Search

Despite the recognized importance of addressing belief bias in critical thinking, little is known about the neural activity underlying belief-bias reasoning and its connection to critical thinking. The study utilized event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the neural responses during belief-bias reasoning and explored the extent to which these ERPs explained individual differences in critical thinking. A sample of university students (N = 72) participated in a belief-bias syllogistic reasoning task while their electroencephalographic data were recorded. The task manipulated conflicts between belief and logic within each syllogism. Additionally, participants completed established tests to assess their critical thinking. Our findings revealed that participants with high levels of critical thinking exhibited larger amplitudes of the P600 and late positive component (LPC), indicating enhanced syntactic analysis and relation integration. Moreover, those with high levels of critical thinking displayed smaller N400 amplitudes, suggesting reduced reliance on automatic semantic processing. Notably, participants, especially those with high levels of critical thinking, demonstrated larger late negative component (LNC) amplitudes in response to incongruent syllogisms than to congruent syllogisms, highlighting their heightened capacity to address conflicts between belief and logic. Furthermore, regression analyses indicated that critical thinking relied on both addressing conflicts between belief and logic, as indexed by the LNC, and generating conclusions, as indexed by the P3 components (including both P600 and LPC). These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of critical thinking by shedding light on the neural processes associated with unbiased reasoning and metacognition, as well as offer implications for assessing critical thinking.

For students, studying abroad has its advantages but might also have unwanted adverse effects, such as social isolation and loneliness. We comparatively analyse the role of emotional support in understanding loneliness among Chinese international students and local students in Germany from a gender perspective. Based on a unique sample, our findings suggest that Chinese international students experience higher levels of loneliness than local students. Female Chinese international students are less lonely compared to male ones, whereas the opposite is true for local students. Surprisingly, having a higher number of emotionally supportive ties is associated with higher levels of loneliness for all students. Our subgroup analysis further revealed that the relationship between emotional support and loneliness varies by gender and student status. Female local students benefit from having more emotionally supportive ties, while the opposite is true for female Chinese international students. We recommend conducting a longitudinal study for examining the causality of the relationship between networks and loneliness in the future. Our findings have implications for universities and higher education research in addressing loneliness among students.

This paper narrates the concept of Sustainable Peace Leadership and examines how three prominent Peace Activists from South and Southeast Asia measure up to the concept. The article will consider the works and ideas of Mohandas K. Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), Lhamo Thondup (The 14th Dalai Lama), and Nguyen Xuan Bao (Thich Nhat Hanh). Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in achieving Indian independence from the British Empire. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and has managed a difficult relationship with the Chinese government following the occupation of Tibet. Thich Nhat Hanh was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist and is known as the 'father of mindfulness'. The paper identified several characteristics of Peace Leaders. These include being a charismatic leader who motivates their followers to achieve their goals in a non-violent and inclusive manner. Peace leaders meditate and spend time developing inner peace which then leads to outer peace. The paper also asserts that peace leaders are capable of recognizing the humanity in their opponents and seek a mutually beneficial solution. The three chosen individuals are all recognised as being charismatic leaders who were prominent peace leaders. All were deeply spiritual and practiced meditation and other inner work on a regular basis. They stressed the humanity in their opponents, based on their religious beliefs and the concepts of non-duality and interdependence.

Murat Adam is head of policy and curriculum for the European ministry of education. Political pressure is rising. Media channels across the European federation are labeling the continent as the most recent member of the education periphery. In Mr Adam's world, curricular authority transpires from the big 3, the North American Union (NAU), China, and Russia. Credibility and endorsement are educational currencies--institutional capital as Bourdieu once defined it, reigns. Mr Adam's battle is already lost, member states of the European federation have lost their educational means of production, but he cannot afford to admit that. European teachers' credentials increasingly force graduates into care taking jobs at digital day cares. These are a response to US teachers' and practitioners' revolts of the late 20s, linked to perceived multisensory impoverishment of digitally schooled children. Just like in South Asia, Africa, and South America, digital day cares merely provide the digital and social framework and setup K-12 students to listen to internationally accredited professionals teach from China, Russia, and the NAU. Day and night shifts are common. He knows that the European federation lost the contest, by the time it decided not to invest into its own internet infrastructure. The educational first world's curricular authority would not have been possible without the three nations' proprietary server architecture, which commodified bandwidth and connectivity. The internet of the past is nothing more than a front for the three de-facto mutually exclusive digital ecosystems, provided by China, the NAU, and Russia.

