Showing papers by "City University of Hong Kong published in 2002"
TL;DR: This article reviews the various common plasma techniques and experimental methods as applied to biomedical materials research, such as plasma sputtering and etching, plasma implantation, plasma deposition, plasma polymerization, laser plasma deposited, plasma spraying, and so on.
Abstract: Plasma-surface modification (PSM) is an effective and economical surface treatment technique for many materials and of growing interests in biomedical engineering This article reviews the various common plasma techniques and experimental methods as applied to biomedical materials research, such as plasma sputtering and etching, plasma implantation, plasma deposition, plasma polymerization, laser plasma deposition, plasma spraying, and so on The unique advantage of plasma modification is that the surface properties and biocompatibility can be enhanced selectively while the bulk attributes of the materials remain unchanged Existing materials can, thus, be used and needs for new classes of materials may be obviated thereby shortening the time to develop novel and better biomedical devices Recent work has spurred a number of very interesting applications in the biomedical field This review article concentrates upon the current status of these techniques, new applications, and achievements pertaining to biomedical materials research Examples described include hard tissue replacements, blood contacting prostheses, ophthalmic devices, and other products
1,404 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review is presented on recent progress in organic electroluminescent materials and devices, with emphasis on their material issues pertaining to charge transport, color, and luminance efficiencies.
Abstract: Electroluminescent devices based on organic materials are of considerable interest owing to their attractive characteristics and potential applications to flat panel displays. After a brief overview of the device construction and operating principles, a review is presented on recent progress in organic electroluminescent materials and devices. Small molecular materials are described with emphasis on their material issues pertaining to charge transport, color, and luminance efficiencies. The chemical nature of electrode/organic interfaces and its impact on device performance are then discussed. Particular attention is paid to recent advances in interface engineering that is of paramount importance to modify the chemical and electronic structure of the interface. The topics in this report also include recent development on the enhancement of electron transport capability in organic materials by doping and the increase in luminance efficiency by utilizing electrophosphorescent materials. Of particular interest for the subject of this review are device reliability and its relationship with material characteristics and interface structures. Important issues relating to display fabrication and the status of display development are briefly addressed as well.
1,201 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the synchronization phenomenon in scale-free dynamical networks is investigated and it is shown that if the coupling strength of a scale free dynamical network is greater than a positive threshold, then the network will synchronize no matter how large it is.
Abstract: Recently, it has been demonstrated that many large complex networks display a scale-free feature, that is, their connectivity distributions are in the power-law form. In this paper, we investigate the synchronization phenomenon in scale-free dynamical networks. We show that if the coupling strength of a scale-free dynamical network is greater than a positive threshold, then the network will synchronize no matter how large it is. We show that the synchronizability of a scale-free dynamical network is robust against random removal of nodes, but is fragile to specific removal of the most highly connected nodes.
1,089 citations
TL;DR: A literature review of quality function deployment (QFD) based on a reference bank of about 650 QFD publications established through searching various sources to serve the needs of researchers and practitioners for easy references of QFD studies and applications, and hence promote QFD’s future development.
1,005 citations
TL;DR: Control of a scale-free dynamical network by applying local feedback injections to a fraction of network nodes is investigated and specifically pinning of the most highly connected nodes is shown to require a significantly smaller number of local controllers as compared to the randomly pinning scheme.
Abstract: Recently, it has been demonstrated that many large complex networks display a scale-free feature, that is, their connectivity distributions have the power-law form. In the present work, control of a scale-free dynamical network by applying local feedback injections to a fraction of network nodes is investigated. The specifically and randomly pinning schemes are considered. The specifically pinning of the most highly connected nodes is shown to require a significantly smaller number of local controllers as compared to the randomly pinning scheme. The method is applied to an array of Chua's oscillators as an example.
920 citations
TL;DR: Fish have strategies to protect them from the ammonia pulse following feeding, and this also protects them from increases in external ammonia, as a result starved fish are more sensitive to external ammonia than fed fish.
856 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of 35-yr (1965-99) data reveals vital impacts of strong (but not moderate) El Nino and La Nina events on tropical storm (TS) activity over the western North Pacific (WNP).
Abstract: An analysis of 35-yr (1965–99) data reveals vital impacts of strong (but not moderate) El Nino and La Nina events on tropical storm (TS) activity over the western North Pacific (WNP). Although the total number of TSs formed in the entire WNP does not vary significantly from year to year, during El Nino summer and fall, the frequency of TS formation increases remarkably in the southeast quadrant (0°–17°N, 140°E–180°) and decreases in the northwest quadrant (17°–30°N, 120°–140°E). The July–September mean location of TS formation is 6° latitude lower, while that in October–December is 18° longitude eastward in the strong warm versus strong cold years. After the El Nino (La Nina), the early season (January–July) TS formation in the entire WNP is suppressed (enhanced). In strong warm (cold) years, the mean TS life span is about 7 (4) days, and the mean number of days of TS occurrence is 159 (84) days. During the fall of strong warm years, the number of TSs, which recurve northward across 35°N, is 2.5 ...
815 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that, for any given coupling strength and a suciently large number of cells, the small-world dynamical network will synchronize, even if the original nearest-neighbor coupled network cannot achieve synchronization under the same condition.
Abstract: We investigate synchronization in a network of continuous-time dynamical systems with smallworld connections. The small-world network is obtained by randomly adding a small fraction of connection in an originally nearest-neighbor coupled network. We show that, for any given coupling strength and a suciently large number of cells, the small-world dynamical network will synchronize, even if the original nearest-neighbor coupled network cannot achieve synchronization under the same condition.
814 citations
TL;DR: Hypoxia affects thousands of km2 of marine waters all over the world, and has caused mass mortality of marine animals, benthic defaunation and decline in fisheries production in many places.
762 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the notion of identity in L2 writing by examining the use ofpersonal pronouns in 64 Hong Kong undergraduate theses, comparisons with a large corpus ofresearch articles, and interviews with students and their supervisors.
633 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report two studies that examined whether pancultural dimensions based on general beliefs, or social axioms, can be identified in persons from five cultures in Hong Kong and Venezuela.
Abstract: To broaden our conceptual framework for understanding cultural differences, the present article reports two studies that examined whether pancultural dimensions based on general beliefs, or social axioms, can be identified in persons from five cultures. A Social Axioms Survey was constructed, based on both previous psychological research primarily in Europe and North America on beliefs and qualitative research conducted in Hong Kong and Venezuela. Factor analyses of these beliefs from student as well as adult samples revealed a pancultural, five-factor structure, with dimensions labeled as: cynicism, social complexity, reward for application, spirituality, and fate control. In the second study, this five-factor structure, with the possible exception of fate control, was replicated with college students from Japan, the United States, and Germany. The potential implications of a universal, five-factor structure of individual social beliefs were discussed, along with the relation of this structure to indigen...
TL;DR: The multiwalled silicon carbide nanotube (SiCNT) was found to transform to a beta-SiC crystalline structure by electron beam annealing under TEM.
Abstract: One-dimensional silicon−carbon nanotubes and nanowires of various shapes and structures were synthesized via the reaction of silicon (produced by disproportionation reaction of SiO) with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (as templates) at different temperatures. A new type of multiwalled silicon carbide nanotube (SiCNT), with 3.5−4.5 A interlayer spacings, was observed in addition to the previously known β-SiC (cubic zinc blende structure) nanowires and the biaxial SiC−SiOx nanowires. The SiCNT was identified by high-resolution transmission microscopy (HRTEM), elemental mapping, and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). The multiwalled SiCNT was found to transform to a β-SiC crystalline structure by electron beam annealing under TEM.
TL;DR: The authors examined the relation between litigation risk and audit pricing and found that UK auditors charge higher fees for their services when their clients access US, but not non-US, capital markets.
TL;DR: The field of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) as mentioned in this paper has developed rapidly in the past 25 years to become a major force in English language teaching and research, drawing strength from broad theoretical foundations and a commitment to research-based language education, EAP has begun to reveal some of the constraints of social contexts on language use and to develop ways for learners to gain control over these.
TL;DR: The results obtained in this paper provide one more set of easily verified guidelines for determining the exponentially stability of delayed neural networks, which are less conservative and less restrictive than the ones reported so far in the literature.
TL;DR: The authors investigated the dual roles of sales controls and supervisor behaviors as antecedents of salespeople's belief in the benevolence of the supervisor (i.e., supervisee trust).
