Bulletin No. 2, 2018

News in Brief 37 Setting Asia’s First Three-dimensional Bone Density Standard Based on years of clinical researches, the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology has set the first three-dimensional Bone Density Standard in Asia using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography. The standard helps set bone density references for Chinese men and women of different age groups, thereby enabling early diagnosis of osteoporosis and assessment of fracture risk. Glaucoma No Longer Nerve-racking A team led by Prof. Chen Shih-chi (right) of CUHK’s Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering has developed the first digital holography-based (DH) two-photon excitation (TPE) microscope to generate simultaneous videorate fluorescent imaging and multi-point optical stimulation. This allows the tracking of nerve cells activities and helps understand the molecular mechanisms of optic nerve degeneration in glaucoma. New Insight into Improving Crop Quality A team of researchers led by Prof. Jiang Liwen (centre), Choh-Ming Li Professor of Life Sciences, has recently made a major breakthrough in their research. The identification of a plant-specific protein BRAF (BRo1-domain protein as FREE1 suppressor) have provided new insight into improving crop quality. Decoding Vascular Disease Caused by Diabetes A research team led by Prof. Huang Yu (1st left) of the School of Biomedical Sciences and director of the Institute of Vascular Medicine has revealed a cell-to-cell communication mechanism that contributes to vascular endothelial dysfunction in diabetes. Based on the studies made on diabetic mice, the team has found that an enzyme ‘arginase 1’ was enriched in serum exosomes and transferred to endothelial cells, thus impairing endothelial function. Nano-robots Swarms Imitate Collective Movements of Animals Inspired by natural swarm behaviours, a research team led by Prof. Li Zhang (right) of the Department of Mechanical and Automation introduced the ability of collective movements into nano-robots. The nano-robot swarms can perform diverse and reversible morphological changes, including extension and shrinkage, and splitting and merging, and have high potential for in-vivo biomedical applications, such as targeted drug delivery and minimally invasive surgery. R esearch