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In China, formal school groupings known as 'education collectives' have become one of the most common forms of school-to-school collaboration, promoted by policymakers to narrow the achievement gap between schools and optimise resource allocation. Previous research has focused on the purposes and achievements of education collectives rather than their structural diversity. This article seeks to address this gap by typologising education collectives in China. We map the landscape of education collectives, illuminating how school-to-school collaboration and education collectivisation have been promoted and operationalised in China. To achieve this, we employ the metaphor of traditional Chinese landscape painting as a methodological tool. Through this, we promote a deeper understanding of the cultural and psychological roots of school-to-school collaboration in China. We conceptualise education collectives from three perspectives inspired by the features of landscape painting: power relations, legal status, and external institutional engagement. These three dimensions also illuminate the homogeneity, exclusion and unsustainability that the education collective may encounter in their development process. This typology places education collectives within the broader policy context of Chinese basic education and system reform and offers insights into the diversity of network and partnership structures among inter-school collaborations.

In China, formal school groupings known as 'education collectives' have become one of the most common forms of school-to-school collaboration, promoted by policymakers to narrow the achievement gap between schools and optimise resource allocation. Previous research has focused on the purposes and achievements of education collectives rather than their structural diversity. This article seeks to address this gap by typologising education collectives in China. We map the landscape of education collectives, illuminating how school-to-school collaboration and education collectivisation have been promoted and operationalised in China. To achieve this, we employ the metaphor of traditional Chinese landscape painting as a methodological tool. Through this, we promote a deeper understanding of the cultural and psychological roots of school-to-school collaboration in China. We conceptualise education collectives from three perspectives inspired by the features of landscape painting: power relations, legal status, and external institutional engagement. These three dimensions also illuminate the homogeneity, exclusion and unsustainability that the education collective may encounter in their development process. This typology places education collectives within the broader policy context of Chinese basic education and system reform and offers insights into the diversity of network and partnership structures among inter-school collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this ontologically qualitative research study was to: (1) explore student narratives regarding their educational experiences in at-home internationalization programs; (2) provide an in-depth narrative analysis of student learning challenges and achievements; and (3) add valuable research-based knowledge of student-described experiences for use by program administrators. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were selected with a form of four-stage non-proportional stratified sampling. 29 participants were interviewed using a basic demographic questionnaire and an episodic interview protocol. Data were analyzed in QSR NVivo software through open, axial, and selective coding stages under the framework of grounded theory. Findings: The findings focus on student-identified links between the challenges they encountered and their achievements. In addition, student performance level and gender were associated with the challenges and achievements reported by students. In understanding the results, the student-learning concepts found in the learned optimism, growth mindset, grit and expectancy theory approaches provide potentially fruitful insights. Originality/value: The findings of this research have instructive implications for program administrators regarding how student challenges can be strategically chosen and shaped to generate specific, positive student achievements.

Introduction: Planktothrix agardhii is a microcystin-producing cyanobacterium found in Sandusky Bay, a shallow and turbid embayment of Lake Erie. Previous work in other systems has indicated that cyanophages are an important natural control factor of harmful algal blooms. Currently, there are few cyanophages that are known to infect P. agardhii, with the best-known being PaV-LD, a tail-less cyanophage isolated from Lake Donghu, China. Presented here is a molecular characterization of Planktothrix specific cyanophages in Sandusky Bay. Methods and Results: Putative Planktothrix-specific viral sequences from metagenomic data from the bay in 2013, 2018, and 2019 were identified by two approaches: homology to known phage PaV-LD, or through matching CRISPR spacer sequences with Planktothrix host genomes. Several contigs were identified as having viral signatures, either related to PaV-LD or potentially novel sequences. Transcriptomic data from 2015, 2018, and 2019 were also employed for the further identification of cyanophages, as well as gene expression of select viral sequences. Finally, viral quantification was tested using qPCR in 2015–2019 for PaV-LD like cyanophages to identify the relationship between presence and gene expression of these cyanophages. Notably, while PaV-LD like cyanophages were in high abundance over the course of multiple years (qPCR), transcriptomic analysis revealed only low levels of viral gene expression. Discussion: This work aims to provide a broader understanding of Planktothrix cyanophage diversity with the goals of teasing apart the role of cyanophages in the control and regulation of harmful algal blooms and designing monitoring methodology for potential toxin-releasing lysis events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the possibilities for the application of principles that informed the construction of a set of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) standards for schools in Australia to the development of English language standards for an English-as-a-Foreign-Language context in China. (Author/VWL)

Warming of lakes' surface water leads to accelerated loss of biodiversity and eco-environmental collapse of aquatic systems. Changes in lack surface water temperature (LSWT) are a crucial indicator of lake warming. LSWT growth potentially leads to a higher greenhouse gas emissions and deterioration of the ecological environment within lake systems. However, the magnitude of these changes remains uncertain due to data limitations, particularly for small lakes (1–5 km 2 ). Small lakes will experience increasing perturbation with accelerating climate change and our methods demonstrate how the impacts of changes in lakes can be accurately measured and monitored. Our study assessed the spatial and temporal patterns of LSWT in China from 2001 to 2021. We utilized Google Earth Engine (GEE) and the Harmonic Analysis of Time Series (HANTS) algorithm to reconstruct LSWT series and detect spatiotemporal dynamics. The innovative connection of GEE and HANTS provides powerful tool for LSWT analysis. Our results show LSWT increased at a rate of 0.24 °C per decade, albeit with notable spatial and temporal variations. The nighttime rate of increase was greater than the daytime rate of increase. However, there was an abrupt change in daytime LSWT in approximately 2010 and this occurred earlier than an abrupt change in nighttime LSWT. Geographically, the lakes in the Eastern Plain zone exhibited the most significant LSWT warming trend. The majority of lakes warmed more rapidly between 2011 and 2021 as compared to 2001 to 2010. We found a concurrent and pronounced increase in the frequency of algal bloom occurrences after 2010. Our results demonstrate how GEE and HANTS can deliver the continued monitoring and assessment of LSWT trends needed to inform management strategies aimed at mitigating potential negative impacts of climate change on lake ecosystems, both locally and globally. Building on this method, future research should explore the underlying mechanisms driving LSWT trends and their long-term impacts on lake health. • GEE-HANTS enables efficient and accurate LSWT detection, even in small lakes. • LSWT increased at 0.24 °C/decade with spatial/temporal variations. • For 2001–2010, the nighttime rate of increase LSWT was greater than the daytime rate of increase. • Daytime LSWT changed abruptly in 2010, before a shift in nighttime LSWT [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Research during prior virus outbreaks has examined vulnerability factors associated with increased anxiety and fear.Design: We explored numerous psychopathology, sociodemographic, and virus exposure-related variables associated with anxiety and perceived threat of death regarding COVID-19.Method: We recruited 908 adults from Eastern China for a cross-sectional web survey, from 24 February to 15 March 2020, when social distancing was heavily enforced in China. We used several machine learning algorithms to train our statistical model of predictor variables in modeling COVID-19-related anxiety, and perceived threat of death, separately. We trained the model using many simulated replications on a random subset of participants, and subsequently externally tested on the remaining subset of participants.Results: Shrinkage machine learning algorithms performed best, indicating that stress and rumination were the most important variables in modeling COVID-19-related anxiety severity. Health anxiety was the most potent predictor of perceived threat of death from COVID-19.Conclusions: Results are discussed in the context of research on anxiety and fear from prior virus outbreaks, and from theory on outbreak-related emotional vulnerability. Implications regarding COVID-19-related anxiety are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the evolutionary nature of interactions between government policy, farm decision-making and ecosystem services in Shucheng County, Anhui Province, 1950–2015. Analyses of ecological, social and economic trends are complemented by interviews with local farmers. Since the Household Responsibility System started in 1980, there has been a trade-off between rising levels of provisioning services and falling levels of regulating services with evidence that critical thresholds have been passed for water quality. Using a Framework for Ecosystem Service Provision, we argue that farmers have acted only as ecosystem service providers and have not influenced the policies that have brought about the trade-offs. Over the period, ecological degradation is best described as an example of 'creeping normalcy' where cumulative conventional actions by individual farmers produce unsustainable losses in regulating services. The Chinese government should act to balance the various ecosystem services through valuation and national policy. In this respect, there is a need for agencies that can provide place-based advice to farmers that will allow them to maintain productivity levels while pursuing restorative actions. Even with new policies, the draw of urban employment, high production costs and an ageing population threaten the viability of farming in these marginal agricultural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New York-born journalist and travel writer Francis Nichols (1879-1904) is best known for his travels through early 20th-century China. However, his attempt in 1903-4 to travel through Tibet to Lhasa ahead of the Younghusband Mission, and thus to become the first westerner to reach the city, has been forgotten, partly on account of his death in the field and the loss of his diary. From new research in recently-catalogued documents and letters in the archives of the American Geographical Society (AGS), the author has compiled an account of Nichols' mission to Lhasa, including the support he received from US backers, including the AGS, his travels in China, Tibet and India, and his relations with Younghusband and the British. Although Nichols was unable to reach Lhasa, the author observes that he should be credited as the first American to travel from India into the Chumbi valley in southern Tibet and across the Tibetan plateau from Phari to the town of Gyantse, 120 miles south-west of Lhasa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the history of recreational drugs in the Tibetan cultural world such as Bhutan considering the aspects of cultural differences and indifferences. Topics discussed include the implementation of public smoking and tobacco use ban, the failure of smoking ban following the wide-spread smuggling wherein the official decided to cancel the tobacco imports ban, and the issue of cannabis problem facing by the Bhutanese country.

The article discusses the history of the 1903-1904 British invasion of Tibet under the command of Indian Political Officer Colonel Francis Younghusband. Various causes of the invasion are highlighted including the British government in India's efforts to develop trade across the Himalayas, the desire for exploration of isolationist Tibet, and the threat of Russian expansion in Asia. Important people involved in the invasion are described including the 13th Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Tubten Gyatso, British Viceroy of India Lord George Nathaniel Curzon and Younghusband's military escort Brigadeer-General James Macdonald. Events of the invasion are described, including a discussion of looting, and it is concluded that the invasion ultimately enabled China to assert control in Tibet.

Summary [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reprint of the article "The Drowning of Lama Sengchen Kyabying: A Preliminary Enquiry from British Sources," by Alex McKay, which appeared in the "Tibet Past and Present: Tibetan Studies I" and "Proceedings of the 9th International Seminar for Tibetan Studies." It explores the execution of Sengchen Lama in 1887 to reconnect the history of Tibet, China. The fate of Lama has fueled the fears of the Tibetans on the possible invasion of the British.

This study examines the nature and consequences of China's rise to the center of world economic affairs through manufacturing-led development. Our historical analysis shows that China is still well short of the point in its developmental process where its growth might be reasonably expected to slow, or the energy, resource and carbon intensity of growth to recede. The study argues that the current trajectory of industrialization will have to be altered when China becomes more actively engaged in dealing with structural issues at home and abroad against the background of the unwinding of global imbalances. One profitable strategy that China might employ would be to approximate the incredibly fruitful mass-market integration efforts of the USA that eventually elevated it to its position of global primacy. The cyclical re-emergence of excess capacity in Chinese heavy industry, serious questions about the medium term ability of other major regions to accommodate further large gains in Chinese market share, and the stark conflict between the contemporary style of industrial development and the health of the biosphere indicate strongly that now is the time to catalyze the required adjustment and reform processes that will underpin sustainable long-run prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of photographs in shaping the social selves of Filipino temporary labor migrants. Examining the production of photographic self-images by Filipino migrants in Hong Kong and their reception in the Philippines, I show how people deploy photography as a technology to bring into being their desired future selves. By making present ghosts of the future, photographs of the self shape distinctive translocal subjectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypolithic cyanobacterial communities occur in hot and cold hyperarid environments but the physical factors determining their diversity are not well understood. Here we report hypolithic diversity and colonization of a common quartz substrate at several hyperarid locations in the ancient deserts of north-western China, that experience varying mean annual temperature, rainfall and concomitant availability of liquid water in soil. Microscopy and enrichment culture resulted only in Chroococcidiopsis morphotypes which were ubiquitous, but community phylogenetic analysis revealed considerable cyanobacterial and heterotrophic bacterial diversity. Species Richness and Shannon's Diversity Index displayed a significant positive linear correlation with availability of liquid water but not temperature or rainfall alone. Several taxonomic groups occurred only in specific climatically defined locations, while for Chroococcidiopsis, Deinococcus and Phormidium location specific lineages within these genera were also evident. Multivariate analysis was used to illustrate pronounced community shifts due to liquid water availability, although these did not significantly affect the predicted functional relationships within any given assemblage in either hot or cold, wet or dry hyperarid deserts. This study clearly demonstrates that availability of liquid water, rather than temperature or rainfall per se is the key determinant of hypolithic diversity in hyperarid locations, and furthermore that functionally similar yet taxonomically distinct communities occur, characterized by the presence of taxa that are specific to defined levels of aridity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the armed mission of colonel Francis Younghusband from the British imperial government of India across the Indo-Tibetan frontier. Assertion of defeating attempts by the Tibetan military forces; Terms of the treaty; Economic and political relations of Tibet with the imperial government of India.

Provides an overview of the articles related to the Tibetan society, published in the December 2003 of "The Tibetan Journal." Arrival Younghusband mission in Tibet; Confrontation of Tibet with modernity; Emphasis on Tibet and Tibetans.