Existing literature on international health partnerships is largely normative, with an evaluative interest in their impacts in terms of learning and knowledge transfer. Rarely has research attended to how learning and knowledge transfer transpire in practice. This paper addresses this gap with a case study of a partnership between two hospitals in Canada and China. Conceptually, drawing on Actor Network Theory, it posits learning and knowledge transfer as a process of translation. Empirically, it traces the assembling of the programme, and identifies the pedagogical features at nodes of associations. It reveals that health professionals in both countries have expanded their clinical and medical knowledge and practices, and professional senses and sensitivities, which were subsequently amplified, deferred or diminished within their respective practices. It argues that the capacity of individuals to translate learning into practice is contingent on institutional and cultural differences that constitute the ecology of work for health professionals.

E-storybooks are the most important auxiliary learning materials for English-as-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners. Few studies reported positive results on pronunciation and speech development from using audio accompanied e-storybooks, although audios are expected to play the role of recasts in providing pronunciation feedback for learners. Presumably, it is learners' insufficient perceptual ability that prevents them from replicating and simulating native-like speaking. Thus, based on the perception-precedes-production hypothesis, this study investigates the possibility of enhancing learners' oral repetition of the reading attached to an e-storybook by precedingly providing learners with reading-while-listening-based perceptual intervention. The experimental results show that the intervention had a significant effect on the long-sentence repeating rate, and minor effects on phoneme recognition and memorisation. Moreover, the eye-gaze patterns of the participants in the experimental group reveal that the synchronisation of the visual- and auditory attention in reading-while-listening-based perceptual training is vital for the intervention efficacy.

Background: With a rapidly aging population in mainland China, dysphagia has become one of the common geriatric disorders which creates a huge demand on speech and language therapists (SLTs). The major challenge is the shortage of SLTs in China. In addition, frontline practitioners in mainland China may not be well equipped with the knowledge and practical skills in dysphagia management due to lack of systematic training and the work nature. Aims: This study evaluates the self-perceived effectiveness and feasibility of an online training program that aims to enhance the self-assessed knowledge and skills of SLTs providing dysphagia care in residential aged care homes. Methods and Procedures: Sixteen SLTs working in a residential aged care homes in mainland China attended a three-hour pilot online training program which consists of didactic lecture and practical skills activity components. A total of 10 participants completed an online questionnaire one month after the training to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of this online training program. Outcomes and Results: The preliminary results demonstrated participants' self-perception of high training effectiveness in theoretical knowledge and practical skills. A majority of the participants perceived that the training enhanced their theoretical knowledge and all of them perceived that they acquired practical skills. All respondents were satisfied with the online training approach. They also highlighted the advantage and challenges of the online training approach. Conclusions and Implications: Online training is an effective and feasible approach for theoretical knowledge and practical skills transfer in SLT training and could ultimately benefit the delivery of services for individuals with dysphagia in mainland China.

This paper presents new evidence that explores the strengths, weaknesses and overall quality of school inspection practice in China. In one city region of Shandong Province, the research examines stakeholder perceptions of inspection purposes, processes and outcomes, as well as the potential to improve inspection practice and compulsory education quality in China. A mixed-methods empirical design was employed to conduct the research involving ten purposively selected junior high schools. Data collection methods included a survey of 364 teachers and headteachers and 13 stakeholder interviews with headteachers, teachers, as well as city and national inspectors, and an educational officer. The survey data were analysed through descriptive analysis and a repeat-measures one-way ANOVA, and the interview data were analysed thematically. The findings supply new empirical evidence regarding the context specificity of school inspection in China and identify pertinent issues regarding school inspection quality. This study overall argues that school inspection criteria and methods in Shandong province and more broadly in China could be improved by taking better account of stakeholder views and school contexts and by putting more stress on providing school-based professional improvement guidance integrated within or alongside inspection processes, instead of just intense bureaucratic monitoring of inspection outcomes.

