Historically, people around the world have demanded democratic institutions. Such democratic movements propel political change and also determine economic outcomes. In this project, we ask, how do political preferences, beliefs, and second-order beliefs shape the strategic decision to participate in a movement demanding democracy? Existing scholarship is unsatisfactory because it is conducted ex post: preferences, beliefs, and behavior have converged to a new equilibrium. In contrast, we examine a democratic movement in real time, studying the ongoing democracy movement in Hong Kong. Our study is composed of four parts. In Part 1, we collect panel survey data from Hong Kong university students, a particularly politically active subpopulation. We collect data on preferences, behavior, beliefs, and second-order beliefs using incentivized and indirect elicitation to encourage truthful reporting. We analyze the associations among these variables to shed light on the drivers of participation in the democracy movement. In Part 2, we exploit experimental variation in the provision of information to study political coordination. Among participants in the panel survey, we provide information regarding the preferences and beliefs of other students. We examine whether exposure to information regarding peers causes students to update their beliefs and change their behavior. In Part 3, we extend the analysis in Part 1 to a nationally representative sample of Hong Kong citizens. To do so, we have added a module regarding political preferences, beliefs, and behavior (including incentivized questions and questions providing cover for responses to politically sensitive topics) to the HKPSSD panel survey. In Part 4, we study preferences for redistribution – plausibly a central driver for demands for political rights – among Hong Kong citizens and mainland Chinese. We examine how these preferences differ across populations, as well as their link to support for democracy.

Somatic stem cells (adult stem cells) are essential for homeostatic maintenance of various tissues. In addition to normal homeostasis, they are also involved in tissue regeneration in case of injury. Interestingly, adult stem cell function declines with age and this phenomenon limits tissue regeneration in aged tissues. To understand the molecular basis of the functional decline in aged stem cells, we will investigate how canonical Wnt signaling is involved to regulate cell fate decisions in tissue homeostasis and repair. We are using muscle stem cells (MuSCs) as a model stem cell system, our preliminary data suggests that an adequate intrinsic level of ß-Catenin, the main effector of canonical Wnt signaling, is required for MuSC function during muscle regeneration. We thus began to examine how Wnt/ß-Catenin signaling functions as a pleiotropic pathway to regulate both myogenic differentiation and cell fate decisions. Accumulated evidence has suggested that rejuvenation of aged stem cell populations can be performed and that such mechanism can be controlled in an epigenetic fashion. However, the extent to how this cellular reprogramming event works is unclear. Wnt signals are a key sources of cues that direct myogenic lineage progression and it has also been implicated in promoting MuSC to adapt an alternative fate in aged muscle, rendering MuSC dysfunctional and resulting in an impairment of muscle regeneration in aged animals. We thus propose to understand the molecular and epigenetic regulation of canonical Wnt signaling in MuSCs during organismal ageing. Our project aims to decipher the role(s) of canonical Wnt/ß-Catenin in MuSCs cell fate decisions during ageing. Using Cre/Lox genetic approaches, we will first assess and compare the implication of ß-Catenin in young and old MuSCs function. As aged MuSCs can be rejuvenated and thus appear not genetically altered, we will then focus on understanding the age-related changes in epigenetic determinants in MuSCs, and whether canonical Wnt signaling is differentially controlling asymmetric divisions of young and old MuSCs. This project is lead by an interdisciplinary consortium comprises of researchers in France and Hong Kong studying molecular regulation of stem cell function. Members of this consortium have complementary expertise in the area of stem cell biology, computational biology and genetics. It is expected our study will contribute to the understanding of MuSC fate during normal ageing. We strongly believe this proposal will provide new insights as to the molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cell ageing. The result of this proposal will lead to the identification of new selective targets for the development of therapy for stem cell rejuvenation.

