macro-environmental determinants. For the COVID-19 pandemic, we realized that the lower stream factors may include material circumstances, such as people’s living and working conditions. For instance, the nature of the occupations of these people of lower socioeconomic position tends to require them to travel outside to work, i.e., they cannot work from home, which is a luxury for people who can afford to do it. This lack of choice in the location of occupation may expose them to greater risk of infection through more transportation and interactions with strangers. We have also seen infection clusters among crowded places like elderly homes, public housing estates, and boarding houses for foreign domestic helpers. Moreover, these socially disadvantaged people tend to have lower financial and social capital – it can be observed that they were more likely to be deprived of personal protective equipment like face masks and hand sanitizers, especially during the earlier days of the pandemic. On the other hand, the upper stream, structural determinants of health may include policies related to public health, education, macroeconomics, social protection and welfare, as well as our governance… and last, but not least, our culture and values. If the socioeconomic and political contexts are not favorable to the socially disadvantaged, their health and well-being will be disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Therefore, if we, as a society, espouse to address and reduce the problem of health inequalities, social determinants of health cannot be overlooked in devising and designing any public health-related strategies, measures and policies.

Although a higher rate of incidence and deaths have been widely observed in the socially disadvantaged groups, especially in countries with severe COVID-19 outbreaks, this phenomenon seems to be less discussed and less covered by media in Hong Kong, where the disease incidence is relatively low when compared with other countries around the world. Before the resurgence of local cases in early July, local spread of COVID-19 was sporadic and most cases were imported. In the earlier days of the pandemic, most cases were primarily imported by travelers and return-students studying overseas, leading to a minor surge between mid-March and mid-April of 874 new cases. Most of these cases during Spring were people who could afford to travel and study abroad, and thus tended to be more well-off. Therefore, some would say the expected social gradient in health impact did not seem to exist in Hong Kong, but may I remind you that, it is only the case when we focus on COVID-19-specific incidence and mortality alone. But can we really deduce from this that COVID-19-related health inequality does not exist in Hong Kong? According to the Social Determinants of Health Framework mentioned earlier, the obvious answer is “No, of course not.” And here’s why…

In addition to the direct disease burden, the COVID-19 outbreak and its associated containment measures (such as economic lockdown, mandatory social distancing, and change of work arrangements) could have unequal wider socioeconomic impacts on the general population, especially in regions with pervasive existing social inequalities. Given the limited resources and capacity of the socioeconomically disadvantaged to respond to emergency and adverse events, their general health and well-being are likely to be unduly and inordinately affected by the abrupt changes in their daily economic and social conditions, like job loss and insecurity, brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak and the corresponding containment and mitigation measures of which the main purpose was supposedly disease prevention and health protection at the first place. As such, focusing only on COVID-19 incidence or mortality as the outcomes of concern to address health inequalities may leave out important aspects of life that contributes significantly to people’s health. Recently, my research team and I collaborated with Sir Michael Marmot in a Hong Kong study, and found that the poor people in Hong Kong fared worse in every aspects of life than their richer counterparts in terms of economic activity, personal protective equipment, personal hygiene practice, as well as well-being and health after the COVID-19 outbreak. We also found that part of the observed health inequality can be attributed to the pandemic and its related containment measures via people’s concerns over their own and their families’ livelihood and economic activity. In other words, health inequalities were contributed by the pandemic even in a city where incidence is relatively low through other social determinants of health that directly concerned the livelihood and economic activity of the people. So in this study, we confirmed that focusing only on the incident and death cases as the outcomes of concern to address health inequalities is like a story half-told, and would severely truncate and distort the reality.

Truth be told, health inequality does not only appear after the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, it is a pre-existing condition in countries and regions around the world, including Hong Kong. My research over the years have consistently shown that people in lower socioeconomic position tend to have worse physical and mental health status. Nevertheless, precisely because health inequality is nothing new, there are always voices in our society trying to dismiss the problem, arguing that it is only natural to have wealth inequality in any capitalistic society. However, in reckoning with health inequalities, we need to go beyond just figuring out the disparities or differences in health status between the poor and the rich, and we need to raise an ethically relevant question: are these inequalities, disparities and differences remediable? Can they be fixed? Can we do something about them? If they are remediable, and we can do something about them but we haven’t, then we’d say these inequalities are ultimately unjust and unfair. In other words, a society that prides itself in pursuing justice must, and I say must, strive to address and reduce these unfair health inequalities. Borrowing the words from famed sociologist Judith Butler, “the virus alone does not discriminate,” but “social and economic inequality will make sure that it does.” With COVID-19, we learn that it is not only the individuals who are sick, but our society. And it’s time we do something about it.

Thank you very much!//

Please join me in congratulating the incoming executive committee of AMSAHK and giving them the best wishes for their future endeavor!

Roger Chung, PhD
Assistant Professor, CUHK JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, @CUHK Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong 香港中文大學 - CUHK
Associate Director, CUHK Institute of Health Equity

ทำไม เยอรมนี จึงเป็นประเทศแห่ง วิศวกรรม? / โดย ลงทุนแมน
“เยอรมนี” ประเทศที่เป็นสุดยอดแห่งความก้าวหน้าทางวิศวกรรม
ตั้งแต่เครื่องใช้ไฟฟ้า เครื่องจักร ยานยนต์ ไปจนถึงระบบอาณัติสัญญาณรถไฟฟ้า

เครื่องมือเครื่องใช้สัญชาติเยอรมันถึงแม้จะมีราคาสูง...
Continue ReadingWhy is Germany a country of engineering? / By Investing Man
′′ Germany ′′ the top country of engineering advancement
From electrical appliances, automotive to mandatory system, electric car signals.

German Citizenship Tools Even With High Prices
But it comes with more performance, durability and innovation than anyone.

Many companies that are even over 100 years old.
But these German brands still guarantee their unmatched quality and expertise.

And where does Germany's engineering progress come from?

Welcome to the article series ′′ Branding the Nation ′′ branding instead of country.
Episode why is Germany a country of engineering?
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Investman wants to take everyone back to the 19th century industrial revolution era.

As many people already know that
Britain is the first country in the world to have an industrial revolution since July. B.E. 1780
Followed by Belgium and France

While the economy of other countries in Europe is turning through to progress.
Germany just reunited countries by land which is now Germany. Just completely united for the first time on July. Year 1871 which is the same as the reign of King Rama 5 of the Kingdom of Siam.

From the gathering of German tribes led by the Northern Prussian Kingdom.
With little and big south under the lead of Emperor Wilhelm 1
And Prime Minister Ottoffon Bi Mark

The industrial revolution later made Germans not want to waste their time. Try wrong, try right.
To develop the country to thrive.

The important thing in this regard is to put the process of education and research systematically, therefore, the government puts ′′ education reform ′′ first.

Even many European countries have founded the university since medieval times.
But Europe's academics won't be much involved in the business and industry.

Academics are posing as ′′ gentlemen ′′ not doing business and not messing with industrial sector.
The mechanics, technicians, or anyone involved in the industrial sector will be seen as lower than academics.

But German education doesn't look that way..

With Germany's absence of colony and its revolutionizing industrial slower than many countries.
The only thing that could make the Empire that was recently advanced further than others.
It's scientific advancement, especially in ′′ applied science

Under the lead of Bismarck, huge educational budgeting occurred.
Educational welfare is founded in technical college.
Educational emphasis on Technician and Engineering Career Specifically

Berlin's Technical College of Berlin was established in Year B.E. 1879
Developed from the college of mining that was founded in kho. B.E. 1770
This place is currently the Technical University of Berlin (Technische Universität Berlin)

Apart from Berlin
Technical universities are also established at other states around the country during the evacuation time.
Technical University of Darmstutt, established in July. B.E. 1877
Hannopher Technical University established in July B.E. 1879

Having a unique university in Technician and Engineering
Make a lot of workforce and technicians
When these workers graduate, they can enter into industrial sector immediately.

