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China’s rise and technology denials : a study of variations in allies’ cooperation with the United States
Get PDFUS and its allies worked closely to deny the USSR’s access to advanced technologies during the Cold War. In addition to multilateral mechanisms such as CoCom, they also took similar unilateral measures despite disputes between them. Yet, compared to the US-Soviet strategic rivalry, US-allies cooperation over technology denials against China is much less coordinated. Allies have not only taken different unilateral policies but also shown major disputes with the US. Allies’ unsynchronized and inconsistent unilateral technology transfer policies and the absence of multilateral institutions similar to the CoCom demonstrate the looseness in current US cooperation with allies in the China context. This study finds that the presence and absence of allies’ security rivalry with China and their threat perceptions shape their motives to work with the US over technology denials against rising powers
Dilemmas, reactivity and paper support : the support conceptualisations and experiences of students with disabilities in Ghanaian higher education
Get PDFSupport is considered crucial for all higher education (HE) students including students with disabilities (SWDs). Disability support in higher educational institutions (HEIs) bridges resulting gaps from disabling barriers between the achievement of SWDs and their peers, while benefiting all students. Hence, the call for mainstreaming support for SWDs in HE. The drive towards widening access and participation in the Ghanaian educational system is evidenced in current educational policies including the Inclusive Education (IE) policy. However, scant literature exists on SWDs’ conceptualisations and experiences of support stemming from inclusive HE and its related policy in Ghana.
This study aimed at hearing the “voices” of key actors in inclusive HE, namely SWDs and support staff in relation to perspectives and experiences of inclusive support practices and provisions. This was to highlight benefits and challenges to enhance related policy and practice by stakeholders, institutional and national policy makers. The study researched three Ghanaian public university’s institutional policy and practice of inclusion as perceived and experienced by thirty SWDs in relation to support in HE. A ualitative and longitudinal approach was used in researching with participants, due to the limitation of quantifying their ‘lived’ experiences in relation to support and their perspectives of it. Methods employed in the study included semi-structured interviews, semi-participant observations and document analysis of institutional policies. The Capabilities approach (CA) was used as the theoretical framework.
Data collected was thematically analysed. Key themes that emerged included the variability and multiplicity of SWDs’ conceptualisations of support in Ghanaian higher education. Support perspectives of SWDs varied within and across institutions, disability category, time and place. Support was found to be a complex, evolving and contextualized concept. Participants’ support conceptualisations which focused on financial, logistical and socioemotional support, also highlighted how such perspectives were shaped by individual, institutional and structural factors in line with the CA. However, participants’ predominant emphasis on financial support, challenges and delays in its access and resultant limitations, highlighted the need to bring back the financial capital perspective into the CA.
Inter and intra-personal variances were found in SWDs’ support experiences based on individual, institutional, inter-personal and disability category factors. Participants experienced varied but inconsistent and uncertain support in the three universities, often depended on staff and other’s discretion, rather than policy provisions and procedures. Nonexistent financial support and delays in accessing available ones as well as institutional differences in accessible financial, mobility and logistical support were among the predominant participant experiences. A cyclical relationship was identified between participants’ support conceptualisations and their experiences, whereby both were found to influence each other while also being influenced by individual and structural factors. The study highlighted the need to consult students in policy and support formulation, implementation, and organisation prior to and upon HE entry. Disability policies must be streamlined and standardized, individualized, and contextualized, while mainstreaming some support
Public sector unions and government financing
Get PDFUnions play a significant role in the U.S. public sector. Most studies focus on unions in the private sector, but their role in the public sector is much more significant. According to the latest Current Population Survey (CPS) by the U.S. Census Bureau, more than one-third of public sector employees are union members, whereas private sector union membership is around 6%. In this paper, we examine the impact of public sector unions on the financing costs of government because the cost of financing is one of the major concerns of governments.
We employ an exogenous shock induced by the Supreme Court\u27s Janus ruling to investigate how public sector unions affect government financing costs. The Janus ruling diminished the power of public sector unions by restricting compulsory union membership or payment of union fees in the public sector. Through a series of validity tests, we find that these restrictions decrease the public sector unionization rate, public sector employment, and government expenditures, supporting our identification strategy. To proxy for changes in government debt financing costs, we use secondary municipal bond yields to measure government financing costs, as these trading activities immediately reflect changes in municipal bond yields.
