Hong Kong Baptist University

Nanoplastic Size Governs the Decoupling of Microbial Survival from Antibiotic Degradation

Abstract Nanoplastics (NPs) and antibiotics co-occur in wastewater systems, but how NP size influences antibiotic biodegradation by specialized degraders remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of europium-doped polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs; PS20 and PS100) on sulf...

Beyond Co-Localization: DeepCoEx Learns Exclusion-Aware Spatial Representations in Mass Spectrometry Imaging via Dual-Contrastive Learning

Abstract Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) provides spatially resolved molecular profiles, yet the existing computational workflows are heavily biased toward co-localization and remain limited in characterizing exclusion-like spatial relationships, especially when reliable negative...

Cryptanalysis and Improvement of an Image Cryptosystem via Chaotic Synchronization and Artificial Neural Networks in Modified OTP Scheme

Chaos-based image ciphers may exhibit favorable statistical metrics while retaining a recoverable algebraic structure. We analyze the modified one-time-pad image cryptosystem of Stoycheva et al., which combines static, Chua-system-derived, and neural masks with channel-wise shuff...

Utilizing Artificial Intelligence in Personal Health Contexts: Investigating Information Seeking Motivations, Information Processing Behaviors, and Behavioral Responses During and After Interaction with GenAI

Following the advent of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), seeking health information on GenAI has become a more common and flexible approach. However, laypeople's health information seeking and processing (HISP) motivations and behavior on GenAI platforms remain underex...

Mechanisms of Exercise Training in Ameliorating Cognitive Function in Patients With Depression: A Narrative Review of Molecular Targets and Clinical Prescriptions

ABSTRACT Depression is frequently accompanied by core cognitive impairments, notably in executive function and memory. Although the ameliorative effects of exercise training have been widely corroborated, the evidence regarding its underlying mechanisms remains fragmented. To pro...

Quasi-Monte Carlo Time-Splitting Methods for the Schrödinger Equation with Gaussian Random Potential

Abstract In this paper, we study the Schrödinger equation with a Gaussian random potential (SE-GP) and develop an efficient numerical method to approximate the expectation of physical observables. The unboundedness of Gaussian random variables poses significant difficulties in bo...

Enteric-gated nano–probiotic living nanozyme for gut-directed redox–mitochondrial protection in cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury

Oral nano-biohybrid therapeutics provide opportunities for gut–organ axis intervention, but gastrointestinal transit often compromises both probiotic viability and nanozyme activity. Here, we developed CeO 2 @LP@EL, an enteric-gated nano–probiotic living nanozyme constructed by d...

Alkylene Spacer Engineering for Boosting Circularly Polarized Luminescence in Homopolypeptide Self-Assembly

Abstract Functional materials with circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) property featuring both high luminescence efficiency and strong chiroptical activity are highly desirable for advanced photonic applications such as three-dimensional displays, optical encryption, asymmetr...

The Growing Role of Evaporative Demand in Driving Record‐Breaking Droughts in the Amazon Basin

Abstract Amazon droughts have historically been driven by precipitation deficits, but recent escalating drought events highlight a regime shift toward “hot droughts.” By decomposing historical drought drivers (1979–2024), we show that rising evaporative demand (represented by pot...

A Bijective Image Retargeting Algorithm Based on Conformal Energy

Abstract. Image retargeting, which resizes an image to a prescribed aspect ratio by determining an optimal warping map, has gained substantial interest in imaging science. Despite significant advances, existing methods often fail to ensure bijective warping maps essential for pre...

Methodological quality of systematic reviews on treatments in stroke rehabilitation: A cross‐sectional study

OBJECTIVE: Although high-quality systematic reviews (SRs) could provide reliable evidence on the effectiveness of stroke rehabilitation treatments, methodological flaws may weaken their trustworthiness. This study aimed to evaluate the methodological quality of an up-to-date samp...

Snakes are perceived as more threatening and disgusting in urban compared to natural environments

Abstract Wildlife in cities is often perceived as ‘out of place’ because urban environments are considered human territory. This can lead to stronger negative emotional responses than encounters in natural habitats. A representative sample of adults (n = 500) rated pictures of sn...

Tensor Completion using Subspace Information

Tensor completion has attracted significant attention in both applications and theoretical research. Under standard uniform sampling, existing polynomial-time guarantees generally require more observations than the number of degree of freedom, motivating the study of a possible s...

Green's Functions of Non‐Hermitian Systems at Exceptional Deficiency

ABSTRACT Exceptional deficiency (ED) is a newly discovered broadband non‐Hermitian condition, at which the system's spectrum is entirely composed of exceptional points and all eigenvectors pairwise coalesce. Here, we analyze the steady‐state and time‐domain responses of non‐Hermi...

Robust, Breathable and Stretchable Liquid Metal Composite Nanofibre for Physiological Electrical Signal Monitoring

ABSTRACT Conductive elastic composite materials possess great application potential in the field of bioelectronic devices due to their excellent stretchability and electrical conductivity. However, conventional electronic skins hardly integrate the core characteristics of human n...

A New Species of Box Jellyfish (Cnidaria: Tripedaliidae: Tripedalia) from Hong Kong, China

sp. nov. as a distinct species. This new species represents the fourth described species of Tripedaliidae, and the first record of the family in Chinese coastal waters.

Association between health-related quality of life and health behaviors among men who have sex with men in the United States: a nationwide population-based study

Sexual minority men may experience distinct health-related quality of life (HRQoL) patterns and health-related behavioural risks compared with heterosexual men in the United States. This study examined differences in HRQoL and health-related behaviours between sexual minority and...

Exact Finite-Population Sequential Auditing for Selective Release from Model-Proposed Candidate Sets

Predictive models can rank low-risk cases, but past accuracy cannot establish that skipping review is safe in the current batch. We formulate selective release as a risk-constrained finite-population audit design. A model-proposed candidate and its audit plan are frozen before ca...

Conditional deep generative modeling of blood-based infrared spectra enables controlled in-silico phenotyping studies

Abstract Infrared molecular fingerprinting of blood offers a scalable, minimally invasive window into human physiology, but limited follow-up, imbalanced cohorts, and restricted access to diverse phenotypes constrain systematic studies. Here, we introduce a conditional deep gener...

Impact of a vocational-oriented course on high school students’ knowledge, attitudes, and workplace soft skills for creative industries: a three-year study

Purpose A vocationally oriented course titled Multimedia Storytelling was launched in Hong Kong's mainstream high school curriculum. This study aims to evaluate the learning outcomes of the course by comparing the career readiness of enrolled and non-enrolled students as well as...