HKU Bulletin May 2014 (Vol. 15 No.2)

This Faculty-based award recognises the best pieces of research published or created in the preceding calendar year by an individual or team. Award winners receive HK$120,000 to further their research. The Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Award recognises outstanding accomplishments which have tangibly benefited the community, business/industry or partner organisations. Winners receive HK$50,000 to further their KE efforts. RESEARCH OUTPUT PRIZE KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AWARD Architecture Providing an affordable and viable alternative to generic housing in rural villages in northern China is an ongoing problem. After extensive research into the living conditions in rural villages and the development of rural sustainable technologies, a team led by Mr John Lin Chun-han designed and constructed ‘House for All Seasons’, the prototype for a new rammed earth house typology. Well received by the international community, the project won the prestigious Architectural Review House Award 2012. Arts In her award-winning book Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Botany: The Salutary Science , Dr Alexandra Cook argues that the 18 th century philosopher, writer and composer was also a leading figure in the emerging science of botany. Her research has revealed that he taught a pioneering natural method of plant classification, not an outmoded artificial system, as previously believed. The book has been praised as an invaluable scholarly resource and won the 2013 John Thackray Medal of the Society for the History of Natural History (London). Business and Economics In the article ‘Did Subjectivity Play a Role in CDO Credit Ratings?’, Professor John Griffin and Dr Tang Yongjun explained a critical driver in the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, the credit ratings of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs). Approaching the subject from both academic and public policy perspectives, they made the important finding that a top credit rating agency frequently inflated CDO credit ratings, and that this inflation resulted in too many seemingly safe securities and was harmful to subsequent market performance. Their work has influenced in part the United States Department of Justice’s investigation of the rating agency. Dentistry Having already discovered the in-vitro antifungal activity of purpurin, Dr Tsang Wai-kei, Dr Hennaka Mudiyanselage Herath Architecture Mr Jason Carlow led the Faculty of Architecture’s involvement in creating eight installations for ArtAlive@Park 2010 and ArtAlive@Park 2012. Both students and staff explored new ideas about architecture, fabrication and public space. Their installations served as highly accessible public art and design works, and demonstrated alternative ideas about public space and architecture to government officials. The success of the 2010 project inspired the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to remodel the ArtAlive@ Park programme based on HKU’s projects and to involve other local university architecture programmes. Arts Language and communication in genetic counselling is the focus of work by Dr Olga Zayts in the School of English, who has looked at counselling for prenatal (Down’s Syndrome), postnatal (G6PD deficiency) and adolescent and adult (Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome) conditions. The achievements by Dr Zayts and her team in developing healthcare communication practice and resources are recognised by the Consortium on Clinical Genetics and Genomic Medicine, which has a five-year plan to enhance diagnostic and counselling services to clients in Hong Kong. Business and Economics Dr Michael Chau Chiu-lung applied his expertise in data analysis and data mining to help the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) detect patterns in blood donations of the past, and identify where it could boost donations. On Dr Chau’s recommendations, the BTS opened a donation centre in Yuen Long in 2011 which attracted more than 400 donations per week, mostly from people living in the district. This project has enhanced a vital service in public healthcare. Dentistry A project to promote oral health in preschool children has addressed an unmet need: children receive free dental care services once they Nihal Bandara and Professor Fong Wing-ping extended the mechanical studies of the pigment on Candida biofilms and morphogenesis. Their findings, in ‘Purpurin Suppresses Candida Albicans Biofilm Formation and Hyphal Development’, demonstrated that, at sub-lethal doses, purpurin blocked yeast-to- hyphal transition and inhibited biofilm development, as well as down-regulating expression of hypha-specific genes and the hyphal reglulator RAS1 . This suggests purpurin may represent a novel potential antifungal candidate with clinical relevance. Education A six-strong team sought to provide research- based evidence on how the quality of early childhood education effects child outcomes in a low resource level Asian country. The resulting paper ‘Is Something Better than Nothing? An Evaluation of Early Childhood Programs in Cambodia’, compared differences in development between children who attended preschool programmes of varying quality and those who had no access to such services. A main finding was that while some types of preschool are better than others, any preschool is better than none at all. The study has prompted a change in government policy in Cambodia. Engineering A discovery that boosts the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells has received widespread acclaim and been cited over 200 times, including by a Nobel Laureate. Dr Wallace Choy Chik-ho and his team were the first to propose and demonstrate dual plasmonic metal nanostructures that were simultaneously incorporated into the cells to improve their light trapping and light absorption. The cells reached nine per cent power conversion efficiency, one of the