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Background: Filial piety, as a major traditional norm in Chinese culture and in Chinese families, affects the attitudes and behaviors of adult children toward their parents and impacts their end-of-life decision-making and the quality of death of their parents. Death literacy is a novel concept aimed at promoting palliative care in the context of public health. Aims: To understand attitudes and behaviors related to filial piety and to examine the role of death literacy in filial behaviors toward dying parents among residents in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area of China. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey that employed the convenient and snowball sampling methods was adopted. Filial Piety Representations at Parents' End of Life Scale and Death Literacy Index were used. Results: This study identified a significant gap between the filial piety attitudes and behaviors of Chinese adult children. Gender, caregiving experience and death literacy were predictors of filial behaviors in an end-of-life context. Conclusion: Providing truth disclosure support, offering guidance to young adult children and caregivers of terminally ill fathers, and strengthening factual and community knowledge of death are necessary to enhance the reciprocal comfort of both adult children and dying parents in the context of Chinese filiality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate whether there was still a place for ESWL therapy in the endourological era. From 1988 to 2018, ESWL therapy was performed with 3 successive types of lithotripters in our hospital. From 1988 to 1998, the electrohydraulic lithotripter NS-15 was used, and the electromagnetic lithotripter HK-V was put to use in 1999. Since 2010, the electromagnetic lithotripter HK-Vm has been used. Over the 30-year period, 16,969 urolithiasis patients underwent ESWL therapy, including 124 paediatric cases and 178 special cases. The stone clearance rate (SCR) and postoperative complications in the 3 lithotripter groups were recorded and analysed. The SCR was estimated by ultrasonography or plain X-ray, while the complications were recorded by the modified Clavien grading system. The primary stone clearance rate (pSCR) of ureteral and renal stones was significantly improved in the HK-Vm group compared with the NS-15 and HK-V groups. The final stone clearance rate (fSCR) of lower calyx stones was considerably higher in the HK-Vm group (55.9%) than in the NS-15 (41.1%) and HK-V (44.1%) groups. Most complications were grade I and II, while the incidence of grade III and above complications was less than 3%. Additionally, the fSCR in paediatric and special cases ranged from 66.5% to 83.5%, with no record of severe complications. As our data showed, ESWL was effective and safe for most urolithiasis patients, including paediatric patients and special cases. Therefore, ESWL is still the major treatment option in the current endourological era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The progress in sentiment analytics and communication research provides a powerful scaffold by which to reexamine the long-debated research on residents' attitudes toward tourism. To mitigate the limitations of the classical survey-based research method, this study takes a news media sentiment analytics perspective to unveil how the residents' attitudes toward tourism evolve over time and how socioeconomic factors interact with such evolving attitudes in the context of Hong Kong. Drawn on a news data set containing 72,755 news articles published in Chinese language newspapers, this study computes the overall news sentiments for 156 calendar months since 2003, examines the face validity and nomological validity of the results, and discusses the long-run dynamics between residents' attitudes and typical socioeconomic factors. This study adds a vital dimension to current residents' attitudes research and practices from data-scarce to data-rich studies and from static snapshots to dynamic unfolding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the limitations in existing resident attitude research, a new concept of resident sentiment is proposed to describe local residents' overall perceptions of and emotional dispositions toward a dominant tourist market, in which attitude is a constituent part and behavioral response is implied. To operationalize this higher-order latent concept, this study developed measurements for its five components (cognitive and affective attitudes, identification, and two collective mentalities) identified from an earlier exploratory study. An online survey received 1,000 usable responses from Hong Kong residents to validate this construct in a nomological network. The results not only indicate the reliability and validity of the refined scales, but also provide support for resident sentiment as a better indicator of residents' behavioral responses than attitude. Resident sentiment has the potential for significant use in extending resident attitude studies by academics, as well as being a performance measure for practitioners seeking destination sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopted a single-group pretest-posttest design to explore the changes in 2,876 undergraduate students in positive youth development, psychological well-being and desired graduate attributes after they took a leadership subject utilising the positive youth development approach at one university in Hong Kong. The subject aims to promote undergraduates' leadership qualities, particularly their intra- and inter-personal competencies. Participants completed the same objective outcome evaluation forms before and after taking the subject. We found that the participants showed significant positive changes in most positive youth development attributes (i.e. self-determination, cognitive competence, behavioural competence, social competence, emotional competence, self-efficacy, spirituality, and clear and positive identity), life satisfaction and desired graduate attributes (including problem-solving ability, critical thinking, life-long learning and ethical leadership). The findings demonstrate that leadership subjects can promote the positive youth development of Chinese university students and enhance their psychosocial well-being and desired graduate attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first attempt to measure reactive and proactive aggression in 1,203 youths aged between 11 and 20 from Hong Kong, mainland China, Spain, and Uruguay using the reactive‐proactive aggression questionnaire (RPQ). The two‐factor RPQ construct was found to exhibit an excellent model fit for all subsamples, and the measurement and structural invariance across the four regions was also revealed. After controlling for age, the youth in Uruguay exhibited the highest levels of general, reactive, and proactive aggression, followed by Spain, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Reactive, proactive, and general aggression increased with age in the total sample, but the effects differed among regions. Boys were found to exhibit higher levels of general, reactive, and proactive aggression than girls only in Uruguayan sample. These findings confirmed the cross‐cultural generalizability of the two‐factor RPQ model, and suggested culture, age, and gender to be significant determinants of youth aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The behaviour of arsenic (As) from geogenic soil exposed to aerobic conditions is critical to predict the impact of As on the environment, which processes remain unresolved. The current study examined the depth profile of As in geologically derived subsoil cores from Hong Kong and investigated the mobilization, plant availability, and bioaccessibility of As in As-contaminated soil at different depths (0–45.8 m). Results indicated significant heterogeneity, with high levels of As in three layers of soil reaching up to 505 mg/kg at a depth of 5 m, 404 mg/kg at a depth of 15 m, and 1510 mg/kg at a depth of 27–32 m. Arsenic in porewater samples was <11.5 μg/L in the study site. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) indicated that main As species in soil was arsenate (As(V)), as adsorbed fraction to Fe oxides (41–69% on goethite and 0–8% on ferrihydrite) or the mineral form scorodite (30–57%). Sequential extraction procedure demonstrated that 0.5 ± 0.4% of As was exchangeable. Aerobic incubation experiments exhibited that a very small amount (0.14–0.48 mg/kg) of As was desorbed from the soil because of the stable As(V) complex structure on abundant Fe oxides (mainly goethite), where indigenous microbes partly (59 ± 18%) contributed to the release of As comparing with the sterilized control. Furthermore, no As toxicity in the soil was observed with the growth of ryegrass. The bioaccessibility of As was <27% in the surface soil using simplified bioaccessibility extraction test. Our systematic evaluation indicated that As in the geogenic soil profile from Hong Kong is relatively stable exposing to aerobic environment. Nevertheless, children and workers should avoid incidental contact with excavated soil, because high concentration of As was present in the digestive solution (<0.1–268 μg/L). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic films were collected from indoor and outdoor window surfaces in two large cities in southern China, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, and analyzed to quantify the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In the glass films, the highest concentration of total PAHs, predominantly phenanthrene, fluorene, fluoranthene, and pyrene, was found to be l400 ng/m2. The concentrations of PAHs in Guangzhou were usually higher than those in Hong Kong. In general, higher concentrations of PAHs on exterior window films in comparison with interior window films in both cities indicated that the outdoor air acted as a major source of pollution to the indoor environment. However, indoor air was a major source of some light-weight PAHs. Measurements made over time indicated that the growth rates of light-weight PAHs on window surfaces were fast at the beginning and then gradually reached a consistent level, whereas heavy-weight PAHs exhibited near-linear accumulation during the 40 days sampling period. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The concentration and loading distribution of trace metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Co, Ni, Cr, and Mn) and major elements (Al, Ca, Fe, and Mg) in different particle size fractions (2000–280, 280–100, 100–50, 50–10, 10–2, and <2μm) of surface soils from highly urbanized areas in Hong Kong were studied. The enrichment of Pb, Cu, and Zn in the urban soils was strongly influenced by anthropogenic activities, and Pb accumulated in fine particles was mainly derived from past vehicular emissions as shown by Pb isotopic signatures. Trace metals primarily accumulated in clay, fine silt, and very fine sand fractions, and might pose potential health risks via the inhalation of resuspended soil particles in the air (PM10 or PM2.5), and ingestion of adhered soils through the hand-to-mouth pathway. The mobility, bioavailability, and human bioaccessibility of Pb and Zn in bulk soils correlated significantly with metal concentrations in fine silt and/or very fine sand fractions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Carbonaceous aerosols were studied at three background sites in south and southwest China. Hok Tsui in Hong Kong had the highest concentrations of carbonaceous aerosols (OC=8.7±4.5μg/m3, EC=2.5±1.9μg/m3) among the three sites, and Jianfeng Mountains in Hainan Island (OC=5.8±2.6μg/m3, EC=0.8±0.4μg/m3) and Tengchong mountain over the east edge of the Tibetan Plateau (OC=4.8±4.0μg/m3, EC=0.5±0.4μg/m3) showed similar concentration levels. Distinct seasonal patterns with higher concentrations during the winter, and lower concentrations during the summertime were observed, which may be caused by the changes of the regional emissions, and monsoon effects. The industrial and vehicular emissions in East, Southeast and South China, and the regional open biomass burning in the Indo-Myanmar region of Asia were probably the two major potential sources for carbonaceous matters in this region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The mitigation of preventable readmissions is the key to enhance the quality and efficiency of healthcare services in Hong Kong's aging society. A general predictor like factorization machine (FM) can efficiently capture non-linear interactions among patient characteristics for readmission prediction. However, FM cannot formulate local patient heterogeneity that commonly exists due to different demographics and hospitalization characteristics. This study proposes a locally weighted factorization machine (WFM) by developing a locally weighting scheme that assigns differentiated weights for training instances in accordance with their local similarities with high-readmission-risk ones. Io account for global heterogeneity among patient groups, we further extend WFM and propose a fuzzy partition enhanced WFM model (i.e., WFMFP), which (I) splits the dataset into multiple training subsets with fuzzy partition approach, (II) fits the WFM model on the basis of each training subset, and (III) combines the sub-prediction WFM models by using Takagi–Sugeno–Kang fuzzy weighting mechanism. We collected a territory-wide cohort with electronic health records in Hong Kong during 2008 to 2017. We demonstrated that the proposed WFMFP model outperforms several baselines, including standard FM, XGBoost, Lightgbm, Catboost, Gradient boosting machine, random forests, SVMs with different kernels, and multilayer perceptron. Comparative analysis results demonstrate the effectiveness of applying the locally weighting notion into FM to improve readmission prediction for clinical resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Victoria Harbour has received substantial loadings of pollutants from industrial and municipal wastewater discharged since the 1950s. Inputs of contaminants have declined dramatically during the last two decades as a result of better controls at the source and improved wastewater treatment facilities. To assess the spatial and temporal changes of metal contaminants in sediments in Victoria Harbour, core and grab sediments were collected. The central harbour areas were generally contaminated with heavy metals. The spatial distribution of trace metals can probably be attributed to the proximity of major urban and industrial discharge points, and to the effect of tidal flushing in the harbour. In the sediment cores, the highest concentrations of trace metals were observed to have accumulated during the 1950s–1980s, corresponding with the period of rapid urban and industrial development in Hong Kong. From the late 1980s, there has been a major decline in the concentrations of trace metals, due to a reduction in industrial activities and to the enactment of wastewater pollution controls in the territory. The Pb isotopic compositions of the sediments revealed the anthropogenic inputs of Pb to the harbour. The 206Pb/207Pb ratios varied from 1.154 to 1.190, which were lower than those of background geological materials in Hong Kong (206Pb/207Pb: 1.201–1.279). The data also indicated that the Pb in the harbour sediments most likely originated from mixed sources, including the leaded gasoline used in the past and other anthropogenic sources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Surface sediments and sediment cores collected at the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) and its surrounding coastal area were analysed for total metal concentrations, chemical partitioning, and Pb isotopic compositions. The distribution of Cu, Cr, Pb, and Zn demonstrated a typical diffusion pattern from the land to the direction of the sea. Two hotspots of trace metal contamination were located at the mixed zone between freshwater and marine waters. The enrichment of metals in the sediments could be attributed to the deposition of the dissolved and particulate trace metals in the water column at the estuarine area. The similar Pb isotopic signatures of the sediments at the PRE and its surrounding coastal area offered strong evidence that the PRE was a major source of trace metals to the adjacent coastal area. Slightly lower 206Pb/207Pb ratios in the coastal sediments may indicate other inputs of Pb in addition to the PRE sources, including the inputs from Hong Kong and other parts of the region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the urban environment, intense human activities can lead to degradation of environmental quality and have potential long-term effects on human health. In the present study, Pb contamination of urban soil cores in Hong Kong was investigated using a combination of the ‘total’ concentration, chemical partitioning and isotopic composition of Pb in the soils. The analytical results showed that urban soil cores in close vicinity to high traffic volumes (>40 000 vehicles per day) were usually contaminated with Pb, suggesting atmospheric deposition of Pb as a consequence of vehicular emissions arising from the combustion of leaded gasoline in the past. Increasing Pb concentrations were generally associated with decreasing 206Pb/207Pb ratios of the contaminated soil cores, offering strong evidence of accumulation of Pb derived from anthropogenic sources. In selected contaminated soil cores, the 206Pb/207Pb ratios tended to increase in the order: carbonate

The ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) standard has been adopted in many parts of the world. In order to evaluate current implementation in Hong Kong, a questionnaire survey was conducted of more than 200 local companies. ISO 14001 EMS adoption is still slow in Hong Kong, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The majority of SMEs do not have plans to implement the standard in the near future. However, the EMS standard has brought many advantages to the local ISO 14001 EMS certified companies, including the reduction of operating costs and the improvement of working efficiency. Recommendations are made for EMS standard implementation in local organizations, particularly SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines recent Sino-US film collaborations, focusing on Mulan (2020) against the backdrop of geopolitical shifts and the COVID-19 pandemic. Through in-depth interviews and a case study, it investigates the lukewarm reception of Mulan (2020) in China. The study explores how external pressures have disrupted the previously thriving partnership, leading to investment uncertainty, intensified censorship, and shifts in audience consumption towards online platforms, which have exacerbated piracy issues. It also addresses the political tensions surrounding Mulan (2020), including controversies related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong, which hindered its box-office success in Mainland China despite domestic support. A comparative analysis with Mulan (1998) assesses the evolution of feminist themes and filial piety in the 2020 adaptation. The findings indicate that while efforts were made to enhance feminist narratives and cultural motifs, the execution was superficial, treating complex cultural themes as mere embellishments rather than integral elements of the narrative. The film's portrayal of these themes within a predominantly Western framework highlights ongoing challenges in bridging cultural narratives in Sino-US film productions. The findings underscore the profound impact of geopolitics and reveal the contentious portrayal of feminism and cultural integration in Mulan (2020), emphasizing the challenges in Sino-US film collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Trace metals in soils may pose risks to both ecosystem and human health, especially in an urban environment. However, only a fraction of the metal content in soil is mobile and/or available for biota uptake and human ingestion. Various environmental availabilities of trace metals (Cu, Pb and Zn) in topsoil from highly urbanized areas of Hong Kong to plants, organisms, and humans, as well as the leaching potential to groundwater were evaluated in the present study. Forty selected soil samples were extracted with 0.11M acid acetic, 0.01M calcium chloride, 0.005M diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, and simplified physiologically based extraction tests (PBET) for the operationally defined mobilizable, effectively bioavailable, potentially bioavailable, and human bioaccessible metal fractions, respectively. The metals were generally in the order of Zn>Cu∼Pb for both mobility (24%, 7.6%, 6.7%) and effective bioavailability (2.8%, 0.9%, 0.6%), Pb (18%)>Cu (13%)>Zn (7.4%) for potential bioavailability, and Pb (59%)∼Cu (58%)>Zn (38%) for human bioaccessibility. Although the variations in the different available concentrations of metals could mostly be explained by total metal concentrations in soil, the regression model predictions were further improved by the incorporation of soil physicochemical properties (pH, OM, EC). The effectively bioavailable Zn and Pb were mostly related to soil pH. Anthropogenic Pb in urban soils tended to be environmentally available as indicated by Pb isotopic composition analysis. Combining various site-specific environmental availabilities might produce a more realistic estimation for the integrated ecological and human health risks of metal contamination in urban soils. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study evaluated the feasibility of 2-h chemical-enhanced washing of As-containing soil resulting from geogenic sources in Hong Kong and the fate of As before and after remediation. The soil morphology and As speciation in soil was elucidated by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Integrated analysis of the results suggests that the As (> 90%) resides predominantly as arsenate bound to ferric iron oxides, with a minor contribution (< 10%) from an As III -sulphide phase. This accounts for the marginal leachability, mobility, and bioaccessibility of geogenic As in the untreated soil despite its high concentration. Among the five types of reagents (organic ligands, reductants, alkaline solvents, inorganic acids, and chelants), only dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate method and alkaline solvents (NaOH and Na 2 CO 3 ) extracted 37–78% and 26–42% of the As by mineral dissolution. However, these extraction methods notably increased the leachability, mobility, and bioaccessibility of remaining As after soil washing, suggesting that a significant proportion of newly released As is prone to re-adsorption onto the soil surface and becomes highly mobile and bioaccessible. While inorganic acids and chelating agents had marginal effects on the fate of remaining As, organic ligands (citrate, oxalate, or pyrophosphate) probably destabilized the bonding of geogenic As and increased its mobility/bioaccessibility despite marginal extraction. The applicability of chemical extraction of geogenic As is questionable regardless of chemical agents, thus proper management of the As-containing soil by containment or physical encapsulation may be considered before land development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geogenic sources of arsenic (As) have aroused extensive environmental concerns in many countries. This study evaluated the vertical profiles, leaching characteristics, and surface characteristics of As-containing soils in Hong Kong. The results indicated that elevated levels of As (486–1985 mg kg −1 ) were mostly encountered in deeper layer (15–20 m below ground). Despite high concentrations, geogenic As displayed a high degree of chemical stability in the natural geochemical conditions, and there was minimal leaching of As in various leaching tests representing leachability, mobility, phytoavailability, and bioaccessibility. Microscopic/spectroscopic investigations suggested that As in the soils was predominantly present as As(V) in a coordination environment with Fe oxides. Sequential extraction indicated that the majority of As were strongly bound with crystalline Fe/Al oxides and residual phase. Yet, uncertainties may remain with potential As exposure through accidental ingestion and abiotic/biotic transformation due to changes in geochemical conditions. Hence, the effectiveness of stabilization/solidification (S/S) treatment was evaluated. Although the leached concentrations of As from the S/S treated soils increased to varying extent in different batch leaching tests due to the increase in alkalinity, the mobility of As was considered very low based on semi-dynamic leaching test. This suggested that As immobilization in the S/S treated soils was predominantly dependent on physical encapsulation by interlocking framework of hydration products, which could also prevent potential exposure and allow controlled utilization of S/S treated soils as monolithic materials. These results illustrate the importance of holistic assessment and treatment/management of As-containing soils for enabling flexible future land use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mainstream anammox is successfully applied to treat CEPT saline sewage in pilot-scale. • Startup of pilot-scale mainstream anammox from activated sludge is feasible. • Kuenenia responds to N removal in the saline mainstream anammox process. • Synergetic AMX, SRB, SOB, and DNB accomplish the removal of C-N from saline sewage. • NOB washout is not obligatory to succeed mainstream anammox, but NOB suppression does. Seawater for toilet flushing conserves the scarce freshwater resources in Hong Kong and similar densely-populated coastal cities. Saline sewage treatment using energy-efficient anammox-based processes appears to be beneficial, with notable potential for the future. However, the feasibility of this process remains uncharted, especially from its start-up to its steady-state cooperation. In this study, a pilot-scale mainstream anammox process was succeeded in a granular activated carbon fluidized-bed membrane bioreactor (FMBR) with only inoculating saline anaerobic digestion sludge. The FMBR, operating at the dissolved oxygen (DO) of 0.04-0.16 mg/L, achieved comparable nitrogen removal rates of 50.1-78.3 g N/m3/d while treating real chemically enhanced primary treatment saline sewage at 3.2 m3/d. Excluding Scalindua , 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed a high abundance of common-freshwater-observed Kuenenia from 0.2% (day 259) to 1.3% (day 332) in biofilms. Nitrosomonas, responsible for ammonium oxidation, dominated in biofilms and accounted for 1.8%-9.2%. Nitrite oxidizing bacteria incursion happened unexpectedly, due to high oxygen exposure/supply from temporary on-site technical difficulties; however, NOB suppression was achieved by controlling DO at <0.16 mg/L, leading the FMBR's stability over the 343-day operation. Sulfate-reducing bacteria and sulfur-dependent denitrifiers propagated with high abundance, representing 14.0±10.6% and 6.0±2.0% in suspensions and 7.2±1.8% and 15.9±2.3% in biofilms, respectively. Further, metagenomic sequencing analysis indicated the C-N-S synergy of nitritation, anammox, sulfate reduction, and mixotrophic denitrification in the FMBR. Importantly, this research found that such a novel C-N-S synergy was made by the scavenges of hydrogen sulfide by Gammaproteobacteria sp. (B01 and B19) and Thioalkalispiraceae sp. (B03 and B04), species having ascendancy subsisting in the presence of oxygen owing to their aptitude of detoxifying reactive oxygen species. Knowledge gleaned from this study, as well as a complete set of pilot experimental data, could serve as a strong technical base for the larger-scale application of this process. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hong Kong (HKEx) and Singapore (SGX) exchanges remain conflicted about high frequency trading (HFT), reflecting the environment of private and public sector actors in which the HKEx and SGX operate. Neither exchange has resolved these conflicts, leaving the HFT controversy simmering and limiting the amounts of such trading occurring on their exchanges. Competitor exchanges in Asia, however, are more supportive of HFT. With the aid of technology providers which enable HFT, the HKEx and SGX significantly improved their trading infrastructures. At the same time, these providers developed data centres at other exchanges and built fibre-optic connections which permit low-latency trading across Asia. Traders in Hong Kong and Singapore access these exchanges, potentially undermining the HKEx and SGX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To describe inclusive practices in Hong Kong schools, the author presents the current state of educating children and youth with disabilities in Hong Kong schools. The article also highlights specific strategies in the inclusive educational settings that promote holistic learning and development for children in the region. Implications for other countries are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Organic films, collected from indoor and outdoor window surfaces in Guangzhou and Hong Kong of South China, were analyzed to quantify their organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) content. The highest concentrations of OC, EC, and BDE-209 were found in Guangzhou with values of 10 000 μg m−2, 2200 μg m−2, and 4000 ng m−2, respectively, and the highest concentration of Σ7PBDE (sum of BDE-28, -47, -99, -100, -153, -154 and -183) was found in Hong Kong with a value of 25 ng m−2. In most cases, the concentrations of PBDEs were higher in the exterior films than those in the interior films with BDE-209 as the predominant congener in both cities, suggesting that PBDEs mainly come from ambient environment, and deca-BDE accounts for major PBDE consumption. The growth rates of organic film on window surfaces were fast at the beginning, and reached a consistent level afterwards. The evolution rates ranged from 2.6 to 11 nm day−1 for “bulk film”, while from 0.06 to 0.92 nm day−1 for “pure film”. The concentrations of PBDEs on the window surfaces did not increase with the growth time, suggesting that the window surface may provide a good place for photo-degradation of PBDEs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In Hong Kong, even though the Bill of Rights Ordinance (the localized version of ICCPR), Sex Discrimination Ordinance and a series of legal reforms (such as the cancellation of marital exemption of rape and the recognition of sexual discrimination in criminal law) were enacted and introduced respectively since the 1990s, gender/sexual discrimination in the legal discourse still persists; for example: Chinese customary law which only recognizes the male's right to build small houses in the New Territories remains an exception under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance; the government insists on not tabling an anti-sexual-orientation discrimination bill; the right to same sex marriage/partnership is still absent from any legal-political agenda; and so on. Some politicians and academics argue that any attempt to transplant a Euro-American individual-centric perspective of gender/sexual equality/justice will violate the Han-Chinese culture of harmony. In the paper, I will adopt a critical perspective in examining the above argument and examine why harmony politics becomes a meta-narrative in Han-Chinese socio-legal culture and how human nature/subjectivity is re-constituted in such a context. I will further argue that a culture should always be meticulously and critically represented and investigated in order to reproduce 'gender/sexual justice'. I will also investigate the possibility of scrutinizing and exploring the spaces of resistance within the Han-Chinese socio-legal culture in Hong Kong, where foreign theory of gender/sexual justice/equality and related legal reforms can be engaged to politicize current discrimination and suppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sediment cores, suspended particles and overlying water were collected in Deep Bay, Hong Kong. Enrichment of Zn in surface sediments in the landward direction and the decreasing of exchangeable Cd. Ni and Zn in sediment from the inner bay to the outer bay indicated the influence of anthropogenic pollutants discharged from the riparian runoffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]