Abstract: There is a strong normative bias toward the inherent value of trust among both marketing researchers and practitioners. Yet there is little empirical evidence of a positive impact of trust on performance. Indeed, scholars suggest that the sources of trust may provide opportunities for its abuse. Following this line of thinking, the authors investigate the dual roles of sales controls and supervisor behaviors as antecedents of salespeople’s belief in the benevolence of the supervisor (i.e., supervisee trust). The authors then examine these antecedents as moderators of the relationship between supervisee trust and sales performance in the context of selling new products. Data on field salespeople from high-technology firms in China and the United States suggest that factors such as supervisor accessibility engender supervisee trust but do not necessarily enhance its impact on sales performance. In the Chinese sample, supervisee trust enhances sales performance when output control is adopted, when t...
TL;DR: The proposed cross-diamond search (CDS) algorithm employs the halfway-stop technique and finds small motion vectors with fewer search points than the DS algorithm while maintaining similar or even better search quality.
Abstract: In block motion estimation, search patterns with different shapes or sizes and the center-biased characteristics of motion-vector distribution have a large impact on the searching speed and quality of performance. We propose a novel algorithm using a cross-search pattern as the initial step and large/small diamond search (DS) patterns as the subsequent steps for fast block motion estimation. The initial cross-search pattern is designed to fit the cross-center-biased motion vector distribution characteristics of the real-world sequences by evaluating the nine relatively higher probable candidates located horizontally and vertically at the center of the search grid. The proposed cross-diamond search (CDS) algorithm employs the halfway-stop technique and finds small motion vectors with fewer search points than the DS algorithm while maintaining similar or even better search quality. The improvement of CDS over DS can be up to a 40% gain on speedup. Experimental results show that the CDS is much more robust, and provides faster searching speed and smaller distortions than other popular fast block-matching algorithms.
TL;DR: The authors argue that ESP must involve teaching the literacy skills which are appropriate to the purposes and understandings of particular academic and professional communities, and advocate the need to reaffirm our commitment to research-based language education.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors derived sufficient conditions for asymptotic stability of neural networks with constant or time-varying delays, based on the Lyapunov-Krasovskii stability theory for functional differential equations and the linear matrix inequality approach.
Abstract: This paper derives some sufficient conditions for asymptotic stability of neural networks with constant or time-varying delays. The Lyapunov-Krasovskii stability theory for functional differential equations and the linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach are employed to investigate the problem. It shows how some well-known results can be refined and generalized in a straightforward manner. For the case of constant time delays, the stability criteria are delay-independent; for the case of time-varying delays, the stability criteria are delay-dependent. The results obtained in this paper are less conservative than the ones reported so far in the literature and provides one more set of criteria for determining the stability of delayed neural networks.
TL;DR: This work gives estimates for the covering number of a ball of a reproducing kernel Hilbert space as a subset of the continuous function space by means of the regularity of the Mercer kernel K, and provides an example of a Mercer kernels to show that LK½ may not be generated by a Mercer kernel.
TL;DR: The most important property of the new canonical form is the parametrization that has precisely a single scalar parameter useful for chaos tuning, which has promising potential in future engineering chaos design.
Abstract: This paper shows that a large class of systems, introduced in [Celikovský & Vaněcek, 1994; Vaněcek & Celikovský, 1996] as the so-called generalized Lorenz system, are state-equivalent to a special canonical form that covers a broader class of chaotic systems. This canonical form, called generalized Lorenz canonical form hereafter, generalizes the one introduced and analyzed in [Celikovský & Vaněcek, 1994; Vaněcek & Celikovský, 1996], and also covers the so-called Chen system, recently introduced in [Chen & Ueta, 1999; Ueta & Chen, 2000]. Thus, this new generalized Lorenz canonical form contains as special cases the original Lorenz system, the generalized Lorenz system, and the Chen system, so that a comparison of the structures between two essential types of chaotic systems becomes possible. The most important property of the new canonical form is the parametrization that has precisely a single scalar parameter useful for chaos tuning, which has promising potential in future engineering chaos design. Some...
TL;DR: A new concept of integrating neural network (NN) and genetic algorithm (GA) in the optimal control of absorption chiller system is introduced and results appear promising.
TL;DR: Based on the complement behavior of information gain, a new definition of information entropy is proposed along with its justification in rough set theory and it is proved to also be a fuzzy entropy.