Government also supports universities to cooperate with industrial sector.
There is a collaborative research between academics and businessmen in industry circles.

Engineering research is easily implemented in the business world.
When businesses can make profit, they give money back to support research.
Later on, many big companies start having their own research and development institutions.

Germany's engineering development is growing in a leap.
Especially in the steel industry.

The German Empire Steel Industry Center is located around the Roore River Valley.
Aka Ruhrgebiet (Ruhrgebiet) which is west of the country.
This area is a major source of iron and coal mineral, with an epicenter in Esseen.

But originally, most steel industries use mild steel, these iron are fragile.
Make it not yet applied for much use.

For steel to be stronger and more durable, it is necessary to transform the chemical structure of steel by fusing and filling the mineral into steel.

But ironing requires a very high temperature at the moment, no effective and cost effective stove for production.

How to produce Siemens-Martin Steel
Which was invented in July. 1865 by 2 researchers
One of them is German named Sir Carl Wilhelm Siemens
Created an accelerated steel squid oven that can heat up to 1,500 degrees Celsius.
It's called a pan stove or open hearth furnace.

With education system that strongly connects research and industrial sector.
Not long ago, German steel company brought a new refiner.
xỳāng rwdrĕw application in the steel industry

Led by steel company called ′′ Krupp ′′

Krupp company founded by the Krupp family has a history back to mid 16th century.
There is an office located in Esseen during which German railway expands rapidly.
Esen City becomes the center of the steel industry.
Krupp company also leads to manufacturing metal-based products such as railroad tracks and locomotives.

Alfred Krupp has funded research to find out how to produce steel.
Scholarship to the scholars when a new refiner comes out successfully.
Krupp company has become a leader in global export steel production.
From railroad tracks, development to machinery and factories.

Not long ago, Germany was on board, Europe's major steel manufacturer overtakes England.

Krupp company currently has merged with Thyssen steel company.
Became a ′′ Thyssenkrupp ′′ company.

Even the steel industry is going to lower the role.
But Thyssenkrupp has continued to be a leader in engine parts.
Aircraft, elevator and escalator components.

Apart from the steel industry, another industry in which German engineering knowledge has advanced over many countries during the same time is the electrical industry.
Led by a company called ′′ Siemens ′′

Founder of this company is Werner von Siemens Berlin electric engineer
This is the real brother of Sir Carl Wilhelm Siemens who invented steel production methods.

Werner von Siemens has automatically invented a typed telegram system.
Instead of knocking, using Morse code, then founded Siemens company in July. B.E. 1847

Siemens company has expanded its business across Europe and USA.

Werner von Siemens also the world's first electric elevator developer in July. B.E. 1880
The inventor of mechanical dynamo that transforms mechanical energy into electric energy.
And build an electric bus or Trolley Bus in July. B.E. 1882

Siemens are currently the world's leading electrical engineering company.
There are a variety of products from electronics, electric car, medical tools.
Electric train signal system to wind turbine technology

In addition to Thyssenkrupp and Siemens, the brand is under 100 years old.
Germany also has many engineering companies that all have the same age.

The whole Leica company founded in July. B.E. 1869
Expert in the production of eyelet lenses, medical devices and cameras.

AEG company founded in July. 1883 Manufacturer of large generator and tram system

Osram company separated from Siemens in July. Prof. 1909 is a leader in light bulb technology.

Dedication to developing applied science education and connecting to the business sector, opens new advancements in engineering.
And bring Germany to step up, standing in the front line of the world's leading industrial countries.

But not only the advancements in the steel and electrical industry.

Founded Technical University will produce important people in the science industry.
To take Germany to open the world into a new industry.

Industry that will forever change people's lifestyle
′′ The chemical industry "..