highest rates seen to date. Law Are courts justified to consider the government as an expert? That question was asked by Miss Cora Chan Sau-wai, who showed that in an era of human rights it was no longer acceptable for the courts to take the government on trust. Her enter school aged six, but not before. The project, led by Dr Yang Yanqi, educated parents and kindergarten staff about breaking bad habits and establishing good oral hygiene and offered dental services to children. Antenatal and postnatal women were also targeted with information on baby oral health education. The hope is to prevent problems before they arise. Education Best teaching practice is being promoted to schools through a DVD project that demonstrates innovative and engaging teaching methods. The DVD is produced under the School-University Partnerships programme led by Dr Tammy Kwan Yim-lin and features authentic lessons by student-teachers. Schools have said it has been a useful resource for staff development for both novice and experienced staff. The project illustrates how student- teachers can be an important bridge between schools and tertiary institutions, and promote the professional development of teachers. Engineering Dr Chow Kam-pui has worked for 10 years with the police force and the Customs and Excise Department to develop technologies to fight cyberspace crime in Hong Kong. During that time he and his team have developed three systems – Lineament I, which deals with suspected infringement of intellectual property rights over the internet; Lineament II, which uses cybercriminal profiling and artificial intelligence to detect potential auction fraud; and Lineament III, which analyses suspected criminal intent in the cyberlocker. Each of them has won praise from government departments for enhancing cyber safety. Law The Human Rights Portal developed by Professor Simon Young Ngai-man and his team in the Centre for Comparative and Public Law has filled the need for a user-friendly website providing information on human rights in Asia, and focussing on the research done by HKU and others in this field. The website ( http:// www.law.hku.hk/hrportal/ ) is a unique and easily accessible source of information for article on the matter showed the inadequacy of judicial preference in the United Kingdom and offered a way forward, but it is also relevant to jurisdictions that have some form of constitutional rights review, including Hong Kong. Medicine A non-invasive innovation for treating the spinal deformity, scoliosis, in children offers hope as an alternative to repeated invasive surgery. Professor Kenneth Cheung Man-chee led the research, which is the first in-human study to magnetically control growing rods in patients rather than use surgery to do so. The study was reported in The Lancet and picked up by more than 100 media outlets. Spinal surgeons from around the world have also visited Hong Kong to learn about this procedure. Science New findings on the relationship between temperature and biodiversity are adding to our understanding about the potential impacts of global warming. Research led by Dr Moriaki Yasuhara looked at the links between diversity, latitude and temperature and how these have affected biodiversity. While the link between diversity and latitude has changed over time, that between diversity and temperature has remained remarkably constant over the past three million years, suggesting species diversity responds to temperature change on ecological time scales. Social Sciences One of the most heavily studied variables in social psychology is the locus of control (LOC). The current Western view adopts a universal perspective on the beneficial role of a sense of control on mitigating psychological symptoms. But a meta-analysis led by Professor Cecilia Cheng of studies conducted over the last 50 years challenges that assumption. It finds cultural values have differing influences on the relationship between LOC and psychological symptoms. The work will have profound implications for therapeutic psychology. government and policy-making institutes, NGOs and academics, as well as for members of the public interested in human rights issues. Medicine Advances in the treatment of blood cancers and diseases are being made all the time, but keeping up with the latest can be difficult for hard-working doctors. To solve this problem, Professor Kwong Yok-lam and his team set up the Haematology Protocol, using online technology to disseminate information on the latest research in medical management and treatments for these diseases. The first such unified protocol in Hong Kong, the multimedia offering includes a website, handbook, iPhone application and newsletter and since its launch has been regularly accessed by medical practitioners as well as patients around the world. Science Hong Kong is known as the Pearl of the Orient, but Dr Jason Pun Chun-shing of the Department of Physics feels that in terms of light pollution, the city may be shining a little too brightly. He set up the Hong Kong Night Sky Monitoring Network in 2010 to measure the brightness of our night skies, and discovered that Hong Kong’s urban skies are 33 times brighter than rural skies on average. Dr Pun is discussing the findings with professional bodies and the Government to come up with possible mitigating measures to combat this pollution. Social Sciences Dr Uwe Steinhoff’s writings on the ethics of war, terrorism and torture have challenged conventional opinion and double standards, stimulated discussion beyond the confines of academia, and contributed to a less biased understanding of these controversial issues. His work considers the circumstances, if ever, when war, terrorism and torture may be justified. Apart from being discussed in the public arena, his work has also been cited and included in the curricula of military training institutes. 36 | 37 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin | May 2014 Teaching, Research and Knowledge Exchange Awards