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HKU statisticians develop online diagnostic system for screening COVID-19 with AI technologies based on chest CT dataset
A research team led by Professor Yin Guosheng, Head of Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at HKU, and Dr Liu Bin, Assistant Professor of Centre of Statistical Research, School of Statistics, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (currently Post-doctoral Fellow at HKU) has integrated radiography and computer vision to develop a digital online diagnostic system for COVID-19 based on chest CT scans. The diagnostic system can help to screen suspected cases of COVID-19 and evaluate the probability of one contracting the disease with 88% accuracy. The research team at HKU has designed a Lesion-Attention Deep Neural Network (LA-DNN) model based on the CT images. Leveraging on text reports from 760 research papers, the research team further analysed and pinpointed five different lesions in association with COVID-19 and identified each confirmed patient with at least one or more of the five lesions. These five lesions are the distinctive features that differentiate COVID-19 from general pneumonia or other lung diseases. Professor Yin and Dr Liu hope that medical staff can make use of the diagnostic system and share patients’ image data to initiate collaborative research and accommodate the urgent demands for COVID-19 testing.
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Tips on Sustainable Psychological Health
The recent events in Hong Kong have given rise to unprecedented challenges to general psychological wellbeing. Professor Tatia Lee, Head of HKU Department of Psychology, and her clinical psychology and educational psychology colleagues, have prepared five short videos, each of which contains useful insight and tips for protecting and promoting psychological wellbeing. A special topic will be presented each week starting from May 29, 2020.
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HKU-led study accurately tracks COVID-19 spread with big data
An international research team led by HKU developed a new method to accurately track the spread of COVID-19 using population flow data, and establishing a new risk assessment model to identify high-risk locales of COVID-19 at an early stage, which serves as a valuable toolkit to public health experts and policy makers in implementing infectious disease control during new outbreaks. Dr Jayson Jia, Associate Professor of Marketing at the Faculty of Business and Economics of HKU and lead author of the study, and his team used nation-wide data provided by a major national carrier in China to track population movement out of Wuhan between January 1 and 24, 2020, a period covering the annual Chunyun mass migration before the Chinese Lunar New Year to a lockdown of the city to contain the virus. The movement of over 11 million people travelling through Wuhan to 296 prefectures in 31 provinces and regions in China were tracked. Combining the population flow data with the number and location of COVID-19 confirmed cases up to February 19, 2020 in China, Dr Jia’s team showed that the relative quantity of human movement from the disease epicentre, in this case, Wuhan, directly predicted the relative frequency and geographic distribution of the number of COVID-19 cases across China. The researchers found that their model can explain 96% of the distribution and intensity of the spread of COVID-19 across China statistically which helps to identify high risk area.
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HKU startup “Hollo” – a mental health companion and therapist
“Hollo”, a social technology startup by a group of students from HKU Faculty of Science, provides a platform for NGOs and therapists to advance therapy practices using technology such as Big Data and AI. By improving the diagnosis and treatment delivery with proprietary technology and detection algorithms, the platform allows patients to spend less time in the system and keep professionals more informed. The team will further enhance the accuracy rate and is working with local NGOs for a pilot scheme targeting 100 to 200 people. They hope the App can be formally launched in September 2020.
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iPark: Core Technologies of Intelligent E-Commerce Logistics Parks
E-Commerce has developed exponentially in the Greater China region in recent years, while logistics, which deliver the orders, have become bottlenecked. Traditional logistics operations are no longer able to cope with the challenges, such as long order fulfillment time and low utilization in space, under fluctuating huge demands. Led by Professor Guo Quan Huang of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, iPark is expected to elevate the logistics services to match the growth of E-Commerce.
The project is delivered in two forms. One is a private form for leading enterprises with operations in the Greater China Region. The other is a public platform that is shared by participating Hong Kong SMEs involved in Ecommerce logistics. Eventually, the platform will be “transplanted” to logistics and industrial parks.
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Jockey Club Lab for Cultural Diversity Study launches multi-lingual booklet and documentary video and video highlight of Human Library cum Concert
The Jockey Club Lab for Cultural Diversity Study (JCLCDS) produced a multi-lingual booklet entitled “Youth in Transition: Growing up experiences of the ethnic minority youth in Hong Kong”. The booklet reports on selected stories of youth and young adults from the longitudinal and oral history studies between the ages of 18 and 33 with family heritage in South or Southeast Asia. The booklet aims to promote a better public understanding of youth transitions to adulthood and challenge some of the existing stereotypes of ethnic minority communities in Hong Kong. JCLCDS has also produced a set of documentary video and event video highlights of a Human Library-cum-Concert held on June 2, 2019, and commissioned a documentary by an ethnic minority videographer under the Project’s Human Library Programme. The booklet and videos have been made available on the Project website. JCLCDS, funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and co-created by the HKU Faculty of Social Sciences, is a component under the C-for-Chinese@JC initiative.
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HKU launches mindfulness resources package to support HKDSE students
Jockey Club “Peace and Awareness” Mindfulness Culture in Schools Initiative (JC PandA), a project organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences in HKU, has launched ‘Mindfulness in the Face of Academic Stress’ resources package to encourage HKDSE candidates and students to create a mindful space amidst the epidemic, so as to better adjust their emotions for their mental well-being. This package is a follow-up of an earlier resources package, ‘Mindfulness in the Time of Coronavirus Epidemic’, that supports the general public in this difficult time.
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