Online peer feedback has been regarded as an effective way to promote collaborative learning in the teaching of translation technology. But there is limited research about decreasing the negative influence of social factors such as peer pressure, favouritism, and face-saving in the process. Therefore, the present study examined the effects of anonymous online peer feedback (AOPF) on students' translation performance, feedback quality, self-efficacy and perceptions in translation technology teaching. A total of 60 Chinese postgraduate students from a translation technology training course participated in this study, and they were then randomly assigned into either the anonymous or identified group. Results indicated that AOPF was a practical approach to improving translation performance. The content analysis showed that the anonymous group provided more cognitive and metacognitive feedback messages in terms of feedback quality. In addition, students in the anonymous group felt more comfortable giving in-depth suggestions for peer work. However, there was no significant difference in affective feedback messages between the two groups. Furthermore, results from the questionnaires revealed that anonymity in online peer feedback could improve the students' self-efficacy and learning satisfaction. These findings can give insights for trainers to facilitate practical peer assessment activities in translation technology training.

In line with assumptions made by the control-value theory of academic emotions, it was hypothesized that the association between the classroom social environment, in terms of students' perceptions of their teachers' interpersonal behaviour, and students' academic emotions was partially mediated by students' achievement goals. The present study applied multilevel structural equation modelling on questionnaire data from a sample of 2000 Chinese secondary school students. As assumed, achievement goals partially mediated the association between the classroom social environment and student emotions. Further, results indicated that the classroom social environment was more closely associated with student emotions than student goals were. The findings of this study add to the understanding of the antecedents of students' emotions in class.

This manuscript reports on two studies on the implementation of a technology-rich innovation in public schools. This technology-rich innovation was an online quasi-video game environment that used 'through-the-window' virtual reality and a robust back story to situate learning activities in the virtual world for children. The first study examined the reasons why teachers chose to implement the innovation as well as the core challenges and supports necessary for the successful implementation of the innovation. This study used case study methodology and found that the innovation required a great degree of alignment between project goals and existing teacher needs and concerns. The second study re-examined data from the first study to explore how the innovation was actually implemented. The second study employed classic grounded theory methods for analysis and theory building. Nuancing theory emerged as the core category that arose as a result of the inductive grounded theory analysis procedures. This paper elaborates nuancing theory and addresses its possible applications to the problem of designing, developing, and implementing technology-rich innovations for situating learning activity in schools.

China's cotton textile industry is undergoing a critical period of digital transformation and upgrading to cope with pressure and challenges such as rising labour costs and large fluctuations in raw material prices. Developing a cost-based competitive advantage while ensuring a high-quality product is a critical problem in intelligent manufacturing. From the perspective of big data and reinforcement learning, the authors designed a reward value combining transaction, interaction, and measurement data by combining the reward mechanism and Markov decision for a combination of different raw materials in the intelligent textile factory. The authors propose a big data-driven application to the depth of the reinforcement learning to solve problems and build a big-data-driven matching model based on deep reinforcement learning to cotton matching. The offline strategy is designed to construct a memory bank and neural network, and the incentive mechanism of reinforcement learning is used to iterate the optimal yarn matching scheme to achieve the goal of intelligent cotton matching. The results show that deep reinforcement learning can be optimised using big data on the premise of quality assurance. Manufacturing costs can be optimised using a matching model of big data based on a deep reinforcement learning model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Chinese characters, we investigated how stroke count and frequency of use influence attention and short-term memory (STM) encoding in Mainland Chinese speakers. To isolate specific components of attention we employed the Theory of Visual Attention (TVA), which allowed estimates of STM capacity, processing speed, and the threshold of visual perception. An analysis of TVA parameters revealed that familiarity affects both the memory capacity and processing speed of objects, whereas the threshold for visual perception remained unaffected. Interestingly, our results also indicate that modulation of attention is driven solely by familiarity with the characters, independent of the actual physical aspect of Chinese characters. We propose that mental categories and prior knowledge play a vital role in the processing of information in attention, as well as in how this information is stored and represented in visual STM.

All human being's ways of living, working and studying were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 in 2020. In China, the Ministry of Education reacted fast in ensuring that primary school students could learn online at home by promoting the Sky Class program from February 2020. Educators, parents, and students all faced the challenges of adapting to new online teaching and learning environments. In this small-scale case study, Sky Class's content and the participants' experiences, will be presented. Four primary school teachers and five primary school students and their parents participated in three-rounds of interviews sharing their perspectives and experiences of online learning. The study showed that the students gained more parental support and that they benefited from using multimedia functions, like replay, in their Sky Classes. However, the majority of participants reported that the students learnt less. By mapping the learning activities and themes from Sky Class against Cope and Kalantzis' e-learning ecologies, our study found that only ubiquitous learning and multimodal meaning were achieved. We suggest the reason may be that high cognitive learning was not achieved due to less teachers' supervision, lack of interaction, delayed feedback, shorter learning times and communication. In conclusion, innovative pedagogies, which can foster different types of learning from the e-learning ecologies may overcome the negative aspects reported about Sky Class. Further research is required for implementing online technology as a catalyst for educational change.

Boys’ Love (BL), known as Danmei (耽美) in China, is a popular female-oriented male-male intimacy genre celebrated by today’s Chinese younger generation. From 2000 to 2020, BL fiction rapidly developed, becoming a major expression of male homosexuality and homoeroticism in China. This research detects the dynamics between BL fiction’s utopianized space and gay readers—a community simultaneously being the major subject of BL representation and the minority of BL fans. Conducting semi-structured interviews with three Chinese BL gay readers from high school, college, and workplace, this research delineates a representative picture of Chinese gay readers’ intentions, experiences, and opinions of involving a utopianized BL world. Using Ruth Levitas’ utopian thinking framework, this research investigates how the utopianized representations of idealized homosexual romance, arousing homoerotic behaviors, and the normalized gay everydayness in Chinese BL fiction from 2000 to 2020 can impact gay readers’ engagement with practical lives. The study argues that Chinese BL gay readers’ active involvement and strategic interactions enable them to contingently engage with their lived reality, demonstrating their subjective role as active audiences with agency. This result adds to contemporary BL studies and provides an enriched utopian thinking framework, calling for subsequent minority research to value individuals and individuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and India are both late comers to industrialization. Both adopted similar economic development strategies after World War II, but the per capita GDP diverged significantly in the last 40 years. While economic growth and development have many components, we explain the difference in economic performance by emphasizing the difference in state capacity in the two economies. A country's state capacity is affected by culture and history. China established a unified language and culture two thousand years ago that enabled it to develop strong state capacity. With a strong state capacity, China made crucial investments in infrastructure and in key heavy industries and developed technological capabilities to help start and sustain growth. India, on the other hand, is a country segmented by religion, caste, and language which has hindered the development of effective state capacity, and thus complementary state investments to spur economic growth. Moreover, India has up to now relied more heavily on expansion of its service sector compared to China, which has hindered its exports, a crucial element that helped China's economy. India's future industrialization crucially depends on national integration and concomitant strengthening of state capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explored Chinese moral education standards for grades one and two by using the heuristic of moral autonomy and by employing a typology of moral autonomy, one based on Kantian and Deweyan ideas about moral autonomy and agency. Given the larger charge for all of schooling to develop independence, problem-solving, and creativity in China, we sought to determine whether this change is actually the case within the 2011 Chinese moral education standards for grades one and two, for the period of 2011-2020. Although some elements of moral autonomy are stated and suggested in the standard learning objectives, there are significant discrepancies between the ultimate goals of education for children's development of autonomy and their practices and implementation within these Chinese moral education curriculum standards.

The condition of poverty is pervasive worldwide and is multifaceted in its ability to have a deleterious generational impact. Although China has greatly reduced the proportion of people living in abject poverty over the past three decades, there are still millions of families living in extreme poverty. This study investigated the influences of families' socioeconomic status on students' educational achievement in China with regard to the National College Entrance Exam (NCEE) scores and subsequent college enrolment. We interviewed 132 recent high school graduates from schools in six urban cities from low-socio-economic status (SES) homes. The findings revealed that school climate (general school quality, student-teacher interactions, and peer pressure) and home environment (parental support, student-parent relationship, and family size) negatively impacted their educational achievement. Students were cognisant that the schools they attended did not have the same high reputation as schools attended by their more affluent peers and felt that their teachers openly discriminated against them. Additionally, their parents did not have the time or financial resources to help them advance educationally. We propose the low-SES Educational Achievement Framework to illustrate the phenomenon of environmental conditions that may influence the low-SES students' NCEE scores and ultimately result in low college enrollment rates in China.

From a psycholinguistic perspective of view, there are many cognitive differences that matter to individuals' second-language acquisition (SLA). Although many computer-assisted tools have been developed to capture and narrow the differences among learners, the use of these strategies may be highly risky because changing the environments or the participants may lead to failure. In this paper, we propose an artificial neural network (ANN)-based computational model to simulate the environment to which students are exposed. The ANN computational model equips English teachers with the ability to quickly find the predicting factors to learners' overall English competences and also provides teachers with the ability to find abnormal students, based on reviewing their individualized ANN trajectories. Finally, by observing the compound effects of cognitive factors using the same evaluation scale, new hypotheses about the mutual relationships among the phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, and long-term memory abilities of their students can be generated. Our experimental ANNs suggested three detailed corresponding conclusions for the participants' English teachers. These results provide teachers with guidance in designing and applying cognitive ability-related intervention strategies in their L2 pedagogical activities.

Cross-region innovation is widely recognized as an important source of the long-term regional innovation capacity. In the recent past, a growing number of studies has investigated the network structure and mechanisms of cross-region innovation collaboration in various contexts. However, existing research mainly focuses on physical effects, such as geographical distance and high-speed railway connections. These studies ignore the intangible drivers in a changing environment, the more digitalized economy and the increasingly solidified innovation network structure. Thus, the focus of this study is on estimating determinants of innovation networks, especially on intangible drivers, which have been largely neglected so far. Using city-level data of Chinese patents (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Province of China), we trace innovation networks across Chinese cities over a long period of time. By integrating a measure on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development gap and network structural effects into the general proximity framework, this paper explores the changing mechanisms of Chinese innovation networks from a new perspective. The results show that the structure of cross-region innovation networks has changed in China. As mechanisms behind this development, the results confirm the increasingly important role of intangible drivers in Chinese inter-city innovation collaboration when controlling for effects of physical proximity, such as geographical distance. Since digitalization and coordinated development are the mainstream trends in China and other developing countries, these countries' inter-city innovation collaboration patterns will witness dramatic changes under the influence of intangible drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2019, it spread from China to the rest of the world. An initial concern was the potential for vaccine- or antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of disease as had been reported with other coronaviruses. To evaluate this, we first developed a ferret model by exposing ferrets to SARS-CoV-2 by either mucosal inoculation (intranasal/oral/ocular) or inhalation using a small particle aerosol. Mucosal inoculation caused a mild fever and weight loss that resolved quickly; inoculation via either route resulted in virus shedding detected in the nares, throat, and rectum for 7–10 days post-infection. To evaluate the potential for ADE, we then inoculated groups of ferrets intravenously with 0.1, 0.5, or 1 mg/kg doses of a human polyclonal anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG from hyper-immunized transchromosomic bovines (SAB-185). Twelve hours later, ferrets were challenged by mucosal inoculation with SARS-CoV-2. We found no significant differences in fever, weight loss, or viral shedding after infection between the three antibody groups or the controls. Signs of pathology in the lungs were noted in infected ferrets but no differences were found between control and antibody groups. The results of this study indicate that healthy, young adult ferrets of both sexes are a suitable model of mild COVID-19 and that low doses of specific IgG in SAB-185 are unlikely to enhance the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound global impact, although the majority of recently infected cases have presented with mild to moderate symptoms. Previous clinical studies have demonstrated that Shufeng Jiedu (SFJD) capsule, a Chinese herbal patent medicine, effectively alleviates symptoms associated with the common cold, H1N1 influenza, and COVID-19. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of SFJD capsules in managing symptoms of mild to moderate COVID-19 infection. Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted from May to December 2022 at two hospitals in China. Mild and moderate COVID-19-infected patients presenting respiratory symptoms within 3 days from onset were randomly assigned to either the SFJD or placebo groups in a 1:1 ratio. Individuals received SFJD capsules or a placebo three times daily for five consecutive days. Participants were followed up for more than 14 days after their RT-PCR nucleoid acid test for SARS-CoV-2 turned negative. The primary outcome measure was time to alleviate COVID-19 symptoms from baseline until the end of follow-up. Results: A total of 478 participants were screened; ultimately, 407 completed the trial after randomization (SFJD, n = 203; placebo, n = 204). No statistically significant difference in baseline parameters was observed between the two groups. The median time to alleviate all symptoms was 7 days in the SFJD group compared to 8 days in the placebo group (p = 0.037). Notably, the SFJD group significantly attenuated fever/chills (p = 0.04) and headache (p = 0.016) compared to the placebo group. Furthermore, the median time taken to reach normal body temperature within 24 h was reduced by 7 hours in the SFJD group compared to the placebo group (p = 0.033). No deaths or instances of serious or critical conditions occurred during this trial period; moreover, no serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion: The trial was conducted in a unique controlled hospital setting, and the 5-day treatment with SFJD capsules resulted in a 1-day reduction in overall symptoms, particularly headache and fever/chills, among COVID-19-infected participants with mild or moderate symptoms. Compared to placebo, SFJD capsules were found to be safe with fewer side effects. SFJD capsules could potentially serve as an effective treatment for alleviating mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work explores China's African public relations and image‐building effort, focusing on Nigeria. Thus, the paper's purpose is twofold: first, to investigate whether China's conduct of public diplomacy through its soft power resource—development assistance—has effectively shaped positive Nigerian public perception of China, and second, to determine the media's role in advancing China's public diplomacy in Nigeria. Specifically, it explores the interaction of economic development assistance, media, and public relations. I do this by comparing China's foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria (2010–2019) with the public's perception of the FDI's influence on the Nigerian economy (2016 and 2020) and the media's role in shaping public support toward the investments. Utilizing a range of datasets, I find that Chinese economic investment alone is insufficient to substantially shape positive Nigerian public perception of China. Within a framework of mediated public diplomacy, I demonstrate that the Chinese image‐building effort in Nigeria would likely enhance when the country links economic investments with public relations to make the investments more visible through effective media representation. Related Articles: Ayhan, Kadir Jun, and Nancy Snow. 2021. "Introduction to the Special Issue—Global Korea Scholarship: Empirical Evaluation of a Non‐Western Scholarship Program from a Public Diplomacy Perspective." Politics & Policy 49(6): 1282–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12440. Hodzi, Obert, and John H. S. Åberg. 2020. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Strategic Deployment of the China Model in Africa." Politics & Policy 48(5): 804–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12378. Huijgh, Ellen. 2017. "Indonesia's 'Intermestic' Public Diplomacy: Features and Future." Politics & Policy 45(5): 762–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12221. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent transformations in the media and communications environment have prompted states to invest heavily in external communications to pursue inter-state competition. Among authoritarian countries, Russia and China have invested particularly heavily in international news, through outlets like RT and CGTN. However, few comparative studies have examined the differences between authoritarian states' use of international news for geopolitical purposes. This article conducts a comparative, mixed-method, multi-platform content analysis of RT and CGTN's 2020 US election coverage. Based on multiple differences between the outlets' content, it argues that they adopt two distinct international propaganda models. RT operates a "partisan parasite" model, imitating a partisan outlet in the US' media ecology, while CGTN employs a "surface neutrality" model, which cloaks pro-China propaganda with a superficial impression of impartiality. Explicating these models using original empirical evidence, the paper advances theory on the evolving use of international news media as a geopolitical tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trialing an experience good allows consumers to learn their value for the sampled good and also informs beliefs about their value for similar products. These demand-side information spillovers across products create a relatively well-informed group of potential future consumers for rival firms. When both switching consumers and repeat buyers are profitable, firms face reduced incentives to set a low initial price to attract inexperienced consumers. Switchers and repeat buyers are more likely to be profitable in new product categories that build on major innovations and when firms can price discriminate based on purchasing history. We suggest that competing products and services arising from new innovations often have demand-side information spillovers from any product trial and are, hence, settings where competing firms can make overall profits even when selling products that consumers perceive to be indistinguishable prior to initial trial. This paper was accepted by Joshua Gans, business strategy. Funding: This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71903046) and the "Shenzhen Peacock Program" (No. GA11409002). Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.02754. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflict adaptation is key in how children self-regulate and assert cognitive control in a given situation compared with a previous experience. In the current study, we analyzed event-related potentials (ERPs) to identify age-related differences in conflict adaptation. Participants of different ages (5-year-old children, 10-year-old children, and adults) were subjected to a stimulus-stimulus (S-S) conflict control task (the flanker task) and a stimulus-response (S-R) conflict control task (the Simon task). The behavioral results revealed that all age groups had reliable conflict adaptation effects (CAEs), with faster response times on current incongruent trials preceded by incongruent trials (iI trials) compared with current incongruent trials preceded by congruent trials (cI trials). There were also faster response times on current congruent trials preceded by congruent trials (cC trials) compared with current congruent trials preceded by incongruent trials (iC trials). Moreover, children demonstrated higher CAE related RTs compared with adults. Electrophysiological results showed that both 10-year-old children and adults had reliable CAEs in the flanker task during conflict detection, with a less N2 amplitude on cI trials compared with iI trials. We also found smaller ERP related CAE values in adults compared with children in the Simon task. Our findings suggest a developmental improvement of conflict adaptation that could lead to a state of relative equilibrium, allowing individuals to better assimilate and accommodate potential environmental conflicts. The results may also indicate that the development of conflict adaption is affected by the specific characteristic of the different types of conflict.

