Newsletter No. 214

Suppor t fo rMor e CUH K Researc h Project s T he following 17 research projects undertaken by staff members of the University have succeeded in attracting funding support from different quarters: The Development of Mass Exercises in Schools (HK$260,000) Sponsor: Education Department, HKSAR Principal investigator: Prof. Stephen Wong Heung-sang (Department of Sports Science and Physical Education) Developing the Technology on Diagnosis of Sheet Stamping Processes Based on Thermal Imaging and Finite Element Analysis (HK$2,989,240) Sponsors: Innovation and Technology Fund, and Mansfield Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Principal investigator: Prof. Du Ruxu (Department of Automation and Computer-Aided Engineering) A Multicentre, Randomized Study to Examine the Effects of Disease Management on Clinical Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Nephropathy (HK$900,000) Sponsor: Health Care and Promotion Fund Principal investigator: Prof. Juliana C.N. Chan (Department of Medicine and Therapeutics) Optimization of Enzymes: Development of Novel Methodology for New Applications (HK$4,686,700) Sponsors: Innovation and Technology Fund, and GeneHarbor (Hong Kong) Technologies Ltd. Principal investigator: Prof. Jun Wang (Department of Biochemistry) Optimization Algorithm Based on the Less Flexibility First Principle and Its Practical Applications (HK$660,800) Sponsor: National Natural Science Foundation/Research Grants Council Joint Research Scheme Principal investigator: Prof. David Wu Yu Liang (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) Fifty Years of Public Housing in Hong Kong (HK$287,500) Sponsor: Hong Kong Housing Authority Principal investigator: Prof. Yeung Yue-man (Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies) Other investigator: Dr. Wong Ka-ying A Prospective Randomized Study on Two Methods of Mobilization After Flexor Tender Repair (HK$25,000) Sponsor: Hong Kong College of Orthopaedic Surgeons Principal investigator: Prof. Hung Leung-kim (Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology) From the Germany/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme 2002—3 Perceived Endings, Mortality Salience, and Goal Regulation (HK$30,000) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Helene Fung Hoi-lam (Department of Psychology) Automated Design and Prototyping of Communication Architectures for Heterogeneous Systems-on-a-Chip (HK$29,800) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Lee Kin-hong (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) The Role of Angiotensin and Endothelin in the Regulation of Fibrogenic/Anti-fibrogenic Factors in Hepatic Kupffer Cells: Its Clinical Implications for Hepatic Fibrosis (HK$30,000) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Leung Po-sing (Department of Physiology) Characterization of a RING-H2 Finger Protein, ANAPC11, the Human Homologue of Yeast Apc11P (HK$30,000) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Mary Waye (Department of Biochemistry) Novel Catalysts for Polymerization of Olefins and Polar Monomers (HK$30,000) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Xie Zuowei (Department of Chemistry) Protein Sorting in the Plant Golgi (HK$30,000) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Jiang Liwen (Department of Biology) From the France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme 2002—3 Efficient Local Search Methods for Soft Constraint Satisfaction Problems (HK$ 15,300) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Jimmy Lee (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) Molecular Mechanism of Plant Prevacuolar Compartments (HK$31,250) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Jiang Liwen (Department of Biology) Novel Catalysts for C-C/C=C Bond-forming Reactions and Fine Chemistry (HK$31,250) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Xie Zuowei (Department of Chemistry) Role of Vesicle Fusion and Protein Kinase G in Regulating Store-operated Calcium Influx (HK$21,700) CUHK coordinator: Prof. Yao Xiaoqiang (Department of Physiology) Bigger Babies Being Born in Hong Kong F or the past two years, the CUHK Departments of Paediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynaecology have been conducting, jointly with the Hong Kong Neonatal Measurements Working Group, a prospective study to obtain relevant physical measurements from 10,399 singleton Hong Kong newborns delivered at 24 to 42 weeks in nine public and two private hospitals. The measurements include birth weight, body length, and head circumference. The infants were found to be 212 grams heavier and 0.2 to 1.5 cm longer than infants born 15 years ago. Their head, face, limb, skinfold thickness, trunk, and penile length measurements were also taken. This is Asia's first comprehensive set of data on such measurements. They will be very useful for the physical assessment of Chinese newborns with great diagnostic and prognostic importance especially in the field of dysmorphology. The study also investigated the association between certain parental/perinatal factors and physical measurements. The findings show that gestation, sex, parity, maternal age, maternal smoking, duration of antenatal leave, paternal employment status, parental height and weight are all significantly and independently affecting the infants' size at birth. Symposium Examines Christianity in Chinese Society Thirty postgraduate students from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas gathered at the University to take part in the International Young Scholars' Symposium on Christianity and Chinese Culture and Society, which took place from 10th to 14th December in the Esther Lee Building. The event was organized by the Centre for the Study of Religion and Chinese Society of Chung Chi College and the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History of the University of San Francisco. Public lectures were delivered by three keynote speakers: Prof. Zhuo Xinping on'Th eStudy of Christianity by Chinese Scholars in the 20th Century and Its Influence on the Future', Prof. Daniel Bays on 'Chinese Christianity in the 21 Century: Historical and Global Perspective', and Prof. Nicolas Standaert on 'Methodology in View of Contact Between Cultures: The China Case in the 17th Century'. Centre Offers New Hope for Incontinent Children S ome 100,000 children and adolescents in Hong Kong are currently suffering from bedwetting, daytime urinary incontinence, constipation and faecal incontinence. The demand for continence services has been rapidly increasing, with over 2,200 new patients attending the various clinics at the Prince of Wales Hospital in 2001, a 76 per cent increase from the previous two years. Despite the high prevalence of urinary and faecal incontinence, children with incontinence have various medical, social, and psychological problems that are often neglected by their parents. Services for sufferers are also very scarce in Hong Kong, mainland China, and most parts of Asia. To cope with this lack, the Faculty of Medicine has established the Hong Kong Children's Continence Care Centre at the Prince of Wales Hospital with the aim of providing holistic and state-of-the-art continence care for children from Hong Kong and the neighbouring region. A multidisciplinary team of paediatric surgeons, paediatric urologists, urotherapists, nursing specialists, and other health care professionals will provide a one-stop facility for comprehensive diagnostic procedures and for all forms of therapeutic intervention. The centre was officially opened on 6th December 2002 at the Li Ka Shing Specialist Clinic of the Prince of Wales Hospital. Postgraduate High Table Dinner O ver 120 guests and residents of the Postgraduate Halls attended the first high table dinner organized by the Postgraduate Halls Management Office and the two Postgraduate Hall Resident Associations on 11th December 2002 at the Benjamin Franklin Centre Staff Canteen. Guest speaker Prof. Tsui Lap- chee, vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, gave a talk on 'Research: A Balancing Act'. 2 No. 214 4th January 2003