What kind of political socialization in secondary schools is needed in Hong Kong in the 21st Century?

In 1842, when Hong Kong became a British colony, it was only a small number of remote villages. By the time Hong Kong returned to China, in 1997, it had become a major international commercial and financial centre. Under British rule, the Chinese population of Hong Kong was largely apolitical. However, people started to taste the fruits of democracy when the British were about to go. From 1997 onwards, following the establishment of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, many more people became actively interested in politics, as evidenced in the July Is1 March, 2003.As the relevant literature reveals, governments of different countries need to educate their fellow citizens politically in their own way, while individuals have to find their own means of survival that include being politically socialized into society. Among the different agents of political socialization, school is very important, for it socializes the students politically in a systematic way. From the literature on political socialization, and with reference to the particular situation of Hong Kong, four elements have been argued as essential to political socialization in Hong Kong secondary schools. They are: national identity and consciousness, democracy/ participation, globalization, and critical thinking. This research was conducted in the form of qualitative case studies undertaken in two secondary schools in Hong Kong: one “patriotic” school which is generally supposed to be more political, and one “ordinary” school which might be expected to be more apolitical. Findings and lessons were drawn from the fieldwork.The findings from the researched schools revealed that students on the whole are no longer as weak in their sense of national identity and consciousness as previously. The students of both schools had learnt the importance of democracy and participation. With regard to critical thinking and globalization, however, the students of both schools appeared to be rather weak. It was found that most of the interviewees including the supervisor, principal and teachers of the schools and the parents agreed on the importance of the four elements of political socialization. Hong Kong along with its schools has to find its own place in the new global era. Schools in Hong Kong have a duty to help their students develop fully the suggested essential elements of political socialization. Students have to acquire an identity as citizens in this Hong Kong SAR. The four elements identified in this study would appear to be crucial in achieving this aim

Portrait methodology and educational leadership : putting the person first

This article describes a variant on a methodological approach which provides ways of developing educational leaders' understandings of themselves and their situation through the production of individually written 'portraits' which focus upon the individuals' personal concerns and issues. It describes the process undertaken in forming a particular application of this approach, which is characterised by being highly private, highly personal and conducted by peers, rather than by others in a hierarchical relationship, to produce a picture of a person's concerns at one moment in time. It examines a number of possible criticisms, before arguing that there are a number of distinct benefits to its adoption. A description is provided of how such a methodology can be translated into a useful tool that provides individuals with the non-judgemental space to reflect upon themselves and their performance, and to develop supportive networks of peers who can help to sustain them in their job. This approach then could not only help remediate current issues of recruitment and retention to leadership positions, it could also provide private development space in societies and educational systems increasingly characterised by surveillance and public criticism of performance. Finally, whilst this article focuses upon the use of portraits for educational leaders, it is suggested that it is a technique that could be used by virtually anyone in order to create space for private reflection

Portraits of resilience: headteachers in two different cultures

This article provides two ‘portraits’ of headteachers in primary schools in England and Hong Kong, derived from semi-structured interviews with these individuals. Contrary to some claims that such a small sample is worthless, this article argues that what is most meaningful is sometimes derived from the singular and unique; that generalisations in education are as likely to be useful if they are ‘fuzzy’ generalisations as if they are from scientific or statistical generalisations; and that the individual case can strip away the clutter of large contexts and allow recognition of a common shared humanity. What these portraits also show is that responses to larger contexts are heavily dependent on personality and local context, and that if policy implementation and professional development are to have impact, then an attention to the personal and the local are going to be critical factors in any success in these areas

Values, priorities and responses: Comparing English headteachers' and Hong Kong principals' perceptions of their work

This article investigates the perceptions of English headteachers and Hong Kong principals on the kinds of pressures that they believed affected the way they did their job, and in particular the degree to which they felt their governments were affecting their leadership role. The research utilised semi-structured interviews to generate written ‘portraits’ of these individuals, which were then examined to answer questions about current pressures. The findings suggested that (1) there was considerable variation in the manner these individuals responded to key issues; (2) all individuals prioritised local concerns, and particularly with consideration to the children in their care; (3) there was a greater sense of embattlement from the English headteachers and a more critical approach to legislation, than from the Hong Kong principals, though with considerable individual variation in the degree of overt resistance shown; (4) whilst current educational reforms in Hong Kong seemed to favour the development of creativity more than those in England, there was within both national contexts evidence of the damaging effects of the pace and quantity of reforms

Nanostructured Bimetallic Block Copolymers as Precursors to Magnetic FePt Nanoparticles

