Boston Hospitality Review: Spring 2014

Going to School on University Hotels by Matthew Arrants -- The Food Photography Trend: A Discussion of the Popular Trend and Tips on Taking Great Pictures by Laurel Greenfield -- Back to the Front: Improving Guest Experiences at The Langham, Hong Kong by Michael Oshins -- The Healthy Hotel by John D. Murtha -- Southern New England’s Middle-Skill Gap: Dilemma for the Hospitality Industry by Erinn D. Tucke

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome amongst patients with severe mental illness in the community in Hong Kong--a cross sectional study

Background: Patients with severe mental illness are at increased risk of developing metabolic disorders. The risk of metabolic syndrome in the Hong Kong general population is lower than that observed in western countries; however the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with severe mental illness in Hong Kong is unknown. Method: This cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with severe mental illness in Hong Kong and to identify the relationships between metabolic syndrome and socio-demographic, clinical and lifestyle factors. Results: A total of 139 patients with a diagnosis of severe mental illness participated in the study. The unadjusted prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 35%. The relative risk of metabolic syndrome in comparison with the general Hong Kong population was 2.008 (95% CI 1.59-2.53, p < 0.001). In a logistic regression model sleep disruption and being prescribed first generation antipsychotics were significantly associated with the syndrome, whilst eating less than 3 portions of fruit/vegetables per day and being married were weakly associated. Conclusion The results demonstrate that metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent and that physical health inequalities in patients with severe mental illness in Hong Kong are similar to those observed in western countries. The results provide sufficient evidence to support the need for intervention studies in this setting and reinforce the requirement to conduct regular physical health checks for all patients with severe mental illness

Proton-Proton Fusion in Effective Field Theory to Fifth Order

The proton-proton fusion process p p->d e^+ nu_e is calculated at threshold to fifth order in pionless effective field theory. There are two unknown two-body currents contributing at the second and fourth orders. Combined with the previous results for neutrino-deuteron and antineutrino-deuteron scattering, computed to third order in the same approach, we conclude that a 10% measurement of reactor antineutrino-deuteron scattering measurement could constrain the p p->d e^+ nu_e rate to ~7% while a ~3% measurement of nu_e d-> e^- p p could constrain the pp rate to ~2%.Comment: 9 page

English as the Language of Trade, Finance, and Technology in APEC: an East Asia Perspective

The use of English language for cross-border communications is important in many areas of trade ranging from tourism to trade in financial services. English will increase the capacity of people to communicate and exchange ideas and goods across borders. However, the increasing involvement in trade, tourism, and international relations among APEC member countries where English is not spoken as the first language poses some problems and barriers in achieving aspired regional cooperation. Efforts have been made by governments to encourage the internalization of English as a second language. This article documents ongoing efforts to adopt English as the official language of trade, finance, and technology in APEC member countries and to improve English fluency in selected East Asian countries. It is an interesting case study on the adoption of a common technology (i.e., English as the medium of communication) as an explicit policy to enhance both global integration and country competitiveness.capacity building, English language, language barrier, language skill, language education, English economy, trade language

A Three-Dimensional Voting System in Hong Kong

The voting system in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco) is sometimes unicameral and sometimes bicameral, depending on whether the bill is proposed by the Hong Kong government. Therefore, although without any representative within Legco, the Hong Kong government has certain degree of legislative power --- as if there is a virtual representative of the Hong Kong government within the Legco. By introducing such a virtual representative of the Hong Kong government, we show that Legco is a three-dimensional voting system. We also calculate two power indices of the Hong Kong government through this virtual representative and consider the $C$-dimension and the $W$-dimension of Legco. Finally, some implications of this Legco model to the current constitutional reform in Hong Kong will be given

English as the Language of Trade, Finance, and Technology in APEC: an East Asia Perspective

The use of English language for cross-border communications is important in many areas of trade ranging from tourism to trade in financial services. English will increase the capacity of people to communicate and exchange ideas and goods across borders. However, the increasing involvement in trade, tourism, and international relations among APEC member countries where English is not spoken as the first language poses some problems and barriers in achieving aspired regional cooperation. Efforts have been made by governments to encourage the internalization of English as a second language. This article documents ongoing efforts to adopt English as the official language of trade, finance, and technology in APEC member countries and to improve English fluency in selected East Asian countries. It is an interesting case study on the adoption of a common technology (i.e., English as the medium of communication) as an explicit policy to enhance both global integration and country competitiveness.capacity building, English language, language barrier, language skill, language education, English economy, trade language

Long-term Periodicities in the Flux from Low Mass X-ray Binaries

Using data from the All Sky Monitor (ASM) on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) we have searched for long term periodicities in the X-ray flux of GX 1+4, Sco X-2 (GX 349+2), and GX 339-4. For GX 1+4 we also used data from BATSE and Galactic Centre scans performed by RXTE. We find no evidence for X-ray modulations at the suggested ~304 d orbital period of GX 1+4. However, we find tentative evidence for a periodicity at 420 d to 460 d. An upper limit of 15% peak-to-peak is set on any sinusoidal modulation in the 1.5 - 3.0 keV flux of Sco X-2 for periods in the 30 to 100 d range. For GX 339-4 we confirm the Low State modulation and report the detection of significant low-frequency modulations in both the High State and Very High State. We fail to detect this modulation in the Off State. We show that if the reported orbital period of GX 339-4 lies in the range 0.5 - 1.7 d, then it is not present in the RXTE ASM light curve.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Advanced in Space Research, 16th of March 200

