Newsletter No. 350

No. 350, 4.1.2010 NEWS & EVENTS 中 國教育部近日公布2009年 度高等學校科學研究優秀 成果獎（科學技術）結果，中文大 學兩名教授獲獎。一位是生物系 姜里文教授（ 上圖 ），他的「植物 液泡前體及內涵體的分子鑒定」 項目榮獲自然科學獎。另一位是系 統工程及工程管理學系的蒙美玲 教授（ 下圖 ），她憑研究項目「多模 態的多語種語音、語言交互的研究 與應用」獲得科技進步獎。 姜里文教授對獲獎感到高興，並 說：「這一切都要歸功於我的實驗 室的學生和研究人員，過去九年他 們為研究付出極大努力。我尤其感謝繆岩松博士為申請獎項所花的 工夫，還要感謝生物系、理學院和中大的不斷支持。」 蒙美玲教授對獲獎也感到高興，並視之為對其研究團隊的極大鼓 舞。她說：「我們一直研究多語種語音的各個層面，並開發多模態人 機交互系統技術。這是長期的研究方向，我們將以最大的努力和熱 情繼續研究下去。」 T he Ministry of Education of China (MoE) announced the results of its Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards 2009. Two CUHK researchers were honoured. Prof. Jiang Liwen (top) from the Department of Biology was awarded the Natural Science Award for his project ‘Molecular Characterization of Plant Prevacuolar and Endosomal Compartments’, and Prof. Helen Meng (bottom) from the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management was awarded the Technology Progress Award for ‘Multimodal User Interactions with Multilingual Speech and Language Technologies—Research and Applications’. Pleased to receive the award, Professor Jiang said, ‘All the credit should go to the students and researchers in my laboratory for their efforts over the past nine years. Special thanks go to Dr. Miao Yansong also for doing the application for the award. I am grateful for the support from the Department of Biology, the Faculty of Science and the University.’ Professor Meng took the award as strong encouragement for her team. ‘We have been conducting research and development on many aspects of multilingual speech and technologies for multimodal human-computer interaction. This is our long-term research direction that we will continue to pursue with great diligence and enthusiasm.’ 中大兩研究人員獲教育部優秀成果獎 Two CUHK Researchers Receive MoE Research Awards • 雙心室起搏療法減低心衰竭風險 New Pacing Therapy to Prevent Heart Failure • 治 療心律過慢的傳統方法是為病人安裝心臟起搏 器。但近年一些研究指出，右心室起搏療法可能導 致左心室功能惡化，使心室變大、泵血功能減弱，最終引 致心衰竭甚至死亡。較早前一項研究顯示，百分之二十六 接受了右心室起搏療法的病人，最後都出現心衰竭。另外， 不同的研究也估計右心室起搏療法會把心衰竭的風險或 死亡率提高一點六至三點五倍。較易出現心衰竭的高危人 士包括長者、有心臟機能障礙或缺血性心臟病的患者，以 及那些需要長時間接受右心室起搏療法的病人。 內科及藥物治療學系心臟科主管、心腦血管醫學研究所所 長（臨床醫學）余卓文教授在2005至2009年間進行了一項 臨床研究，測試嶄新的雙心室起搏療法可否防止右心室起 搏療法所帶來的不良效果。 該研究以隨機分配的方式，安排 一百七十七名患者接受雙心室或 右心室起搏治療。一年後發現， 接受右心室起搏療法的患者的 左心室泵血功能明顯減弱，心室 亦擴大了百分之二十五；而接受 雙心室起搏器治療的病人，則沒 有這些問題，減低了日後出現心 衰竭的風險。 此為全球首項同類型的研究，美 國心臟協會於2009年11月率先 在奧蘭多舉辦的周年科學會議 上發布，並已刊載於同月出版的 《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》。 現時本港大約有一萬五千名病人 裝有心臟起搏器，而每年有多達 一千三百人需要接受這項治療。中大這項研究結果為心律 過慢病人帶來突破性的治療方法。 T he conventional treatment for patients with slow heart rhythms is implantation of pacemakers. Several studies have shown that pacing in the right ventricle may lead to worsening of function in the most important chamber of the heart, the left ventricle. This will result in chamber enlargement, deterioration of pump function and eventually development of heart failure and increased risks of death. A study observed that 26% of patients receiving right ventricular pacing developed heart failure during long-term follow up. Furthermore, different studies estimated that right ventricular pacing ups the risk of heart failure or mortality by 1.6 to 3.5 fold. The high-risk group which may develop heart failure includes the elderly, pre-existing cardiac dysfunction or ischemic heart disease, and those requiring a high percentage of right ventricular pacing. Prof. Yu Cheuk-man, head of the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, and Director (Clinical Sciences) of the Institute of Vascular Medicine, conducted a clinical trial from 2005 to 2009 to test whether the novel biventricular pacing can avoid the adverse effect of right ventricular pacing. In the Pacing to Avoid Cardiac Enlargement (PACE) study, 177 patients were randomized to either biventricular or right ventricular pacing. After a year of follow-up, those who received right ventricular pacing showed significant deterioration of left ventricular pump function and had a 25% adverse chamber enlargement. Such adverse effects were avoided by the use of biventricular pacing. The result of the PACE study shows the new pacing method can prevent the development of heart failure. Being the first clinical trial of its kind in the world, the study was recently announced in the American Heart Association Annual Scientific Meeting in Orlando USA in November 2009 and published in the November issue of the New England Journal of Medicine . It is estimated that around 15,000 patients have pacemakers and new implants are up to 1,300 per year in Hong Kong. The encouraging results of the PACE study may revolutionize current clinical practice to implant biventricular pacemaker instead of right ventricular pacing, especially in those at risk of developing heart failure. 余卓文教授（右）和內科及藥物治療學系名譽臨床助理教授陳日新醫生 Prof. Yu Cheuk-man (right) and Dr. Chan Yat-sun Joseph, clinical assistant professor (honorary) of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics