Media Releases

PolyU Innovates Nano-encapsulation Technology to Enhance DHA Absorption for Early Brain Development

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today announced the findings on its novel nano-encapsulation technology for optimising the maternal and fetal absorption of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The research, conducted by PolyU’s Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology (ABCT), aimed to address the delivery and absorption issues of DHA that affect its potency and efficacy. DHA, a type of Omega-3 fatty acid naturally found in breast milk and fish oil, is an important nutrient for the development and function of brain. It is primarily obtained from diet, and preferentially transferred from mother to fetus across the placenta during fetal life. However, for people with problem in getting sufficient DHA from normal dietary sources, particularly those in late pregnancy, early childhood, or with cancer or declining cognitive abilities, DHA supplementation is recommended. Given DHA is highly unsaturated and is vulnerable to oxidation and degradation under acid conditions, it is uncertain that the intake of DHA through supplementation will be effectively delivered and absorbed in vivo. Led by Dr Wang Yi, Assistant Professor of ABCT, and Professor Wong Man-sau, Professor of ABCT, the research team innovated a nano-encapsulation technology to protect DHA from oxidation. The team used Zein, an edible corn protein, as the encapsulation material to mimic milk fat globule membrane. The nano-encapsulation forms a core-shell structure to protect DHA in fish oil throughout gastric digestion and facilitate DHA absorption in brain, intestine and placenta. “Our team innovated the nano-encapsulation technology, which is proven to be an effective technology to protect DHA from oxidation in vivo, thus enhancing the absorption and efficacy of DHA. Our findings also indicated that the technology can help overcome blood-brain barrier in DHA delivery. We therefore believe that the technology could be further applied to enhance the efficiency of drug delivery for the brain, such as those for patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr Wang Yi. DHA in maternal tissues To test the effectiveness of nano-encapsulation technology in enhancing DHA absorption, PolyU’s team conducted some experiments on maternal mice and their offsprings. In two groups of maternal mice, each of six, fed with normal fish oil (Normal FO) and nano-encapsulated fish oil (Nano FO) respectively, it was found that the DHA concentration in the duodenum and jejunum of the Nano FO group is significantly higher than the Normal FO group (see Figure 1). The result implies that DHA, being protected by the encapsulation structure from oxidation and degradation under stomach’s acidic conditions, is successfully released in the upper two parts of the small intestine of the Nano FO group. Also, the DHA contents in the brain of the Nano FO maternal mice were significantly higher (see Figure 2). This indicates that DHA was delivered to the brain of the Nano FO group more effectively as the challenge of the blood-brain barrier was overcome. DHA in the offsprings The team also conducted tracer studies on the offsprings of the maternal mice. The mice were divided into six groups, each with 10, and were fed with different diets including: 1) no DHA meal; 2) Zein; 3) normal low dose fish oil (Normal FO-low); 4) normal high dose fish oil (Normal FO-high); 5) Nano-encapsulated low dose fish oil (Nano FO-low); and 6) Nano-encapsulated high dose fish oil (Nano FO-high). The findings showed that the three groups, namely: Normal FO-high, Nano FO-low and Nano FO-high spent more time on novel objects rather than on familiar objects (see Figure 3), implying that they were more curious about new things and demonstrated better memory and learning capabilities. For the Nano FO-high group, they had higher amount of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in hippocampus (see Figure 4). BDNF, a protein activated by DHA, plays an important role in supporting the survival of existing brain neurons and encouraging the growth and differentiation of new neurons and synapses. They also demonstrated a significant difference to other groups in terms of better spatial learning and memory abilities in the Y-maze experiment (see Figure 5). The research project was funded by the Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) of the Food and Health Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Shenzhen Basic Research (Layout of Disciplines) Project Fund.c   *****END*****

PolyU and Chinese Academy of Sciences launch two joint laboratories for collaborative studies in "Applied Mathematics" and "Greater Bay Area Environment"

