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In this study, we explored the extent to which Australian, Chinese, and Korean middle school students perceived themselves to have scientific literacy as global citizens and attempted to identify differences and/or commonalities in their perceptions. A total of 655 middle school students (8th and 9th grades; 358 girls and 297 boys) from the three countries participated in the study. We used Global Scientific Literacy Questionnaires (GSLQ) as a survey instrument to assess the students' perceptions. The GSLQ was developed based on a conceptual framework of Scientific Literacy suggested by Choi, Kim, Lee, Mun, Choi, Krajcik & Shin (2011) and Choi, Lee, Shin, Kim & Krajcik ("Journal of Research in Science Teaching", 48(6), 670-697, 2011) for citizenship education in the 21st century. The results indicated that most of the students from the three countries showed a tendency toward higher scores for Science as human endeavor; the lowest scores were in Meta-cognition and self-direction. A pattern of gender difference was also examined among the three countries. We suggest future research questions based on a cross-cultural perspective in order to explore the reasons for the existence of these similarities and differences.

To develop effective strategies for controlling both PM 2.5 and O3 levels, it is crucial to understand their synergistic mechanisms and key precursors and the atmospheric physiochemical processes involved. In this study, a wintertime co-occurring O3 and PM 2.5 pollution event in a coastal city in southeast China was investigated based on high-time-resolution measurements of criteria air pollutants and chemical compositions of PM 2.5 , and O3 precursors, such as NOx , HCHO, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The results of this study revealed the characteristics of positively correlated PM 2.5 and MDA8 O3 concentrations, and an increase in atmospheric oxidation capacity (AOC) during the cold seasons. Strong correlations (R2= 0.415–0.477) between HCHO, Fe, Mn, and sulfate concentrations were observed, suggesting the influence of catalyzed oxidation processes in the coastal city. Through an observation-based model (OBM) analysis coupled with the Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism, version 2 (RACM2) and the Chemical Aqueous-Phase Radical Mechanism, version 3.0 (CAPRAM 3.0), we found that high concentrations of precursors (SO2 and HCHO), high relative humidity, and moderately acidic pH conditions enhanced the heterogeneous formation of hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) in PM 2.5. Furthermore, by employing an OBM coupled to the Master Chemical Mechanism (OBM-MCM), we verified that disabling the HCHO mechanism could decrease daytime net O3 production rates by reducing the production rates of HO2 + NO. These results were consistent with the daily values of AOC, OH, HO2 , and RO2 concentrations. This study contributes to a better understanding of the significance of HCHO in photochemical reactions and the formation of HMS in a coastal city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop the effective strategies for controlling both PM2.5 and O3 levels, it is crucial to understand their synergistic mechanisms, key precursors, and atmospheric physiochemical processes involved. In this study, a wintertime co-occurring O3 and PM2.5 pollution event in a coastal city in southeast China was investigated based on high-time resolution measurements of criteria air pollutants, chemical compositions of PM2.5, and O3 precursors, such as NOx, HCHO, and VOCs. The results of this study revealed a positive correlation between PM2.5 and MDA8 O3 concentrations during the whole periods, suggesting an increase in atmospheric oxidation capacity (AOC) during the cold seasons. Strong correlations (R2 = 0.415–0.477) were observed between HCHO, Fe, Mn, and sulfate concentrations, suggesting the influence of catalyzed oxidation processes in the coastal city. Through an observation-based model (OBM) analysis coupled with the regional atmospheric chemistry mechanism version 2 (RACM2) and the chemical aqueous-phase radical mechanism version 3.0 (CAPRAM 3.0), we found that high concentrations of precursors (SO2 and HCHO), high relative humidity, and moderately acidic pH conditions enhanced the heterogeneous formation of hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) in PM2.5. Furthermore, by employing the Master Chemical Mechanism (OBM-MCM), we verified that disabling the HCHO mechanism could decrease daytime net O3 production rates by reducing the production rates of HO2+NO. These results were consistent with the daily values of AOC, OH, HO2, and RO2 concentrations. This study contributes to a better understanding of the significance of HCHO in photochemical reactions and the formation of secondary aerosols in a coastal city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study provides real-world evidence for the relationship between strategic communication from a global/multinational perspective and the effectiveness of corporate message strategies in the context of environment risk communication. Among sustainability issues, particulate matter (PM) air pollution has threatened the health and social wellbeing of citizens in many countries. The purpose of this paper is to apply the message framing and attribution theories in the context of sustainability communication to determine the effects of risk message characteristics on publics' risk responses. Design/methodology/approach: Using a 2 (message frame: gain vs loss) × 2 (attribution type: internal vs external) × 2 (country: China vs South Korea) between-subjects experimental design, the study examines the message framing strategies' on publics' risk responses (i.e. risk perception, risk responsibility attribution held toward another country and sustainable behavioral intention for risk prevention). Findings: Findings include (1) main effects of message characteristics on participants' risk responses; (2) the impact of country difference on participants' differential risk responses and (3) three-way interactions on how risk message framing, risk threats type and country difference jointly affect not only participants' risk perception and risk responsibility attribution but also their sustainable behavioral intention to prevent PM. Research limitations/implications: Although this study used young–adult samples in China and South Korea, the study advances the theory building in strategic environmental risk communication by emphasizing a global/multinational perspective