Newsletter No. 177

MORE SUPPORT FOR CUHK RESEARCH PROJECTS T welve research projects of the University have attracted funding support from different quarters: • Reconstruction of Damaged Physis with 3-D Chondrocytes Pellet Culture (SF120,000) Sponsor: AO Research Committee Principal investigator: Prof. Leung Kwok-sui (Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology) • The 2000 Survey of Drug Use Among Students (HK$600,000) Sponsor: Action Committee Against Narcotics Principal investigators from CUHK: Dr. Joseph Lau and Dr. K.K. Chan (Centre for Clinical Trials and Epidemiological Research), Prof. C.K. Wong (Department of Psychiatry) • Hong Kong Men Who Have Sex with Men Study (HK$334,300) Sponsor. Council for the AIDS Trust Fund Principal investigator. Dr. Joseph Lau (Centre for Clinical Trials and Epidemiological Research) From the Germany/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme 2000—1 • Automatic Design and Prototyping of Digital Baseband Algorithms for Future Mobile Communication Applications (HK$28,000) Principal investigator. Prof. Philip Leong (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) • Role of Protein Kinase C in Relaxation of Arterial Smooth Muscle by 'Classical' and Novel Calcium Antagonists (HK$30,000) Principal investigator. Prof. Huang Yu (Department of Physiology) • Simultaneous Measurement of Bioelectric and Fluorescent Signals in Intact Epithelial Tissue (HK$23,240) Principal investigator: Prof. Ko Wing Hung (Department of Physiology) • Effects of the Ultrasound Contrast Enhancing Agent Levovist on the Detection of Interacranial Arteries and Their Stenoses by Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (TCD) (HK$29,800) Principal investigator: Prof. Lawrence Wong (Department of Medicine and Therapeutics) • Recovery in Mobile Agent Systems (HK$29,600) Principal i nves t i ga t o r : Prof. K.W. Ng ( Department of Computer Science and Engineering) • Muscle-Bone Biological Interaction in Adolescent idiopathic Scoliosis (HK$30,000) Principal investigator. Prof. Qin Ling (Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology) • Phosphorous-31 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in the Examination of Progressive Brain Tumour Versus Radiation- Induced Injury (HK$12,000) Principal investigator: Prof. Chan Yu Leung (Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging) • ion Beam Synthesis of Silicon Carbide (HK$12,000) Principal inv estig at or: Prof. S.P. Wong (Department of Electronic Engineerin) • Changes in the Expression of Renin-Angiotensin System in Patients with Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy: Activation of the Transcription Factor NFkB (HK$12,000) Principal investigator: Prof. Leung Po Sing (Department of Physiology) Conference Highl ights Advances in Intelligent Data Processing A s new techniques for data acquisition, analysis, and processing continue to develop, and the amount of information available continues to grow, intelligent data processing is attracting greater attention in academia and industry. A hundred delegates from around the world participated in the Second International Conference on Intelligent Data Engineering and Automated Learning (IDEAL 2000) held from 13th to 15th December 2000 in the Mong Man Wai Building. The event was organized by the Faculty of Engineering and sponsored by Chung Chi College. The conference comprised three tracks: f i nanc i al engineering, data mi n i ng, and intelligent agents. Three keynote speeches were delivered by prominent researchers in the relevant fields, and over 70 papers selected from 22 countries were presented. There was also a panel discussion by Chinese scholars. The b i enn i al I D E AL i n t e r na t i onal conference series, established in 1998, aims at providing a forum for researchers and engineers to meet and exchange ideas on the latest developments in data engineering and automated learning. CUHK to Give Professional Qualification to Manulife Agents T he University has launched the Financial Planning and Management programme jointly with Hong Kong Manulife (International) Ltd. (MI L) for the exclusive training of M I L agents. Organized by the University's Asia- Pacific Institute of Business and the School of Accountancy of the Faculty of Business Administration, the programme, to begin in February 2001, w i l l be conducted by teachers of the Faculty. It consists of four modules covering financial planning and budgeting, investment management, taxation and tax planning, retirement and estate planning in Hong Kong. Manulife agents who complete the programme w i ll receive a professional certificate from the University. MI L is a member of Manulife Financial, a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 15 countries and territories wo r l dw i d e. It is well k nown f or the professionalism of its agency force. Telemedicine Conference on Traditional Chinese Medicine More than a hundred oncologists, Chinese medicine physicians, telemedicine experts, and other health care professionals attended Hong Kong's first telemedicine conference on traditional Chinese medicine held on 14th December at the Prince of Wales Hospital. The conference was organized jointly by the Telemedicine Centre of the Faculty of Medicine, the Institute of Chinese Medicine, and the Hong Kong Telemedicine Association. Chaired by Prof. P.C. Leung and Prof. Jack Cheng, the conference discussion was focussed on the use of Chinese medicine to treat cancer. Topics covered include the quality of Chinese medicine, clinical trials, and acupuncture. Telespeakers came from Europe, mainland China, and Singapore.