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Problem definition: A significant percentage of online consumers place consecutive orders within a short duration. To reduce the total order arrangement cost, an online retailer may consolidate consecutive orders from the same consumer. We investigate how long the retailer should hold the consumer's orders before sending them to a third-party logistics provider (3PL) for processing. In this order-holding problem, we optimize the holding time to balance the total order arrangement cost and the potential delay in delivery. Methodology/results: We model the order-holding problem as a Markov decision process. We show that the optimal order-holding decisions follow a threshold-type policy that is straightforward to implement: Hold any pending orders if the holding time is within a threshold or send them to the 3PL otherwise. Whenever the consumer places a new order, the holding time is reset, and the threshold is updated based on a cumulative set of the past consecutive orders in the consumer's shopping journey. Using a consumer's sequential decision model, we personalize the threshold by finding its closed-form expression in the consumer's order features. We determine the model's coefficients and evaluate the threshold-type policy using the data of the 2020 MSOM Data Driven Research Challenge. Extensive numerical experiments suggest that the personalized threshold-type policy outperforms two commonly used benchmarks by having fewer order arrangements or shorter holding times. Furthermore, personalizing the order-holding decisions is significantly more valuable for "enterprise" customers. Managerial implications: Our research suggests a higher threshold for consumers who are more likely to place consecutive orders within a short duration. The consumers' demographic information has a significant effect on the threshold. Specifically, the threshold is higher for "plus" consumers, female consumers, and consumers in the age group of 16–25 years. The threshold for tier 1 cities is lower than that for tier 2 to tier 4 cities but higher than that for tier 5 cities. History: This paper has been accepted as part of the 2020 MSOM Data Driven Challenge. Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71931009, 72201237, and 72231009], the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong [Grants 15501920 and 15501221], the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund [Tier 1, Grant RG17/21; Tier 2, Grant MOE2019-T2-1-045], the Association of South-East Asian Nations Business Research Initiative Grant [Grant G17C20421], and the Neptune Orient Lines [Fellowship NOL21RP04]. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2023.1201. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2019 assessment results show a drop in mathematics achievement among Hong Kongese students. While several predictors associated with Hong Kongese students' declining mathematics outcomes in recent years have been explored, only a few of them have interrogated the relationship of teacher-background factors on students' mathematics scores. This paper analyzed the association between teacher characteristics and eighth-grade Hong Kongese students' mathematics scores using the ordinary least squares regression. Findings revealed a statistically significant association between predictors and the dependent variable. Findings suggest that school administrators, educators, policymakers, and researchers attend to teacher-background variables as critical indicators associated with students' mathematics performance among eighth-grade Hong Kongese students and students in similar other country contexts and/or education systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mapping of highly dynamic changes in land use and land cover (LULC) can be hindered by various cloudy conditions with optical satellite images. These conditions result in discontinuities in high-temporal-density LULC mapping. In this paper, we developed an integrated time series mapping method to enhance the LULC mapping accuracy and frequency in cloud-prone areas by incorporating spectral-indices-fused deep models and time series reconstruction techniques. The proposed method first reconstructed cloud-contaminated pixels through time series filtering, during which the cloud masks initialized by a deep model were refined and updated during the reconstruction process. Then, the reconstructed time series images were fed into a spectral-indices-fused deep model trained on samples collected worldwide for classification. Finally, post-classification processing, including spatio-temporal majority filtering and time series refinement considering land–water interactions, was conducted to enhance the LULC mapping accuracy and consistency. We applied the proposed method to the cloud- and rain-prone Pearl River Delta (i.e., Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, GBA) and used time series Sentinel-2 images as the experimental data. The proposed method enabled seamless LULC mapping at a temporal frequency of 2–5 days, and the production of 10 m resolution annual LULC products in the GBA. The assessment yielded a mean overall accuracy of 87.01% for annual mapping in the four consecutive years of 2019–2022 and outperformed existing mainstream LULC products, including ESA WorldCover (83.98%), Esri Land Cover (85.26%), and Google Dynamic World (85.06%). Our assessment also reveals significant variations in LULC mapping accuracies with different cloud masks, thus underscoring their critical role in time series LULC mapping. The proposed method has the potential to generate seamless and near real-time maps for other regions in the world by using deep models trained on datasets collected globally. This method can provide high-quality LULC data sets at different time intervals for various land and water dynamics in cloud- and rain-prone regions. Notwithstanding the difficulties of obtaining high-quality LULC maps in cloud-prone areas, this paper provides a novel approach for the mapping of LULC dynamics and the provision of reliable annual LULC products. • Novel LULC mapping via indices-fused deep models and time series reconstruction. • High-temporal-density 10 m seamless LULC mapping in cloudy and rainy areas (PRD). • Overall mapping accuracy yielded up to 87.01%, outperforming existing LULC products. • Potential to generate seamless near real-time maps and high-quality LULC data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban morphology and spatial forms shape a city's character and user behavior, often embracing a particular type of people and unwelcoming other kinds of gender. City design policies and legislation have favored men since its beginning, affecting overall urban planning and design. While the world is delving into new techniques and methods to empower women, constraints in public space activities remain prevalent. This paper explores the scope of urban design strategies to catalyze women's social and physical inclusion in these spaces. It presents a systematic approach to identifying women's social roles during the use of public spaces and introduces the 'GenUrban: Shaping Cities for All Genders' framework to guide researchers and designers alike promote inclusive urban design and planning. The investigation, in the central area of Hong Kong, focuses on the cultural landscape created by the women-centric 'Foreign Domestic Helpers' community. A desktop literature review, direct observation of public spaces, and in-depth interviews with a focus group of women in the city's heart established and mapped the marginalized users' collective viewpoint and their appropriation of space. The framework can be used by professionals to transform urban spaces through a gender lens to improve the overall quality of public spaces and make them more inclusive and accessible. The paper generates gender-sensitive urban design principles that can be translated for planners to use for various user groups and contexts. When women become key drivers in activating public space, they are given back their right to the city. • Women's traveling patterns are frequent due to their caregiving responsibilities. • The unique cultural landscape of a city creates gender-centered activities. • Integrating gender-specific features ensures urban spaces cater to women's needs. • Reliable public transport is vital for women's mobility and engagement in city life. • A city catering to women tends to accommodate those they care for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper focused on the reliability of settlement prediction of immersed tunnel. • This paper focused on impact of time-dependent effects on settlement prediction. • A time-dependent expression for foundation modulus is proposed. • Several extreme conditions are considered in the future settlement prediction. The focus of immersed tunnel research has primarily revolved around settlement monitoring or prediction. However, there has been a lack of discussion regarding the time-dependent effects on settlement prediction, which could lead to obvious misjudgments in subsequent maintenance work. This paper addresses this issue by applying the physics-informed machine learning (PIML) algorithm to conduct an inverse analysis of the foundation modulus of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) tunnel, thereby identifying its variation tendency with time. The proposed time-dependent expression of foundation modulus demonstrates that the time-dependent effect is related to both post-construction settlement and the accumulation of back silting, which is significant and could persist throughout the entire service life of the HZMB tunnel. In further studies on settlement prediction for the HZMB tunnel, the results show that errors in prediction can exceed 30 mm at certain monitoring points. This error can be mitigated by considering the time-dependent effect, thereby significantly enhancing the reliability of predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the multi-actor making of the ruralscape in Hong Kong. I critically adopt the theoretical framework of Ingold's concepts of walking to understand how different "wayfarers", including but not limited to farmers, residents, land activists, agriculture learners, researchers, journalists, leisure practitioners and government officials, walk to