Fifteen scholars from Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) have been listed among the top 2% most-cited scientists ranking in 2023 published by Stanford University and Elsevier. This accomplishment by HKMU scholars highlights the international acknowledgment and significant impact of their research contributions.
Dr Jimmy Li proposed a mixture for making bricks that includes common building materials along with at least one type of plastic. The results demonstrated that the bricks incorporating plastic waste can withstand more pressure without breaking, and they exhibit improved resistance to water seepage due to having fewer tiny holes for the water to pass through. The utilisation of plastic waste in brick composition reduces the accumulation of plastic materials in landfills while also lowering the overall construction cost.
Prof. Jack Tang, together with a team of researchers, investigated the underlying mechanism by which activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) contributes to the development and progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The research outcomes suggest that a lack of ATF3 in vascular smooth muscle cells of the blood vessel would increase the risk of AAA formation and blood vessel rupture. This study reveals the previously unrecognised role of ATF3 in AAA development and progression. ATF3 has the potential to be used as a new target for developing new therapies to treat AAA, and as a marker to predict the progression and outcomes of AAA.
Dr Livia Pan examined the optimal nutrient levels and the best proportion of sewage sludge (SL), Chinese medicinal herbal residues (CMHR), and biochar (BC) to be used as a novel soil amendment. The amended soils with SL-CMHR-BC had a lower level of antibiotics and corresponding antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soils and crop tissues compared with the control soils without adding the soil amendment. This soil amendment method can help reduce the ecological risks of antibiotics and ARGs and mitigate their potential adverse effects on human health through the food chain.
Prof. Gary Tse and his team discovered that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients who used oral corticosteroids (OCS) faced a significantly higher risk of developing multiple adverse outcomes. This study emphasises the need to increase awareness about the adverse effects associated with OCS use in COPD patients. It also highlights the need to identify appropriate treatments to manage and minimise the risk of COPD exacerbation, thereby reducing patient exposure to OCS.
Dr Emily Ge investigated the impact of English exposure on the language development of autistic Cantonese-speaking children in Hong Kong. The findings reveal that exposure to two typologically different languages does not hinder the language development of bilingual autistic children; instead, it enhances their comprehension and production of focus. These findings suggest the advantage of creating rich bilingual environments for children, and having bilingual elements in training programmes for bilingual autistic children.
Dr Chen Jianlin and his team constructed a microfluidics device to monitor the metabolic activity of food waste and sewage sludge anaerobic co-digestion. The device enables the mitigation of potential issues arising from scenarios like sudden or significant changes in the feedstock or operating conditions of the anaerobic digestion system, thereby improving the overall efficiency of the system.
Thirteen HKMU scholars have recently been ranked among the top 2% most-cited scientists worldwide by Stanford University. This achievement of HKMU scholars highlights the global recognition and remarkable impact of their research outputs.
Dr Gary Tsang utilised scholarly big data to comprehensively investigate and analyse the academic value of Ci annotations published during the Republican China period. His study not only expanded the research scope and depth of Ci studies but also demonstrated the potential of scholarly big data in facilitating in-depth studies of classical literature, providing a new research method applicable to other literary genres.
Dr Wyman Wang and his team proposed an innovative representation learning network ‘SO(3)-Pose’ to improve the accuracy of 6D object pose estimation in complex industrial environments. SO(3)-Pose outperformed other state-of-the-art methods and can be applied in areas such as robotics and augmented reality.
Dr Venus Chan developed ‘XR MALL’, a mobile app featuring the use of extended reality, combining virtual reality, augmented reality, and mobile technologies for interpreting and public speaking learning. The app facilitates learners around the world to obtain a fully immersive experience and learn interpreting and public speaking anywhere and anytime.
Through analysing the work of some British-Chinese poets, Dr Antony Huen defined two ekphrastic practices in contemporary British poetry, namely 'Hong Kong ekphrasis' and 'Chinese ekphrasis'. The study highlights the importance of literature in navigating and expressing the complexity of cultural identity, as well as the ambitions and thoughts of a rising generation.
Dr Jessie Wong examined the impact of the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme on parents and early childhood education (ECE) providers. The study contributes to informing the optimisation and reform of ECE taking into consideration the sociocultural context in Hong Kong comprehensively.
Dr Jonathan Ho conducted a research project to evaluate the capability of local emergency nurses to interpret electrocardiogram (ECG). The findings suggest that sufficient training should be provided to nurses to familiarise them with ECG rhythms, especially heart block, to ensure appropriate treatment for patients.
Aiming at achieving a breakthrough in minimising the latency of a wireless network, Dr Yaru Fu and her team developed an algorithm to optimise network content caching, recommendation, and transmission to improve the overall performance of the network. The proposed algorithm outperformed other baseline schemes in real-life 5G network scenarios, providing insights to the network industry in developing the next generation of wireless networks.
Five HKMU scholars from various disciplines have been listed among the top 2% most-cited scientists in the world, showcasing the research excellence of HKMU scholars and the remarkable impact of their research outputs.
Joining hands with the Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service, the Public and Social Policy Research Centre of HKMU has gauged the views of residents of subdivided units, and realised that nearly half of them are dissatisfied with their current living standard. The research team believes that transitional housing can ease the urgent needs of residents of subdivided units.
Aimed to shed light on strategies to protect fish against algal blooms, Professor Fred Lee and his team has succeeded in enhancing the understanding of the mechanism of Karenia mikimotoi, a fish-killing algae. The research outcome will help formulating preventive measures or proactive strategies against fish-killing incidents.
The School of Nursing and Health Studies presented the findings of a research study on holistic residential care at the Right Care, Right Time Conference, confirming the effectiveness of the 2Rs project in improving residents' health-related quality of life and in addressing their behavioural problems.
In response to the problems regarding conventional methods for topic modeling, Professor Philips Fu Lee Wang and his team has successfully developed two efficient and scalable topic models, which can be utilised in a broad range of online applications.
Dr Rebecca Leung Mo-ling, department head of Creative Arts, has adopted a sociological approach to the study of Eileen Chang, with the aim of demonstrating how the image of the phenomenal female writer has been shaped by the dominant national and cultural imagination of specific times and spaces.
The Public and Social Policy Research Centre (PSPRC) has constructed a Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Price Index to provide an indicative reference for the price trends of Home Ownership Scheme flats on the secondary market. The results demonstrated that the HOS secondary market exhibited a sharp price hike between 2013 and 2021.
Dr Kam Cheong Li, Director overseeing research of the University, conducted a research study to evaluate the mobile learning practice in HKMU nursing programmes, aimed at filling the knowledge gap in understanding factors impacting the effectiveness of mobile learning in nursing education, and offered effective instruments for evaluation and use in such a context.
When studying the long-term impact of organizing mega-events for promoting tourism, Dr Matthew Yeung, Associate Director of IIBG, discovered that the type of event that shines is different between countries. The research findings provide insights to countries and cities when consider organizing mega-events to promote tourism.
Dr Jessie Wong has studied the development of local pre-school teachers' professional identity under the free kindergarten education policy. She believed that the Government should take the lead in promoting early childhood educators as trained professionals, so as to alter public’s impression on kindergarten teachers.
