Research works

Solvation thermodynamics revisited

Most chemical and biochemical reactions occur in solution; however, many details of the thermodynamics of solvation are not well understood, especially with regard to the role of energy and entropy in the solvation process. Currently, a prevailing view in the field is that the so...

Finite-time orientational relaxation restructures collective motion in polar active matter

We introduce a Langevin formulation of Vicsek-like active particles, in which orientations evolve through finite-rate relaxation toward the local mean direction, with alignment strength J and rotational diffusivity Dr, thereby combining Vicsek-type local consensus with XY-like or...

Alchemical Free Energy Perturbation Predicts Relative Binding Affinities of Propofol Analogs and Etomidate Stereoisomers at the GABAAR

Abstract General anesthetics such as propofol and etomidate exert their clinical effects primarily through positive allosteric modulation of γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABAAR). Despite decades of research, the quantitative structure–activity relationships governing ane...

Pricing the Cure: A Worked Macroeconomic Profit-Efficiency Calculation of the US Healthcare System, 1965–2023

This paper provides a worked application of the Macroeconomic Profit Efficiency Index (MPEI) to the US healthcare system from 1965 to 2023. The MPEI is a diagnostic ratio that asks how much retained community value a sector generates per unit of profit impost. Formally, MPEI = Φ...

Number-Projected Coherent-State Kernels for Variational Bose-Field Dynamics

Reproducibility package for the paper "Number-projected coherent-state kernels for variational Bose-field dynamics" submitted to New Journal of Physics (2026). Contains the LaTeX manuscript source, Python benchmark scripts, numerical data (CSV), and publication-quality figures. S...

Flat interface between amorphous ices and the role of MDA-like intermediate states in the LDA–HDA transformation

The pressure-induced transformation between low-density amorphous ice (LDA) and high-density amorphous ice (HDA) is a prototypical polyamorphic transition, yet its microscopic mechanism-and in particular the nature of intermediate amorphous (IA) states-has long remained unresolve...

Excitonic and Charge-Transfer Contributions to Molecular Dimer Absorption: A Decomposition Approach Applied to a BPEA Dimer

Abstract Electronic absorption spectra of multichromophoric systems are often governed by complex excited-state structures arising from excitonic and charge-transfer (CT) interactions between chromophores, while direct identification of the underlying electronic transitions is fr...

Action Is Not Observation: Declaration as the Boundary Event of Action Establishment in Autonomous Systems

Autonomous systems treat producing a physical change and establishing that change as their own action as one event. A command, an actuator fault and an external disturbance leave the same physical result, and observation alone cannot decide whether the result was the system's act...

Adapting and Promoting Tourism for Children in Venice and the Lagoon Islands: A Comparative Analysis of Food-Related Discourse Strategies in English and in Italian

According to the latest available version of the Annual Tourism Survey drafted by the City of Venice, in 2023, 12,628,079 tourists visited Venice and the Lagoon Islands (Bettiol & Marini, 2025). This survey does not provide data on the age groups of these visitors, but they are a...

Astrocytes mediate the dopaminergic modulation of tonic GABAergic signaling in substantia nigra

Recent studies have implicated dopaminergic signaling within the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) in the emergence of Parkinsonian motor deficits. To better understand the mechanisms underlying this dependence, the ability of dopamine to modulate SNr neuron activity was stu...

Self-Powered Piezoelectric Water Sensing and Treatment: An Open Research Program for Global Water Access

Two billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water, and waterborne diseases kill approximately 485,000 people annually, predominantly children under five. This open research program (CC0, public domain) addresses that crisis with flow-powered piezoelectric in-pipe te...

Development of a prognostic model for elderly patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma treated with first-line immuno-oncology combination therapy.

BACKGROUND: In the era of immuno-oncology (IO) combination therapy, prognostic tools for elderly patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) are lacking. This study aimed to identify prognostic factors in elderly patients and evaluate a novel risk model using...

R code and source data for "Isomeric Dynamics of Radiocarbon-Constrained Dissolved Organic Matter Across a Mega-River Estuary-to-Ocean Continuum"

This file contains the code and corresponding raw data used to generate all the figures presented in the study. If you have any questions or further requests, please feel free to contact dinghe@ust.hk or zhaoliangchen@cuhk.edu.hk

Seismic Assessment of a Full-Scale Perimeter-Fixed Ceiling with Hook-And-Loop-Secured Lay-In Tiles Using Shake Table Tests

Grid-and-tile ceiling systems are widely installed in commercial buildings but have frequently experienced damage in past earthquakes, resulting in safety risks, costly repairs, and operational interruptions. The present study examines the seismic performance of a perimeter-fixed...

Programming sequential deployment of origami via kinematic transition fronts

Propagating transition fronts, in which local interactions sequentially trigger state changes, are widely observed across natural, biological, and engineered systems. While such propagation has been engineered using energy-driven instabilities, front propagation governed purely b...

Attosecond‐Stable Two‐Dimensional Spectroscopy by a Sagnac‐Based Modulating System and a Sub‐4‐fs Continuum Source

ABSTRACT We present a two‐dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) platform driven by a Coherent Loop‐based Integrated Modulating and Beamsplitting System (CLIMBS). Combined with an octave‐spanning multiple‐plate continuum (MPC) source, the system enables ultrabroadband, phase‐...

Shedding light on the formation mechanisms of Islamic polychrome lusters: A Cu, Fe, Ag micro XANES study

Islamic luster is a ceramic glaze decoration exploiting the quantum-confined optical response of noble metallic nanoparticles to produce a colorful metallic and iridescent appearance. Upon firing, silver and copper initially present in an overpaint diffuse into the glaze and are...

Perioperative Interventions to Facilitate Day-Case Vaginal Surgery for Pelvic Organ Prolapse: A Systematic Review

Multiple studies report good outcomes when performing day-case native tissue vaginal surgery for pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Despite this, consensus on optimal perioperative strategies to safely achieve same-day discharge (SDD) remain unclear and no complete protocol has been te...

Parameterization-driven arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian method for large-deformation isogeometric fluid–structure interaction

Body-fitted arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) methods provide a sharp representation of the fluid-structure interface but rely on mesh-update strategies that incrementally deform a reference configuration. To address this issue, we reformulate the ALE mesh-motion problem in the...

The Breakdown of Continuum Physics as Evidence for Discrete Space: Infinities, Singularities, and Explanatory Failure as Convergent Diagnosis

The history of continuum physics is a history of breakdown at boundaries. Ultraviolet divergences, renormalisation, the self-energy infinity of the point charge, the Banach–Tarski paradox, the Schwarzschild and big bang singularities, the measurement problem, the problem of time...