make a multi-sensorial landscape. This paper encapsulates the observation outcomes of multiple times of walking by different individuals and groups recorded during my ethnographic fieldwork between 2008 and 2021. I shed light on the local practices and perspectives of hang cyun (walking in villages) and hang tin (walking in fields) to illustrate my observations. By analyzing the wayfarers' walking experiences and embodied movements, I consider the ruralscape as a vibrant space where people configure its meanings and materialize their lifestyle. The wayfarers' embodied experiences reflect the continuity and changes of a rural Hong Kong. Their making of ruralscape helps alleviate people's anxiety and enhance people's hope concerning the current Hong Kong society that faces food safety issues, environmental degradation, social class disparity and spoon-feeding education. I consider that being an agent who exercises his/her subjectivity during the walking in the ruralscape, a wayfarer makes the ruralscape meaningful in various aspects. My explanation contributes to the theoretical discussion of embodied movement and space making particular to the construction of a politicized nature telling us stories of (in)equality, (in)justice, and hope (lessness). • Walking is a political and socio-economic process that produces a multi-sensorial ruralscape. • Embodied movement and space making alleviates anxiety and enhances hope in rural Hong Kong. • Actor-actant interactions in Hong Kong's ruralscape entails stories of (in)equality, (in)justice, and hope (lessness). • People configure meanings and materialize lifestyle in walking in villages and fields. • Wayfarers's experiences reflect the continuity and changes of social movement, education, and agro-economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, promoting regional synergistic development has become the shared objective in city-regions during the new stages of development. This paper aims to uncover the dynamics of synergistic development in urban agglomerations by constructing an index measurement system based on four dimensions: industrial synergy, innovation synergy, infrastructure synergy, and institutional synergy. By comprehensively employing theories and methods such as "space of flow" big data analysis, network analysis, and interlocking network models, this study examines patterns and capacities of synergistic development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The main instances of industrial cooperation between cities are observed in Hong Kong-Shenzhen and Guangzhou-Shenzhen; capital flows primarily concentrate in Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Hong Kong-Shenzhen. Research paper and patent collaborations between cities are predominantly concentrated in Hong Kong-Shenzhen; joint laboratories are mainly established in Hong Kong-Macao and Hong Kong-Guangzhou; inter-city co-construction of higher education institutions is mainly focused on Guangzhou-Foshan and Shenzhen-Hong Kong. Infrastructure synergistic development performs best in Guangzhou-Shenzhen, Guangzhou-Foshan, and Shenzhen-Dongguan. Cross-border collaboration benefits from institutional advantages held by Hong Kong and Macao. Urban interactions with outstanding performance include Guangzhou-Shenzhen, Hong Kong-Shenzhen, Guangzhou-Foshan, Shenzhen-Dongguan. Additionally, increasing interaction trends can be observed between Guangzhou-Dongguan as well as Shenzhen-Zhuhai/Shenzen-Foshan partnerships. Understanding the typical characteristics and potential trends of synergetic development within the GBA holds significant practical value for establishing a first-class bay area along with a world-class urban agglomeration. • Concept and connotation of synergistic development in urban agglomeration area was examined. • Indicators and methods for evaluation of synergistic development in the GBA were conducted. • Patterns and capacities of synergistic development at urban scale in the GBA were explained. • Urban interaction with highest synergistic development level is Guangzhou-Shenzhen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock mass classification systems and their extended usages are usually developed with a large number of case records. The reliability of the systems can be improved and further developed with addition of more as-built data. As one of the most densely populated territories in the world, tunnels and caverns play important roles in the transport system and land supply strategy of Hong Kong. Rock mass classification systems, Q-system and Geological Strength Index (GSI), are widely used in the underground excavation projects in Hong Kong. Therefore, to improve the application of the rock mass classification systems, the authors have statistically reviewed 10,141 mapping data for a total excavation length of 31,657 m from 11 recent rock tunnel and cavern projects in Hong Kong. The statistical review of the mapping data show that the common correlation between Q' value and GSI, GSI = 9 lnQʹ + 44, can be refined to GSI = 15 lnQʹ + 42 for the Hong Kong granitic and volcanic rocks, which make up about 85% of Hong Kong's rock outcrop on land. In addition, compared with the as-built data, it is observed that some rock mass parameters may be occasionally underestimated in the support design by the designers (e.g. the use of the Q parameters for estimating the support pressure). This paper summarizes the review results of the mapping data from the recent Hong Kong underground projects and provides recommendations for the use of Q-system and GSI in the support design for the local underground excavation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel blockchain-based tool is proposed for MRV of carbon emissions. • It ensures the traceability, immutability and transparency of carbon emission data. • It is successfully used in life cycle carbon audit in Hong Kong's building sector. • It supports the implementation of the HKGBC carbon emissions regulatory framework. The Hong Kong Green Building Council introduced the Climate Change Framework for the Built Environment, aimed at enhancing the monitoring and management of life cycle carbon emissions within the building industry. In response to this initiative, this paper presents a novel blockchain-based carbon audit tool designed to facilitate the monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of embodied carbon in Hong Kong's building sector. Specifically, a consortium blockchain is utilized for system development in this study. The proposed blockchain system records the information pertaining to each stage of the building's life cycle, which is uploaded for storage. The system ensures the traceability, immutability, and transparency of the recorded information. To test and verify the system, it was initially applied to manage and audit the embodied carbon in Hong Kong's building sector in 2020. We anticipate our findings will provide a viable tool for MRV of building life cycle carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A systematic distortion of data points caused by the averaging process was uncovered. • An average absolute bias was proposed to objectively quantify the embedded bias. • A practical optimal dataset determination procedure was proposed. • The proposed method was demonstrated using real-world traffic data. Estimating traffic flow models, such as speed-density relationships, using data from multiple sources with different temporal resolutions is a prevalent challenge encountered in real-world scenarios. The resolution incompatibility is often intuitively addressed by averaging the high-resolution (HR) data to synchronize with the low-resolution (LR) data. This paper shows that ignoring the variability of HR data within the LR interval during the averaging process could lead to systematic data point distortions, resulting in biased model estimations. The average absolute biases of models estimated from the average data increase with the lost variability of HR data within the LR intervals. Subsequently, it proves that for any given complete average data dataset, there must exist an optimal dataset that minimizes the average absolute bias in model estimations introduced by the averaging process. A novel procedure for determining the practical optimal dataset is proposed. To test the proposed method, real-world HR data from four sites in Hong Kong and Nanjing, China were collected to mimic situations with multi-resolution data. Results demonstrated that the proposed method can significantly reduce the average absolute biases of models estimated from the determined practical optimal dataset, as compared to models estimated from the complete average dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A particularly large data set and modern modeling give new insights into variation. • Grammatical aspect, persistence, and frequency exert a consistent effect on marking. • Second-language acquisition processes and unique sociohistories explain variation. • There is a core grammar of variable past inflection in English. • Patterns of grammatical variation purportedly unique to creoles are unexceptional. In this paper, we investigate variable past inflection in four New Englishes. Our data are drawn from the conversational parts of the Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, and Philippine subcomponents of the International Corpus of English. We investigate the entire range of language-internal factors that have been found to influence non-obligatory past marking in varieties of English. This includes morpho-phonological verb class, lexical aspect, grammatical aspect, marker persistence, the presence or absence of a temporal adverbial, and, for consonant-final regular verbs, preceding and following phonological environment. We also consider verb frequency, which has received only scant attention in past inflection research so far. Employing both mixed-effects regression and random forests, we argue that, despite inter-variety differences, there is a core grammar of past inflection, which is constrained by general structural and cognitive phenomena such as grammatical aspect and marker persistence, with frequency also exerting an important and consistent effect. This has implications for debates about universals vs. substrate influence or creole effects in morphosyntactic variation in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A large-scale sociolinguistic survey (N = 779) on age-graded variation. • Disappearing construction (i.e. S-V-DO-IO 'I give a ball him') was least acceptable to 48–53 year-olds, but more acceptable to adolescents. • First quantitative study in Prosodic Syntax on Cantonese. This paper investigates age-graded variation in the use of the Inverted Double Object Construction (IDOC) in Hong Kong Cantonese. IDOC is unique because it is currently only attested in Cantonese, not in Mandarin or English, and its grammaticality is determined by prosodic factors rather than purely syntactic ones; however, its use is now declining. We conducted a web-based acceptability task using audio stimuli that contrasted different types of direct objects (DO) and indirect objects (IO), and the presence or absence of a pause between DO and IO. The effect of age was also analysed. Participants were asked to rate test sentences produced with neutral focus intonation on a Likert scale. Our results showed that the acceptability of IDOC was determined by (i) the prosodic weight of IO; (ii) the relative prominence of DO and IO; (iii) the presence of a pause; and (iv) listeners' age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hong Kong Observatory operates ocean model in support of marine weather forecasting • Model validation of current and wave forecasts uses moored and drifting buoys data • Downscaling model results serve as benchmark reference for future model enhancement The Hong Kong Observatory has been running an Operational Marine Forecasting System (OMFS) adapted from the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) coupled with the WaveWatch III and SWAN wave models to provide wave, current and sea temperature forecasts up to 144 h twice a day since December 2021. To facilitate users' interpretation of model forecasts of significant wave height and current speed in coastal predictions and open seas which are of particular significance in high wind situations, model forecasts were validated against moored buoy observations and wave recorder measurements near the shores of Hong Kong and drifting buoy data over the South China Sea, as well as Mercator Ocean model reanalysis in 2022. The validation results showed that the wave forecasts generally agreed well with the buoy observations with coefficient of determination (R2) of around 0.7 and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of less than 0.2 m up to 72 h ahead. The R2 for sea current forecasts ranged between 0.4 and 0.6, and the RMSE was around 8 to 11 cm/s in near shores up to T + 144 forecast hours. Validation against drifting buoy demonstrated that the trend of current forecasts generally agreed well with the measurements. RMSE of surface current forecasts over open seas ranged from 19 cm/s for 24-hour forecast to around 30 cm/s for 144-hour forecast when compared against Mercator Ocean reanalysis. Results from the current downscaling approach could serve as a benchmark reference for HKO to enhance OMFS in the future. In this paper, applications of model forecasts in the provision of marine weather services in Hong Kong are also introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have recognised the significance of museums for establishing and maintaining national legitimacy and shaping identity. Following the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China in 1997, tensions emerged between Chinese national identity and local Hong Kong identity. Drawing inspiration from studies of the role of museums in nation-building, research on Hong Kong museums, and Ackbar Abbas' notion of cultures of disappearance, we conducted a comparative analysis of two Bruce Lee exhibitions at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the first of which was held between 2013 and 2020 and the second of which opened in November 2021. A comparison of these exhibitions demonstrates their distinct approaches to appropriating Lee's legacy by drawing attention to changes in the associated narratives that reflect changes in the cultural and political climate. While both exhibitions engaged with the concept of disappearance, the earlier one did so by adhering to the conventional 'East-meets-West' framework, resulting in the effacement of Hong Kong culture. In contrast, the deployment of techniques of disappearance in the later exhibition challenged viewers' perception of reality, prompting contemplation of the self and identity by embracing strategies of disappearance while resisting a culture of disappearance. However, this came at the cost of downplaying Lee's significance as a symbol of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the regulatory framework related to human trafficking in Hong Kong and identifies its deficiencies as the lack of an accepted internationally compliant definition of trafficking and the absence of any specific criminal offence of trafficking as a result. The article compares the approach taken in Hong Kong to efforts undertaken in Europe by the Council of Europe, the UK, and the European Union and identifies several lessons from the European experience that could help rectify failures observed in Hong Kong. In particular, effective combatting of human trafficking requires not only a definition of the offence that recognises the essential elements--an "act," a "means," and a "purpose" of exploitation--but also the establishment of sufficient state institutions and agencies dedicated to identifying and protecting trafficking victims. Without the detection of trafficking victims, criminals engaged in the act of trafficking perceive their chances of being caught and prosecuted as low and operate with impunity. This necessitates the adoption of a consistent and readily identifiable criminal offence of "trafficking" aligned with the approach taken by the Palermo Protocol, just as the EU and UK have done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Midlife, beginning at 40 years and extending to 65 years, a range that encompasses the late reproductive to late menopausal stages, is a unique time in women's lives, when hormonal and physical changes are often accompanied by psychological and social evolution. Access to sexual health and sexual well-being (SHSW) services, which include the prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, contraception and the support of sexual function, pleasure and safety, is important for the health of midlife women, their relationships and community cohesion. The objective was to use the socio-ecological model to synthesise the barriers and enablers to SHSW services for midlife women in high-income countries. A systematic review of the enablers and barriers to women (including trans-gender and non-binary people) aged 40–65 years accessing SHSW services in high-income countries was undertaken. Four databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Google Scholar) were searched for peer-reviewed publications. Findings were thematically extracted and reported in a narrative synthesis. Eighty-one studies were included; a minority specifically set out to study SHSW care for midlife women. The key barriers that emerged were the intersecting disadvantage of under-served groups, poor knowledge, about SHSW, and SHSW services, among women and their healthcare professionals (HCPs), and the over-arching effect of stigma, social connections and psychological factors on access to care. Enablers included intergenerational learning, interdisciplinary and one-stop women-only services, integration of SHSW into other services, peer support programmes, representation of minoritised midlife women working in SHSW, local and free facilities and financial incentives to access services for under-served groups. Efforts are needed to enhance education about SHSW and related services among midlife women and their healthcare providers. This increased education should be leveraged to improve research, public health messaging, interventions, policy development and access to comprehensive services, especially for midlife women from underserved groups. Plain language summary: Sexual health and sexual wellbeing services for midlife women in high income countries Midlife, beginning at 40 years and extending to 65 years, a range that encompasses the late reproductive to late menopausal stages, is a unique time in women's lives. Access to Sexual Health and Sexual Wellbeing (SHSW) services, which include the prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, contraception and the support of sexual function, pleasure and safety, is important for the health of midlife women, their relationships and community cohesion. The objective of this systematic review was to use the socio-ecological model to synthesise the barriers and enablers to SHSW services for midlife women in high income countries. Eighty-one studies were included; a minority specifically set out to study SHSW care for midlife women. The key barriers that emerged were the intersecting disadvantage of under-served groups, poor knowledge, about SHSW, and SHSW services, among women and their HealthCare Professionals (HCPs), and the over-arching effect of stigma, social connections, and psychological factors on access to care. Enablers included intergenerational learning, interdisciplinary and one-stop women-only services, integration of SHSW into other services, peer support programmes, representation of minoritised midlife women working in SHSW, local and free facilities, and financial incentives for under-served groups to access services. The appetite for education about SHSW and SHSW services among midlife women and their HCPs should be capitalised upon, and utilised to improve research, public health messaging, interventions and access to holistic services, particularly for midlife women from under-served groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses time series regression models and dynamic panel models of five-class housing to investigate the dynamics of the housing price-vacancy relationship in Hong Kong, offering insights distinct from previous cross-sectional analyses that take new housing completions as a supply proxy, without considering vacant homes as a source of housing supply. Two major contributions emerge: first, the results support the hypothesis that housing vacancies exert a negative impact on housing