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This study is the first to examine the effects of age and gender on different forms of peer victimization among local Chinese schoolchildren in Hong Kong. The cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 8604 schoolchildren aged between 8 and 16 from 24 primary (elementary) and secondary (middle) schools in Hong Kong. The Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale was used to measure how often the participants had experienced physical and verbal victimization, social manipulation, and attacks on property during the last school term. The participants were divided into three age groups (8–10, 11–13, 14–16) based on the average ages of senior primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary school students. Two-way MANOVA and subsequent two-way ANOVAs were used to analyze the data. Physical victimization and attacks on property were found to decrease with age. Across the age groups, boys were more likely than girls to experience physical and verbal victimization, but not social manipulation. However, the gender × age group interaction effects were insignificant. The findings suggest that educators and helping professionals should consider providing gender-specific anti-bullying programs in schools.

The present study aims to delineate the effects of family violence and parent–adolescent conflict on antisocial behavior exhibited by adolescents in the Chinese casino city of Macau. The social interaction perspective indicates the significance of coercive family processes in relation to adolescents’ antisocial behavior, and the related moderating role of positive parenting behavior. How this process is experienced by Chinese Macau adolescents, who are influenced by traditional Chinese culture, is explored. This article examines the relationship of family violence and parent–adolescent conflict with adolescents’ antisocial behavior in Macau. It also examines the possible moderating role of parental support in this relationship. Using a stratified proportional approach, a random sample of 1889 Grade 7 to Grade 12 students was taken from Macau high schools. The young people reported their neutral/positive behavior and delinquent behavior, family conflict, and emotional and instrumental support they received from parents. Multiple regression analyses suggest that family violence and parent–adolescent conflict are correlated with adolescent antisocial behavior. Moreover, both instrumental and emotional support from parents can moderate the effect of family conflict on adolescents’ antisocial behavior. Parents providing instrumental and emotional support to Macau Chinese adolescents is negatively correlated with adolescent antisocial behavior in Macau. In view of the long and unstable working hours of parents working in a gambling city, social workers in Macau could develop more innovative programs to support parents in Macau.

Single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) allows researchers to define cell types on the basis of unsupervised clustering of the transcriptome. However, differences in experimental methods and computational analyses make it challenging to compare data across experiments. Here we present scmap (http://bioconductor.org/packages/scmap; web version at http://www.sanger.ac.uk/science/tools/scmap), a method for projecting cells from an scRNA-seq data set onto cell types or individual cells from other experiments.

Marital liberalization in terms of public support for polygamous, underage or child, and consanguineous or close-kin marriages emerges to be controversial and requires more understanding. A possible understanding is that such liberalization is unconventional and thus impedes integration with society. According to this social integration vision, marital liberalization is incompatible with marriage and religiosity and inimical to life satisfaction. To examine this vision, this study analyzes data obtained from a random-sample survey of 2099 Hong Kong Chinese adults. Results support the vision in that life satisfaction was significantly lower in those favoring marital liberalization, who were significantly lower in religiosity and more likely unmarried. This implies that marital liberalization is incompatible with social integration.

Suicidal ideation is defined as the thoughts about engaging in suicidal-related behaviors. Very few studies have been conducted on children’s suicidal ideation as there is a biased perception that suicidal behavior under the age of 12 is scarce. However, suicide is the leading cause of death among young children. Child suicidal ideation is predictive of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in adulthood. Association between certain parenting styles and suicidal ideation have been found in empirical studies. However, little is known about the role of parenting and suicidal ideation in Chinese young children. We examined whether gratitude can reduce the risk of suicide by moderating the association between parenting styles and child suicidal ideation. We recruited 447 Chinese children (53.3% female; mean age = 10.06, SD = 1.76) to participate in a survey. Perceived parenting style (warmth/accepting, dominating, and autonomy granting), gratitude, and suicidal ideation were assessed using self-reported measures. We found that all three perceived parental styles were significantly associated with child suicidal ideation. Further, gratitude was found to have a significant moderating effect on suicidal ideation, across the analysis of the three perceived parenting styles. This suggests that gratitude may be adopted in preventive and clinical interventions so that children at risk can benefit from reducing the negative effects of ineffective parenting styles and suicidal ideation.

The vertical concentration profiles and source contributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and n-alkanes in respirable particle samples (PM4) collected at 10, 100, 200 and 300-m altitude from the Milad Tower of Tehran, Iran during fall and winter were investigated. The average concentrations of total PAHs and total n-alkanes were 16.7 and 591 ng/m(3), respectively. The positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was applied to the chemical composition and wind data to apportion the contributing sources. The five PAH source factors identified were: 'diesel' (56.3% of total PAHs on average), 'gasoline' (15.5%), 'wood combustion, and incineration' (13%), 'industry' (9.2%), and 'road soil particle' (6.0%). The four n-alkane source factors identified were: 'petrogenic' (65% of total n-alkanes on average), 'mixture of petrogenic and biomass burning' (15%), 'mixture of biogenic and fossil fuel' (11.5%), and 'biogenic' (8.5%). Source contributions by wind sector were also estimated based on the wind sector factor loadings from PMF analysis. Directional dependence of sources was investigated using the conditional probability function (CPF) and directional relative strength (DRS) methods. The calm wind period was found to contribute to 4.4% of total PAHs and 5.0% of total n-alkanes on average. Highest average concentrations of PAHs and n-alkanes were found in the 10 and 100 m samples, reflecting the importance of contributions from local sources. Higher average concentrations in the 300 m samples compared to those in the 200 m samples may indicate contributions from long-range transport. The vertical profiles of source factors indicate the gasoline and road soil particle-associated PAHs, and the mixture from biogenic and fossil fuel source-associated n-alkanes were mostly from local emissions. The smaller average contribution of diesel-associated PAHs in the lower altitude samples also indicates that the restriction of diesel-fueled vehicle use in the central area of Tehran has been effective in reducing the PAHs concentration.