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Background: Prior to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the civic education were characterized by denationalization and depoliticization. After the Joint Declaration, many of the conflicts emerged between the national interests advocated by the nationalistic camp and the Hong Kong interests promoted by the Liberal camp in the newly politicized Hong Kong not only unfolded that citizenship and national identity conceptually compartmentalized into unrelated ideas but also redefined civic education in such a way as to juxtapose and include both citizenship education and national education. The teachers' paradigms of the "China Today" module were explored because the module is directly related to both citizenship education and national education. Aim: This study is to examine teachers' paradigms of the "China Today" module through their national attitude and their implementation in informal and nonformal education. Sample: One secondary teacher taught the module of "China Today" a year ago and three secondary teachers are teaching the same module. As for methods, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to assess the teachers' perception and practices. Results: Data revealed that the national attitude of the CSS1 teacher can be described as a cultural patriot; the CSS2 teacher, critical patriot; the CSS3 teacher, cultural nationalist or cultural patriot; the CSS4, critically cultural patriot. Conclusion: The critical and cultural stances are not unrelated. "Critical" implies something about the evaluative framework of the teachers, while "cultural" understood in Confucian, World citizenship, Democracy or their combination terms, could be the philosophical foundation of an evaluative framework. In other words, the CSS1 teacher predominantly adopted the Confucianism as his evaluative framework in patriotism and world citizenship in nationalism; the CSS2 teacher, the concept of world citizenship in both patriotism and nationalism; the CSS3 teacher and the CSS4 teacher, Confucianism in both patriotism and nationalism. Only the CSS2 and CSS3 teachers carried out the informal and nonformal education. Thus, motivational and behavioral components of citizenship as volition are not yet part of the CSS1 and CSS4 teachers' (cognitive) evaluative frameworks. (Contains 7 tables.)

Background: During the period of British colonial rule, the nature of civic education in Hong Kong was characterized as denationalized, depoliticized and decontextualized. The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration substantially altered the nature of civic education. The "China Today" module of Liberal Studies (LS) was one of the results of the re-engineering the civic education. The teachers' paradigms of the "China Today" module were explored because the module used national themes as materials to inculcate values in students and is directly related to both citizenship education and national education. Aim: The aim of this study is to examine teachers' paradigms of the "China Today" module through their conceptualization of citizenship and their perspective on teaching. Samples: Four secondary teachers of the "China Today" module were invited to participate. Methods: Questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation were used to assess the teachers' perception and practices. Results: Data from the questionnaire and interviews revealed that the four teachers highly valued moral, socially concerned citizens and democratic citizens. In terms of aims and approaches to citizenship education, the four teachers embraced the notion of citizenship as competence as aim and reflective-inquiry approach, but only two teachers were able to carry them out in the classroom setting. Another two teachers used transmission approach. Conclusion: Framed by the notion of citizenship as competence as their aim and equipped in issue-enquiry or reflective-inquiry approach, and experienced in developmental perspective on teaching, the CSS2 and CSS3 teachers were able to cultivate in students' dispositions and skills. Teachers unaware of the citizenship framework and unfamiliar with the developmental perspective on teaching found it difficult to cultivate rational aspects of students. (Contains 2 tables.)

Organizations increasingly depend on employee efforts to innovate. However, the quality of relationships between leaders and employees may affect the recognition that employees receive for their innovative work behaviors. Drawing from a social cognition perspective, we tested a model in which leader–member exchange (LMX) moderates the impact of employee innovative work behavior on supervisory ratings of employee performance. Results from two multisource studies combining self, colleague, and supervisor ratings consistently showed that employees receive more favorable performance ratings by engaging in innovative work behavior when they have high‐quality LMX relationships. Moreover, we found that this interactive relationship was mediated by leader perceptions of innovative employee efforts, providing support for a moderated mediation model. Implications for the literatures on performance appraisal, LMX, and innovation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid suburbanization in China is dramatically reshaping the daily life of urban residents. In China, long-distance commuting, traffic congestion, spatial mismatch and the low quality of life resulting from residential suburbanization are causing widespread concern. This paper compares the changes in time allocation from a time-use perspective, based on two activity-travel survey datasets collected in suburban Beijing in respectively 2007 and 2017. Travelling time to work has increased substantially between 2007 and 2017 and particularly impacted non-working activities. Working and commuting showed to have the greatest impact on time allocated to non-work activities, both in home and out of home, both maintenance and discretionary activities. Furthermore, residents' allocation of time to non-work activities shows to be influenced too by their socioeconomic attributes, such as gender, marital status and household configuration (e.g. extended family). We found that the space–time constraints imposed by household responsibilities leads to greater gender differences in time allocation. This paper provides insight into how urban residents reallocate their time as a result of increasing suburbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Possible thermodynamic effects of global warming on the landfalling typhoons that affect South China and their associated storm surges over Pearl River Delta region are investigated, using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model and the Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model based on the pseudo–global warming (PGW) technique. Twenty intense historical TCs that brought extreme storm surges to Hong Kong since the 1960s are selected and replicated by the 3-km WRF Model, with the outputs to drive the SLOSH model in storm surge simulation. The tracks, intensities, storm structure, and induced storm surges are well simulated. The PGW technique is then used to build a warmer background climate for the 20 selected TCs in the period of 2075–99 under the RCP8.5 scenario. To obtain a better adjusted warming environment, a pre-PGW adjustment method is developed. Comparing the same TCs in PGW experiments and historical runs, the TC lifetime peak (landfall) intensity can be intensified by about 9% 6 8% (12% 6 13%), with a ∼3% increase of TC peak intensity per degree of SST warming being inferred. The TCs are projected to be more compact, with the radius of maximum wind (RMW) reduced by ∼7% 6 10%. TC precipitation is also expected to