#The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Scientific researchers draw inspiration from nature's brilliance as they seek to develop transformative solutions to unresolved challenges. Prof. WANG Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Chair Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has meticulously explored the intricacies of nature and made remarkable findings with very significant real-world applications. His recently published research on cooling ceramic successfully translates novel discovery into sustainable applications. Findings from his research project "Hierarchically structured passive radiative cooling ceramic with high solar reflectivity" were published in the journal Science. Together with Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation), Chair Professor of Thermal and Environmental Engineering of PolyU and co-author of the paper, Prof. Wang collaborated with a research team from the City University of Hong Kong on this innovation.

Read more.

[goodguygadgets]

OPPO and PolyU Extend Partnership with Joint Innovation Hub in AI Imaging

OPPO and PolyU strengthen their partnership in AI imaging tech with a renewed research center! 🌍 Major investments aim to push boundaries in imaging innovation and talent growth. #OPPOxPolyU #GoodGuyGadgets #LetsTalkTech

The renewed collaboration between OPPO and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) underscores their shared commitment to pioneering AI imaging innovations. With the expanded “PolyU-OPPO Joint Innovation Research Centre,” both organizations are set to deepen their academic and industry partnership, focusing on advanced imaging solutions and nurturing research talent within the Guangdong-Hong…

[xtruss]

A file photo shows ground parched by drought. The climate is changing in the U.S. Huseyin Bostanci/Getty Images

Sudden Shifts From Drought to Floods Are Getting More Common in the U.S.

— By Robyn White | August 31, 2023

Sudden shifts from drought conditions to heavy floods are becoming more common in the U.S. as the climate changes, a study has found.

The findings were presented in a study published in Communications Earth & Environment. Researchers from the University of Texas, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Research Institute for Land and Space, and Columbia University's Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, also found that so-called feedback loops—a process that can either increase or decrease the effects of greenhouse gases—are likely contributing.

"We are especially concerned with the sudden shift from drought to flood," co-author Zong-Liang Yang, a professor at The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences, said in a statement on the findings. "Society usually has difficulty responding to one kind of natural disaster like drought, but now you suddenly have floods too. And this has been happening in many places."

The findings were reached based on four decades of meteorological and hydrological data from hotspots around the world, including eastern North America, Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, southern Australia, southern Africa and southern South America, according to the statement.

Over time, from 1980 to 2020, researchers found that such whiplash trends in the weather increased approximately a quarter of a percent to 1% per year. These extreme shifts in weather patterns have manifested in parts of the U.S. recently, and in California in particular.

The state, which has been suffering from extreme drought conditions in recent years, was battered with record amounts of rainfall from December 2022 until early spring this year. The storms were so severe that catastrophic flooding was seen in many places.

While many thought that the increase in wet weather may help ease the drought, experts have warned that it will only be a short-term solution. As the drought in the western U.S. has stretched on for so long, it will still take years of above average rainfall for the region to fully recover.

Other factors as well as climate change may be contributing to these sudden weather changes, including the El Niño and La Niña climate patterns.

Feedback loops can also be to blame. Researchers found that during periods of heavy drought in humid areas, precipitation is pushed into the air, providing an additional moisture source, the study reported. This can then cause heavy rainfall.

Periods of drought in arid regions, can also see hot weather and low pressure colliding together, drawing moisture from other sources, such as the ocean.

"Climate change is fueling back-to-back droughts and floods which have caused widespread devastation, resulting in loss of life and damage to property, infrastructure, and the environment," said co-author Shuo Wang, an associate professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. "Our findings provide insights into the development of early warning systems for mitigating the impacts of rapid dry-wet transitions."