Abstract: Based on the complement behavior of information gain, a new definition of information entropy is proposed along with its justification in rough set theory. Some properties of this definition imply those of Shannon's entropy. Based on the new information entropy, conditional entropy and mutual information are then introduced and applied to knowledge bases. The new information entropy is proved to also be a fuzzy entropy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that harmony as conflict avoidance is not a main feature of classical Confucianism, but a characteristic of the secular version that is associated with cultural collectivism, and show that they are compatible with a dualistic model of harmony, which posits an instrumental as well as a value motive in harmony-seeking behavior.
Abstract: Conflict avoidance is common in East Asia, and the Confucian notion of harmony is often invoked to explain this tendency. We review the classical Confucian doctrines and found no encouragement of conflict avoidance in Confucian teachings. Quite the contrary, the Confucian notion of harmony embodies disagreement and open debates. Thus, we argue that harmony as conflict avoidance is not a main feature of classical Confucianism, but a characteristic of the secular version that is associated with cultural collectivism. We then review several theories that are based on the notion of harmony, and show that they are compatible with a dualistic model of harmony, which posits an instrumental as well as a value motive in harmony-seeking behavior. In the instrumental perspective, harmony is viewed as a means to a typically materialistic end, whereas in the value perspective, harmony is deemed an end in its own right. Conflict avoidance is primarily driven by the instrumental motive. These two motives are then crossed to form four types of harmony-seeking behaviors. This typology is discussed in terms of its implications for future research and its applications in conflict management.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors tried to account for China's economic growth in terms of labor, capital, and total factor productivity by estimating a Cobb-Douglas production function using of Chinese data.
Abstract: Gregory C. ChowPrinceton UniversityKui-Wai LiCity University of Hong KongI. IntroductionThis article attempts to account for China’s economic growth in terms oflabor, capital, and total factor productivity by estimating a Cobb-Douglasproduction function using official Chinese data. It is an extension of GregoryC. Chow’s earlier work in 1993 and has two purposes: to find out whetherthe parameters of the production function have changed and to use the pro-duction function to forecast GDP growth up to 2010.
TL;DR: In this paper, a strictly positive probability of migration to a richer country, by raising both the level of human capital formed by optimizing individuals in the home country and the average level of non-migrants in the country, can enhance welfare and nudge the economy toward the social optimum.
TL;DR: In this paper, a large-quantity growth of hexagonal prismatic ZnO whiskers was achieved via a process of first reduction and following oxidation of a ZnS powder at 1300 °C.
Abstract: Large-quantity growth of hexagonal prismatic ZnO whiskers was achieved via a process of first reduction and following oxidation of a ZnS powder at 1300 °C. The products were characterized using X-r...
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of information sharing and ordering co-ordination on the performance of a supply chain with one capacitated supplier and multiple retailers under demand uncertainty is investigated.
Abstract: This paper presents a study on the impacts of information sharing and ordering co‐ordination on the performance of a supply chain with one capacitated supplier and multiple retailers under demand uncertainty. In particular, a computer model is proposed to simulate inventory replenishment decisions by the retailers and production decisions by the supplier under different demand patterns and capacity tightness. It is found that information sharing and ordering co‐ordination significantly impact the supply chain performance in terms of both total cost and service level. It is also found that the value of sharing information and ordering co‐ordination is significantly affected by demand patterns and capacity tightness. Guidelines are developed for companies to share information and co‐ordinate orders under different conditions. These guidelines can help companies reduce costs and improve customer service levels in the supply chain.
TL;DR: Results demonstrated that the m-PCR assay developed in this study could provide a cost-effective and informative supplement to conventional microbiological methods for routine monitoring and risk assessment of water quality.
TL;DR: This article examined the role of firm characteristics and environmental factors in the formation of interfirm alliances and found that successful agency business activity is positively related to new venture performance but negatively related to its product innovation efforts.
Abstract: This study examines the roles of firm characteristics and environmental factors in the formation of interfirm alliances. Specifically, we examine the dual role of these groups of factors as inducements and opportunities for Chinese high-technology new ventures (HTNVs) in their adoption of agency business activity, a downstream type of alliance involving marketing and distribution of the products of foreign firms. Results suggest that both internal and external factors are related to the adoption of agency business activity but the inducement and opportunity value of environmental uncertainty may be dampened by institutional support provided to HTNVs. Further, we find that successful agency business activity is positively related to new venture performance but negatively related to its product innovation efforts. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.