increase, with the extreme precipitation within the eyewall strengthened by 22% 6 12%. All the above characters have passed the Student’s t test at 0.05 significance level. Finally, the projected induced storm surges near the Hong Kong waters are not significantly tested, although a weak storm surge height increase tendency is revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate missing teeth and prosthodontic replacements in an institutionalized elderly population in China, and to assess dental functionality before and after the prosthodontic replacements based on a hierarchical dental functional classification (HDFC) system.Materials and Methods: A sample of 512 participants (9% aged 60-69 years; 29% aged 70-79 years; 62% aged ≥ 80 years) living in eight nursing homes in Qingdao were categorized by the HDFC with and without tooth replacements. A functional dentition in the HDFC meets all the following criteria: ≥ 10 natural teeth in each jaw; a complete anterior region; 3 or 4 posterior occluding pairs (POPs) in the premolar regions; and ≥ 1 POP bilaterally in the molar region. Participants with tooth replacements were reclassified. The score for effectiveness of replacements were as follows: 4 for ≥ 10 teeth in each jaw; 3 for a complete anterior region; 2 for 3 or 4 POPs in premolar regions; and 1 for ≥ 1 molar POP bilaterally.Results: Twenty percent of the participants had functional dentitions, but 42% met none of the functional criteria. In the branch '≥ 10 teeth in each jaw' the mean number of teeth present was 26.3 ± 2.9, and the mean number of POPs was 6.2 ± 2.0. In the branch '< 10 teeth in each jaw,' there were 13.4 ± 5.5 teeth and 1.1 ± 1.5 POPs. Of the 384 participants with natural teeth in each jaw, 44% had no replacements and 56% had fixed dental prostheses (FDPs), partial removable dental prostheses (PRDPs), or both. FDPs usually replaced 1 or 2 teeth, and PRDPs 3 or more teeth. On the basis of natural teeth plus artificial teeth (214 participants with replacements), 46% had functional dentitions while 18% met none of the functional criteria. In the promoted participants, the mean number of teeth added by FDPs was 3.6 ± 2.5, and for PRDPs it was 11.9 ± 6.5. FDPs had a significantly higher mean promotion value per tooth added than PRDPs.Conclusion: Approximately half the tooth replacements effectively met all criteria for a functional dentition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) are the crucial players in nitrogen cycle. Both AOA and AOB were examined along a gradient of human activity in a coastal ecosystem from intertidal zone, grassland, and Casuarina equisetifolia forest to farmland. Results showed that the farmland soils had noticeably higher nitrate-N, available P than soils in the other three sites. Generally, AOA and AOB community structures varied across sites. The farmland mainly had Nitrosotalea-like AOA, intertidal zone was dominated by Nitrosopumilus AOA, while grassland and C. equisetifolia forest primarily harbored Nitrososphaera-like AOA. The farmland and C. equisetifolia forest owned Nitrosospira-like AOB, intertidal zone possessed Nitrosomonas-like AOB, and no AOB was detected in the grassland. AOA abundance was significantly greater than AOB in this coastal ecosystem (p < 0.05, n = 8). AOB diversity and abundance in the farmland were significantly higher than those in the other three sites (p < 0.05, n = 2). The biodiversity and abundance of AOA were not significantly correlated with any soil property (p < 0.05, n = 8). However, the diversity of AOB was significantly correlated with pH, available P and total P (p < 0.05, n = 6). The abundance of AOB was significantly correlated with pH, nitrite, available N, available P and total P (p < 0.05, n = 6). This study suggested that the community structures of AOA and AOB vary in the different parts in the bio-engineered coastal ecosystem and agricultural activity appears to influence these nitrifiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Social norms have the greatest effect on bicycling behaviour in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. • Neighbourhood aesthetics, bicycle infrastructure, and access to subway stations increase bicycling. • Personal attitudes toward bicycling do not affect bicycling. • Walking and bicycling outcomes of policies need to be taken into account jointly. Over the past decade, there has been a strongly increased interest in investigating bicycling behaviour. However, the vast majority of these studies have been limited to Western (North-American and European) contexts and draw evidence from the general population. Much less studies of bicycling behaviour have been carried out in East- Asian contexts and focus on lower social-economic population. Relying a survey data from Xi'an, China, this study investigates the personal, spatial, social and psychological factors associated with bicycling for transportation in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In contrast to the results of many previous studies, this study finds that social norms have the greatest effect on bicycling behaviour, while attitudes toward bicycling do not affect bicycling. Among the neighbourhood environment characteristics, this study finds neighbourhood aesthetics, bicycle infrastructure, and access to subway stations are important factors in promoting utilitarian bicycling in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in China. Finally, an interesting finding of our study is that the spatial characteristics that improve attitudes toward bicycling (such as access to amenities and street connectivity) do not lead to more bicycling, due to their positive effect of walking. Overall, these findings offer important policy implications regarding designing effective interventions to promote bicycling in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and Chinese cities, and the special policy consideration of stimulating walking and bicycling jointly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of individuals work in jobs with little standardization and repetition, that is, with high levels of job non‐routinization. At the same time, demands for creativity are high, which raises the question of how employees can use job non‐routinization to develop creativity. Acknowledging the importance of social processes for creativity, we propose that transformational leaders raise feelings of organizational identification in followers and that this form of identification then helps individuals to develop creativity in jobs with little routinization. This is because organizational members evaluate and promote those ideas as more creative, which are in line with a shared understanding of creativity within the organization. To investigate these relationships, we calculated a mediated moderation model with 173 leader–follower dyads from China. Results confirm our hypotheses that transformational leadership moderates the relationship between job non‐routinization on employee creativity through organizational identification. We conclude that raising feelings of social identity is a key task for leaders today, especially when working in uncertain and fast developing environments with little repetition and the constant need to develop creative ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the status of radiology quality improvement programs in a variety of selected nations worldwide. Methods: A survey was developed by select members of the International Economics Committee of the American College of Radiology on quality programs and was distributed to committee members. Members responded on behalf of their country. The 51-question survey asked about 12 different quality initiatives which were grouped into 4 themes: departments, users, equipment, and outcomes. Respondents reported whether a designated type of quality initiative was used in their country and answered subsequent questions further characterizing it. Results: The response rate was 100% and represented Australia, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United States. The most frequently reported quality initiatives were imaging appropriateness (91.7%) and disease registries (91.7%), followed by key performance indicators (83.3%) and morbidity and mortality rounds (83.3%). Peer review, equipment accreditation, radiation dose monitoring, and structured reporting were reported by 75.0% of respondents, followed by 58.3% of respondents for quality audits and critical incident reporting. The least frequently reported initiatives included Lean/Kaizen exercises and physician performance assessments, implemented by 25.0% of respondents. Conclusion: There is considerable diversity in the quality programs used throughout the world, despite some influence by national and international organizations, from whom further guidance could increase uniformity and optimize patient care in radiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic pollution control has been on top of the political agenda in China. In January 2020, China announced a phased ban on the production and usage of various types of single-use plastics as a solution to environmental pollution problems. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 seems to be a new obstacle to the ban on single-use plastic products. To basically satisfied the daily necessities and contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 under the background of the regular epidemic prevention and control in China, online ordering, contactless delivery and wearing mask have become an important and feasible way of daily life. However, the unrestrained use of disposable plastic bags, lunch boxes and masks within the nationwide quarantine leads to hundreds of millions of plastics wastes every day. The potential environmental pollution caused by the use of disposable plastic products during the pandemic should arouse social concern. The Chinese government should manage environmental protection in parallel with anti-pandemic endeavors as the situation of the pandemic evolves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Building on social identity theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine how European managers construct their multiple identities after being acquired by a Chinese firm and to determine the key factors contributing to the changing dynamics of multiple organizational identities. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents a qualitative, single case study of a Chinese acquisition of a European manufacturing firm at two points in time. Findings: We find that multiple identities initially trigger ambivalence toward the acquisition, but over time, the ambivalence diminishes. The reduction of ambivalence results from concurrent integration and separation: a newly constructed boundary spanning the organization separates positive identities from negative ones, and integration interventions foster the development of a new, shared identity. Originality/value: The findings reveal that organizational identity change is facilitated by the aligning of a post-merger identity with the acquired organization's historical identity and by creating an ambivalent boundary spanning identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Axi gold deposit is one of the largest epithermal deposits in northwestern China and is characterized by multistage generations of pyrite associated with gold mineralization. Genetic models for superjacent epithermal Au and porphyry Cu systems involve either contemporaneous or episodic mineralization, implying different metal sources and ore-forming events. Nine pyrite separates from disseminated ores associated with pyrite-sericite-quartz alteration in the Axi deposit yield a Re–Os isochron age of 350 ± 10 Ma (MSWD = 5.1, initial 187Os/188Os (IOs) = 0.20 ± 0.11). This age likely reflects a mixed contribution of two subtypes of disseminated pyrite (Py1) based on zoned pyrite crystals. The isochron age of 353 ± 6 Ma (MSWD = 1.6, IOs = 0.107 ± 0.021, n = 6), excluding samples with pyrite cores, overlaps previous ages for andesite from the Dahalajunshan Formation (ca. 356 Ma), indicating that the early mineralization event occurred shortly after the formation of host rocks (ca. 353 Ma). Pyrite from disseminated ores shows little variation of sulfur isotopic compositions (+ 2.9 to + 4.0‰) and has high Cu, Co, Ni, and V contents, which favors a magmatic-hydrothermal origin. Pyrite grains from gray quartz veins yield a younger Re–Os isochron age of 332 ± 8 Ma (MSWD = 0.22, n = 4). Vein-hosted pyrite shows characteristics of a mantle-derived magma source (IOs: 0.171 ± 0.024; δ34S: − 0.10~+ 3.10‰), which result from the intrusion-driven convective hydrothermal circulation accompanying fluid exsolution and metal remobilization from basement and wallrocks. Our data demonstrate that the Axi gold deposit was formed during two temporally separated hydrothermal events. This model of ore formation may apply to other epithermal-porphyry deposits within the Axi–Tawuerbieke district: disseminated Au and porphyry-style Au ± Cu mineralization occurred shortly after magmatic activity (356–353 Ma) whereas epithermal-style Au mineralization occurred at ca. 332 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of dockless bike-sharing services has revolutionised bike-sharing markets in recent years, and the dramatic growth of shared bike fleets in China, as well as their rapid expansion throughout the world, exceeds prior expectations. An understanding of the impacts of these new dockless bike-sharing systems is of vital importance for system operations, transportation and urban planning research. This paper provides a first overview of the emerging literature on implications of dockless bike-sharing systems for users' travel behaviour, user experience, and relevant social impacts of dockless bike-sharing systems. Our review suggests that the dockless design of bike-sharing systems significantly improves users' experiences at the end of their bike trips. Individuals can instantly switch to a dockless shared bike without the responsibility of returning it back to a designated dock. Additionally, the high flexibility and efficiency of dockless bike-sharing often makes the bike-sharing systems' integration with public transit even tighter than that of traditional public bikes, providing an efficient option for first/last-mile trips. The GPS tracking device embedded in each dockless shared bike enables the unprecedented collection of large-scale riding trajectory data, which allow scholars to analyse people's travel behaviour in new ways. Although many studies have investigated travel satisfaction amongst cyclists, there is a lack of knowledge of the satisfaction with bikeshare trips, including both station-based and dockless bikeshare systems. The availability and usage rates of dockless bike-sharing systems implies that they may seriously impact on individuals' subjective well-being by influencing their satisfaction with their travel experiences, health and social participation, which requires further exploration. The impact of dockless bike-sharing on users' access to services and social activities and the related decreases in social exclusion are also relevant issues about which knowledge is lacking. With the increases in popularity of dockless shared bikes in some cities, issues related to the equity and access and the implications for social exclusion and inequality are also raised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the spatial relationships between various geological features and mineralization is not only conducive to understanding the genesis of ore deposits but can also help to guide mineral exploration by providing predictive mineral maps. However, most current methods assume spatially constant determinants of mineralization and therefore have limited applicability to detecting possible spatially non-stationary relationships between the geological features and the mineralization. In this paper, the spatial variation between the distribution of mineralization and its determining factors is described for a case study in the Dingjiashan Pb–Zn deposit, China. A local regression modeling technique, geological weighted regression (GWR), was leveraged to study the spatial non-stationarity in the 3D geological space. First, ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression was applied, the redundancy and significance of the controlling factors were tested, and the spatial dependency in Zn and Pb ore grade measurements was confirmed. Second, GWR models with different kernel functions in 3D space were applied, and their results were compared to the OLS model. The results show a superior performance of GWR compared with OLS and a significant spatial non-stationarity in the determinants of ore grade. Third, a non-stationarity test was performed. The stationarity index and the Monte Carlo stationarity test demonstrate the non-stationarity of all the variables throughout the area. Finally, the influences of the degree of non-stationary of all controlling factors on mineralization are discussed. The existence of significant non-stationarity of mineral ore determinants in 3D space opens up an exciting avenue for research into the prediction of underground ore bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We undertook a systematic review of the diagnostic accuracy of artificial intelligence-based software for identification of radiologic abnormalities (computer-aided detection, or CAD) compatible with pulmonary tuberculosis on chest x-rays (CXRs). We searched four databases for articles published between January 2005-February 2019. We summarized data on CAD type, study design, and diagnostic accuracy. We assessed risk of bias with QUADAS-2. We included 53 of the 4712 articles reviewed: 40 focused on CAD design methods (“Development” studies) and 13 focused on evaluation of CAD (“Clinical” studies). Meta-analyses were not performed due to methodological differences. Development studies were more likely to use CXR databases with greater potential for bias as compared to Clinical studies. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (median AUC [IQR]) were significantly higher: in Development studies AUC: 0.88 [0.82–0.90]) versus Clinical studies (0.75 [0.66–0.87]; p-value 0.004); and with deep-learning (0.91 [0.88–0.99]) versus machine-learning (0.82 [0.75–0.89]; p = 0.001). We conclude that CAD programs are promising, but the majority of work thus far has been on development rather than clinical evaluation. We provide concrete suggestions on what study design elements should be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To identify relationships between masticatory ability and age, and dental and prosthodontic status amongst an institutionalized elderly dentate population in China.Materials and methods: A sample of 512 elders living in eight nursing homes in Qingdao was categorized based on a hierarchical dental functional classification system with and without tooth replacements. Masticatory disability scores (MDSs) were analyzed using multiple regression models with only age, and age and dentition variables for participants having ≥ 10 natural and those having < 10 natural teeth in each jaw.Results: Overall, associations between MDS and age, number of teeth, and number of teeth replaced by dental prostheses were identified. For participants having ≥ 10 natural teeth in each jaw, no significant associations between MDS and age and dental and prosthodontic status were found. Participants having < 10 natural teeth in each jaw had higher MDS (increasing chewing difficulties) at higher ages. However, when "premolar region sufficient" and "molar region sufficient" were included, MDS was not associated with age, but with these dentition variables. For participants having ≥ 10 teeth including prosthodontically replaced teeth in each jaw, age was the only variable associated with MDS. For participants having < 10 teeth including teeth replaced in each jaw, the significant factor was "premolar region sufficient." Overall, lower MDS was associated with increasing number of teeth, as well as with increasing number of teeth replaced by dental prostheses.Conclusions: In this population of institutionalized dentate elderly, masticatory ability was significantly associated with dental and prosthodontic status.Clinical relevance: For institutionalized elderly, having less than ten natural teeth in each jaw is associated with chewing problems. Most important dentition factor is the presence of three to four premolar pairs. Teeth added by partial removable dental prostheses compensate impaired masticatory ability due to tooth loss for 50% compared to natural teeth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on China's stages of development since its liberation from the nationalists towards communism led by Mao Tse-tung. He pointed out that communism tried to unravel and set reforms that will change and modernize Chinese character, way of life as well as their outlook to the world. He contended that the country is extremely complicated. He stressed that the three groups under the leadership of Lin Piao, Chou En-lai and Chiang Ching caused power struggle in the country.

The article discusses the impact of political upheaval on the economic situation in China. The conflict between the Maoists and Liu Shao-chi, head of state and former heir-designate to Mao, has impeded the country's economic development program. The important issue in the fight between the Maoists and Liu-ists is economic policy. Both camps have launched their propaganda to criticize economic and political doctrines of each party. The anti-Maoists oppose the opening up of a free market in the country and Mao Tse-tung's view of modern enterprise. An overview of China's economic condition under Chairman Mao, including foreign trade with leading Western industrial nations and agricultural production, is presented.

Congestion is a major problem for peak-hour commuters in the Beijing subway system, as it leads to long queuing times and overcrowded vehicles. This paper explores to what extent peak travel can be reduced by providing incentives for peak avoidance. In a stated preference study, travellers’ responses to two financial and two non-financial incentives were measured, and factors increasing or limiting the response were identified. Our results suggest that all four incentives can be reasonably effective tools and the financial incentives seem to have a slightly stronger effect than the services and credit-for-gifts-based scenarios. Ordered logit models indicate that various factors influence people’s receptiveness of incentives for peak avoidance which relate to the ease of change or presence of alternatives and receptiveness to incentives. Both theoretical and policy implications are concluded that the proposed factors and incentive system can help solving the subway congestion in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates travel time attributed to non-work stops in multi-purpose commuting trips. Travel time is explained by socio-demographics and spatial attributes, mode shift is also included to analyze the extra travel time, and its trade-off with activity time for four types of non-work stops—eating out, shopping, leisure/social activities, and family/personal/other. Data come from the “Daily Activity and Travel Survey of Beijing 2012”. Descriptive analysis shows that almost 20% of the multi-purpose commuting trips include a mode shift toward a more motorized transport mode than their direct counterparts. Regression results indicate that extra travel time due to detours is significantly related to the activity durations. Regardless of the activity type, longer work duration reduces the travel time. Furthermore, the interaction terms between personal/trip/spatial factors and activities durations show the impacts differ across the activity types. Gender difference is found only for eating out, which suggests that male commuters travel longer for the same amount of activity time. Concerning spatial factors, a greater mix of facilities near workplaces helps to reduce the extra travel time invested for a time unit of shopping and family/personal/other activities. Compared with public transit users, active mode users have shorter travel time for eating out. Timing, work duration and commuting duration as time-budget-related variables show negative impacts on the extra travel time for eating-out, shopping and family/personal/other activities. However, mode shift does not show any significant impact as the hypothesis proposed. Instead of rebalancing the trade-off between travel and activity time, commuters may relocate activity with an expanded opportunity choice set given by a higher mobility level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of soil maps can best be estimated by collecting additional data at locations selected by probability sampling. These data can be used in design-based estimation of map quality measures such as the population mean of the squared prediction errors (MSE) for continuous soil maps and overall accuracy for categorical soil maps. In areas with large differences in access costs it can be attractive to account for these differences in selecting validation locations. In this paper two types of sampling design are compared that take access costs into account: sampling with probabilities proportional to size (pps) and stratified simple random sampling (STSI). In pps the inverse of the square root of the access costs is used as a size variable. Two estimators of MSE are applied, the Hansen-Hurwitz and Hajek estimator. In STSI optimal strata are constructed based on access costs. Simple random sampling (SI) is taken as a reference design. The sampling strategies were compared on the basis of: 1) the variance of the estimated MSE; 2) the variance of the total pointwise access costs; 3) the 95-percentile of the sampling distribution of the total access costs. The comparison was done at equal expected total pointwise access costs. The sampling strategies were compared in a simulation study and a real-world case study in Anhui, China. In the case study car travel and hiking costs were considered in computing access costs per point. The results showed that the variance of estimated MSE with pps(Hansen-Hurwitz) was larger than with pps(Hajek) and STSI. The variances of estimated MSE of pps(Hajek) and STSI were about equal and smaller than that of SI. The gain in precision compared to SI depends on the cost distribution. The larger the coefficient of variation of the costs, the larger the gain. The 95 percentile of the sampling distribution of the total pointwise access costs with STSI was smaller than with pps and SI. The gain in precision of pps(Hajek) and STSI was about 30% accounting for hiking costs only, and about 10% accounting for the sum of car travel and hiking costs in the case study. The proposed sampling strategies are of interest for surveying any soil property in areas with marked differences in access costs, not just for validation of soil maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the population structure of a representative collection of 3,133 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, collected within the framework of a national resistance survey from 2007 in China. Genotyping data indicate that the epidemic strains in China can be divided into seven major complexes, of which 92% belonged to the East Asian (mainly Beijing strains) or the Euro-American lineage. The epidemic Beijing strains in China are closely related to the Beijing B0/W148 strain earlier described in Russia and a large cluster of these strains has spread national wide. The density of Beijing strains is high in the whole of China (average 70%), but the highest prevalence was found North of the Yellow river. The Euro-American lineage consists of three sublineages (sublineage_1, 2, and 3) and is more prevalent in the South. Beijing lineage showed the highest cluster rate of 48% and a significantly higher level of resistance to rifampicin (14%, p<0.001), ethambutol (9%, p = 0.001), and ofloxacin (5%, p = 0.011). Within the Euro-American Lineage, sublineage_3 revealed the highest cluster rate (28%) and presented a significantly elevated level of resistance to streptomycin (44%, p<0.001). Our findings suggest that standardised treatment in this region may have contributed to the successful spread of certain strains: sublineage_3 in the Euro-American lineage may have thrived when streptomycin was used without rifampicin for treatment, while later under DOTS based treatment, in which rifampicin plays a key role, Beijing lineage appears to be spreading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding determinants of the invasiveness and ecological impacts of alien species is amongst the most sought-after and urgent research questions in ecology. Several studies have shown the value of comparing the functional responses (FRs) of alien and native predators towards native prey, however, the technique is under-explored with herbivorous alien species and as a predictor of invasiveness as distinct from ecological impact. Here, in China, we conducted a mesocosm experiment to compare the FRs among three herbivorous snail species: the golden apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata, a highly invasive and high impact alien listed in “100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species”; Planorbarius corneus, a non-invasive, low impact alien; and the Chinese native snail, Bellamya aeruginosa, when feeding on four locally occurring plant species. Further, by using a numerical response equation, we modelled the population dynamics of the snail consumers. For standard FR parameters, we found that the invasive and damaging alien snail had the highest “attack rates” a, shortest “handling times” h and also the highest estimated maximum feeding rates, 1/hT, whereas the native species had the lowest attack rates, longest handling times and lowest maximum feeding rates. The non-invasive, low impact alien species had consistently intermediate FR parameters. The invasive alien species had higher population growth potential than the native snail species, whilst that of the non-invasive alien species was intermediate. Thus, while the comparative FR approach has been proposed as a reliable method for predicting the ecological impacts of invasive predators, our results further suggest that comparative FRs could extend to predict the invasiveness and ecological impacts of alien herbivores and should be explored in other taxa and trophic groups to determine the general utility of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a controlled laboratory study concerning the healing time of Achilles tendon-calcaneus repaired by reattachment of homogenous tissue in respect to tensile properties than reattachment of heterogenous tissues. It comments on surgical repair around the bone-tendon insertion which can involve tendon-to-tendon, bone-to-tendon, or bone-to-bone reattachment. It states that Chinese goats were used in assessing wound healing at six, 12, and 24 weeks postoperatively.

'Peak car' and related discussions suggest that especially younger people (age cohort until 30) have less desire to drive and purchase cars. This might though only be true for a limited range of developed countries. This study aims to understand the role of personal background and the country context influencing future car ownership decisions of younger people in seven countries (China, Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Taiwan, and USA). The main foci of this research are undergraduate students where it is expected that their current attitudes and habits will influence their travel behavior after they graduate and obtain a job. A web survey asked students about their attitudes towards car and public transportation, social norms, their socio-demographic situations, current mobility patterns and the intention to own a car after graduation. We conducted a descriptive analysis as well as correlation analysis of the survey data focusing on explaining intentions to own a car in the future. We find that there is a significant difference between developing and developed countries; students in developed countries have less desire to purchase cars. Expectations of others appears an important determinant of purchase intentions whereas income and the symbolic affective meaning of the car are less correlated with intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to assess chewing ability related to dental status. Material and methods: One thousand four hundred sixty-two Chinese subjects over 40 years, dentate in both jaws, were categorized in a hierarchical functional classification system with and without tooth replacements. Chewing ability was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression including five dental conditions (≥10 teeth in each jaw'; 'complete anterior regions'; 'sufficient premolar regions' (≥3 posterior occluding pairs (POPs)); 'sufficient molar regions' (bilaterally ≥1 POP); and tooth replacement), adjusted for six background variables. Likelihood ratios for chewing problems were assessed at each level of the hierarchical classification system based on these dental conditions. Results: Seventy-eight to 91 % of subjects reported no or minor chewing problems. The conditions '≥10 teeth in each jaw', and 'complete anterior regions' were not associated, whereas 'sufficient' premolar regions' and 'sufficient molar regions' were associated with chewing problems (Ors, 0.33-0.58). If classified hierarchically, the condition '≥10 teeth in each jaw' was relevant for chewing problems (likelihood ratios 3.3-3.7). 'Sufficient premolar region' and 'sufficient molar region' were relevant to reduce the likelihood ratios for having chewing problems (both approximately with a factor 2), both for soft and for hard foods. Subjects with artificial teeth added had similar chance for chewing problems compared to counterparts with natural teeth only. However, if comparing replaced teeth with natural teeth, subjects with tooth replacement showed higher chance for chewing problems. Conclusions: Chewing ability was strongly associated with dental conditions. Clinical relevance: The presence of at least 10 teeth in each jaw had highest impact on chewing ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. In Vietnam, the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype is associated with multi-drug resistance and is emerging. A possible explanation for this genotype's success is an increased rate of relapse.Methods. In a prospective cohort study, isolates from patients with smear-positive tuberculosis were subjected to drug susceptibility testing and to spoligotyping and variable number of tandem repeats typing before treatment and after recurrence of tuberculosis.Results. Among 1068 patients who were actively followed up over 18 months for recurrence, 23 relapse cases occurred (1.39 cases/100 person-years). After adjustment for genotype, tuberculosis treatment history, and drug resistance, relapse was significantly associated with the Beijing genotype (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 5.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.06–14.55) and isoniazid resistance (aHR, 5.91; 95% CI, 2.16–16.16).Conclusions. The strongly increased relapse rate in tuberculosis cases caused by Beijing strains probably contributes to the successful spread of this genotype in Vietnam and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Beijing strains are speculated to have a selective advantage over other Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains because of increased transmissibility and virulence. In Alberta, a province of Canada that receives a large number of immigrants, we conducted a population-based study to determine whether Beijing strains were associated with increased transmission leading to disease compared with non-Beijing strains. Beijing strains accounted for 258 (19%) of 1,379 pulmonary tuberculosis cases in 1991-2007; overall, 21% of Beijing cases and 37% of non-Beijing cases were associated with transmission clusters. Beijing index cases had significantly fewer secondary cases within 2 years than did non-Beijing cases, but this difference disappeared after adjustment for demographic characteristics, infectiousness, and M. tuberculosis lineage. In a province that has effective tuberculosis control, transmission of Beijing strains posed no more of a public health threat than did non-Beijing strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate aetiology profile and role of thrombophilia in patients with premature peripheral arterial obstructive disease (PAOD) in China. Methods: Between January 2000 and January 2010, among 368 patients presenting with PAOD, but not Buerger''s disease, at an age of less than 45 years, 150 patients have been screened for thrombophilia and the data analysed retrospectively. Aetiologies of thrombophilia which involved in premature PAOD were assessed and surgical outcomes were stratified for presence of thrombophilia. Results: In 57 of 150 patients (38%), laboratory assay results suggested thrombophilia, and the rest of them presented with other aetiology (62%). A total of 108 patients, including 38 patients with thrombophilia (35%), needed some type of revascularisation. At 30 days, recurrent thrombosis (29% vs. 9%; p = 0.005) and major amputations (11% vs. 1%; p = 0.032) were more common in patients with thrombophilia. At 1 year, primary patency (56% vs. 75%, p = 0.043), secondary patency (68% vs. 92%, p = 0.036) and limb salvage (74% vs. 96%, p = 0.038) were significantly lower in patients with thrombophilia. Conclusion: Thrombophilia is frequently diagnosed among premature PAOD in China and adversely affects outcome after revascularisation. Clinicians should be aware of its high prevalence and aim at screening and sustained thrombophilia treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The transfer model of organizational identification (OI) posits a trickle-down process of OI from leaders to followers. This, in turn, should foster employees' willingness to engage in extra-role behaviour. Prior research has provided consistent support for the model in field studies and experimental settings. The present studies extend the OI transfer model by examining the mediating role of transformational leadership (TFL) behaviour in the leader OI-follower OI link. Using a multi-level, multi-source approach we tested our model in two studies. Study 1 was conducted in Germany ( N= 18 leaders and 216 employees) and provided support for the proposed mediation process. In a second Study, which was conducted in China ( N= 44 leaders and 109 followers), we were able to replicate and extend these findings. Again, leader behaviour mediated the link between leader OI and employee OI. Additionally, we found that leader transformational behaviour and employee OI together mediated the link between leader OI and employee extra-role efforts. Practitioner Points Given that organizations are generally structured in a pyramid-shaped form, the present findings suggest that leader OI can be highly leveraged since it appears to cascade down the organizational hierarchy., Hence, measures fostering leader OI appear to be effective and efficient means to increase followers' identification with the organization. Follower OI, in turn, positively relates to employee extra-effort on behalf of the organization., Furthermore, our findings suggest that this transfer of OI is not restricted to leader-follower links in western, individualistic societies but also applies to China, characterized by more collectivistic values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study that examined differences in the ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains to withstand antituberculosis drug treatment. The activity of antituberculosis drugs against susceptible Beijing and East-African/Indian genotype M. tuberculosis strains was compared. The results showed that Beijing genotype strains exhibited higher mutation rates within a wide range of drug concentrations, a possible cause of the genotype's association with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. The need for antituberculosis drug treatments that will prevent resistance among M. tuberculosis Beijing genotype cases is also addressed.

Background: Investigation of the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in China has shown that Beijing genotype strains play a dominant role in the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. In order to examine the strain diversity in the whole country, and to study the evolutionary development of Beijing strains, we sought to genotype a large collection of isolates using different methods. Methodology/Principal Findings: We applied a 15-loci VNTR typing analysis on 1,586 isolates from the Beijing municipality and 12 Chinese provinces or autonomous regions. The data was compared to that of 900 isolates from various other worldwide geographic regions outside of China. A total of 1,162/1,586 (73.2%) of the isolates, distributed into 472 VNTR types, were found to belong to the Beijing genotype family and this represented 56 to 94% of the isolates in each of the localizations. VNTR typing revealed that the majority of the non-Beijing isolates fall into two genotype families, which represented 17% of the total number of isolates, and seem largely restricted to China. A small number of East African Indian genotype strains was also observed in this collection. Ancient Beijing strains with an intact region of difference (RD) 181, as well as strains presumably resembling ancestors of the whole Beijing genotype family, were mainly found in the Guangxi autonomous region. Conclusions/Significance: This is the largest M. tuberculosis VNTR-based genotyping study performed in China to date. The high percentage of Beijing isolates in the whole country and the presence in the South of strains representing early branching points may be an indication that the Beijing lineage originated from China, probably in the Guangxi region. Two modern lineages are shown here to represent the majority of non-Beijing Chinese isolates. The observed geographic distribution of the different lineages within China suggests that natural frontiers are major factors in their diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a chapter from the book "The Survival of North Korea." It provides a brief survey of Sino-North Korea relations, examines China's objectives and actions, and raises policy issues for U.S. involvement. It shows how China's shared interest has enabled it to maintain its military alliance and continues its substantial trade and economic assistance to North Korea.

We conducted a case-control study to investigate risk factors for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) in the People's Republic of China. Genotyping analysis was used to estimate the percentage of cases from recent transmission among 100 MDR TB case-patients hospitalized during April 2007-July 2009. Molecular subtyping of isolates showed that 41% of MDR TB strains clustered. Beijing genotype was found in 94% of the MDR TB isolates and 79% of the pan-susceptible isolates. In multivariate analysis, MDR TB was independently associated with Beijing genotype, retreatment for TB, symptoms lasting ≥3 months before first evaluation at the hospital, lack of health insurance, and being a farmer (vs. being a student). MDR TB was associated with Beijing genotype and lower socioeconomic status. A large percentage of MDR TB cases seemed to result from recent transmission. Early detection, effective treatment, and infection control measures for MDR TB are needed to reduce transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prior to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the civic education were characterized by denationalization and depoliticization. After the Joint Declaration, many of the conflicts emerged between the national interests advocated by the nationalistic camp and the Hong Kong interests promoted by the Liberal camp in the newly politicized Hong Kong not only unfolded that citizenship and national identity conceptually compartmentalized into unrelated ideas but also redefined civic education in such a way as to juxtapose and include both citizenship education and national education.. The teachers' paradigms of the "China Today" module were explored because the module is directly related to both citizenship education and national education. Aim: This study is to examine teachers' paradigms of the 'China Today" module through their national attitude and their implementation in informal and nonformal education. Sample: One secondary teacher taught the module of "China Today" a year ago and three secondary teachers are teaching the same module. As for methods, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to assess the teachers' perception and practices. Results: Data revealed that the national attitude of the CSS1 teacher can be described as a cultural patriot; the CSS2 teacher, critical patriot; the CSS3, teacher, cultural nationalist or cultural patriot, the CSS4, critically cultural patriot. Conclusion: The critical and cultural stances are not unrelated. "Critical" implies something about the evaluative framework of the teachers, while "cultural" understood in Confucian, World citizenship, Democracy or their combination terms, could be the philosophical foundation of an evaluative framework. In other words, the CSS1 teacher predominantly adopted the Confucianism as his evaluative framework in patriotism and world citizenship in nationalism; the CSS2 teacher, the concept of world citizenship in both patriotism and nationalism; the CSS3 teacher and the CSS4 teacher, Confucianism in both patriotism and nationalism. Only the CSS2 and CSS3 teachers carried out the informal and nonformal education. Thus, motivational and behavioral components of citizenship as volition are not yet part of the CSS1 and CSS4 teachers' (cognitive) evaluative frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to (1) describe the dental status using DMFT for the whole dentition and the anterior, premolar and molar regions; (2) determine associations of demographic variables and socio-economic status (SES) with DMFT and tooth replacement; (3) analyze to what extent the goal as proposed by the WHO -'the retention of not less than 20 teeth throughout life' is achieved. Methods: DMFT and tooth replacement data of 1588 subjects over 40 years from urban and rural sites in Qingdao (Shandong Province, China) were collected. Relative D, M, and F scores per dental region were calculated and compared by paired T-tests. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine relationships with age, gender, place of residence, and SES. Results: Mean numbers of D and F were low (1.36 respectively 0.27) at all ages. Molars had highest chance for D and M. For the molar region every additional year of age gave significantly lower chance for D and higher chance for M (OR: 0.98 and 1.02 respectively; both p ≤ 0.01). Mean number of M was associated with age (approximately 1.5 in each jaw at 40 years and 6 at 80 years). Females had higher chance for D (OR: 1.34; p ≤ 0.05) and F (OR: 1.69; p ≤ 0.01), and lower chance for M (OR: 0.60; p ≤ 0.01). Urban and rural subjects had similar chance for D; urban subjects had approximately 5 times more chance for F (p ≤ 0.01). SES had no relationship with D and M, however SES low was associated with F (OR: 0.45; p ≤ 0.01). Replacements were significantly associated with age (all dental regions except anterior region), gender (all dental regions), place of residence (whole dentition and molar region), and SES (whole dentition and premolar and molar regions). Conclusions: The majority of subjects presented a reduced dentition. Molars were most frequently affected by D and M. D, M, F and replaced teeth were associated with the background variables, however differently for different dental regions. Above the age of 70 years, only 64% of the subjects presented 'not less than 20 natural teeth'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a species, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is more diverse than previously thought. In particular, the Beijing family of M. tuberculosis strains is spreading and evoluating throughout the world and this is giving rise to public health concerns. Genetic diversity within this family has recently been delineated further and a specific genotype, called Bmyc10, has been shown to represent over 60% of all Beijing clinical isolates in several parts of the world. How the host immune system senses and responds to various M. tuberculosis strains may profoundly influence clinical outcome and the relative epidemiological success of the different mycobacterial lineages. We hypothesised that the success of the Bmyc10 group may, at least in part, rely upon its ability to alter innate immune responses and the secretion of cytokines and chemokines by host phagocytes. Methodology/Principal Findings: We infected human macrophages and dendritic cells with a collection of genetically well-defined M. tuberculosis clinical isolates belonging to various mycobacterial families, including Beijing. We analyzed cytokine and chemokine secretion on a semi-global level using antibody arrays allowing the detection of sixty-five immunity-related soluble molecules. Our data indicate that Beijing strains induce significantly less interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), IL-10 and GRO-α than the H37Rv reference strain, a feature that is variously shared by other modern and ancient M. tuberculosis families and which constitutes a signature of the Beijing family as a whole. However, Beijing strains did not differ relative to each other in their ability to modulate cytokine secretion. Conclusions/Significance: Our results confirm and expand upon previous reports showing that M. tuberculosis Beijing strains in general are poor in vitro cytokine inducers in human phagocytes. The results suggest that the epidemiological success of the Beijing Bmyc10 is unlikely to rely upon any specific ability of this group of strains to impair anti-mycobacterial innate immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal studies have shown that the globally emerging Beijing genotype strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are more virulent than other strains. We examined whether Beijing strains increase treatment failure in a prospective cohort study in Indonesia. Among 818 tuberculosis cases, positive sputum culture results after 6 months of treatment were more common among patients infected with Beijing strains (33.4%) than among those infected with non-Beijing strains (relative risk, 1.94 [95% confidence interval, 1.26-3.00]), even after adjustment for differences in drug resistance. These data suggest that M. tuberculosis Beijing genotype strains have a higher capacity to withstand tuberculosis treatment, even in the absence of drug resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During the period of British colonial rule, the nature of civic education in Hong Kong was characterized as denationalized, depoliticized and decontextualized. The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration substantially altered the nature of civic education. The "China Today" module of Liberal Studies (LS) was one of the results of the re-engineering the civic education. The teachers' paradigms of the "China Today" module were explored because the module used national themes as materials to inculcate values in students and is directly related to both citizenship education and national education. Aim: The aim of this study is to examine teachers' paradigms of the 'China Today" module through their conceptualization of citizenship and their perspective on teaching. Samples: Four secondary teachers of the "China Today" module were invited to participate. Methods: Questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation were used to assess the teachers' perception and practices. Results: Data from the questionnaire and interviews revealed that the four teachers highly valued moral, socially concerned citizens and democratic citizens. In terms of aims and approaches to citizenship education, the four teachers embraced the notion of citizenship as competence as aim and reflective-inquiry approach, but only two teachers were able to carry them out in the classroom setting. Another two teachers used transmission approach. Conclusion: Framed by the notion of citizenship as competence as their aim and equipped in issue-enquiry or reflectiveinquiry approach, and experienced in developmental perspective on teaching, the CSS2 and CSS3 teachers were able to cultivate in students' dispositions and skills. Teachers unaware of the citizenship framework and unfamiliar with the developmental perspective on teaching found it difficult to cultivate rational aspects of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government's imprisonment of Mainland journalist Shi Tao on the basis of evidence provided by Yahoo! aroused great concern both in Mainland China domestically and internationally. Being a multinational corporation with a huge number of users of its services, Yahoo!'s 'assistance' to the Chinese authorities in the prosecution of Shi Tao has become the focus of discussions, while a detailed discussion of the Shi Tao case itself is lacking. Based on the litigation documents of the Shi Tao case that are available in the public domain, and news reports and commentaries relating to this case, this paper aims at filling this gap by presenting a detailed account of the development of the Shi Tao case in Mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research that applied a regression model to predict the average cadmium content in rice grains for paddy fields located in China's Zhejiang province. Soils in the Fuyang valley have been contaminated by heavy metals. Cadmium has a tendency to bioaccumulate in rice grains, posing a potential human health risk. A multiple linear model for assessing cadmium content is the most effective predictor, as it examines the sensitivity of calcium chloride-extracted cadmium for changes in oxidation-reduction potential.

The frequency of typical and atypical Beijing strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was determined in the Netherlands; Vietnam; and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China. The strains' associations with drug resistance, M. bovis BCG vaccination, and patient characteristics were assessed. BCG vaccination may have positively selected the prevalent typical Beijing strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web-based leaching opens new opportunities for international collaboration in offering courses to students. It also allows students to attend courses offered by instructors situated outside their own country. This paper presents the lessons learned from one such course offered by instructors located in Texas and Hong Kong to students residing in Shanghai studying in a collaborative Master of Social Service Management Programme (MSSM) between HKU and Fudan University. The course, titled ‘Information and Communication Technology for Social Service Organizations,’ was offered twice in the past two years using an Internet-based class chat room supported by a course website and other web based tools. While the offering was successful based on student evaluations, many problems and issues had to be addressed. The course background, learning outcomes, lessons learned, and future recommendations are presented. In addition, an analysis of the Shanghai student IT applications is provided to help understand the current state of human services IT in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The University of Hong Kong collaborated with the Fudan University in Shanghai to offer a Master of Social Service Management (MSSM) part-time degree for students in Shanghai. While most courses of the program were taught by instructors sent from Hong Kong and other overseas countries on weekends and holidays, the "Information and Communication Technology in Social Service Organizations" course was offered online and supplemented by several face-to-face sessions. Instructors in Texas and Hong Kong collaborated and offered the course to the students in Shanghai. Teaching and learning online was a completely new experience for the students. Technical, social, cultural, and linguistic issues arose throughout the four months during which the course was offered. This paper shares the teaching experience and reflection of the instructors as well as the learning outcome and evaluation of the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the main problems facing the Chinese banking system and concludes that, despite serious problems, the risk seems small that, in the near future, a financial crisis will occur that will pose severe problems for the international financial system. An internal financial crisis, however, could occur. Without government support, the economic viability of many of China's banks is questionable. The government and central bank authorities acknowledge the situation and have taken some steps toward reform. The most serious threat to the banking system lies in the accumulation of non-performing loans (NPLs)—many of them policybased loans extended by state-owned banks to money-losing state-owned companies with little expectation that they would be completely repaid. China has been taking measures to keep the problem from worsening and has created four asset management companies to dispose of NPLs that still have value. Since the Chinese economic reforms began in 1978, Chinese authorities have made significant progress in modernising their banking system, although they still have a long way to go. However, there are several ameliorating factors that still keep its financial and foreign exchange system viable. China's continued high rate of growth and high savings rate have funneled deposits into the banking system, while a $20–30 billion annual trade surplus together with an inflow of foreign direct investment at about $40 billion per year have resulted in an accumulation of foreign exchange reserves exceeding $200 billion. China does not carry an unusually heavy debt burden, either domestic or international, although its short-term borrowing in foreign currencies has been increasing. China does not currently face a serious risk of either a domestic or international liquidity crisis—unless, of course, a severe and prolonged world recession occurs that adversely affects Chinese exports as well as the inflow of foreign direct investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]