[jaguarmen99]

中国の探査車が、火星にかつて広大な海が存在していたという説を支持する新たな証拠を発見した。研究結果が7日の科学誌「ネイチャー（Nature）」で発表された。 　数十億年前の火星は3分の1が海に覆われていたとする説については長年、科学界で議論が続いている。 　中国の火星探査車「祝融（Zhurong）」は2021年、火星の北半球にある「ユートピア平原（Utopia Planitia）」に着陸。古代の水の痕跡が発見されたことのあるこの地域で探査を続けてきた。 　論文の筆頭執筆者を務めた香港理工大学（Hong Kong Polytechnic University）のボー・ウー（Bo Wu）氏はAFPに対し、探査車の着陸地���周辺で「穴やくぼみのある円すい形の地形、地表のポリゴン状（多角形）の溝、流路の痕跡」など、かつて海があったことを示唆するさまざまな特徴が確認されたと述べた。 　クレーターのようなくぼんだ円すい形の地形をめぐっては、先行研究により、泥火山由来の可能性があり、水や氷が存在した地域でよく形成されることが示唆されていた。 　また、探査機からの情報、衛星データ、地球での分析から、かつてこの地域の近くには海岸線があったことが示唆されたとしている。

「古代の火星に海」 新たな痕跡発見か 中国探査車　写真3枚　国際ニュース：AFPBB News

[collapsedsquid]

When electronics manufacturing took off in China in the 1980s, rural women who had just begun moving to the cities made up the majority of the factory workforce. They didn’t have many other options. Managers at companies like Foxconn preferred to hire women because they believed them to be more obedient, Jenny Chan, a sociologist at Hong Kong Polytechnic University who studies labor issues at Foxconn, told Rest of World. Over the past 30 years, that’s changed. Today, most of China’s iPhone workers are men; women have moved into less arduous service sector jobs. But in India, Foxconn and other electronics manufacturers are once again recruiting from a female workforce beginning to migrate for better jobs. Hiring a young, female workforce in India comes with its own requirements — which include reassuring doting parents about the safety of their daughters. The company offers workers free food, lodging, and buses to ensure a safe commute at all hours of the day. On days off, women who live in Foxconn hostels have a 6 p.m. curfew; permission is required to spend the night elsewhere. “[If] they go out and not return by a specific time, their parents would be informed,” a former Foxconn HR manager told Rest of World. “[That’s how] they offer trust to their parents.”

[lamodebygvmiao]

{24 mars} Following my visit to the Fashion X AI Touring Exhibition last month, I had the chance to meet Dr. Jeanne Tan at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (#hkpolyu) and her intelligent textile research/development team in person in the #workshop “AI and Textile for Fashion and Lifestyle.” During the workshop, we were shared their groundbreaking research results – #illuminative Polymeric Optical Fibre (#POFs (Chinese: #光纖)) #Textiles 💡 comprised of a contactless gesture recognition system that change colour via hand gestures and invited to brainstorm ideas among the #designers on the #AI applications for #fashion and daily life. What I particularly couldn’t get enough of was a mini loom given to each of us on which we tried handweaving the POFs with the woollen yarns 🧶 I’m not tech savvy but I’m thrilled to witness the combination of innovative #technology and fashion that has given rise to a brand new landscape of the industry. At #AiDLab PS Also check out the video in the next post. #fashiondesign/luminous #fiberoptic #fabrics

________________________________

Follow La Mode by GV Miao on: Blog: http://la-mode-by.gvmiao.com/ Tumblr blog: http://lamodebygvmiao.tumblr.com/ La Mode by GV Miao fashion blog fb page: https://www.facebook.com/gvmiaovickivictoirefashionistaz La Mode by GV Miao's Fashion Project of the Year: https://www.facebook.com/lamodebygvmiaofashionprojectoftheyear

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[hamzaaslam]

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University & Global Chinese Breast Cancer Organizations Alliance Jointly Launch the FIRST Electronic Painting for Breast Cancer (EPBC) Platform

To Foster Emotional Well-Being Through Art and Technology HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 4 November 2024 – Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Hong Kong. In addition to improving treatment options for better disease management and survival rates, the medical community is increasingly prioritizing the enhancement of patients’ emotional well-being. From left to…

[materialsscienceandengineering]

The more we discover about the natural world, the more we find that nature is the greatest engineer. Past research believed that liquids can only be transported in fixed direction on species with specific liquid communication properties and cannot switch the transport direction. Recently, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) researchers have shown that an African plant controls water movement in a previously unknown way -- and this could inspire breakthroughs in a range of technologies in fluid dynamics and nature-inspired materials, including applications that require multistep and repeated reactions, such as microassays, medical diagnosis and solar desalination etc. The study has been recently published in the international academic journal Science. Liquid transport is an unsung miracle of nature. Tall trees, for example, have to lift huge amounts of water every day from their roots to their highest leaves, which they accomplish in perfect silence. Some lizards and plants channel water through capillaries. In the desert, where making the most of scarce moisture is vital, some beetles can capture fog-borne water and direct it along their backs using a chemical gradient.

Read more.

[linguistlist-blog]

Jobs: English; Applied Linguistics, Psycholinguistics: Postdoctoral Fellow, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY With over 85 years of rich heritage, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has evolved alongside society and made pivotal contributions to the development of Hong Kong, the Nation and the world. PolyU also strives to be an innovative world-class university that pursues excellence in education, research and knowledge transfer. It offers a wide range of programmes in six faculties and three independent schools. Besides being ranked among the top 100 uni http://dlvr.it/TFZYnv

[abdiyacaris]

Which school's Master of Hospitality Management is better?

When considering a Master of Hospitality Management program, several factors determine which school is better for you:

Top Schools with Strong Master of Hospitality Management Programs:

Cornell University - School of Hotel Administration (SHA)

Pros: Known as one of the best hospitality schools globally. Strong alumni network, extensive resources, and specialized hospitality management courses.

Cons: High tuition costs and competitive admissions.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) - William F. Harrah College of Hospitality

Pros: Known for its location in Las Vegas, the hospitality capital. Strong industry ties and job opportunities.

Cons: Las Vegas may be a limiting factor for those not interested in a casino-based career path.

Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) - Switzerland

Pros: Consistently ranked as one of the top hospitality schools in Europe. International exposure and strong ties to luxury and high-end hospitality brands.

Cons: High cost of living in Switzerland and language barriers for non-French speakers.

Les Roches Global Hospitality Education - Switzerland and Spain

Pros: Focuses on experiential learning and has global campus locations. Strong placement records in luxury hotel chains.

Cons: Tuition is high, and the curriculum may be more hotel-focused.

Florida International University (FIU) - Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management

Pros: Affordable compared to other top programs. Great industry connections, particularly in the Florida and Miami regions.

Cons: Less globally renowned compared to schools like Cornell or EHL.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - School of Hotel and Tourism Management

Pros: Strong focus on Asian markets, which are booming in hospitality. Industry ties throughout Asia.

Cons: Limited recognition in Western countries, although growing.

Key Factors to Consider:

Location and Industry Connections: Schools like Cornell and UNLV have strong industry connections, particularly in the U.S., while EHL and Les Roches provide more international exposure.

Tuition and ROI: Some programs are expensive but offer strong alumni networks and placement services, which can justify the cost.

Specializations: Certain schools may offer specializations that align with your career goals, whether in luxury hospitality, event management, or food and beverage.

Global Rankings: EHL, Cornell, and UNLV frequently appear at the top of global rankings for hospitality management programs.

[jcmarchi]

Study tracks exposure to air pollution through the day

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/study-tracks-exposure-to-air-pollution-through-the-day/

Study tracks exposure to air pollution through the day

There are significant differences in how much people are exposed to air pollution, according to a new study co-authored by MIT scholars that takes daily mobility into account.

The study, based in the Bronx, New York, does not just estimate air pollution exposure based on where people live or work, but uses mobile data to examine where people go during a typical day, building a more thorough assessment of the environment’s impact on them.

The research finds exposure to particulate matter 2.5 microns or bigger rises by about 2.4 percent when daily travel patterns are taken into account.

“One of the main strengths of the study is that we try to improve the information we use, on the air quality side and also from the fine-grained estimation of people’s mobility,” says Paolo Santi, a principal research scientist at Senseable City Lab, part of MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), and a co-author of a new paper detailing the study’s results. “That allows us to build trajectories of people’s movement. So, it was the first time we were able to combine these data to come up with a new measure of exposure.”

After all, people’s daily pollution exposure may be a complex combination of either living near, working near, or traveling by sources of particulate matter.

“People move around the city for jobs and education and more, and studying that is where we get this better information about exposure,” says An Wang of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, another co-author of the study.

The paper, “Big mobility data reveals hyperlocal air pollution exposure disparities,” is published today in Nature Cities.

The authors are Iacopo Testi of the Senseable City Lab; An Wang of Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Sanjana Paul, a graduate student in DUSP; Simone Mora, of the Senseable City Lab; Erica Walker, an associate professor at the Brown University School of Public Health; Marguerite Nyhan, a senior lecturer/associate professor at the National University of Ireland, University College Cork; Fábio Duarte of the Senseable City Lab; Santi; and Carlo Ratti, director of the Senseable City Lab.

To conduct the study, the researchers collected air pollution by mounting solar-power environmental sensors, including optical particle counters, temperature and humidity sensors, and GPS, on New York City’s civic services vehicles in operation in the Bronx.

“This strategy shows that cities can use their existing fleet as environmental sensors,” says Mora.

To measure how people moving through the Bronx are exposed to pollution in different times, the researchers used anonymized phone records of 500,000 different individuals and 500 million daily location records in New York.

The ground-level pollution data showed that the southeastern portion of the Bronx, where expressways and industries meet most intensively, has the most particulate matter.

The mobility data also revealed disparities in exposure when evaluated in terms of demographics, with income disparities present but disparities by ethnicity larger. For instance, some largely Hispanic communities have among the highest exposure levels. But the data also showed large differences in exposure levels within Hispanic communities.

Pollution exposure has significant implications from a health perspective, as Duarte notes. For instance, the Bronx has the worst air quality of any New York City borough, and, in turn, cases of asthma in the Bronx are 2.5 times higher in than any other borough.

“You see the consequences of exposure to pollution in the hospitalization of adults in the Bronx,” Duarte says.

As the researchers acknowledge, because the study was conducted in the fall of 2021, when the global Covid-19 pandemic was still affecting business and commuting, there may be slightly different mobility patterns in the Bronx today. Still, they believe their methods can give rise to additional future studies of the pollution exposure.

Ratti notes that mobile data, including pollution sensors on vehicles, can be used as “a huge monitoring system. It’s not expensive, we have the infrastructure in terms of cars and buses, and just putting sensors on them, you can have better air quality monitoring.”

And Wang notes that granular studies such as this one can be extended into studies that add in additional kinds of air-quality hazards, in addition to PM 2.5 particles.

“This actually opens the door for new analysis for many kinds of toxicity studies combined with exposure,” he says.

The study was supported by the MIT Senseable City Lab Consortium.

[bearingacademyedu]

I hold a Hong Kong Associate Degree in Business Studies and I plan to advance my academic qualifications by applying for an MBA.  How shall I plan?”

 -  a Hong Kong student holding an associate's degree in business studies. 

Understanding the Transition from Associate Degree to MBA

Transiting from an associate degree directly to a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) is not the typical path, as most MBA programmes require a bachelor’s degree. Here is how you can navigate this journey.

Credit Transfers:  Look for institutions that offer credit transfers from your associate degree to a bachelor’s programme.  Universities in Hong Kong including the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong Baptist University, City University of Hong Kong, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University offer credit transfers for associate degree holders applying for their undergraduate programmes in Business Studies.  Various universities overseas also have the same arrangement.  This can significantly reduce the time required to complete your bachelor’s degree.   Alternatively, consider online or part-time bachelor’s programmes that allow you to work while studying. 

#MBAGoals #BusinessStudies #HigherEducation #CareerAdvancement #BearingAcademy

[elliebedard]

Blog 3 - Influences of Hong Kong Cinema Directors

There are many influential directors when talking about Hong Kong cinema, and I think it’s important to reflect on the directors who came from Hong Kong or China themselves and have shown the world their point of view as a director. Despite this, one of the Hong Kong movies I watched was “Rush Hour” which stars Jackie Chan, but was directed by an American film director. Since “Rush Hour” was a huge hit and even had several movies produced as sequels, I thought it was also important to research more about the director Brett Ratner. He attended the New York University of Arts for film, and this was the time where he directed his first short film. In an interview in 2001, Ratner emphasizes the importance of “Rush Hour” due to it including a black and asian man. The film was introducing us to a new form of comedy, and culture. Despite this interview, I was honestly disappointed to notice that Ratner revolves more of the film around Chris Tucker, rather than Jackie Chan and what made him want to direct a movie with aspects of Hong Kong cinema. I decided to dig deeper into the Hong Kong cinema world, and stumbled upon a director named Wong Kar-wai who was born in Shanghai, China in 1958. He is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and producer and is best known for his synthesis of the freedom of the French New Wave, the vigor of Hong Kong cinema and the modernity of music videos. He first began studying graphic design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, then entered a course for prospective production designers and directors at a local television station, and is where his screenwriting passion began. By 1987, Hong Kong cinema was beginning to be an international hot topic which led Kar-wai to sign onto a partnership with a new independent company. Wong produced many popular films at this time, such as “As Tears Go By” ,”Happy Together”  and “Days of Being Wild”. His films are also known for their characterized nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colors. In a video interview with other directors speaking about Wong’s filmmaking, they say that Wong does not even show the other directors the script before actually filming, due to him wanting them to discover and unravel the story and characters themselves. Quentin Tarantino even speaks about Wong’s filmmaking, and says his films have a different sense of excitement, and a “godarain influence” which is not what many other famous Hong Kong films had. Ultimately Tarantino says he was influenced by Wong’s work, and felt as though his work was very “charging” for him. In his own interview, Wong says that his work has everything to do with the characters. He always focuses on the characters first, and then the actual filmwork. He also says his filmmaking heart revolves around eastern cultures and eastern thinking, rather than what people presume as western culture and thinking. When also talking about Wong’s filmmaking, he says that a film is like loving a dangerous woman, who may end up leaving you if you don’t care for it properly. Time is a crucial factor, especially when it comes to editing and getting the schedules for the key actors and actresses. 

[collapsedsquid]

Working conditions take a physical toll. Padmini has experienced hair loss because she has to wear a skull cap and work in air-conditioned spaces, she said. “Neck pain is the worst, since we are constantly bending down and working.” She has irregular periods, which she attributes to the air conditioning and the late shifts. “[Among] girls with me on the production line, some six girls have this problem,” Padmini said. Workers said they regularly see colleagues become unwell. “The day before yesterday, a girl fainted and they took her to the hospital,” Padmini told Rest of World in September, adding that two more women had fainted that same week. “Mostly it happens during the first shift. Many girls come without eating or wouldn’t have slept properly.” Rajalakshmi said she had witnessed three women faint in September. Two Chinese engineers confirmed that they had seen ambulances taking away unwell workers, and said this was uncommon in China. They theorized Indian women don’t eat enough. Another engineer suggested the female workers were too thin. “If you give them meat, they won’t eat it because of their religious customs,” he said. Apple declined to comment on the record. The Tamil Nadu Labour Welfare and Skill Development Department did not respond to requests for comment. Although Chinese workers today still deal with frequent overtime and constant pressure, their food, living conditions, and health care have improved, said Chan from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. But sleep-deprived women fainting and missing periods was common during the early years of China’s manufacturing boom as well, according to labor scholar Pun Ngai’s book Made in China: Women Factory Workers in a Global Workplace.