prices, holding other factors constant. Second, new builds supply is found to have a positive effect on housing prices, which is in line with many previous studies, but it contradicts the prediction. The results challenge the use of land supply or new housing completions as the proxy of housing supply and put forward a novel suggestion of including vacant homes in the housing price analysis. Advanced approaches to collecting housing vacancy data are also discussed. These findings have significant implications for policymakers, urban planners, and real estate investors, providing valuable insights for crafting targeted interventions and informing investment decisions. This is one of the first time series and dynamic panel analyses of housing vacancy's effect on prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban parks enhance residents' quality of life and health by fostering a harmonious relationship between people and nature, so effective park design needs to prioritize ecological protection, sustainable landscapes, and practical spatial structures to achieve these benefits. This study takes the typical case of urban park renovation and reconstruction—Kowloon Walled City Park—as an example to conduct research and divides the interior of the park into four types of areas: contemporary built-up area; historical relic area; natural–folk custom area; and ecological conservation area. Based on 405 valid questionnaire data for respondents, this study conducts empirical research using a combination of the Semantic Differential (SD) method, Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) model, and unordered multivariate logit choice model, comprehensively describes and analyzes individual spatial perception and preferences, and further discusses the potential factors affecting individual perception preferences. The results show that there are differences in many characteristics between different areas in Kowloon Walled City Park. At the same time, people generally prefer park areas that integrate modern and traditional elements, natural and cultural environments, and pay attention to the balance between naturalness and sociality in park design. These results provide useful information for planners, developers, and others, as well as data for designing urban park construction with higher practical value and natural benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The heterogeneity of autism is well documented, but few studies have studied the heterogeneity of gesture production ability in autistic children. The present study aimed to identify subgroups of autistic children who displayed heterogeneous gesture production abilities and explore the underlying factors, including autism characteristics, intellectual ability, and language ability, that were associated with the heterogeneity. Methods: A total of 65 Chinese autistic children (mean age = 5;3) participated. Their autism characteristics and intellectual ability were assessed by standardized measurements. Language output and gesture production were captured from a parent-child interaction task. Results: We conducted a hierarchical cluster analysis and identified four distinct clusters. Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 both had low gesture production whereas Cluster 3 and Cluster 4 had high gesture production. Both Clusters 1 and 2 had relatively strong autism characteristics, in comparison to Clusters 3 and 4. Conclusions: Our findings revealed that children with stronger autism characteristics may gesture less often than those with weaker characteristics. However, the relationship between language ability and intellectual ability and gesture production was not clear. These findings shed light on the directions of intervention on gesture production for autistic children, especially those with stronger autism characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study estimated the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in a 5-year inpatient cohort of children and adolescents diagnosed with first-episode psychosis in two Hong Kong teaching hospitals, and explored the clinical characteristics predicting first-episode psychosis–autism spectrum disorder comorbidity. The autism spectrum disorder diagnoses of 103 patients with first-episode psychosis were confirmed by Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised. Based on the (1) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) diagnostic checklist and (2) Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised, three major observations were reported: (1) the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among children and adolescents with first-episode psychosis was 28.2% (95% confidence interval = (19.7%, 37.9%)); (2) after administering the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised, an additional 31.0% of first-episode psychosis patients met the clinical diagnostic cut-off for autism spectrum disorder; and (3) multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that first-episode psychosis patients with a comorbid autism spectrum disorder diagnosis were more likely to be a male than a female (adjusted odds ratio = 3.57, 95% confidence interval = (1.29, 9.86), p = 0.014). Adding to the current literature, this study examined first-episode psychosis–autism spectrum disorder comorbidity with a large Chinese, inpatient sample with first-episode psychosis. Consistent with studies conducted overseas, we show that autism spectrum disorder is a common comorbidity among Chinese first-episode psychosis patients. A comprehensive autism spectrum disorder assessment that incorporates both observation-based and parent-report diagnostic tools is warranted for children and adolescents, especially boys, with psychosis. Autistic features are commonly observed in children and adolescents with first-episode psychosis, but they are sometimes overlooked by clinicians and caregivers. By comprehensively examining the clinical profiles of 103 children and adolescents (below 18 years old) with first-episode psychosis and conducting the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised (the 'gold standard' autism diagnostic tool) with their primary caregivers, we showed that around 28% of patients with first-episode psychosis had a comorbid autism diagnosis, and boys were 3.57 times more likely to have first-episode psychosis–autism spectrum disorder comorbidity than girls. After administering the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised, we also observed that an additional 30% of patients with first-episode psychosis met the autism spectrum disorder diagnostic cut-off; their autism spectrum disorder symptoms were probably overshadowed by prodromal psychotic symptoms and left undetected before this study. The co-occurrence of autism and first-episode psychosis might be more common than we previously thought. Careful autism screening and assessment is highly recommended for clinicians working with patients with psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the notion of voice, this study examines both textual and contextual voices of translated news narratives relating to the 2014 Hong Kong protests. It analyses narrative voices, including those of primary, secondary and tertiary narrators, comparing the original and translated news texts and discusses the socio-cultural context in which these narrative voices are produced. The analysis draws on translated news reports published between 28 September and 16 December 2014 from three media outlets: Reference News, BBC Chinese and New York Times Chinese, together with their source texts from a range of mainstream global media. The findings show how the media outlets employ a complex interplay of narrative voices in their translated news texts and the extent to which the narrative voices of certain groups have been emphasised or suppressed. This sheds light on the shifts in voice within and between media outlets and the contextual factors which might have contributed to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current understanding of financial decision-making among racial/ethnic minority young adults is limited: day-to-day financial decisions of racial/ethnic minorities are underexamined, younger racial/ethnic minorities receive limited attention, studies on racial/ethnic minorities are mainly conducted in Western societies, and research on financial literacy and decision-making is predominantly quantitative in nature. Against this backdrop, this study utilized a qualitative approach to examine a range of financial decision-making among ethnic minority young adults in Hong Kong, including personal budgeting, spending, financial planning, the use of financial products, debt management, and the detection of financial fraud. Individual interviews were conducted with 53 Pakistani, Indian, Nepalese, and Filipino participants aged 18 to 29 who employed various budgeting strategies and faced challenges. Their spending was modest, and they espoused various spending philosophies. Many saved approximately one-third of their income using saving tactics and setting financial goals, and investing in both Hong Kong and their home countries. Informal borrowing was common, though some sought alternative loans. One-third used credit cards, with accompanying occasional risks. Despite employing protective tactics, they still fell victim to scams. Factors facilitating their financial decision-making include family social capital, intrapersonal characteristics, social dynamics factors, command of knowledge, and facilitative contextual circumstances. This study addresses knowledge gaps by providing an in-depth understanding of financial decision-making among ethnic minority young adults in a non-Western context. It has significant implications for timely and tailored financial literacy education for minority societal members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The study explores the effectiveness of teaching English literature to Hong Kong undergraduate students, particularly in a general education course titled "Fiction and Life: Understanding Human Development." This course marked the first exposure for students to book-length fiction in English and critical response written in English, revealing the efficacy of using fictional works as content-based ESL instruction at the tertiary level in Hong