We first conduct an event study to compute the cumulative abnormal bond returns and split the sample by unionization rate. We find that the group with high unionization rates achieve higher cumulative abnormal returns and lower yields after the Janus ruling compared to the group with low unionization rates. We then conduct our baseline regression using a difference-in-differences design and find that the decrease in public sector union power following the Janus ruling reduces the cost of government financing, as indicated by lower municipal bond yields. The effect is more pronounced in states with high unionization rates or high heavy pension liabilities, suggesting that stronger unions are more likely to increase government\u27s credit risk. We confirm the robustness of our result using a matching-based design and a staggered law initiation. We also confirm the robustness of our research design by using a placebo test in the corporate sector, as the Janus ruling exclusively affects public sector unions
Assist conservation with microbiome? An investigation using native Amphibian species in Hong Kong
Get PDFMicroorganisms often have a negative connotation of disease, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. However, many microorganisms are essential to health, from assisting nutrient acquisition to providing insights in advanced medicine. The diverse microorganisms (including bacteria, viruses, fungi, archaea, and protozoans) inhabiting a host are collectively known as the “microbiota”. The importance of microbiota is not limited to humans, but also applies to wildlife. Recent research highlighted the tremendous potential of applying microbiota research to wildlife conservation, such as understanding host’s health in relation to anthropogenic effects. Amphibians, being one of the most diverse but threatened groups of vertebrates, are an ideal study system for conservation-based microbiome studies.
In this study, I collect five types of amphibian microbiota samples (skin, small intestine, large intestine, faeces, and undigested content) in two native amphibian species — the Lesser Spiny Frog (Quasipaa exilispinosa) and the Hong Kong Cascade Frog (Amolops hongkongensis); and two types of environmental microbiota samples (water and sediment) across seven sites. I adopt a compositional data analysis approach for robust statistical analysis to address the following research question. In this thesis, I aim to gain a better understanding of wildlife microbiome, using amphibian as a study system. I hope that the results will highlight the importance of microbiome research, serve as a model for future studies, and assist in amphibian conservation.
In Chapter 1, I present a literature review summarising findings of recent microbiome studies — methodologies, analytical approaches, and major findings. In Chapter 2, I first characterise the microbiota of two local frog species (Q. exilispinosa and A. hongkongensis), followed by investigate the impact of common factors on amphibian microbiota — species identity, locality, and the environment. I found species identity is an important factor driving amphibian microbiota, but not for small intestinal microbiota. Locality has a non-significant effect on amphibian microbiota across the seven sampling sites in Hong Kong, presumably due to the relatively narrow geographic range of my study. Lastly, I found the environment (water and sediment) had significant difference with amphibian microbiota, raising the possibility that rare taxa in the environment can colonise and dominate on the host. In Chapter 3, I validate two intestinal sampling strategy in amphibians. Firstly, the use of faecal sample as an intestinal microbiota proxy — a widely used, but recently heavily criticised sampling methodology. I found that faeces only partially represent microbial profile and community structure in both the small and large intestine. The result raises caution on equating faecal and intestinal microbiota, interpretation should be made carefully. Secondly, I evaluate the risk of undigested material contaminating intestinal samples. In the comparison of undigested content with faeces showed a significant difference in community structure, emphasising the necessity of removing undigested content when sampling intestinal microbiota. In Chapter 4, I summarise the major findings of each chapter, then discuss the application of microbiome studies to amphibian conservation. Hong Kong has a limited foundation in the study and application of microbiota research to conservation, and I hope my work highlights the importance and stimulates the adoption of such approaches
