Chinese Music in the Diaspora: The Case of Teochew Music in Thailand

When Ah Xing - a third generation Sino-Thai - starts his day at the break of dawn on his motorized three-wheeler(tuk-tuk) from the outskirts of Bangkok, he knows exactly where to go to wait for his clients. Unlike most of his peers who cruise the street for customers, he has a regular clientele and a somewhat routine schedule for his various daily deliveries. Ah Xing is proud of this and attribute his success to his ability to converse fluently in Thai, Teochew, and Mandarin Chinese, a necessary tool for him to go between these different ethnic groups. After dodging heavy traffic for four to five hours on the streets, he invariably winds up on Yaowarat street, the Chinatown of Bangkok where traditional Chinese jewelry stores, food, and merchandise are readily available. Situated in the older part of the city, the area along Yaowarat street has been home to many ethnic Chinese for centuries, especially those of Teochew descent. 중국계 태국인 3세인 아성의 하루는 신새벽에 삼륜차(툭툭)를 몰고 방콕 외곽의 집을 나서는 것으로 시작된다. 어느 목에 단골이 있는지 아싱은 잘 알고 있다. 다른 동료들이 손님을 찾으려 거리를 쏘다니는 것과 달리 그에게는 단골 고객층이 있어, 비교적 고정된 코스를 다니며 태우면 된다. 아싱은 이를 자랑스럽게 생각하고 있고, 태국어와 따이추어, 본토 중국어를 다 자유로이 구사할 수 있는 데 이런 성공의 비결이 있다고 여긴다. 이곳처럼 여러 민족이 뒤섞여 사는 데서 언어는 필수적이다. 체증으로 꽉 막힌 시내를 너댓 시간 동안 뚫고 다니고 나면 아싱은 어김없이 야오와랏 가(街)에 들른다. 방콕의 차이나타운인 이곳에는 중국 전통 보석이며 음식, 잡품들을 파는 가게가 널려 있다. 구(舊)시가의 야오와랏 가를 따라 형성된 이 지역은 수백 년 동안 화교들, 특히 따이추계 사람들의 본거지였다

Recent development in multimedia e-learning technologies

Multimedia and networking technologies have significantly impacted on our daily activities, particularly in terms of how we learn. Nowadays, classroom teaching no longer simply relies on chalk and blackboard as the prime medium for course dissemination. E-learning technologies have made it possible to provide a virtual classroom environment on the Web through supporting teacher-student and student-student communications, course material distribution as well as online student assessments. They provide students with more control over their learning schedule and pace. On top of this, multimedia technologies further offer students different forms of media to match their learning styles, leading to enhancements of their learning effectiveness. This extended introduction discusses the latest e-learning specific multimedia technologies, their research challenges and future trends from both pedagogical and technological perspectives. We also summarize the papers included in this special issue

¿Se estudian los riesgos de los nanomateriales en México?

Este artículo evalúa hasta qué punto se estudian los riesgos de los nanomateriales para la salud humana y el medio ambiente en México. El artículo se despliega en cuatro secciones. La primera ilustra las implicaciones de los riesgos de las nanopartículas y nanomateriales a los trabajadores, consumidores y el medio ambiente. Posteriormente se realiza una revisión del estado de desarrollo de las nanotecnologías en México. Después se plantea una descripción de la metodología empleada, la cual se fundamentó en dos técnicas: la primera implicó la creación de una base de datos que contiene todos los artículos científicos sobre nanotecnologías publicados por autores mexicanos durante un período de 12 años, y a partir de esa base de datos se utilizaron términos para identificar aquellos asociados a investigaciones sobre los riesgos de los nanomateriales; la segunda técnica implicó una búsqueda manual en Internet para identificar a todos los investigadores que trabajan en esta área en los distintos laboratorios, centros de investigación y universidades del país. Concluimos que el tema de los riesgos de las nanotecnologías está generalmente ausente de las investigaciones en México

The Impact of Interpretation Biases on Psychological Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic:a Prospective Study