Kong. Methods: Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study included questionnaires distributed to 310 students and thematic analysis of semistructured interview data. Results: Findings indicate a largely positive attitude toward the reading and writing experience, suggesting benefits for ESL teaching and learning in Asia. Discussion: The study advocates for incorporating English literature into the general education curriculum to foster a more organic and contextualized language acquisition process. This research uniquely contributes to the field by examining student perceptions in a self-financed tertiary institution context, offering new insights that have not been explored before in Hong Kong's ESL landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and the driven geomagnetic storms have a profound influence on the ionosphere, potentially leading to a degradation in positioning performance. In this study, we made a comprehensive analysis of the entire process of the impact of a typical ICME and its driven geomagnetic storm on the low-latitude ionosphere during March 13-14, 2022 (π-day storm) and the positioning performance of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). During the passage of the ICME event, significant ionospheric scintillation, and TEC (total electron content) disturbances were observed in the low-latitude Hong Kong region. The ICME sheath region intensively compressed the magnetosphere via solar wind dynamic pressure enhancement and subsequently drove the storm main phase. It is found that both the magnetospheric compression that formed the storm initial phase and the storm main phase caused ionospheric scintillation. In comparison, the intensity of the ionospheric scintillation caused by the intense magnetospheric compression just before the storm main phase is even more pronounced. We also analyzed the impact of storms on standard point positioning (SPP), precise point positioning (PPP) and real-time kinematic (RTK) techniques. The positioning accuracies of single-frequency SPP and PPP experienced the most severe decline, and there was a noticeable increase in the initialization time for dual-frequency static PPP and RTK during the event. RTK demonstrated a shorter convergence time and higher accuracy during this event, but it was limited to short-baseline RTK (<30 km). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is one of the most prevalent mental disorders worldwide. This study examined the effect of a spiritual connectivity intervention on individuals with depression in a randomized waitlist-controlled trial. Fifty-seven participants with mild or moderate depressive symptoms were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n = 28) or the waitlist control group (n = 29). The intervention comprised eight weekly sessions focusing on divine connection, forgiveness and freedom, suffering and transcendence, hope, gratitude, and relapse prevention. The outcome measures included depressive symptoms, anxiety, hope, meaning in life, self-esteem, and social support. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires at baseline (week 0), post-intervention (week 8), and 3-month follow-up (week 20). Repeated-measures ANOVA and one-way ANCOVA were used to compare the within-group and between-group differences in the changes in outcome variables. Participants in the intervention group showed significant improvements in depression, anxiety, spiritual experience, hope, self-esteem, and perceived social support after the intervention. Effect size statistics showed small to large differences (Cohen's d, 0.308 to −1.452). Moreover, 85.71% of participants in the intervention group also experienced clinically significant reductions in PHQ-9 scores from baseline to immediate post-intervention. This study highlights the effectiveness of a low-cost, accessible intervention suitable for community implementation by clergy and faith-based organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This research project examines student perspectives on independent learning in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Independent learning describes learning undertaken by students outside of standard institutional learning environments. Prior research has suggested that motivations to undertake independent learning and the strategies involved may differ across cultural contexts, institutions, and individual learners. Methods: This research employs primary qualitative research consisting of interviews with 16 students in Business Studies (eight British and eight Chinese). The study takes a social constructionist approach to better establish the ways in which culture may serve as a mediator for motivation to learn independently and the strategies pursued to this end. Results: The study's findings note key differences in the motivations to complete independent learning across either cohort, as well as distinct conceptualizations of what strategies and practices facilitate effective independent learning. Discussion: This research highlights significant cultural differences in the motivations, strategies, and skills related to independent learning between students in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. It also notes the potential for socioeconomic factors, institutional structures, and assessment methods, alongside culture, to contribute to these differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of civic education is to prepare students to become 'good citizens' aligned with the policies and political purposes of the regime to which they belong. This exploratory study employed a mixed methods design to construct a typology of 'good citizens' to understand university students' perceptions of citizenship in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China. It found that the university students' perceptions of 'good citizens' is constructed from two components: internal political efficacy and the connection between 'good citizens' and the regime. Students in these societies share a similar understanding of the first component but have significant divergences in the second component. These findings demonstrate a correlation between regime type and the perceptions of 'good citizens' and our typology could provide a conceptual framework to guide researchers in organising and conducting further comparative studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh, the largest producer of steel from decommissioned ships, is the most dominant player in the global shipbreaking industry. However, managing hazardous waste generated from ship disposal remains a significant concern for the local and international communities. Bangladesh ratified both the relevant international treaties namely the Hong Kong Convention and the Basel Convention and incorporated their provisions in its domestic system. However, the country's waste management practices particularly at the downstream level are hindered by insufficient enforcement of the national waste policy, fragmented responsibilities for waste operators, generators, and transporters, and lack of technical guidelines and procedures. Using a comparative research methodology and a multimodal decision-making model namely the Analytical Hierarchy Process, this article attempts to single out laws and policies that need to be addressed by Bangladesh to fulfill its mandates under international laws, particularly the Basel Convention and effectively contribute to the sustainability in the global shipbreaking industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to empirically test the direct effects of three types of information technology (IT) use on three dimensions of supply chain coordination (SCC). It further explores the spillover effects of IT use on coordination beyond its domain across the SC. Besides, this study probes into the moderating effects of environmental uncertainty (EU). Design/methodology/approach: Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to examine data collected from 202 firms in Hong Kong. Furthermore, multi-group SEM analysis with a series of invariance tests was used to test the moderating effects of EU. Findings: Internal, supplier and customer IT use have direct effects on internal, supplier and customer coordination, respectively. Besides, IT use generates forward spillover effects beyond its domain along the forward physical flow in an SC. EU positively moderates the relationships between external IT use and SCC but does not shape the effectiveness of internal IT use in enhancing SCC. Moreover, under a high EU, the spillover effects of IT use on coordination can be intensified. Besides, the spillover effects further expand to benefit coordination on a larger scale of the SC under a high EU. Originality/value: This study contributes by revealing that in addition to direct effects, IT use in a specific domain could generate spillover effects on coordination beyond its domain throughout an SC. More importantly, it contributes by explaining the difference in the effectiveness of IT use under different levels of EU using multi-group SEM analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study explores a nuanced understanding of tiger parenting by moving beyond cultural essentialist perspectives and an East (Chinese)-versus-West binary framework. Design/Approach/Methods: The study draws on data from 80 parents in Hong Kong SAR, an example of a culturally-hybrid East Asian metropolis. We applied maximum variation sampling to recruit participants with diverse school choices encompassing different education levels, occupations, social classes, and ethnicities. We used semi-structured interviews to investigate parental beliefs, practices, and understandings of tiger parenting. Findings: The findings suggest that tiger parenting is a cross-class and cross-culture phenomenon that would be more fruitfully analyzed by considering parental mindsets, educational structures, peer pressure, generational influences, cultural roots, class preferences, and global aspirations. We posit that tiger parenting and similar parenting practices are increasingly necessitated by fiercely competitive education systems, and becoming globalized across ethnic groups and social class spectrums. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the discussion on tiger parenting by highlighting previously understudied factors underpinning the concept. We argue that our analytical approach avoids the previous narrow and cultural essentialist understanding of tiger parenting, and advances the theoretical cogency of the concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a 'primacy of domestic politics' interpretation of the Thatcher government's main objectives in the negotiations of the early 1980s, which secured the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. In the immediate aftermath of the Falklands conflict, sovereignty issues were uppermost in public discourse and the government's decision to cede sovereignty over Hong Kong seems inconsistent with other elements of Thatcher's foreign policy. However, when placed in the context of domestic economic objectives it is clear that the liberalisation and deregulation agenda would be undermined by a lack of investor confidence in sterling overseas should business confidence be disrupted in Hong Kong with a potentially disastrous diversification out of sterling. The 1984 Joint Declaration secured special status for Hong Kong enshrining the independence of the currency and the Hong Kong banking system thereby averting a sterling crisis which would have had major implications for the City of London and Thatcher's domestic policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Internationalization at Home (IaH) strategies play an important role in nursing curricula to enhance nursing students' cultural awareness in the globalized world. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) is a theoretical framework for the optimal design of online learning environments to support critical inquiry and discourse among students and teachers. To optimise nursing students' online cultural awareness learning experiences, it was timely to develop online IaH strategies based on a sound theoretical model. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of CoI‐guided online IaH strategies on enhancing the cultural awareness of nursing undergraduates who enrolled in a community nursing course. Design: This was an interventional pre‐test post‐test study. Method: One hundred and six nursing undergraduates who enrolled in the course participated in the study. The online IaH strategies were developed focusing on the interactions of teaching presence, cognitive presence and social presence of CoI framework and they were integrated into the course. A previously validated Cultural Awareness Scale was adopted for pre‐post evaluation. Higher scores indicate greater cultural awareness. Results: The results showed that there was a significantly higher total score of cultural awareness of participating students at post‐online IaH strategies. To be effective, aligning CoI‐guided online IaH strategies with course content, pedagogy and assessment was shown to be significant. The inclusion of technological elements in related strategies was also critical to engage student learning. The positive change on the total score of cultural awareness suggested the effectiveness of the deployed strategies. In this ever‐changing educational landscape, it may provide insights to educators regarding considering online IaH strategies with theoretical underpinning for curriculum planning and design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores strategic hybridization in Jeffrey Lau's four films, which reinterpret the classic Journey to the West, and analyses Hong Kong-mainland film co-productions from the mid-1990s to the mid-2010s. Adopting a media industries perspective, it examines how strategic hybridization navigates economic pressures and policy environments influencing production decisions, creative choices, and industrial imperatives. The study illustrates that strategic hybridization is not merely a consequence of co-production but a deliberate strategy reflecting the collaborative dynamics between Hong Kong and the mainland, contributing to an increasingly integrated and mainland-centric co-production model. By analyzing strategic decisions across industrial and production dimensions, the article underscores the impact of policy interventions, cross-cultural collaboration, and financial factors in shaping co-production models. The evolution of co-productions is further demonstrated through a detailed look at Lau's films, suggesting that strategic hybridization serves as a set of adaptive strategies fostering a symbiotic, albeit mainland-centric, relationship between the two film industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many intervention strategies, such as patient isolation and contact tracking, had been implemented in different countries to slow down and control the spread because of the enormous threats and losses caused by COVID-19. Since the contact relationships of millions of people within cities change over time, it is difficult to accurately predict the dynamics of large-scale outbreaks and evaluate the impact of the contact tracking and isolation strategy based on individual contact history on epidemic transmission. Here, we propose a non-markov spreading model based on individual contact dynamic network, to simulate the dynamic contact processes in a city with millions of people. In this model, the historical contact population of each infected person can be backtracked and tracked. Our model can accurately describe the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan and Hong Kong. We assess the impact of four agent-based epidemic intervention strategies: travel control, contact tracking and isolation, vaccination, and regular nucleic acid testing to all residents on the epidemic evolution and economic losses. We find that for the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, a strict travel control strategy is effective in both suppressing the spread of COVID-19 and minimizing economic losses. For the Omicron variant (BA.2) with stronger infectious capacity, a relatively loose travel control and an appropriate combination of the other three strategies can effectively control the epidemic outbreak while minimize economic losses. This paper provides an efficient framework for assessing the combination of different agent-based strategies by large-scale simulations in the case of unknown historical contact information of large populations, and the studies on different combinations of control strategies can provide theoretical guidance for future prevention and control. • We propose a non-markov spreading model based on individual contact dynamic network. • Our model can accurately describe the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan and Hong Kong. • We assess the impact of four agent-based epidemic intervention strategies. • A strict travel control strategy may lead to relatively high economic losses. • Tracking strategy can control the epidemic outbreak while minimize economic losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The proposed tropical cyclone model is completely driven by a set of environmental variables. • This model reproduces the spatial and temporal characteristics of observed tropical cyclones. • The model achieves remarkable balance between computational complexity and efficiency. • This model will provide decision-makers with valuable information regarding potential wind-induced hazards. • When future climate data are fed into this model, the impact of climate change on tropical cyclones can be evaluated. This paper presents an environment-driven tropical cyclone (TC) model for the Western North Pacific basin, which comprises a revised Poisson regression genesis model, a tailored beta-advection track model, and a fast intensity model. The TC model reproduces the temporal and spatial distributions of genesis events, the motion pattern of tracks, as well as the intensity evolutions along tracks. Risk analyses for Hong Kong and along the southeast coastline of mainland China demonstrate that this model can simulate extreme TC events with high fidelity. And the Gaussian mixture model outperforms the Frank Copula in approximating the joint distributions of the annual maximum wind speeds and the corresponding wind directions. This model is driven by a set of environmental variables including relative vorticity, relative humidity, sea surface temperature, vertical wind shear, potential intensity, sub mixed layer depth stratification, mixture layer depth and so on. This enables the model to not only reproduce historical records, but also make predictions for future TC behaviors under climate change with combination of global climate models. Besides, the computational efficiency of the TC model is comparable to traditional purely statistical models. The proposed model can also be coupled with other natural hazard models to conduct multi-hazard analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A comprehensive analysis of root causes for the accelerated internal corrosion in steel saltwater pipes coated with fusion bonded epoxy. • Cathodic delamination of the epoxy lining is identified as the primary cause of early internal corrosion failure. • Dynamic cyclic load has a greater chance for crack propagation in the epoxy lining compared to static load. • Development of recommendations and precautions based on the results of failure analysis. Effective functioning of saltwater supply system is essential to Hong Kong government agencies. However, it has been frequently observed that steel saltwater pipes suffered from severe internal corrosion and consequently early burst accidents, which may cause high economic loss and safety concerns to the public. Therefore, by taking a sample saltwater pipe made of DN450 mild steel with internal and external walls coated with fusion bonded epoxy in Hong Kong, this paper investigates the root causes and failure mechanism for the internal corrosion of this failed steel saltwater pipe through laboratory experiments and numerical simulation analysis. Two hypotheses are proposed and validated: (1) cathodic delamination of the epoxy lining, and (2) delamination of the epoxy lining due to external mechanical loads. The results verify that the sample saltwater pipe failed due to the cathodic delamination of the epoxy lining, and the electrochemical corrosion of the inner pipe wall. Moreover, it can be concluded that external mechanical load has few significant impacts on the damage of the epoxy lining for this sample pipe. This study exemplifies the importance of an in-depth analysis on the internal corrosion of steel water pipes, especially in a highly-corrosive internal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local governments face urgent challenges from sea-level rise (SLR), impacting coastal urban areas significantly. Despite a shared commitment to adapting to climate change and SLR-induced hazards, strategies for SLR adaptation vary significantly between cities, reflecting a spectrum of political, socio-economic, and cultural contexts. This paper examines potential SLR adaptation strategies in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, cities with different political and socio-economic frameworks, to understand the effectiveness of varied local adaptation pathways to meet adaptation objectives. Through an analysis of shoreline adaptation infrastructures, including natural shelters and hard defense structures, alongside historical coastal reclamation data from 1985 to 2020, we identify the most cost-effective adaptation pathway. Specifically, our cost-benefit analysis reveals that Shenzhen's "Hybrid management" pathway offers superior economic efficiency, increasing benefits by up to 63% for only a 7%–16% rise in protection costs. Conversely, Hong Kong's "Relative-risk Reduction" pathway shows less timely adaptation actions, indicating a need for more dynamic approaches. The findings highlight the pitfalls of overly rigid SLR adaptation strategies and the necessity for flexible, transition-capable adaptation pathways to better manage future uncertainties. Lessons learned from this study will enable refinement of local SLR adaptation pathway approaches and could significantly improve decision-making under uncertainty in other coastal cities based on investment perspective. • Integrate coastal structures and reclamation to explore SLR adaptation pathways. • Limited investments constrains the efficacy of nature-based adaptation strategies. • Prioritise adaptation options is critical to address uncertainty in SLR management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper integrates bifacial photovoltaics as sunshades into buildings. • The impact of installation and building factors on power generation is studied. • The impact of installation factors of bPV on the energy savings is studied. • The south orientation, small tilt angle and wide bPV are recommended to install. • The buildings with high wall reflectivity and low WWR achieve more energy savings. Solar photovoltaic (PV) shading systems are of great significance for achieving low-carbon buildings. Bifacial photovoltaics (bPV) is a promising technology that can generate electricity from both the front and rear sides of bPV modules. By integrating bPV shading systems into buildings, more power generation and less building energy consumption can be achieved compared to traditional shading systems. This study aims to integrate and optimize bPV shading systems into the building vertical façades in hot and humid regions, considering varying installation and building parameters. The evaluations of electricity generation and energy saving were conducted based on a typical three-story office building in Hong Kong. The evaluation of electricity generation reveals that the optimal installation condition for bPV sunshades in Hong Kong is south orientation with a tilt angle of 35°. Regarding the width of bPV sunshades, as the width increases, the annual electricity generation per unit area (AEGPA) decreases, but the total annual electricity generation (TAEG) increases. Besides, the bifacial gain of optimized bPV sunshades increases from 3.3% to 6.1% as the wall reflectivity increases from 0.15 to 0.7, while being insensitive to window reflectivity. Similarly, when the window-to-wall ratio (WWR) increases, the bifacial gain decreases. Furthermore, the energy-saving evaluation indicates that the south orientation with small tilt angles and wide sunshades tends to achieve much more energy savings benefits. The findings of this study provide practical guidance for maximizing the power generation and optimizing the design of building-integrated bPV sunshades to achieve maximum energy savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equity and inclusion continue to pose significant challenges for many cities. Disparities in access to resources and facilities among the residents of these areas are often influenced by factors such as geographical location and income level, among others. Therefore, creating a quantitative basis to detect spatial and socio-economic inequities in residents' access to vital infrastructures is crucial for advancing smart cities. This paper introduces a novel measure of Spatial Inequity that is based on 1) computing building-level scores for each building in terms of access to facilities, and 2) comparing the distribution of the scores of these facilities using the Gini coefficient. The proposed building-level scores will enable the identification of GIS hotspots at a high resolution. Then, the Gini-based measure will facilitate a comparison of the distribution of the scores, and determine if they are evenly distributed and equitably accessible. The Gini coefficient was highest (0.89) for waste management and elderly care, and lowest (0.56) for hospitals, reflecting varying levels of inequality. This study applies this Spatial Ineqity methodological framework to Hong Kong, a representative of Highly Dense Cities. The framework benchmarks urban infrastructure, identifies hotspots, and selects interventions for equitable urban development. • Novel approach identifies spatial inequities via building-level scores & Gini coefficient. • Precise hotspot identification enhances targeted interventions in dense urban areas. • Applied methodology in Hong Kong offers insights into urban development complexities. • Gini coefficient unveils varying degrees of inequality across essential services. • Geospatial analysis & quantitative measures support equitable urban resource allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Most peer economies diversify their mix of policies both the supply and demand sides of developing domestic clean energy technologies. • Peer economies with higher innovation rankings tend to provide more direction and coordination mechanisms. • A heavy reliance on technology adoption only is seen in the policy mixes of Hong Kong and Slovakia. • Hong Kong lacks policy strategy(ies) as well as R&D support targeted at energy technology. • Support for production, adaptation and retirement of energy technologies seems to be scarce across all 12 small economies. In this paper, we analyzed Hong Kong's sustainable energy transitions innovation policy, and compared it to the policies in 11 small, high-income jurisdictions. To do this, we identified 696 innovation interventions implemented between 2008 and 2020. We classified them into 42 types of policy instruments. Then we visualized the policy mixes of the jurisdictions with the assistance of correspondence analysis methods. The results suggest that Hong Kong's overall policy mix heavily relies on overarching policy strategies to guide research and demand side policies to support energy technology adoption. However, Hong Kong's support for research and development of domestic clean energy technologies to overcome the so-called "valley of death", a critical gap between public and private support, remains limited. This contrasts with the policy mixes of more innovative peer jurisdictions, which provide R&D funding and business support targeted at encouraging clean energy technologies and facilitating connections across the innovation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Without a doubt, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the landscape of human life across the globe. It may further lead to a substantial behavioral change in individuals, including the pattern of criminal victimization victimization. Although some previous studies suggested that there was a crime drop in Western societies after the pandemic outbreak, the effect of the pandemic on crime rates in the non-Western context was still vague. Therefore, the present study analyzed the police-recorded data in Hong Kong, a city in the south side of China that continued to enact a "dynamic zero covid" control of positive cases. In line with the previous studies, traditional crime, such as assaults in Hong Kong, dropped steadily after the pandemic outbreak. Yet, surprisingly, the overall crime rate alternatively increased amid the pandemic which is mainly attributed to the surge in cybercrime, especially deceptions and blackmail. This paper thus warrants more thorough investigations of the change in routine activities to the virtual world and the risks of cyber victimizations. Limitations and policy implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric buses (EBs) are considered a more environmentally friendly mode of public transit. In addition to other practical challenges, including high infrastructure costs and short driving ranges, the operations of EBs are more demanding due to the necessary battery charging activities. Consequently, more sophisticated optimisation models and algorithms are required for effective operations. This paper presents an EB scheduling problem with multiple termini and service routes. Various realistic but complicated factors, such as shared facilities at multiple termini, the flexibility of plugging and unplugging chargers before an EB is fully charged, stochastic travel times, and EB breakdowns, are considered. We propose an integrated learning and mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) framework to overcome the computational difficulties when solving the problem. This framework leverages the strengths of reinforcement learning and MILP for fast computations due to its capability of learning from outcomes of state–action pairs and computational effectiveness guaranteed by the constraints governing the solution feasibility. Q-Learning and Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient are adopted as our training methods. We conduct numerical experiments on artificial instances and realistic instances of a bus network in Hong Kong to assess the performance of our proposed approach. The results show that our proposed framework outperforms the benchmark optimisation approach, in terms of penalty on missed service trips, average headway, and variance of headway. The benefits of our proposed framework are more significant under a highly stochastic environment. • Electric bus scheduling with multiple termini and service routes. • Shared facilities at multiple termini and the flexibility of plugging and unplugging chargers considered. • Integration of Q-learning and mixed-integer linear programming for solving the problem. • Experiments on artificial instances and a real-world case to demonstrate the high computational performance. • Managerial insights derived from the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of an ecological security pattern (ESP) is an important undertaking in ensuring the stability of the ecosystem and the long-term growth of humanity. Existing research, However, existing research often overlooks the quantification of policy implications in ESP development. The objective of this paper was to bridge this gap by integrating policy quantification analysis (PQA) with nature, society and into ESP construction and providing targeted ecological management recommendations. The policy texts were quantified into reusable research data, which served as a foundation for the selection of indicators and the optimization of ecological security patterns, by using machine learning techniques. The methodology "Patch-matrix-corridor" was used to create a spatially correlated ecological security pattern. Through factor analysis and Random Forest (RF), the impact of each indicator on ecological security was thoroughly examined, offering substantial support for policy development and ESP construction planning. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area(GBA) was selected as the study area, the study found that: (1) The proposed framework PQA based-ESP could provide a useful eco-management tools. (2) Policy adaptability had a substantial impact on environmental security in the GBA, but the ecosystem service index has the highest impact. (3) Applying the framework, we identified a total of 1,993 km2 of ecological sources, 23 key ecological corridors, 58 general ecological corridors, and 31 ecological nodes. An improved ESP, characterized as "one circle, two bays, three rivers, multiple areas, corridors, and nodes," was constructed in the GBA. (4) Given the multi-scale analysis, tailored ecological management policy recommendations were proposed for each city in the GBA. The study's findings offer actionable solutions for the international community facing growing ecological challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid-19 has wreaked havoc worldwide. To mitigate the spread of the virus, societies around the world implemented various social control measures and restrictions on mobility. Traditional work practices were upended, leading to a widespread adoption of telecommuting in many cities, effectively turning urban spaces into expansive work-from-home laboratories. The exchange of digitized documents, virtual conversations, and online transactions replaced physical movements and face-to-face communication, allowing for the continuation of productive activities. This shift to telecommuting raises important questions about the impact on traditional business practices and power dynamics in the workplace. It also prompts us to examine how new communication and surveillance tools facilitate collaboration and enhance worker productivity. Furthermore, it is essential to understand how employees navigate and adapt to the opportunities and limitations presented in a teleworking environment. To gain insights into these issues, this paper focuses on the experiences of work-from-home employees in the community of Tin Shui Wai in Hong Kong, using the concept of governmobility as an analytical framework. The findings reveal that telecommuting is enabled by innovative social interaction mechanisms, changes in power dynamics, and the implementation of new discourse and surveillance methods, all of which are contingent on specific work and life conditions. The various experiences of telecommuting, such as working in a home office, in virtual workspaces, and using on-body devices, demonstrate adaptable responses to the emerging opportunities and constraints of telecommuting. These experiences illuminate the intricate ways in which work and life intertwine in both physical and temporal dimensions. • Exploring the mechanisms of governmobility in telecommuting during the Covid-19 pandemic. • Theorizing diverse telecommuting practices and experiences. • Discussing the prospects of telecommuting in the post-Covid world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Examine the use of metaverse for transportation and logistics operations. • Establish an AI supported digital technological framework. • Propose and discuss future research areas. In the digital age, supported by disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain (BC), digital twins (DT), and extended reality (ER), the use of metaverse for real-world operations has emerged. In this paper, we examine the use of metaverse for transportation and logistics operations. To be specific, we first examine the related literature by a selective critical review. Then, we discuss how the use of metaverse can facilitate transportation operations with some relevant cases such as the metaverse project of MTR (from Hong Kong). We establish an AI supported digital technological framework, called the ABCDE framework, for transportation and logistics companies to adopt with their use of metaverse. Finally, we propose and discuss several important future research areas. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which comprehensively examines the use of metaverse for transportation and logistics operations. The theoretical framework also lays the foundation for future studies. The findings and insights provide constructive and helpful guidance to both practitioners and academics on the future development of the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper captures the group dynamics underpinning preservice teacher identity formation to understand how childhood schooling and teacher education shape the teaching metaphors teachers construct of intercultural education. We propose a theory of identity grafting (IG) for a precise framing of the diverse ways teachers identify with intercultural education vis-à-vis other pre-established aspects of their teacher identities. Studying their IGs helped us connect the preservice teachers' experiences with the experiences of other teachers that had emerged in global literature. We draw insights from our efforts to co-construct with preservice teachers their professional development in facilitating intercultural education. Adapting the activities based on their responses, we co-constructed with each other during the workshop teacher identities with a sense of connectedness between intercultural education and other pedagogical forms. We observed preservice teachers as we facilitated their discussions, employing ethnographic approaches to immerse ourselves in the interactions of the workshop participants. The findings revealed that preservice teachers had become more mindful of the implications of their intercultural education practices after having reflective dialogues with each other. However, although the teachers successfully integrated each other's views about intercultural education practices, this could not be sustained when they attempted to contextualize these efforts. The teachers could not reconcile their disparate childhood experiences with cultural diversity as students graduating from schools with differing academic performance rankings (school banding). Therefore, they struggled to connect their experiences with other pedagogical forms that they had previously encountered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While clinical diagnosis of mental health issues focuses on factual details represented by literal language (e.g., the onset and process of the triggering event and duration of symptom), the relationship between metaphorical language and psychopathological experiences remains an intriguing question. Focusing on psychological trauma triggered by the 2019–2020 Hong Kong social unrest, this study explored the correlations between trauma victims' quantitative metaphor usage patterns and their experience of specific Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) symptoms. Methods: Forty-six individuals with trauma exposure within 28 days were recruited through convenience sampling. Each completed a 20– to 30-minute semi-structured interview and filled out the Chinese version of the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire (SASRQ; 1). Metaphors in the interviews were identified using the discourse dynamic approach (2), and clinically interesting categories related to trauma and emotion expression, as revealed by previous literature, were sorted out. Standardized frequencies of the categories were correlated with participants' SASRQ scores of five major ASD symptoms, and the correlational patterns were interpreted from a discourse analytic perspective. Results: The study reveals how metaphor usage patterns can reflect the speakers' differentiated experiences of psychopathological symptoms. Compared with individuals who experienced less trauma, those more disturbed by the re-experiencing symptom were more inclined to use emotion-related metaphors and to metaphorize about the self and the self-society relationship. Individuals who experienced more severe anxiety and hyperarousal showed a heightened awareness of self-related issues and diminished attention to others. Those who suffered from more severe impairment in functioning produced more metaphors in the negative valence. Dissociation and avoidance, which were less experientially salient and intense than the others, were not significantly correlated with metaphor usage patterns. Conclusion: This study establishes symptom-level metaphor usage patterns as a previously overlooked but interesting avenue in trauma evaluation, treatment, and research. While the study is confined to a single context, it nevertheless reveals the potential for metaphor research findings to be incorporated as useful materials in psychology education and therapist training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]