NEW COLLEGERESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES

MONTHLY SEMINARS

October, November 2014

January, February, March 2015

MONTHLY SEMINAR

• Every month, three presenters will be selected to give presentations on their research in a layman way.

• Every presenter will give a presentation of maximum 12 minutes and 5 minutes Q & A section.

• The audience attending the whole section is eligible to vote their most favorite speech.

• One winner will be selected every month based on the voting from the audience and the ranking from judges.

JUDGING CRITERIA

COMPREHENSION

Clear Clear

Logical Logical IntelligibleIntelligible

PRESENTATION SKILLS

EngagementEngagement

CommunicationCommunication Language ProficiencyLanguage

Proficiency

SCORING SYSTEM

JUDGES

1 poll scores 2 pointsAUDIENCE

Rank 1st to 3rd

(1st = 100, 2nd = 80, 3rd = 60)

SEMINAR OF OCTOBER

Wenhan YANG, PhDDepartment of Civil Engineering

Small Movement − A Study of Correlations between Pedestrian Movements, Network Configuration and Attraction in Residential Areas

Developing cities are going through rapid urban renewal. Many walking-friendly residential areas have changed to car-oriented. This study aims to reveal the interactions pedestrians may have with road configuration and social functions within a network. Four types of residential areas had been studies, the results indicated a split in the correlations on organic urban fabrics and planned estates. It was concluded that organic urban fabrics support natural movements and interactions with social offering better than on planned networks. It suggests that the organic part of cities should be treated with care, the original human-space relationship should be preserved and learnt.

Weiwei ZHANG, PhD Department of Public Health

Beyond Cancer

Cancer is a death threat in laymen’s perspective, while when looked closely, some impressions about cancer will be modified. Cancer doesn’t always cause death, such as breast cancer maintains a high survival rate of 90%. With relatively high prevalence, more cancer patients are coping this crisis in life. Longitudinal studies showed that patients’ distress differentiated into groups and those with more physical symptoms and psychological coping traits were associated with more distress. Qualitative studies mapped details of individual experience of coping with cancer. With resilience and proper help from outside, there is hope that cancer can be coped with well.

Nan JIANG, PhDDepartment of Chemistry

Florescent Imaging: Making Cancer Cells Visible By My Probe

Prostate cancer cells have been reported to have downregulated expression of zinc transporters compared with normal ones. This inspired us to design a fluorescence probe sensitive to proteinα-helical structures to discriminate individual prostate cancer cells. A benzazole derivative (1) was observed to emit strong fluorescence resulting from an excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) in protein α-helical environments. The ESIPT fluorescence of 1 was observed to be positively correlated with the α-helix content of proteins. Furthermore, 1 was found to be localized in cell membranes and was capable of probing differences in the α-helix contents of membrane proteins. These results indicated that 1 could distinguish individual prostate cancer cells from normal ones, and this might contribute to diagnosis of prostate cancer.

SEMINAR OF NOVEMBER

Chik Wa, WONG (Sofa), BEd (LibSt) III Faculty of Education

Is Ethnic Education Policy Successful?

China is a multi-ethnic country. In tradition, the different ethnic groups were receiving education provided by the religious bodies (e.g. the Hui’s chapel and the Tibetan’s monastery). However, the implementation of universal education provided by the Ministry of Education was switching the ethnic education from the religious bodies to the modern schools. In order to cater the different characteristics in different ethnic groups, the government has implemented the Ethnic Education Policy. This presentation is to investigate whether the Ethnic Education Policy is successful in preserving the culture of the ethnic groups.

Fang Jie, MA, PhD Department of Civil Engineering

“Will this building collapse?”- Crack analysis of reinforced concrete beam by finite element analysis.

Cracks generated on the wall may cause concern for ordinary people because they do not have basic knowledge of civil engineering. The safety issue related to cracks in the reinforced concrete is also important in design process for civil engineers and so far only empirical formulas are available for rough estimation. A finite element analysis computer program has been written and systematic and comprehensive crack analysis can be conducted by it. This computer program becomes the only feasible way to analyze cracks in the RC structures world.

Feng YANG , PhDDepartment of Biological Science

A gene to be an vital role in photosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana

In Arabidopsis, a cell growth defect factor-1 (Cdf1 in yeast, also named CPP1) was originally isolated as a cell growth suppressor of yeast from genetic screening. To study the sub-cellular localization of Cdf1 in plants, the full length cDNA of CPP1 was fused with green fluorescence protein, was localized in the chloroplast but not in mitochondria. To determine the sub-plastidic localization of CPP1, immunoblotting was performed with chloroplast fractions purified from Arabidopsis and found to be localized in thylakoid and envelope membrane. Taken together, these results suggest the CPP1 was localized in chloroplast and its possible role in chloroplast development.

SEMINAR OF JANUARY

Long, CHEN PhDDepartment of Civil Engineering

How to choose the most appropriate canteen with the help of LCBs' MCDM model: SU Canteen? Maxim Catering? Swire Canteen? Or others?

Low-carbon building (LCB) has been regarded as an innovative and practical approach to reducing building energy consumption and carbon emissions. The design decision-making for LCBs should take into account a variety of economic, social, technical and environmental criteria which however are often associated with missing or uncertain information. Little research has examined multi-criteria decision making in delivering LCBs, particularly in high-density subtropical urban environments such as Hong Kong. The optimal decision making for LCBs is inhibited by the lack of consensus on criteria for assessing the performance of building design options and a completed system to aid LCB decision making efficiently. The aim of this research is to develop a BIM-integrated fuzzy multi-criteria optimization system for decision making for LCBs. With the help of geometrical and energy consumption variants integrated in Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Energy Plus, an interactive fuzzy multi-criteria optimization system based on fuzzy logic theory and PROMETHEE is developed for the selection of optimal LCB measures for low carbon office building in Hong Kong. The results will provide the design decision-makers with a consolidated tool for selecting the optimal design solution to deliver LCBs.

Chong GAO (Colin), PhD School of Chinese Medicine

Fight against Alzheimer’s disease: a diabetic related perspective

The number of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients has underwent and will show a significant increasing because of the aging society process all around the world. Abnormal death of neurons in AD patients can induce a series of chronic brain disorders including cognitive dysfunction, memory losing, and language disability. So it is urgent to develop new drugs for AD treatment. Growing studies suggested there is some close relationships exist between AD and type 2 diabetes. Though behavioral study, histological staining technology and electron microscope, I conducted my research on testing the protective effects of diabetic drug on AD animal model.

Wan Kien Keith, CHENG, BEng(CivE-Law)Department of Civil Engineering

Public Transport Network Design

We take public transport to travel between different places everyday. Have you ever wondered how the frequencies of these services are set? This presentation aims to provide an introduction to the theories adopted in designing a public transport network, and the application of these theories by computer programming.