in investigating differences among at-risk publics threatened by large-scale environmental risks. Practical implications: The study's findings provide evidence-based implications such as how government agencies can enhance the environmental risk message strategy so that it induces more desired risk communication outcomes among at-risk publics. Insights from our study offer practical recommendations on which message feature is relatively more impactful in increasing intention for prosocial behavioral changes. Social implications: This study on all measured risk responses reveals important differences between at-risk young publics in China and South Korea and how they respond differently to a shared environmental risk such as PM. The study's findings provide new evidence that media coverage of global environmental issues needs to be studied at the national level, and cross-cultural comparisons are imperative to understand publics' responses to different news strategies. Thus, this study offers implications for practitioners to understand and apply appropriate strategies to publics in a social way across different countries so as to tailor risk communication messaging. Originality/value: This study offers new insights to help connect message framing effects with communication management practice at the multi-national level, providing recommendations for government communication practitioners regarding which PM message features are more likely to be effective in forming proper risk perception and motivate sustainable actions among at-risk publics in different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study elaborates on the benefits and challenges of lecturer-led, class-level online international collaboration between two colleges in Korea and China, based on the students' feedback and the lecturers' reflections. More specifically, this study reports the content of collaboration as group assignments in 2015 and online joint classes in 2018. Students' reflections on each task were collected and thematically analyzed. The results show that students perceived enhanced understanding of the topics and each other's regions through the two collaborative activities. Furthermore, informal interactions among the students from the two different cultures appeared to facilitate intercultural understanding and enhance intercultural competence as a result. Students particularly appreciated the inclusive nature of this educational method, which is not bounded by prior educational achievement and financial restrictions. Reflections from the two lecturers further illustrate the challenges with joint class organization, including class scheduling, aligning course content, language issues, and technical problems. This study addresses consideration for international class collaboration among tertiary educational institutions at the class level in the field of tourism and leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in both gas and total suspended particles were measured at Gosan, Jeju Island in Korea, a remote background site, for 15 days (March 29–April 12, 2002). During the sampling period, a severe three-day Asian dust (AD) event originating from Mongolia and northern China was observed throughout the Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island. In addition, pollution (PO) and normal (NO) periods were also identified based on the levels of anthropogenic pollutants. Despite a large difference of PM10 concentrations between the AD and PO periods, the levels of particulate PAHs in both periods were comparable (2.7±1.0 and 2.4±0.5ngm−3, respectively) since they were determined by the concentration of anthropogenic PM2.5 transported from industrial areas of China. In the AD period, the level of gaseous PAHs, which were mostly from local sources, was the lowest due to strong winds; the gas/particle partitioning was close to equilibrium as the effect of long-range transport was manifested. The results of backward air trajectories, correlation analysis, and diagnostic ratios show that long-range transport of particulate PAHs produced by coal/biomass burning in China could strongly affect the levels and patterns of PAHs at Gosan, Korea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Revealing the changes in chemical compositions and sources of PM 2.5 is important for understanding aerosol chemistry and emission control strategies. High time-resolved characterization of water-soluble inorganic ions, elements, organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC) in PM 2.5 was conducted in a coastal city of southeast China during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed that the average concentration of PM 2.5 during the city lockdown (CLD) decreased from 46.2 μg m−3 to 24.4 μg m−3, lower than the same period in 2019 (PM 2.5 : 37.1 μg m−3). Concentrations of other air pollutants, such as SO 2 , NO 2 , PM 10 , OC, EC, and BC, were also decreased by 27.3%–67.8% during the CLD, whereas O 3 increased by 28.1%. Although SO 2 decreased from 4.94 μg m−3to 1.59 μg m−3 during the CLD, the concentration of SO 4 2− (6.63 μg m−3) was comparable to that (5.47 μg m−3) during the non-lockdown period, which were attributed to the increase (16.0%) of sulfate oxidation rate (SOR). O x (O 3 +NO 2) was positively correlated with SO 4 2−, suggesting the impacts of photochemical oxidation. A good correlation (R2 = 0.557) of SO 4 2− and Fe and Mn was found, indicating the transition-metal ion catalyzed oxidation. Based on positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis, the contribution of secondary formation to PM 2.5 increased during the epidemic period, consisting with the increase of secondary organic carbon (SOC), while other primary sources including traffic, dust, and industry significantly decreased by 9%, 8.5%, and 8%, respectively. This study highlighted the comprehensive and nonlinear response of chemical compositions and formation mechanisms of PM 2.5 to anthropogenic emissions control under relatively clean conditions. [Display omitted] • Chemical characterization of PM 2.5 during the COVID-19 pandemic was investigated. • Sulfate oxidation rate was enhanced by Fe/Mn catalyzed and photochemical oxidation. • High time resolution source apportionment of PM 2.5 exactly reflects emissions control. • Reduced NO x resulted in O 3 enhancement, further facilitating secondary aerosol formation. The concentration of SO 4 2− in PM 2.5 was significantly enhanced by transition-metal ion catalyzed and photochemical oxidation during the COVID-19 lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]