Prepare to meet the article series ′′ Branding the Nation ′′ to build brand instead of country.
In the next episode coming soon..
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Love this article. Must read this book.
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This book will talk about the history of the world economy since Fri 1100 Keep going until 1100 B.E. 2019

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Follow to invest man at
Website - longtunman.com
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References
- Robert C. Allen, World Economic History
- Chattip Nak Supha, History of Comparative Industrial Revolution
-.. .. Chachphon Kolkathada, a war that never won.
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_hearth_furnace
-https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/productsTranslated

⛔ LUYỆN READING NÀO ⛔

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILDREN'S PLAY

Brick by brick, six-year-old Alice is building a magical kingdom. Imagining fairy-tale turrets and fire-breathing dragons, wicked witches and gallant heroes, she's creating an enchanting world. Although she isn't aware of it, this fantasy is helping her take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity and so it will have important repercussions in her adult life.
Minutes later, Alice has abandoned the kingdom in favour of playing schools with her younger brother. When she bosses him around as his 'teacher', she's practising how to regulate her emotions through pretence. Later on, when they tire of this and settle down with a board game, she's learning about the need to follow rules and take turns with a partner.

'Play in all its rich variety is one of the highest achievements of the human species,' says Dr David Whitebread from the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, UK. 'It underpins how we develop as intellectual, problem-solving adults and is crucial to our success as a highly adaptable species.'
Recognising the importance of play is not new: over two millennia ago, the Greek philosopher Plato extolled its virtues as a means of developing skills for adult life, and ideas about play-based learning have been developing since the 19th century.

But we live in changing times, and Whitebread is mindful of a worldwide decline in play, pointing out that over half the people in the world now live in cities. 'The opportunities for free play, which I experienced almost every day of my childhood, are becoming increasingly scarce,' he says. Outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic, as well as parents' increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime, and by the emphasis on 'earlier is better' which is leading to greater competition in academic learning and schools.

International bodies like the United Nations and the European Union have begun to develop policies concerned with children's right to play, and to consider implications for leisure facilities and educational programmes. But what they often lack is the evidence to base policies on.

'The type of play we are interested in is child-initiated, spontaneous and unpredictable- but, as soon as you ask a five-year-old "to play", then you as the researcher have intervened,' explains Dr Sara Baker. 'And we want to know what the long-term impact of play is. It's a real challenge.'

Dr Jenny Gibson agrees, pointing out that although some of the steps in the puzzle of how and why play is important have been looked at, there is very little data on the impact it has on the child's later life.

Now, thanks to the university's new Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL), Whitebread, Baker, Gibson and a team of researchers hope to provide evidence on the role played by play in how a child develops.

'A strong possibility is that play supports the early development of children's self-control,' explains Baker. 'This is our ability to develop awareness of our own thinking processes - it influences how effectively we go about undertaking challenging activities.'

In a study carried out by Baker with toddlers and young pre-schoolers, she found that children with greater self-control solved problems more quickly when exploring an unfamiliar set-up requiring scientific reasoning. 'This sort of evidence makes us think that giving children the chance to play will make them more successful problem-solvers in the long run.'

If playful experiences do facilitate this aspect of development, say the researchers, it could be extremely significant for educational practices, because the ability to self-regulate has been shown to be a key predictor of academic performance.

Gibson adds: 'Playful behaviour is also an important indicator of healthy social and emotional development. In my previous research, I investigated how observing children at play can�give us important clues about their well-being and can even be useful in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.'

Whitebread's recent research has involved developing a play-based approach to supporting children's writing. 'Many primary school children find writing difficult, but we showed in a previous study that a playful stimulus was far more effective than an instructional one.' Children wrote longer and better-structured stories when they first played with dolls representing characters in the story. In the latest study, children first created their story with Lego*, with similar results. 'Many teachers commented that they had always previously had children saying they didn't know what to write about. With the Lego building, however, not a single child said this through the whole year of the project.'

Whitebread, who directs PEDAL, trained as a primary school teacher in the early 1970s, when, as he describes, 'the teaching of young children was largely a quiet backwater, untroubled by any serious intellectual debate or controversy.' Now, the landscape is very different, with hotly debated topics such as school starting age.

'Somehow the importance of play has been lost in recent decades. It's regarded as something trivial, or even as something negative that contrasts with "work". Let's not lose sight of its benefits, and the fundamental contributions it makes to human achievements in the arts, sciences and technology. Let's make sure children have a rich diet of play experiences.'

⛔ CÂU HỎI:

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. Children with good self-control are known to be likely to do well at school later on.
2. The way a child plays may provide information about possible medical problems.
3. Playing with dolls was found to benefit girls’ writing more than boys’ writing.
4. Children had problems thinking up ideas when they first created the story with Lego.
5. People nowadays regard children’s play as less significant than they did in the past.

(Trích Cam 14)

⛔ HIGHLIGHT TỪ VỰNG

Possibility (n): Khả năng
Self-control (n): Tự kiểm soát
Toddler (n): Trẻ mới biết đi
Pre-schooler (n): Trẻ nhỏ tuổi
Unfamiliar (adj): Không quen thuộc
Facilitate (v): Tạo điều kiện cho
Diagnosis (n): Chẩn đoán
Autism (n): Tự kỷ
Approach (n): Phương pháp
Stimulus (n): Sự kích thích
Serious (adj): Nghiêm túc
Debate (v): Tranh luận
Trivial (adj): Tầm thường
Fundamental (adj): Cơ bản
Contribution (n): Sự đóng góp

Các bạn làm đề nhé, cô chia sẻ đáp án dưới cmt nha!

人的一生有无数分钟，无数秒钟。对于我们这短短的十分钟，对于某些人来说，可能却是他在这个世界上最后的十分钟。捐一次血，只需要短短的十分钟。如果你在十分钟内，能够救活3条人命，何乐而不为？今天这一期的街头系列，主要的目的就是有一个，就是呼吁大家踊跃捐血。人生无常，你永远不知道下一秒会发生什么事情；你也永远不会知道你的一包血，对于一个人来说是多么的重要。你的一包血，足以换取3条人命。捐血，不止能够救人一命，事实上，捐血能够促进你的身体替换新鲜的血液，减低患上糖尿病的机率。在帮助别人的同时，也是自己的身体更加健康。今天，就让我们一起为这个世界出一份力，为马来西亚的医疗界贡献一点资源，一起响应捐血活动吧！

如果你有意要捐血，可以到以下脸书网站搜索资料：
美丽的朋友可以搜索 ‘Tabung Darah Hospital Miri’：https://www.facebook.com/tabungdarahhospitalmiri/

其他地区的朋友可以搜索 ‘Kempen Derma Darah Malaysia‘：https://www.facebook.com/dermadarah/

如果你喜欢今天的影片，记得订阅，点赞及分享！
谢谢大家，我们下次再见！ =）
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One’s life is made up of hours, minutes, and seconds. 10 minutes for us may be a very short time. However, for some people, these 10 minutes may be the final 10 minutes for them to live in this world. Blood donation only takes up 10 minutes of your life. If you can save 3 lives in these 10 minutes, why not do it? In this episode, we are here to give a shout out to encourage people to donate your blood. You will never know what will happen in the next minute, and you will never know how important your one small bag of blood can be to some people. Blood donation, it’s not just for the people who are saved by your blood, it’s also for your own good. According to medical research, blood donation helps in replacing new blood in your body and decreases the possibility of you getting diabetes. Today, let’s contribute a little bit of our energy to the world, and let’s contribute some resource to the medical field in Malaysia, let’s do our part and donate a little bit of our blood to those who need it!
If you are interested to donate blood, you can visit the following facebook pages:
For Miri friends, you can visit ‘Tabung Darah Hospital Miri’: https://www.facebook.com/tabungdarahhospitalmiri/

And for friends from other places, you can visit ‘Kempen Derma Darah Malaysia‘：https://www.facebook.com/dermadarah/
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