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HKU earth scientist collaborates with international experts to develop new laser-induced fluorescence techniques to uncover never-before-seen details in fossils
HKU Department of Earth Sciences' Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory Head Dr Michael Pittman has developed, together with eight international colleagues, a simple new technique to analyse fossils. The technique, called laser-stimulated fluorescence (LSF), utilises lasers to stimulate fluorescence in fossils that normally do not fluoresce under standard UV lighting, with the new view photographed through a camera lens. Each colour of laser emits a different wavelength of light, which excites the minerals that make up a fossil in different ways. LSF provides an instantaneous, non-invasive, geochemical fingerprint of fossilised bone, soft tissue, integument and the surrounding rock matrix. The ability to look for hidden specimens in a fossil's rock matrix used to be only possible using X-rays, CT scans and other high-cost imaging methods. With LSF, researchers can set up a basic station quickly and for around HK$4000.
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High-energy efficient LED driver invented by HKU researchers and commercialized
A research team of HKU Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering led by Professor Ron Hui Shu-yuen, Chair of Power Electronics, invented a passive LED driver that has an edge over conventional LED in terms of lifespan and environment friendliness. Its components can last 10 years and are 80% recyclable. With the assistance of the University's Technology Transfer Office, the technology has been licensed to a tech company in Hong Kong. It is being tested in Heshan, Guangdong, and will be tested in places with more extreme temperatures before going into mass production.
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HKU Youth Quitline marks its tenth anniversary in helping young smokers
The youth-oriented smoking cessation hotline "Youth Quitline", jointly established by the Smoking Cessation Research Team at the HKU Faculty of Medicine, the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, and the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health has since 2005 received over 7,000 telephone inquiries, provided smoking cessation counselling for 1,591 youth smokers. As of January 31, 2015, the smoking cessation rate after joining the programme for six months was 23.6%.
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HKU Stephen Hui Geological Museum launches exhibition to showcase 65 million years of climate change
The HKU Stephen Hui Geological Museum launched a permanent exhibition on "Cenozoic Climate Change" on Earth Day (April 22, 2015) to trace the history of climate change back 65 million years to the start of the Cenozoic Era – the advent of the age of mammals, which continues into the present. On display are a range of paleoclimate "proxies", from 3,000 year-old tree rings and marine sediments to fossilised marine micro-organisms and mammals, all of which serve as organic "records" of the planet's climatological past. According to Professor Zong Yongqiang of the HKU Department of Earth Sciences, a look into the earth’s Cenozoic past will reveal short-term "abrupt climate changes" when temperature and CO2 levels rise rapidly, sometimes causing highly disruptive effects including extinctions of certain species. Carbon dioxide concentrations have risen steeply since the beginning of the industrial revolution, which should be alarming to people that climate change should be taken seriously and that the climate could respond in an abrupt and unexpected way.
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HKU Medical Faculty develops new atrial fibrillation management app and launches AF screening programme
The HKU Department of Medicine has initiated two new measures for management of stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), namely the AF management app and private doctors AF screening programme. HKU AF CAL is a free new mobile app designed to help doctors managing their patients with atrial fibrillation. By using the five clinical calculators, doctors can assess the ischemic stroke risk and major bleeding risk of patients with AF, and assessing the quality control of anticoagulation for those patients on warfarin. The research team will in phase road-show 18 regions in Hong Kong providing certificate course for up-to-date AF management to private doctors. The team will recruit 1,000 private doctors to perform AF screening and the ultimate goal is to reach 100-150 thousands of high-risk patients and provide them with proper treatments.
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HKU Department of Real Estate and Construction launches online platform on Building Maintenance Cost (BMC) Database and Estimator
Most building owners in Hong Kong are vulnerable to exploitative methods such as bid-rigging and price inflation by unscrupulous consultants and contractors when undertaking building maintenance projects. A research team from HKU Department of Real Estate and Construction, led by Professor K. W. Chau, was commissioned by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to analyze data on cost of building maintenance of 426 Operation Building Bright (OBB) projects that were managed by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) between 2009 and 2013. An interactive online platform, including a Building Maintenance Cost (BMC) Estimator, has been established to disseminate the findings of the project and help building owners estimate maintenance cost. To further enhance the transparency of the building maintenance market, the research team would like to appeal to owners of private buildings that have undergone comprehensive non-subsidized maintenance works to contact its department so that maintenance cost information can be shared, collectively analyzed, and publicized as reference benchmarks for the benefit of everyone in Hong Kong.
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HKU School of Business principal lecturer set up Asia's first not-for-profit domestic helpers recruitment agency
Mr David Bishop, Principal Lecturer at the HKU School of Business, co-founded Fair Employment Agency (FEA), which has placed 49 domestic helpers with employers in Hong Kong without charging placement fees from helpers since September 2014. Mr Bishop set up the not-for-profit social enterprise in response to the abuse of an Indonesian helper made headlines. Helpers recruited by FEA do not have to pay any placement fee. The agency will charge employers service fees ranging from HK$2,000 to HK$7,500. The agency's corporate documents were drafted so that the founders cannot receive any windfall from profits. These will be directed back into the agency to expand its initiatives. The Fair Employment Campaign 2014/15, which aims to promote the concept of "fair employment" among HKU students, partnering firms and the public, is supported by the HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund granted by the University Grants Committee.
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