嶺南大學校歌 = Alma Mater Song
Get PDF嶺南大學校歌 (Alma Mater Song)，曲調源自美國作曲人 Henry S. Thompson 所作的 Annie Lisle ，校歌最初只有由嶺南學校附屬中學葛理佩夫人 (Mrs. Henry Blair Graybill) 在康樂建校初期所填的英文歌詞，後來司徒衛先生為使不諳英語的學生都能唱頌校歌，特邀國文教師陳輯五先生一同將歌詞譯成中文。
歌詞
平原廣闊 瞭近目前 江水流其間 群邱遠繞 恆為障護 奮前莫畏難 母校屹立 風波不搖 佳氣承遠方 地美人娛 乃祖所賜 愛保兩勿忘 韶光幾度 花娛鳥樂 飽受春風雨 使我樂輸 黃金時刻 基爾高黌序 當前百事 待儂担負 不怕半途廢 壯我胸懷 得如昔在 母校光風裡
Broad the plain before us reaches, Calm the tides that flow; Far the mountains ever guard us, On in strength we go. College mother, calm thou standest, Given from afar; Wondrous land our fathers gave us, True to both we are! In thy care bright years are bringing Joys in happy throng; To thy life, these years were giving Gladly us this song. In the years and strife before us Never shall we fail; Courage, then, as joy thou\u27 lt give us, Alma Mater Hail!https://commons.ln.edu.hk/lingnan_music_scores/1000/thumbnail.jp
Lingnan Gardeners Newsletter (No. 61) = 彩園通訊 (第61期)
Get PDFhttps://commons.ln.edu.hk/ln_gardeners_newsletter/1061/thumbnail.jp
The Sounds of the Tang Poetry : Mastering tonal patterns of recent-style poetry : Mastering tones in modern and middle Chinese
No full textThis podcast you are listening to is the soundtrack of the first episode of HOW TO READ CHINESE POETRY VIDEOS. Taking advantage of ppt charts and animation, this episode shows viewers how to follow the three basic rules of tonal patterning to construct tonally regulated lines, then couplets, and finally quatrains. The episode ends by inviting viewers to write out quatrain tonal patterns on their own.
Click the link to watch the video and subscribe to our channel: https://youtu.be/bxp6Au7JKHE AIGC
The intergenerational sources of the U-turn in gender segregation
No full textIn the early 1970s, the balkanization of the US labor market into “men’s occupations” and “women’s occupations” began to unravel, as women entered the professions and other male typed sectors in record numbers. This decline in gender segregation continued on for several decades but then suddenly stalled at the turn of the century and shows no signs of resuming. Although the stall is itself undisputed, its sources remain unclear. Based on her most recent work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in coauthorship with Dr David Grusky, Dr Zhu showed that a resurgence in segregation inducing forms of intergenerational transmission stands behind the recent stall. Far from serving as impartial conduits, fathers are now disproportionately conveying male typed occupations to their sons, whereas mothers are effectively gender neutral in their transmission outcomes. This segregative turn among fathers accounts for 47 of the stall in the gender segregation trend (between 2000 and 2018), while the earlier integrative turn among fathers accounts for 34 of the initial downturn in segregation (between 1972 and 1999). It follows that a U turn in intergenerational processes lies behind the U turn in gender segregation
二百年來粵音聲韻的變化 : 以馬禮遜（1782 - 1834）為考察對象
Get PDF馬禮遜（1782–1834）是第一位來華的基督教傳教士及牧師，一生致力宣揚基督福音和研究漢語。馬禮遜的最大成就，莫過於研究當時粵語和粵音。1815年，馬禮遜出版《通用漢言之法》，當中記載338個以粵音標注的漢字，可謂有史以來第一本記下粵方言語音資料的文獻，其重要性不言而喻。1828年，馬禮遜出版《廣東省土話字彙》，進一步記錄當時粵音和粵各地區方言的資料，更是奠定馬禮遜於早期粵語及粵音研究的重要地位。
本論文先介紹研究緣起、粵音概況及研究方法，之後介紹及分析馬禮遜《通用漢言之法》和《廣東省土話字彙》的音韻系統，與現今粵音的聲母及韻母作比較，既集中研究與展現二百年前的粵音概況，亦可令讀者思考粵語及粵音應當何去何從
The many realms of digital intimacies
No full textIn the current world, our bodies and lives exist in both online and offline spaces, and somewhere in between and beyond. What do we understand by digital intimacy in this context? Can one by sure that what is intimacy is also private? Does intimacy only mean romantic or sexual intimacy, or is it much more in the online? When everyone doesn‘t have free and meaningful access to digital spaces, and with a digital gender gap which is higher in Larger World countries, how does digital intimacy play out for people of diverse identities