This article employs anti-essentialist Marxist analysis to shed light on the diverse economic activities that Filipina contract migrants are engaged in at home and overseas. We point to the limitations of dominant representations of these women as 'heroes' of national development or 'victims' of a global capitalist economy, which tend to foreclose a discussion of multiple class processes engendered by transnational labour migration. In drawing on a fluid theory of class, we investigate how contract domestic workers are involved in multiple class processes that allow them to produce, appropriate and distribute surplus labour in innovative ways. We also discuss the activities of the Asian Migrant Centre, a non-governmental organization working with domestic workers in Hong Kong, whose efforts to inspire the entrepreneurial aspirations of these women reflect the importance of recognizing migrant workers' multiple economic identities. This analysis has implications for how we imagine the agency of contract workers, as well as the performativity of research and advocacy work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considers the historical relationship between football and India and the way in which football arrived in Tibet, China. Sport in Tibet before the British introduction of football; Aims of the British promotion of the game in the country; Indigenous responses to the British promotion; Outcome of the failure of the Tibetans to become a sporting nation.

In August and September of 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women was hosted in Beijing, China by the United Nations (UN). The gathering was the largest UN conference ever held, bringing together over 40,000 participants, including governmental representatives who attended the formal governmental conference and participants in the overlapping nongovernmental organizations (NGO) Forum in Huairou, China. The purpose of the official conference was to come to consensus concerning the final wording of the official policy document, the Platform for Action (PFA). One hundred and eighty-one member-nations signed the PFA, which committed them to the policies set forth there for improving the global status of women. In addition to focusing on women, the PFA gave much attention to peace. In this article, we present the peace agenda of the PFA, analyze the document's strengths, and limitations, and discuss the importance of incorporating its goals within the spheres of social action teaching, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Behavioral Immune System (BIS) contributes to pandemics anxiety. • A community sample in China (N = 908) was surveyed during the COVID-19 health crisis. • Disgust propensity and sensitivity was a moderator in fear of contracting COVID-19. The COVID-19 public health crisis has led to extensive recommendations by officials to contain its spread. Anxiety regarding contracting the virus is prominent in the public. Specific routes to anxiety over disease contraction are under studied. It is expected that a contributory feature of fear of contracting COVID-19 involve disgust propensity and sensitivity, emotional reactions that are part of a broader behavioral immune system (BIS). A total of N = 908 Chinese adults (mean age = 40.37 years, SD = 9.27; n = 752 female) participated in a survey distributed between February 24 and March 15, 2020. Participants completed measures of anxiety sensitivity, disgust propensity and sensitivity, and fear of contracting COVID-19. Results support a moderating relationship between both disgust propensity and sensitivity in the relationship between physical concerns associated with anxiety sensitivity and fear of contracting COVID-19. These results lend support for individual variation in the activation of the BIS. Recommendations for public education to target individuals who may experience mental health consequences from pandemics are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The beginning of 2020 has seen the emergence of COVID-19 outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). There is an imminent need to better understand this new virus and to develop ways to control its spread. In this study, we sought to gain insights for vaccine design against SARS-CoV-2 by considering the high genetic similarity between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV, which caused the outbreak in 2003, and leveraging existing immunological studies of SARS-CoV. By screening the experimentally-determined SARS-CoV-derived B cell and T cell epitopes in the immunogenic structural proteins of SARS-CoV, we identified a set of B cell and T cell epitopes derived from the spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins that map identically to SARS-CoV-2 proteins. As no mutation has been observed in these identified epitopes among the 120 available SARS-CoV-2 sequences (as of 21 February 2020), immune targeting of these epitopes may potentially offer protection against this novel virus. For the T cell epitopes, we performed a population coverage analysis of the associated MHC alleles and proposed a set of epitopes that is estimated to provide broad coverage globally, as well as in China. Our findings provide a screened set of epitopes that can help guide experimental efforts towards the development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 is fast-spreading and potentially fatal, introducing home quarantine, social distancing, and increased internet usage globally. We investigated COVID-19 anxiety, general anxiety and depression symptoms, and their impact on problematic smartphone use (PSU) severity METHODS: Participants were 908 residents of a large Eastern Chinese city, surveyed from late-February to mid-March, 2020. We administered online measures including the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, and items querying COVID-19-related news exposure and threat of death. Additionally, participants rated anxiety using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 with reference to COVID-19.Results: COVID-19 anxiety correlated with severity of PSU, depression and anxiety. Using established cut-off scores, 12% of participants were identified with at least moderate depression, and 24% with moderate anxiety. Using structural equation modeling, COVID-19 anxiety related to PSU severity, mediating relations between general anxiety and PSU severity. However, controlling PSU for general anxiety and depression severity, COVID-19 anxiety no longer predicted PSU severity.Limitations: Limitations include the cross-sectional research design and reliance on data from only one country.Conclusions: Results are discussed in context of the I-PACE model of excessive internet use. While COVID-19 anxiety is likely a global anxiety-provoking event, other everyday worries and anxiety are additionally clinically important in driving excessive internet use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]