The study aims to investigate the association of learning participation with the quality of life (QoL) in older Chinese adults, verifying how the differing types of learning activity participation may influence their QoL. We conducted two studies to gain a better understanding of learning participation and QoL among adults over 55 years of age. In the first study, we conducted five focus groups among 43 older adults about their understanding of learning benefits and their general well-being. In a second study, we assessed the QoL using the EUROHIS-QOL 8-item index, while learning participation was measured through a questionnaire addressing the frequency of involvement in educational activities among 579 Chinese older adults. The results indicate that being engaged in learning activities in old age has the potential to increase the QoL of older adults. Moreover, in contrast to nonformal learning, the results of the hierarchical linear regression model demonstrate that both informal and formal learning have a significant positive influence on QoL. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for research and practice pertaining to the encouragement of learning participation in later life.

Democratic professional development is of the teachers, by the teachers, for the teachers. It differs from managerial models, which often have preset agendas and provide what "experts" think teachers need. Managerial models tend to be leader-centered, making some teachers feel treated like "tall children" rather than professionals. Democratic models are participant-centered, fostering collegiality and collaboration. Teachers determine their own needs and construct agendas based on issues of current relevance to them. One simple yet powerful democratic model of professional development comes from the Great Teachers Movement (GTM). This model has been characterized as "well facilitated shoptalk," promoting productive discussions and tapping into the collective knowledge, wisdom, creativity, expertise, and genius of participating teachers. This article explains the model so that it can be applied for teachers of English language learners (ELLs). Both authors are active in the GTM, facilitating seminars, retreats, and workshops for teachers of all disciplines and all levels of education. The first author has utilized the model specifically for in-service and pre-service teachers of ELLs. He directed two seminars for in-service public school teachers of English as a foreign language in Nanjing, China. He also uses the model in his pre-service teacher education courses to guide productive discussions about the teaching of English as a second language.