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the longitudinal role of interpretation biases in the development and maintenance of health anxiety during the pandemic. Individual differences in behavioural responses to the virus outbreak and decision-making were also examined. METHODS: Two hundred seventy-nine individuals from a pre-pandemic study of interpretation bias and health anxiety completed an online survey during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. Participants’ health anxiety, interpretation biases, and COVID-specific behaviours (i.e. practice of social distancing, adherence to preventive measures, information seeking), and health decision-making were assessed. RESULTS: Pre-pandemic tendencies to interpret ambiguous physical sensations as signals for illness did not predict health anxiety during the pandemic, b = −0.020, SE = 0.024, t = −0.843, p = .400, 99% CI [−0.082, 0.042], but were associated with a preference for risky treatment option for COVID-19, b = 0.026, SE = 0.010, Wald = 2.614, p = .009, OR = 1.026, 99% CI [1.001, 1.054]. Interpretation biases and health anxiety symptoms during the pandemic were associated with each other and were both found to be significant predictors of practice of social distancing, adherence to preventive measures, and information seeking behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the growing evidence of the role of interpretation biases in health anxiety and the way that people respond to the ongoing pandemic. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12529-022-10079-5

Discovery of an intermediate-luminosity red transient in M51 and its likely dust-obscured, infrared-variable progenitor

We present the discovery of an optical transient (OT) in Messier 51, designated M51 OT2019-1 (also ZTF19aadyppr, AT 2019abn, ATLAS19bzl), by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). The OT rose over 15 days to an observed luminosity of $M_r=-13$ (${\nu}L_{\nu}=9\times10^6~L_{\odot}$), in the luminosity gap between novae and typical supernovae (SNe). Spectra during the outburst show a red continuum, Balmer emission with a velocity width of $\approx400$ km s$^{-1}$, Ca II and [Ca II] emission, and absorption features characteristic of an F-type supergiant. The spectra and multiband light curves are similar to the so-called "SN impostors" and intermediate-luminosity red transients (ILRTs). We directly identify the likely progenitor in archival Spitzer Space Telescope imaging with a $4.5~\mu$m luminosity of $M_{[4.5]}\approx-12.2$ and a $[3.6]-[4.5]$ color redder than 0.74 mag, similar to those of the prototype ILRTs SN 2008S and NGC 300 OT2008-1. Intensive monitoring of M51 with Spitzer further reveals evidence for variability of the progenitor candidate at [4.5] in the years before the OT. The progenitor is not detected in pre-outburst Hubble Space Telescope optical and near-IR images. The optical colors during outburst combined with spectroscopic temperature constraints imply a higher reddening of $E(B-V)\approx0.7$ mag and higher intrinsic luminosity of $M_r\approx-14.9$ (${\nu}L_{\nu}=5.3\times10^7~L_{\odot}$) near peak than seen in previous ILRT candidates. Moreover, the extinction estimate is higher on the rise than on the plateau, suggestive of an extended phase of circumstellar dust destruction. These results, enabled by the early discovery of M51 OT2019-1 and extensive pre-outburst archival coverage, offer new clues about the debated origins of ILRTs and may challenge the hypothesis that they arise from the electron-capture induced collapse of extreme asymptotic giant branch stars.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, published in ApJ

Benchmarking of three-dimensional multicomponent lattice Boltzmann equation

We present a challenging validation of phase field multi-component lattice Boltzmann equation (MCLBE) simulation against the Re = 0 Stokes flow regime Taylor-Einstein theory of dilute suspension viscosity. By applying a number of recent advances in the understanding and the elimination of the interfacial micro-current artefact, extending to 3D a class of stability-enhancing multiple relaxation time collision models (which require no explicit collision matrix, note) and developing new interfacial interpolation schemes, we are able to obtain data which show that MCLBE may be applied in new flow regimes. Our data represent one of the most stringent tests yet attempted on LBE-one which received wisdom would preclude on grounds of overwhelming artefact flow