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The aim of the research is to investigate a Montessori pedagogic approach, enabling a Jewish school to be part of the Chinese international-school system, while fostering Jewish identity. We conducted semistructured interviews with principals (2), teachers (8), parents (12), and students (10) and recorded class observations (8) over two visits. The analysis employed a grounded theory approach using a constant comparative method. The main result was that Montessori principles enabled the school to foster a strong particularistic Jewish identity for this situational minority while also developing a broad understanding of the host (Chinese) culture.

Copyright of Leviathan: Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft (Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG) is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Discusses treatment of the United States in Chinese textbooks. Focuses on a world history text and a political economics text for high school seniors. Reports that the Chinese texts present the United States as an imperialistic bastion of capitalism. Suggests that a more balanced presentation is necessary to prepare students for the global era. (DK)

Dynamic monitoring of building environments is essential for observing rural land changes and socio-economic development, especially in agricultural countries, such as China. Rapid and accurate building extraction and floor area estimation at the village level are vital for the overall planning of rural development and intensive land use and the "beautiful countryside" construction policy in China. Traditional in situ field surveys are an effective way to collect building information but are time-consuming and labor-intensive. Moreover, rural buildings are usually covered by vegetation and trees, leading to incomplete boundaries. This paper proposes a comprehensive method to perform village-level homestead area estimation by combining unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry and deep learning technology. First, to tackle the problem of complex surface feature scenes in remote sensing images, we proposed a novel Efficient Deep-wise Spatial Attention Network (EDSANet), which uses dual attention extraction and attention feature refinement to aggregate multi-level semantics and enhance the accuracy of building extraction, especially for high-spatial-resolution imagery. Qualitative and quantitative experiments were conducted with the newly built dataset (named the rural Weinan building dataset) with different deep learning networks to examine the performance of the EDSANet model in the task of rural building extraction. Then, the number of floors of each building was estimated using the normalized digital surface model (nDSM) generated from UAV oblique photogrammetry. The floor area of the entire village was rapidly calculated by multiplying the area of each building in the village by the number of floors. The case study was conducted in Helan village, Shannxi province, China. The results show that the overall accuracy of the building extraction from UAV images with the EDSANet model was 0.939 and that the precision reached 0.949. The buildings in Helan village primarily have two stories, and their total floor area is 3.1 × 105 m2. The field survey results verified that the accuracy of the nDSM model was 0.94; the RMSE was 0.243. The proposed workflow and experimental results highlight the potential of UAV oblique photogrammetry and deep learning for rapid and efficient village-level building extraction and floor area estimation in China, as well as worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the United States experiences a relative decline in its share of global GDP and China increases its relative share, there is growing concern about the consequences of intensifying competition between the two great powers. This article takes a wider angled view, warns against a single narrative and provides a collection of plausible stories. First, the story of the rise of China and the decline of the United States that relies heavily on 'hard' measures like GDP and relative military capability overlooks other relevant indicators such as normative and network power. I argue that the United States enjoys considerable advantages as measured by both these indicators and will continue to do so for some time. Second, the status of a great power in the international system is a product not only of systemic and structural forces but also of economic and political capacity that enables governments to make strategic choices. The future is contingent, not determined, because the strategies leaders choose matter. I build a matrix of nine possible worlds that result from the choices that the leaders of China and the United States could make over the next twenty years. Finally, I argue that the biggest threat to international peace may come not from rising powers, but when the leaders of the challenger as well as the defender fear that their power may have peaked and that they are beginning to decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly half of all Vermont school districts have participated in the China Project since its inception in 1986. During the program's first two years, participants examined Chinese history, politics, economy, geography, philosophy, arts, ancient inventions, foreign policy, social life, women's social status, the Chinese language, and the Beijing Opera, supported by numerous hands-on activities. (MLH)

Aim: The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among health science students in China; associations between the number of ACE exposures and severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms; and the extent to which resilience moderates the effect of ACEs on mental health outcomes. Design: This descriptive, cross‐sectional study was conducted May–August 2020. Methods: Five hundred and sixty‐six health science students (18–38 years) from China completed online surveys measuring ACEs using the Simplified Chinese version of the ACE‐International Questionnaire, depressive and anxiety symptoms and resilience. Descriptive statistical analysis, ANOVA with Tukey HSD post hoc tests and multiple regression analysis were performed using SPSS 27. Results: 88.5% of participants reported at least one ACE; 42.6% reported four or more ACEs. Higher number of ACEs was associated with more symptoms of depression and anxiety. Four or more ACEs were associated with significantly worse mental health outcomes than those with no ACEs and those with one to three ACEs. Greater resilience significantly attenuated the effects of ACEs on mental health symptoms. Conclusions: ACEs are highly prevalent among Chinese health science students but their impact on mental health can be buffered by higher levels of resilience. Impact: Screening for ACEs and strength‐based, trauma‐informed interventions on fostering resilience is needed to promote mental health among Chinese young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Natural model systems are indispensable for exploring adaptations in response to environmental pressures. Sinocyclocheilus of China, the most diverse cavefish clade in the world (75 species), provide unique opportunities to understand recurrent evolution of stereotypic traits (such as eye loss and sensory expansion) in the context of a deep and diverse phylogenetic group. However, they remain poorly understood in terms of their morphological evolution. Therefore, we explore key patterns of morphological evolution, habitat utilization and geographic distribution in these fishes. Results: We constructed phylogenies and categorized 49 species based on eye-related condition (Blind, Micro-eyed, and Normal-eyed), habitat types (Troglobitic-cave-restricted; Troglophilic-cave-associated; Surface-outside caves) and existence of horns. Geometric-morphometric analyses show Normal-eyed morphs with fusiform shapes segregating from Blind/Micro-eyed deeper bodied morphs along the first principal-component axis; second axis accounts for shape complexity related to horns. The body shapes showed a significant association with eye-related condition and horn, but not habitat types. Ancestral reconstructions suggest at least three independent origins of Blind morphs, each with different levels of modification in relation to their ancestral Normal-eyed morphs; Sinocyclocheilus are also pre-adapted for cave dwelling. Our geophylogeny shows an east-to-west diversification spanning Pliocene and Pleistocene, with early-diversifying Troglobitic species dominating subterranean habitats of karstic plains whereas predominantly Surface forms inhabit hills to the west. Evolutionary rates analyses suggest that lineages leading to Blind morphs were characterized by significant rate shifts, such as a slowdown in body size evolution and a 5-20 fold increase in rate of eye regression, possibly explained by limited resource availability. Body size and eye size have undergone reversals, but not horns, a trait entailing considerable time to form. Conclusions: Sinocyclocheilus occupied cave habitats in response to drying associated with aridification of China during late Miocene and the Pliocene. The prominent cave-adaptations (eye-regression, horn-evolution) occur in clades associated with the extensive subterranean cave system in Guangxi and Guizhou provinces. Integration of morphology, phylogeny, rate analyses, molecular-dating and distribution show not only several remarkable patterns of evolution, but also interesting exceptions to these patterns signifying the diversification of Sinocyclocheilus as an invaluable model system to explore evolutionary novelty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real estate management systems differ all over the world. Differences arise from the different history of regions, different cultures and customs. The paper presents information about the real estate management systems in China and Poland, two extremely different countries. The authors have tried to show the differences and similarities between the countries. The research methods that were used to prepare the paper include a TOWS/SWOT analysis and a comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Nachrichten aus der Chemie is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose To examine factors associated with Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) results in patients with painful musculoskeletal conditions, with focus on social factors across multiple countries. Methods International cross-sectional study was performed within care as usual. Simple and multiple multilevel linear regression analyses which considered measurement's dependency within clinicians and country were conducted: FCE characteristics and biopsychosocial variables from patients and clinicians as independent variables; and FCE results (floor-to-waist lift, six-minute walk, and handgrip strength) as dependent variables. Results Data were collected for 372 patients, 54 clinicians, 18 facilities and 8 countries. Patients' height and reported pain intensity were consistently associated with every FCE result. Patients' sex, height, reported pain intensity, effort during FCE, social isolation, and disability, clinician's observed physical effort, and whether FCE test was prematurely ended were associated with lift. Patient's height, Body Mass Index, post-test heart-rate, reported pain intensity and effort during FCE, days off work, and whether FCE test was prematurely ended were associated with walk. Patient's age, sex, height, affected body area, reported pain intensity and catastrophizing, and physical work demands were associated with handgrip. Final regression models explained 38‒65% of total variance. Clinician and country random effects composed 1-39% of total residual variance in these models. Conclusion Biopsychosocial factors were associated with every FCE result across multiple countries; specifically, patients' height, reported pain intensity, clinician, and measurement country. Social factors, which had been under-researched, were consistently associated with FCE performances. Patients' FCE results should be considered from a biopsychosocial perspective, including different social contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of mainland Chinese hotel firm internationalisation relative to traditional Western internationalisation theory through an analysis of the Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Group’s joint venture with the Thayer Lodging Group to acquire Interstate Hotels & Resorts.Design/methodology/approach The case study method was used to examine the three firms involved in the joint venture acquisition. The technique of elite interviews was used to collect primary data. Semi-structured personal interviews were conducted with senior corporate executives who were engaged as principals with the conception, execution and administration of the joint venture. Content analysis was performed with the interview data, seeking themes and patterns consistent with the study purpose.Findings The findings demonstrated specific characteristics that distinguish the internationalisation that Jin Jiang has pursued. The five distinctive characteristics were as follows: a “leap” market entry mode, a pattern of “a small fish eats a big fish”, a preference for purchasing hotels in the West, capital sourcing from Chinese banks and strategic rather than operational control of the acquired firm.Research limitations/implications The findings indicate both similarities and differences between the China context of hotel firm internationalisation and that of Western firms. Theoretical implications are examined through an analysis of Dunning’s OLI (ownership, location, internalisation) framework. Generalisability of empirical findings may be limited by the China context and the unique combination of three firms.Practical implications The findings advance our understanding of the relationship between Chinese and Western practices, particularly in the approaches that firms take in internationalisation.Originality/value The story reported in this paper is about the first firm internationalisation endeavour in the mainland Chinese hotel industry. This is a landmark event for the international hospitality industry that will have historical significance, and represents the leading edge of mainland Chinese hotel firm cross-border expansion. This study contributes an early analysis of how the Chinese hotel sector may approach internationalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives This study investigated the prevalence of, and multi-dimensional factors associated with, unprotected anal intercourse ( UAI) with regular male sexual partners ('regular partners') and nonregular male sexual partners ('nonregular partners') among newly diagnosed HIV-positive men who have sex with men ( MSM) in Chengdu, China. Methods A total of 225 newly diagnosed HIV-positive MSM were interviewed using a combined interviewer−computer-assisted method in Chengdu, China. Results The prevalence of UAI with regular and nonregular partners since diagnosis was 27.7% and 33.8% among participants reporting having sex with regular and nonregular partners ( n = 159 and 133), respectively. Adjusted analysis showed that: (1) cognitive variables based on the Health Belief Model (perceived susceptibility to HIV transmission and perceived severity of the consequences of HIV transmission, perceived barriers and perceived self-efficacy related to consistent condom use), (2) emotion-related variables (worry about transmitting HIV to others), (3) psychological factors (post-traumatic growth) and (4) socio-structural factors (perceived partners' responsibility for condom use) were significantly associated with UAI with regular and/or nonregular partners. Conclusions Interventions are warranted, and should be designed with consideration of multi-dimensional factors and be partner type-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We characterized the prevalence, clinical and cytogenetic characteristics and survival of 435 patients diagnosed with de novo MDS in a single laboratory according to WHO criteria, and compared the utility of different scoring systems to predict survival for individual subtypes of MDS. The mean follow-up period was 25.1 (5.5-53.2) months. Our results confirm major differences in the age-distribution and prevalence of individual subtypes of MDS between Asian and Western patients with a median age of 58 years and a predominance of RCMD (69.9%). Survival rates were similar to those reported in the West: the 3-year survival rate for MDS was 46.7% with a median survival time for RCMD of 38 months and RAEB, 10 months. We found that the IPSS and WPSS scoring systems, which are weighted heavily by blast cell count and karyotype, were not independent predictors for survival in RCMD patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that a scoring system based on age (> or =60 years), ANC (<1.0 x 10(9)/L), Hb (<90 g/L), number of cytopenias and complex karyotype is a more useful predictor of survival in RCMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) accounts for 20-30% of adult leukemia in the West. However, detailed studies of B-cell-specific ALL in adult Asian populations are lacking. We diagnosed and characterized 137 consecutive cases of precursor B lymphoblastic leukemia (precursor B-cell ALL) presented to our laboratory in Shanghai using the WHO 2001 classification system. Patient clinical, phenotypic and cytogenetic characteristics were correlated with outcome. In contrast to Western studies, females (71) outnumbered males (66) partly due to an increased prevalence of the CD10- pro B-cell phenotype. Females with a CD10- pro B-cell phenotype exhibited significantly better overall survival than males. The most common cytogenetic abnormality was the Philadelphia chromosome (PH/BCR/ABL) which was found in approximately 37% of the cases. Cases of precursor B cell ALL lacking the PH/BCR/ABL genotype exhibited a pronounced age-dependent, gender prevalence with a modal age in the sixth decade for females compared to the second decade for males. These findings suggest significant geographic heterogeneity in precursor B-cell ALL which may be of both etiological and therapeutic significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency of subtypes of lymphoid neoplasms was determined in a prospective series of 831 patients presenting at 29 Shanghai hospitals over a 4-year period. Diagnosis and classification was established in a single laboratory according to the 2001 WHO classification system. The frequency of non-Hodgkin lymphoma was 87.6% (n = 728) and Hodgkin lymphoma was 12.4% (n = 103). The most prevalent NHL subtypes diagnosed using WHO criteria were diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), precursor B lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). Although a low incidence has been reported in some Asian populations, CLL/SLL was commonly encountered, indicating that chronic lymphoid neoplasms are not rare in Shanghai. Consistent with previous reports, our findings indicate a decrease in the frequency of follicular lymphoma and an increase in T cell neoplasms compared to the West. Precursor T lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma, anaplastic large T cell lymphoma, aggressive NK cell leukemia, angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma and peripheral T cell lymphoma were prominent subtypes of T cell NHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both drug injection and sexual transmission are the primary drivers of the HIV epidemic in China. This study investigated the prevalence and associated factors of intention of consistent condom use during sexual intercourse with female regular partners (RP), non-regular partners (NRP) and sex workers (FSW) among male people who inject drugs (PWID)in China. A total of 529 male non-institutionalized PWID aged 18-45 years with negative/unknown HIV status were recruited by multiple methods in Dazhou and Hengyang, China. The constructs of the pre-intention phase of the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) Model, including partner-specific HIV risk perception, condom use positive outcome expectancies, condom use negative outcome expectancies, and self-efficacy of condom use, were assessed. The prevalence of behavioral intention of consistent condom use with RP, NRP, and FSW was 32.1%, 49.1%, and 63.6%, respectively. In multivariate stepwise analysis, conditional risk perception of HIV transmission via unprotected sex with RP/NRP/FSW was associated with intention of consistent condom use with these types of female sex partners (multivariate odds ratio (ORm) = 3.25-7.06). Condom use negative outcome expectancies were associated with intention of consistent condom use with RP and NRP (ORm = 0.30-0.46), while condom use self-efficacy was associated with intention of consistent condom use with RP and FSW in the next six months (ORm = 2.24-3.81). Male PWID are at high risk of HIV transmission through sexual behaviors. The pre-intention phase of the HAPA model may be applied to plan interventions to increase behavioral intention of consistent condom use with various types of female partners. Such interventions are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: To lower the barrier for initiating insulin treatment and obtain adequate glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), new basal insulin preparations with improved pharmacological properties and consequently a lower risk of hypoglycemia are needed. The objective of this trial was to confirm the efficacy and compare the safety of insulin degludec (IDeg) with insulin glargine (IGlar) in a multinational setting with two thirds of subjects enrolled in China. Methods: This was a 26-week, randomized, open-label, parallel-group, treat-to-target, non-inferiority trial in 833 subjects with T2DM (48 % were female, mean age 56 years, diabetes duration 8 years), inadequately controlled on oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs). Subjects were randomized 2:1 to once-daily IDeg (555 subjects) or IGlar (278 subjects), both with metformin. The primary endpoint was the change from baseline in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA) after 26 weeks. Results: The completion rate was high (IDeg 94.2 %; IGlar 91.4 %). Mean HbA decreased from 8.3 to 7.0 % in both groups. Estimated treatment difference (ETD) [95 % confidence interval (CI)] IDeg-IGlar in change from baseline was −0.05 % points [−0.18 to 0.08], confirming the non-inferiority of IDeg to IGlar. The proportion of subjects achieving HbA <7.0 % was 54.2 and 51.4 % with IDeg and IGlar, respectively (estimated odds ratio [95 % CI] IDeg/IGlar: 1.14 [0.84 to 1.54]). The mean decrease in fasting plasma glucose, self-measured plasma glucose profiles, and insulin dose were similar between groups. Numerically lower rates of overall (estimated rate ratio [95 % CI] IDeg/IGlar: 0.80 [0.59 to 1.10]) and nocturnal (0.77 [0.43 to 1.37]) confirmed hypoglycemia were observed with IDeg compared with IGlar. No treatment differences in other safety parameters were found. Subjects were more satisfied with the IDeg device compared with the IGlar device as reflected by the total Treatment Related Impact Measures-Diabetes Device score (ETD [95 % CI] IDeg-IGlar: 2.2 [0.2 to 4.3]). Conclusion: IDeg provided adequate glycemic control non-inferior to IGlar and a tendency for a lower hypoglycemia rate. IDeg is considered suitable for initiating insulin therapy in T2DM patients on OADs requiring intensified treatment. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01849289. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]