The purpose of SURFANICOL project is to study the structure and dynamics of anisotropic particles at interfaces and in particular the manifestation of the coupling between the rotational and translational degrees of freedom on the motion of individual particles and on the phase behavior of concentrate systems. The project involves a team of physicists and physical chemists of Montpellier and a team of physicists from Hong Kong. Both teams share expertise in hydrodynamics and each is distinguished by expertise in nanotechnology for Hong Kong and in optics and physical chemistry for Montpellier. Many industrial processes are based on the trapping of solid particles at fluid interfaces: including stabilization of emulsions in food and pharmaceutical, flotation applied to wastewater treatments and separation of minerals industries. The optimization of these processes is based on a better understanding of individual and collective behavior of the particles, but so far, academic interest has focused on spherical particles. The first part of the project will be devoted to the study of individual particle. We expect an enhancement of the translation-rotation coupling when the particles are trapped at interfaces and will pay a particular attention to the passage of the particle from solution to the interface, when solid friction of the triple line add gradually to viscous forces. The use of active colloids, i.e. propelled through a surface catalyzed reaction, will offer a new way to control this coupling, since the power supplied by the reaction depends on the orientation of the particle, which is subject to thermal fluctuations. In the second part of the project we will study the role of translation- rotation coupling in the structure and dynamics of two-dimensional concentrated phases as nematic, hexatic, and glass. To moderate capillary interaction we will design low surface tension interfaces, playing on the proximity of the critical point of immiscible blends. The use of active colloids will also allow to overcome the kinetic barriers induced by capillary forces. The project consists of several tasks the first of which will be the preparation of particles and interfaces suitable for the proposed studies. In the second task holographic detection coupled with multi-traps optical tweezers, which will be developed in the Montpellier, will allow to reveal the dynamical approach of particles to the interfaces, until trapping. These measurements will be combined with force measurements on single particles developed in Hong Kong from an atomic force microscope. Finally, phase transitions in two dimensions will be observed by video microscopy, with image processing at single-particle resolution to get a unique knowledge of these systems. The expertise exchange will be facilitated by the exchange of two jointly supervised PhD students co-funded by ANR and RGC.

In recent decades, the intensities (strength, frequency, and duration) of weather compound events, such as tropical cyclones, surges, and flooding, have increased globally due to the effects of climate change. This has led to growing threats to coastal infrastructure assets and buildings. The rapid population growth and economic development of coastal areas in France and Hong Kong have amplified these potential risks and losses. Therefore, adapting coastal buildings to these hazards is a key worldwide challenge in which researchers at La Rochelle and Hong Kong Polytechnic Universities have been collaborating on since 2018. The SMACHA project aims to address four main gaps in available studies in the literature: the identification and modeling of compound flooding events considering climate change, the assessment of structural damages of coastal building assets using experimental and numerical studies, the development of multi-variate vulnerability and risk models based on efficient physics-guided deep learning models, and the development of robust adaptation strategies to encounter flooding hazards under uncertain climate change over time. The proposed methodology and tools will be evaluated and validated by applying them to high-risk building assets in coastal areas of both countries. Information collected from previous studies in La Gueriniere, France, and coastal communities in Hong Kong will be used. The project harnesses the synergies of a multi-disciplinary team spanning structural engineering, computational science, and life-cycle management to mitigate the negative impacts of weather compound events on coastal communities. The developed probabilistic models will describe the occurrence of compound flooding events and provide vulnerability models of coastal building assets subjected to these events. The developed physics-driven compound hazard models will be capable of quantifying compound natural hazards in terms of return periods. Also, based on the experimental and numerical studies, the project will generate large-scale datasets to analyze structural behavior under these events, identify different failure mechanisms incorporating structural damage, and establish corresponding vulnerability models. The main outcomes of the SMACHA project can intuitively reveal the potential risks of coastal buildings under compound hazards, helping decision-makers formulate robust preventive measures. This will lead to better tools, methodologies, and adaptations for safety assessments of coastal buildings. The developed methods, upon adoption by the industry, will enhance the structural performance of coastal building assets, benefiting developers, building owners, and the local population by offering a safer living environment. In the long-term, it is expected that the developments of the SMACHA project will be generalized and implemented in other countries in Europe and other regions of the world, promoting the development of more resilient and safer coastal communities.