Large Farms and Small Businesses: The difficult path toward development in rural China

The "Chinese Economic Miracle" of sustained growth since the 1970s has been thoroughly explored by many economists. So, too, has the obvious dichotomy between China's urban industrial sector and its rural agrarian economy. What has kept China's industrial development from migrating outward from its cities and into its countryside? When will the industrial revolution in Chinese agriculture begin? This paper examines a series of obstacles to the development of an industrial agricultural system in selected communities in China, contrasting government's goals for development with a realistic assessment of the economic characteristics of China's rural areas. The first section of this paper addresses the development of China's modern agricultural system, and the systems of land trading utilized by rural Chinese. The second section examines the impact of formal and informal financing on the development of rural businesses, as well as the development of a microfinance market in China's rural areas. Together, analysis of these issues demonstrates that China's government must address issues of property rights, access to capital, and social welfare if agricultural industrialization is to be encouraged

Cosmopolitanism, civil disobedience and the global legacy of Martin Luther King

Through the 19th century, the motor of China’s geopolitical change shifted from Eurasia to its southern coast. The impact of the West on China, while resulting in disastrous territorial concessions, also gave rise to a Southern Cosmopolitanism, with Guangdong native, Kang Youwei, becoming a cutting edge figure. 120 years ago, Kang led the first major drive to modernize China in the ill-fated Hundred Days Reform. Three years earlier, in 1895, he organized Gongche Shangshu, the first Chinese “student movement” to petition the royal court for political reform. For many, this activist lineage’s latest manifestation was the Umbrella Movement, Hong Kong’s 79-day Occupy demonstration for universal suffrage in 2014. Following the Arab Spring and a worldwide economic justice movement spearheaded by Occupy Wall Street, the Umbrella Movement originated as a civil disobedience campaign called “Occupy Central with Love and Peace.” One crucial document that inspired Benny Tai, law professor and conceiver of Occupy Central, is Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963). The Occupy campaign used the “Birmingham” essay as the foundation for an outstanding civic education initiative drawing upon a global legacy evolved from Thoreau and Gandhi. Evans Chan, New York-based film critic and director of “Raise the Umbrellas” (2016/2018) and acclaimed documentaries about Kang Youwei, explores this early stage of the Umbrella Movement to survey the continuing relevance of King’s legacy in the US, Hong Kong, and the world today. Speaker Born in Guangdong and grew up in Macau and Hong Kong, Evans Chan is an internationally renowned critic, librettist, playwright, and filmmaker. He received his Master’s degree from the New School for Social Research in New York and PhD in Screen Culture at Northwestern University, USA. Currently based in New York, Chan is one of Hong Kong’s leading independent filmmakers. His award-winning films have been shown at the Berlin, Rotterdam, London, Moscow, Vancouver, San Francisco and Taiwan film festivals, among others. In his dramatic and documentary films Chan explores the challenges confronting Hong Kong before and after its return to Chinese rule in 1997. To Liv(e) (1991) was listed as one of the 100 Greatest Hong Kong Films by Time Out Magazine in Hong Kong. Raise the Umbrellas (2016–2018) documents the 79-day massive democratic protests known as the Umbrella Movement in 2014. As a playwright, Chan developed in 2015 his award-winning film Datong: The Great Society (2011) into the libretto as Datong: The Chinese Utopia, which was presented by the Hong Kong Arts Festival and staged in London in 2017. Chan is also a writer whose work has appeared in many Chinese and English publications. His English-language play, adapted from Chinese writer Eileen Chang’s novel Naked Earth, was staged at New York’s Bank Street Theater. Filmography: To Liv(e) (1992), Crossings (1994), Journey to Beijing (1998), Adeus Macau (2000), The Map of Sex and Love (2001), Bauhinia (2002), The Life and Times of Wu Zhongxian (2002), Sorceress of the New Piano: The Artistry of Margaret Leng Tan (2004), Makrokosmos I & II (2004), The Maverick Piano (2007), Datong: The Great Society (2011), Two or Three Things About Kang Youwei (2012), The Rose of the Name: Writing Hong Kong (2014), Raise the Umbrellas (2016), Death in Montmartre (2017). www.evanschan.com Discussant Leo Ou-fan Lee is currently the Sin Wai Kin Professor of Chinese Culture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received his Ph. D. degree from Harvard in 1970 and has taught at Harvard, UCLA, Chicago, Indiana, and Princeton Universities in the United States, as well as the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as visiting professor. His scholarly publications in English include: Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Form of Urban Culture, 1930-1945 (Harvard University Press, 1999), Voices from the Iron House: A Study of Lu Xun (Indiana University Press, 1987), The Romantic Generation of Modern Chinese Writers (Harvard, 1973), City between Worlds: My Hong Kong (Harvard University Press, 2008), and Musings: Reading Hong Kong, China and the World (Hong Kong: Muse Books, 2011). In Hong Kong, he is known as both a scholar and cultural critic and has published more than 20 books in Chinese across a wide spectrum of subjects: literature, Hong Kong culture, film, classic music, and architecture. Moderator Stephen Ching-kiu Chan is Professor of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University. He is the current Chair of the international Association for Cultural Studies, and the Chair of Board of Directors, The House of Hong Kong Literature. HKAC Website: https://www.hkac.org.hk/calendar_detail/?u=VEfBtuw6w_U&lang=e