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the two research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), namely Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science (AMSS) and Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG), today staged an inauguration ceremony of two joint laboratories on PolyU campus, marking the official launch of their collaborations. The two new laboratories are: CAS AMSS-PolyU Joint Laboratory of Applied Mathematics (Directors: Professor Yuan Ya-xiang and Professor Chen Xiao-jun); and CAS GIG-PolyU Joint Laboratory of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for the Environment (Directors: Professor Wang Xin-ming and Professor Li Xiang-dong). Complementing the strengths of PolyU and the CAS research institutes, the two joint laboratories will collaborate to extend research frontiers, advance knowledge transfer and applications as well as cultivate talents in the fields of applied mathematics and environmental protection for contributing towards the development of the Greater Bay Area and the society. In November last year, the Hong Kong SAR Government announced the setting up of the Joint Laboratory Funding Scheme by the University Grants Committee to provide research subsidy to the joint laboratories approved by the CAS. Among the 22 joint laboratories, three are located in PolyU, including the Joint Laboratory for Aerosol and Environment set up by PolyU and the CAS Institute of Earth Environment in 2013, and the two laboratories officially launched today. Addressing the opening ceremony, Professor Philip C. H. Chan, Interim President of PolyU said, “Over the years, PolyU and the CAS have built solid foundation in research collaboration. The establishment of another two joint laboratories signifies CAS’ recognition of our research excellence in applied mathematics and environmental science. We will leverage each other’s expertise to beef up research studies that align with the nation’s development. Through the on-going collaborations with the CAS, we hope we could make valuable contributions to Hong Kong and the nation.” Mr Cao Jing-hua, Director General of CAS Bureau of International Cooperation, said the Central Government had made it definite to support Hong Kong for developing into an International Innovation and Technology Hub, and CAS for establishing an affiliated institution in Hong Kong. “CAS and PolyU are close partners. The joint laboratories are important platforms for enhancing technological collaborations between the Mainland and Hong Kong. PolyU and CAS had set up the Joint Laboratory for Aerosol and Environment, which has made considerable achievements in that aspect. We hope that the newly established joint laboratories will showcase the synergies of CAS and PolyU and will deepen our collaboration in the studies of Fundamental and Applied Mathematics as well as Environmental Science and Management, which are subjects of common concerns. We hope that our collaboration will be beneficial to the advancement of Greater Bay Area (GBA) development and will support the strategic deployment of the Central Government in making Hong Kong as the International Innovation and Technology Hub. We also hope that it will bring the complementary strengths of the Mainland and Hong Kong into full play and ultimately contribute to the economic development and betterment of people’s livelihood of the two places.” Attending the ceremony were Professor Gao Xiao-shan, Executive Vice-President of CAS Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science; Professor Xu Yi-gang, Director General of Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS; Mr Zheng Xiao-nian, Director General of CAS Bureau of Facility Support and Budget; Ms Li Fang-fang, Director of Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs, CAS Bureau of International Cooperation; Ms Luo Wen, Director of CAS Division of Budget System; Ir Professor Alex Wai, Vice President (Research Development), PolyU; Professor Wong Wing-tak, Dean of Faculty of Science and Textiles, PolyU; Ir Professor Xu You-lin, Dean of Faculty of Construction and Environment, PolyU; as well as senior members of the partnering institutes and departments of the two joint laboratories. CAS AMSS-PolyU Joint Laboratory of Applied Mathematics The CAS Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science (AMSS) and PolyU have complementary strengths in the areas of optimisation calculation, computational mathematics, and biological sciences. The State Key Laboratory in Science and Engineering Computing of AMSS is the only national level laboratory in the field. While PolyU’s University Research Facility in Big Data Analytics aggregates big data on smart cities, financial technology and healthcare, which are valuable resources for data analysis modeling and testing of algorithm. The collaboration between AMSS and PolyU, through leveraging each other’s competences and sharing research resources, can thus comprehensively cover the many directions of research in applied mathematics. The CAS AMSS-PolyU Joint Laboratory of Applied Mathematics will focus on developing basic algorithms studies covering optimisation calculations, tensor calculations, multiphysics calculations, etc; research in applied statistics and financial mathematics; and further studies in the spectra of big data and artificial intelligence. CAS GIG-PolyU Joint Laboratory of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for the Environment The CAS Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG) and PolyU have respective strengths in environmental sciences and engineering. Both institutes are located in GBA and thus can enjoy the geographical advantage of GBA where the nation is determined to develop. To manage the emerging environmental issues in GBA, especially in pollution and ecological issues, GIG and PolyU can jointly develop scientific researches and technological solutions, ranging from monitoring, prevention to remediation, to enhance the health and environmental quality in GBA. The focus areas of research of the CAS GIG-PolyU Joint Laboratory of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for the Environment will include air quality improvement, environment and health for city clusters, urban land integrated remediation measures for different types of pollution, municipal solid waste and sewage treatment in new rural areas, ecological management in estuary and coastal areas, etc.   *****END****

PolyU myopia control technology extends impact into Greater Bay Area

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today extends its licence on Defocus Incorporated Soft Contact (DISC) technology to Vision Science and Technology Co. Ltd. (VST), a local start-up. The patented technology was licensed to VST last year for commercialisation of DISC lens in Hong Kong. Following the extended licensing arrangement, VST will further promote the product to the cities in the Greater Bay Area and other parts of China in the future. Children and teenagers in the nation will also be benefited from PolyU's research success in myopia control technology to address their vision health issues. The novel DISC technology has been patented in the Mainland, Australia, the United States and various European countries. DISC lens is a multi-zone soft contact lens that provides clear vision and at the same time projects blurred, out-of-focus (defocused) images onto the retina to slow down the increase in axial length of the eye of the myopic patients. The clinical control trial conducted by PolyU showed that DISC lens can effectively retard the progression of myopia by approximately 60% amongst Hong Kong children aged 8 to 13. DISC lens, launched by VST in Hong Kong last year, has received positive responses. To offer the myopic population an alternative, VST today launches a daily disposable contact lens — DISC-1 Day. With the authorisation from PolyU, VST will collaborate with Daylite Vision Care Ltd. to apply for licence application with the China Food and Drug Administration for DISC-1 Day in order to extend the DISC distribution to the Mainland. It is expected that with the licence granted by the Chinese authority, the brand new product will be distributed to the authorised optometric clinics and fitting centres within a year, initially in the Greater Bay Area, and gradually extending across the nation. Dr Dennis Tse, Assistant Professor of the School of Optometry at PolyU, said "We are so pleased that the novel DISC technology was successfully commercialised that many children in Hong Kong can be benefited. We keenly hope that this innovative technological solution can be brought to the Greater Bay Area and other cities in the Mainland to help the nation address the spiralling myopic problem among children and adolescents." VST is a local start-up founded by a PolyU alumnus. VST received support from the HKSTP-PolyU Tech Incubation Fund (TIF) and PolyU Tech Launchpad Fund (TLF). Specialising in developing and distributing products for vision improvement, VST is the first company in Hong Kong that adopts a tailor-made professional fitting approach to manufacture and provide soft myopic control lenses. Under the licensing arrangement with PolyU, VST manufactures and provides DISC lenses via its authorised optometric clinics and fitting centres. The lenses are manufactured according to the prescription of optometrists. Mr Jackson Leung, Founder and Director of VST, said DISC lens has been well received since its launch last year. However, DISC lens users are required to take a regular fitting assessment every three months and to wait for another two weeks for the newly prescribed DISC lens. They also need to clean and disinfect the lens every day. Therefore, some customers wish to have a more convenient option. "VST therefore developed the brand new DISC-1 Day in order to offer the myopia population with another choice. DISC-1 Day lens is readily available upon optometric fitting assessment, and is for daily wear and disposal without the need for care. With power of myopia correctable up to 10.00 diopters, it is of the highest diopter with ultraviolet protection among all similar products in the market." VST was awarded a total of HK$1.6 million, including a matching fund, under TIF and TLF schemes. Both schemes are funded by the Technology Start-up Support Scheme for Universities under the Innovation and Technology Commission of the Hong Kong Government. PolyU has been committed to promoting technology and knowledge transfer, nurturing entrepreneurial culture and providing support to aspiring entrepreneurs. Besides supporting start-ups by offering various seed funds, the University also provides co-working space for entrepreneurs at InnoHub in both its Hong Kong campus and Shenzhen Base, mentorship support through the Startup Consultation Clinic manned by Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, training workshops for entrepreneurs, and networking opportunities with incubators and investors. In line with the Hong Kong SAR Government's proactive endeavours in developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-MacauGreater Bay Area, PolyU will put in further efforts in technology innovation and knowledge transfer in the region.   *****END****

PolyU partners with employers to shape tomorrow’s talents

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) hosted a luncheon today to engage over 220 local and multi-national firms from various sectors, including finance, engineering, construction, logistics, healthcare and hospitality. Themed "Partnering with Employers – Shaping Tomorrow's Talent", the Luncheon served to provide an opportunity for PolyU to connect with the current and potential employers of its graduates. The Hon Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Chief Secretary for Administration, HKSAR Government attended the event as the Guest of Honour and delivered a speech. "The Government has a clear vision to develop Hong Kong further into a high value-added and diversified economy. To this end, we need to develop a good mix of talents who have broad horizons, equipped with different skillsets and a solid grasp of international affairs, to sustain our competitiveness and contribute towards the diversified development of Hong Kong," Mr Cheung said. "I am delighted to note that universities have responded positively to the Government's call for promoting innovation and technology and offered more cross-disciplinary programmes in the planning cycle, including programmes on artificial intelligence and financial technology," he said. "I am confident that PolyU's partnership with the Government and the business community will go from strength to strength, and that the graduates will excel on all fronts." Professor Philip C. H. Chan, Interim President, PolyU also took the opportunity to share with the employers PolyU's vision in education. He said "PolyU, through the provision of a holistic education, aims to nurture future-ready graduates who are professionally competent, socially responsible, innovative and entrepreneurial." PolyU has an unique strength in grooming specialised professionals in  more than 10 disciplines, including Aviation Engineering; Design; Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development; Fashion and Textiles; Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics; Sustainable Structural and Fire Engineering; Optometry; Occupational Therapy; Physiotherapy; Radiography; and  Transportation Systems Engineering. Many of the subjects are ranked among top 50 in the world. For instance, according to the QS University Ranking, our Civil and Structural Engineering subject is ranked 10th in world; while our Hospitality and Leisure Management subject is ranked 3rd in world. PolyU's Faculty of Business ranked 3rd in Asia and 17th in the world in 2018 KUBS Worldwide Business Research RankingsTM. PolyU constantly develops new programmes to keep up with the times and support students map their future path. For example, BSc(Hons) in Financial Technology and Artificial Intelligence will be rolling out in the academic year of 2019 to meet the upcoming needs for Fintech and AI roles such as data scientists, software engineers, and machine learning engineers, etc. PolyU's graduates are well poised to seize the opportunities in the global landscape as well as those presented by nation's initiatives along the Belt and Road and in the Greater Bay Area. The employability of the PolyU students is well illustrated by the survey results on the destinations of PolyU graduates. About 4,000 out of the 4,671 graduates provided response to the survey. Over 83 per cent were employed / self employed by December 2017, while more than six per cent carried on their studies. Over 92 per cent of the graduates received their first job offer by end of September and the monthly salary of the graduates of some programmes could be as high as $32,000. Dr Miranda Lou, Executive Vice President, PolyU, in her closing remarks, thanked the employers for joining hands with PolyU to nurture the rising generation. She urged the employers to continue to partner with PolyU so that its graduates could better contribute to the social and economic development of Hong Kong, as well as bringing positive changes to our society and our world.   *****END****

PolyU provides multi-disciplinary support to the nation’s historic landing on the far side of the Moon

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) proudly supported the nation's current lunar exploration, Chang'e-4 lunar probe, which successfully performed the historic landing on the far side of the Moon on 3 January 2019. Adopted by Chang'e-4 mission was PolyU's advanced technologies, namely the design and development of an advanced Camera Pointing System, and an innovative lunar topographic mapping and geomorphological analysis technique in landing site characterisation for the space craft. "PolyU is very honoured to be involved in and to make contributions to the nation's lunar missions, in particular in this debut landing on the far side of the Moon, the first-ever in the history of mankind," said Professor Alex WAI, Vice President (Research Development), PolyU. "PolyU attaches great importance to the mission and mobilises multi-disciplinary resources to ensure the deliverables meet the stringent requirements of a space mission." Landing site characterisation For the first lunar mission in the world to land a space craft on the far side of the Moon, the selection of a safe landing site with scientific value is of paramount importance. Dr Bo WU, Associate Professor of Poly's Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, has led a team to conduct a research titled "Chang'e-4 Landing Site - Topographic and Geomorphological Characterisation and Analysis" since March 2016. Funded by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the team amassed a large amount of lunar remote sensing data from multi-sources to create high-precision and high-resolution topographic models for two potential landing regions, one of them is the current Chang'e-4 landing site, the Von Kármán crater inside the South Pole - Aitken basin on the far side of the Moon. Dr Wu and his team studied two landing regions for Chang'e-4 mission, each covering an area of about 1,500 square kilometers, which is 1.4 times of the total area of Hong Kong. They analysed in detail the terrain slopes, terrain occlusions to sun illumination and telecommunication, crater distribution, rock abundance, and geological history of the region. These analyses helped the team to put forward a sound and evidenced-based proposal of possible landing sites. The team gathered information of more than 400,000 craters and over 20,000 boulders in the candidate landing regions. It had also analysed the terrain surface and calculated the gradient of the slopes to identify relatively flat sites for safe landing. Rock abundance of the region had to be considered in detail because boulders can be as large as 35 metres in diameter and can block the way of the rover, whereas small rocks may get into the wheels, hence creating problem in the rover's movement. "The Chang'e-4 landing site is on the far side of the Moon, without direct radio communication from Earth," said Dr Wu. "In addition, the terrain surface of the landing region is also very rough with elevation differences up to 16km, which required a nearly perpendicular descent design. These made the mission very challenging." The study in terrain occlusions to sun illumination and telecommunication is particularly important to ensure good illumination conditions to charge the solar panels on the lander and rover so that the onboard scientific sensors can be functional, and ensure good signal reception and data transmition between the control center on Earth and the lander and rover. After the successful landing of Chang'e-4 on 3 January 2019, the team worked together with the CAST team to immediately locate the precise location of the lander and analysed the terrain occlusions to sun illumination and telecommunication around the lander for better scheduling of action of the lander and rover. Dr Wu is excited to get involved in the project. "When I started my career in surveying, I have never dreamed of taking part in space exploration missions. But all things are possible if we are bold in taking out that one step," he shared. Camera Pointing System Prof. Kai-leung YUNG, PolyU's Chair Professor (Precision Engineering) and Associate Head of Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering also leads a team to contribute to the nation's lunar probe by developing the Camera Pointing System (CPS) jointly with CAST. The CPS weighs 2.8 kg and measures 85 cm (length) by 27 cm (width) and 16 cm (depth). Mounted on the upper part of the lander of Chang'e-4, CPS is capable of moving vertically by 120 degrees and rotating sideway by 350 degrees, under Moon's gravity (i.e. one sixth of Earth's gravity). It is deployed for capturing images of the Moon as well as facilitating movement of the lunar rover. The design of the sophisticated CPS is extremely complicated. To withstand the stringent environment and to ensure the proper functioning of the device once landed on the Moon, all electrical parts, signal lines and wirings are installed inside the product shell. A well-designed, complicated, precise interior structure has to be machined to install and protect all wirings properly. Good multi-axis machining know-how and experience is a must to complete this project. The far side of the Moon receives high density of radiation and is exposed to extreme temperatures. The CPS therefore needs to be protected by the product shell with good surface finish and treatment to reflect the radiation and heat. And to avoid corrosion and rusting, the number of assembly parts and joints have to be minimised. As a result, many parts were specially combined to form one single component in the design stage and were machined and fabricated by removing unnecessary materials from one single solid material block. The process is far more complicated and time-consuming and needs high precision machining process design and know-how. The CPS was delicately manufactured in PolyU's Industrial Centre, a key member in the project that played a pivotal role in producing space instruments to meet the stringent requirements in design and features for space deployment. "I am very proud to be able to take part in the first-ever landing mission for mankind," said Prof. Yung. "I shall continue to work for the nation's space explorations." PolyU's continuous support and future endeavour The expert teams have been working to support the nation's lunar missions for years. The CPS developed by Prof. Yung's team was first adopted by Chang'e-3 launched in 2013. That is the first Hong Kong-made and developed instrument being deployed for the nation's lunar exploration programme. The functionalities and performance of CPS were proved to have met the stringent requirements as the two sets of CPS operated smoothly as planned after the landing of the space craft. Dr Wu's team also worked on the topographic mapping and analysis of the landing site of the Chang'e-3 mission in 2013, and made contributions to the strategic planning and selection of the landing site for Chang'e-3. "The ultra-high standard of the research outcomes delivered by PolyU in the space projects confirm our competence in innovation and technologies. PolyU has been consistently delivering our research promise: to translate our research into impactful and practical technological solutions. In the future, PolyU continues to adopt a cross-disciplinary approach and integrate our pool of expertise and resources to develop sophisticated, appropriate and effective solutions for the nation's space exploration programmes, including Chang'e-5 lunar mission and the nation's first mission to explore Mars later," said Prof. Wai.   *****END****

PolyU to hold Info Day for Taught Postgraduate Programmes on 12 January

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) will offer 90 taught postgraduate programmes in 2019/20, and is now inviting applications. Addressing the evolving needs of the society and the industries, PolyU remains committed to providing dynamic and high-quality programmes for nurturing talents to be capable of facing challenges of the times. In the coming academic year, PolyU is going to launch new programmes such as Master of Science in "Global Food Safety Management and Risk Analysis", "Accounting and Finance Analytics", and "Business Analytics". There are also programmes with restructured curriculum, such as "Industrial and Systems Engineering" and "Management and Marketing". PolyU's "Info Day for Taught Postgraduate Programmes" will be held on 12 January 2019 (Saturday) from 2pm to 6pm on PolyU campus to provide prospective applicants first-hand information and consultations on their further studies. More than 80 information seminars and consultation sessions will be organised by the eight Faculties/Schools of PolyU: Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles; Faculty of Business; Faculty of Construction and Environment; Faculty of Engineering; Faculty of Health and Social Sciences; Faculty of Humanities; School of Design; and School of Hotel and Tourism Management. For more details of the Info Day, please visit:- http://www.polyu.edu.hk/tpginfoday. For programme details and application procedures, please visit Study@PolyU website https://www.polyu.edu.hk/study. As applications received will be considered on a rolling basis, applicants are advised to submit their applications as early as possible. Info Day Enquiries Hotline: (852) 2333 0600 Info Day Enquiries E-mail: asevents.enquiry@polyu.edu.hk