Energy poverty, especially in rural areas, has become a central focus of scholarly and policy discussions. However, there is a significant gap in understanding the impact of religious beliefs on this phenomenon. This paper aims to fill this gap by utilizing household survey data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) spanning three waves (2012, 2014, and 2016) to examine the causal link between religious beliefs and energy poverty, covering clean energy accessibility and affordability among rural residents. Our analysis unveils a substantial positive influence of religious beliefs on the likelihood of experiencing energy poverty, especially concerning accessibility and affordability. This effect is notably pronounced among males, ethnic minorities, and low-income groups. Low income and education are recognized as pivotal mediating factors through which religious beliefs contribute to energy poverty. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for formulating strategies to mitigate energy poverty in rural China, with a particular emphasis on the role of religious beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslides are a severe geohazard around the world. When moving soil masses discharge into a large water body, a tsunami can be generated and exacerbate the devastating effects of the landslide as well as extend the affected area. In this study, based on on-site geological investigation and monitoring, a numerical depth-averaged, two-phase model is established for a hypothetical tsunami in the Suofengying reservoir induced by the potential Bianjiazhai landslide in China which has been previously identified as critical. The analysis of the simulation results shows that the maximum wave amplitude measured at gauge point closest to the landslide is 31 m, and the tsunami reaches the reservoir's dam about 66 s after the landslide initiation. The inundation map provides potential risk areas that could be affected if a landslide occurs with the anticipated characteristics. Under similar conditions, the research results will help guide reservoir operation and landslide-tsunami disaster prevention. Simultaneously, examining the sequence of events in the tsunami disaster chain facilitates the analysis of the fundamental physics governing the propagation of tsunamis within reservoirs. This analysis contributes to the prediction and prevention of landslide-induced tsunami disasters occurring along reservoir banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of an industrial policy in China named the VAT export tax on product upgrading. In particular, we use Chinese transaction data during 2003–2010 to isolate the causal impact of the exogenous variation of VAT refund and within the city‐product quality change in HS6 exported products. Our identification strategy entails the utilization of duality of the Chinese trade system to isolate the impact of the rebate by comparing a group of trade flows exempt from the refund and another that remains eligible. Our results suggest an increase in product upgrading in response to an increase in VAT refund. In this study, we also introduce the credit constraint to understand the change in quality. The industries that are confronted with tighter credit constraints impel firms to settle for low‐quality products. The model demonstrates that VAT refund provided a counterbalance force to credit constraints, thereby prompting firms to adjust quality. By increasing the refund granted to ordinary traders, firms leverage this excess cash flow to invest (in a fixed asset or innovative project) and improve the quality of products. This effect is reinforced for products exported to developed countries, heterogeneous products, or from larger industries. The Chinese policymakers formally introduced environmental objectives under the 10th and 11th FYP, respectively. The Party leaders put substantial weight on promoting products embedded with high‐added value or technological content. At the same time, they underscored the willingness to downscale the export share of energy‐intensive or polluting industries. We evaluate whether environmental and economic concern impacts product upgrading. According to the results of this study, the VAT refund is effective only for products produced in "cleaner" industries, for products necessitating technical skills, a range of know‐how in manufacturing, and high‐level technology or engaging in research and development activities. Our paper introduces a new and unexplored variable in the trade literature. We use the stock of non‐trade barriers to explicate the change in product quality. In the import market, Chinese exporters comply with the change in regulation by making upward adjustments in the quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussion of museum text translation in the Chinese context started in 1991, and much attention is still being paid to language errors and ways of producing better translations, revealing the persistence of similar translation problems. This paper addresses the issue in a different way through engaging with museum studies. The museum was introduced into China a century ago by Western missionaries and gradually developed Chinese characteristics, especially in the museum role and museum text style, demonstrating the nature of Chinese museums as translation. Here we compare the museum role and museum text style in China and the West that greatly influence translation but are rarely noticed or touched upon in translation studies, perhaps because it needs to involve museum studies, which is outside the vision of many researchers. Based on the comparison, we propose some guidelines for translators, hoping to make a substantial contribution to the improvement of translation quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that income disparity is expanding and diet‐related environmental footprints are increasing in urban China, this study aims to investigate the heterogeneity in these footprints across various income classes and examine the effect of income distribution on the total environmental footprints. Based on the quadratic almost ideal demand system model and taking into consideration the problems of endogeneity of food expenditure and zero expenditure, we estimate the income elasticities for 10 food categories across seven income classes and project the diet‐related environmental footprints under seven scenarios for various strategies of the income distribution. The results show that per capita diet‐related environmental footprints are greater for higher income classes than for lower income classes, as the former consume more animal‐based food. Compared with high‐income classes, income growth favouring low‐income classes results in a rather significant increase in diet‐related environmental footprints. With further economic growth, the lowest income group makes the greatest contribution to the increase in diet‐related environmental footprints. Thus, policymakers should promote a more sustainable diet on the road to alleviating income inequality to ensure sustainable environmental development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]