Phase-separated block copolymers (BCPs) that function as precursors to arrays of FePt nanoparticles (NPs) are of potential interest for the creation of media for the next-generation high-density magnetic data storage devices. A series of bimetallic BCPs has been synthesized by incorporating a complex containing Fe and Pt centers into the coordinating block of four different poly­(styrene-<i>b</i>-4-vinylpyridine)­s (PS-<i>b</i>-P4VPs, <b>P1–P4</b>). To facilitate phase separation for the resulting metalated BCPs (<b>PM1–PM4</b>), a loading of the FePt-bimetallic complex corresponding to ca. 20% was used. The bulk and thin-film self-assembly of these BCPs was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy, respectively. The spherical and cylindrical morphologies observed for the metalated BCPs corresponded to those observed for the metal-free BCPs. The products from the pyrolysis of the BCPs in bulk were also characterized by TEM, powder X-ray diffraction, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, which indicated that the FePt NPs formed exist in an fct phase with average particle sizes of ca. 4–8 nm within a carbonaceous matrix. A comparison of the pyrolysis behavior of the metalated BCP (<b>PM3</b>), the metalated <b>P4VP</b> homopolymer (<b>PM5</b>), and the molecular model organometallic complex revealed the importance of using a nanostructured BCP approach for the synthesis of ferromagnetic FePt NPs with a smaller average NP size and a close to 1:1 Fe/Pt stoichiometric ratio

Comparing the performance of published risk scores in Brugada syndrome: a multi-center cohort study.

The management of Brugada Syndrome (BrS) patients at intermediate risk of arrhythmic events remains controversial. The present study evaluated the predictive performance of different risk scores in an Asian BrS population and its intermediate risk subgroup. This retrospective cohort study included consecutive patients diagnosed with BrS from January 1 , 1997 to June 20 , 2020 from Hong Kong. The primary outcome is sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Two novel risk risk scores and seven machine learning-based models (random survival forest, Ada boost classifier, Gaussian naïve Bayes, light gradient boosting machine, random forest classifier, gradient boosting classifier and decision tree classifier) were developed. The area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) [95% confidence intervals] was compared between the different models. This study included 548 consecutive BrS patients (7% female, age at diagnosis: 50±16 years, follow-up: 84±55 months). For the whole cohort, the score developed by Sieira et al. showed the best performance (AUC: 0.806 [0.747-0.865]). A novel risk score was developed using the Sieira score and additional variables significant on univariable Cox regression (AUC: 0.855 [0.808-0.901]). A simpler score based on non-invasive results only showed a statistically comparable AUC (0.784 [0.724-0.845]), improved using random survival forests (AUC: 0.942 [0.913-0.964]). For the intermediate risk subgroup (N=274), a gradient boosting classifier model showed the best performance (AUC: 0.814 [0.791-0.832]). A simple risk score based on clinical and electrocardiographic variables showed a good performance for predicting VT/VF, improved using machine learning. Abstract: The management of Brugada Syndrome (BrS) patients at intermediate risk of arrhythmic events remains controversial. This study evaluated the predictive performance of published risk scores in a cohort of BrS patients from Hong Kong (N=548) and its intermediate risk subgroup (N=274). A novel risk score developed by modifying the best performing existing score (by. Sieira et al.) showed an area under the curve of 0.855 and 0.760 for the whole BrS cohort and the intermediate risk subgroup, respectively. The performance of the different scores was significantly improved machine learning-based methods, such as random survival forests and gradient boosting classifier. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Symbiotic organs shaped by distinct modes of genome evolution in cephalopods.

Microbes have been critical drivers of evolutionary innovation in animals. To understand the processes that influence the origin of specialized symbiotic organs, we report the sequencing and analysis of the genome of Euprymna scolopes, a model cephalopod with richly characterized host-microbe interactions. We identified large-scale genomic reorganization shared between E. scolopes and Octopus bimaculoides and posit that this reorganization has contributed to the evolution of cephalopod complexity. To reveal genomic signatures of host-symbiont interactions, we focused on two specialized organs of E. scolopes: the light organ, which harbors a monoculture of Vibrio fischeri, and the accessory nidamental gland (ANG), a reproductive organ containing a bacterial consortium. Our findings suggest that the two symbiotic organs within E. scolopes originated by different evolutionary mechanisms. Transcripts expressed in these microbe-associated tissues displayed their own unique signatures in both coding sequences and the surrounding regulatory regions. Compared with other tissues, the light organ showed an abundance of genes associated with immunity and mediating light, whereas the ANG was enriched in orphan genes known only from E. scolopes Together, these analyses provide evidence for different patterns of genomic evolution of symbiotic organs within a single host

Sequential screening for lung cancer in a high-risk group: randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Low-dose CT (LDCT) screening detects early stage lung cancer and reduces mortality. We proposed a sequential approach targeted to a high-risk group as a potentially efficient screening strategy. METHODS: LungSEARCH was a national multicentre randomised trial. Current/former smokers with mild/moderate COPD were allocated (1:1) to have 5 years surveillance or not. Screened participants provided annual sputum samples for cytology and cytometry, and if abnormal were offered annual LDCT and autofluorescence bronchoscopy (AFB). