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HKU launches food app to help consumers make healthier choices in supermarkets
The HKU school of biological sciences and the George Institute for Global Health in Australia jointly developed an app called FoodSwitch HK to help consumers choose healthier food and drinks in the supermarket simply by scanning the barcode of a product. The app highlights the fat, salt, sugar and energy content of the product through a colour coded system and uses a star rating system to indicate the overall nutritious value. It also offers up a healthier alternative when available. The database contains nutrition information of 13,000 pre-packaged products in local supermarkets. Dr Jimmy Louie Chun-yu, assistant professor of food and nutritional science at HKU and a registered dietitian, said based on several studies, Hongkongers eat up to 10 grams of salt a day, twice the World Health Organisation's recommended daily intake. He hopes the new app can help consumers to make healthier choices.
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HKU medical chemists discover peptic ulcer treatment metallodrug effective in “taming” superbugs
A research team led by Professor Sun Hongzhe of the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Dr Richard Kao Yi-Tsun of the Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, discovered an alternative strategy by repositioning colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS), an antimicrobial drug against Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) -related ulcer. The team revealed a bismuth-based antimicrobial drug for treating peptic ulcers can effectively paralyze multi-resistant superbugs, e.g. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP), and significantly suppress the development of antibiotic resistance, allowing the lifespan of currently-used antibiotic to be largely extended. Director of the HKU Centre for Infection Dr Ho Pak Leung said CBS can disarm superbugs reducing them to almost sensitive strain which can be easily killed by commonly used Carbapenem antibiotics and is having a good potential for future clinical applications. A patent has been filed in the US for the discovery.
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HKU marine biologist collaborative study revealed overfishing and illegal trade of live reef fish
Figures from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation showed Hong Kong had the second-largest per capita consumption of seafood in Asia at 60kg, three times the world average. The report, Going, Going Gone: The Trade in Live Reef Food Fish, jointly published by the HKU Swire Institute of Marine Sciences, ADM Capital Foundation and the WWF Coral Triangle Program revealed that between 20,000 and 30,000 metric tonnes of live reef fish were traded legally in Hong Kong each year, with a value more than US$1 billion. The volume of imports could be underestimated by 50% in account of illegal trade from inadequacies in the monitoring protocols and the culture of deliberate misreporting in the industry. The report’s lead author Professor Yvonne Sadovy, of the School of Biological Sciences, said it is critical for Hong Kong to take steps to regulate before it is too late, or popular wild-caught reef fish could be gone in the next couple of decades. The team urged the government to update laws on the importation of live fish and the seafood trade, and called on consumers to choose sustainable seafood.
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HKU biologist collaborative research offers solution to low oxygen in ocean
An international team of scientists from the Global Ocean Oxygen Network, an expert group of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, released findings of a research paper published in Science which investigated the causes, consequences and solutions to low oxygen worldwide, in both the open ocean and coastal waters. It was revealed that the amount of water in the open ocean with zero oxygen has gone up more than fourfold in the past 50 years. The scientists said to halt the decline, the world needs to rein in both climate change and nutrient pollution. HKU marine biologist Dr Moriaki Yasuhara, a co-author of the paper, said the Asian coast including Hong Kong is one of the most seriously suffered. The scientists urged the world to take on the issue to address the causes: nutrient pollution and climate change, protect vulnerable marine life, and improve low-oxygen tracking worldwide.
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HKU chemist-led research generates industrial-competitive materials and technologies for organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) and organic photovoltaics
A multi-institutional team led by Professor Vivian Yam of HKU’s Department of Chemistry has developed robust phosphorescent OLED materials, the superior performances of which have attracted a lot of interests from industry. An exclusive license agreement on OLED material patents has been executed with one of the world’s leading OLED display manufacturers. The licensing is anticipated to realise next-generation OLED technologies.
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HKU astronomers promote stargazing manners and dark sky conservation
The HKU Physics Department has been conducting comprehensive research on the light pollution conditions all around Hong Kong for over a decade through the Hong Kong Night Sky Brightness Monitoring Network. Results from the Monitoring Network clearly indicate light pollution is serious in Hong Kong, and the actual number of meteors observable is closely related to the level of light pollution: the more serious the light pollution is, the smaller the numbers of stars and meteors observable. The measured night sky brightness data collected also allows for more realistic estimates of the number of meteors observable. To promote dark sky preservation, the Department is launching the “Be a responsible stargazer • Enjoy the meteor shower” Campaign to encourage the adoption of proper stargazing manners, and to promote reducing light pollution. The Department has also prepared a series of educational infographics for non-experts on meteor showers and dark sky preservation and it is available for free at the public website: http://nightsky.physics.hku.hk/KE/201718/.
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HKU Professor Kenneth Leung conferred fellowship by Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Professor Kenneth Leung Mei-yee of the Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences of HKU was conferred as a Fellow of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) in recognition of his contributions to ecotoxicology, environmental chemistry, risk assessment and/or life cycle assessment. There are only 57 SETAC Fellows around the world.
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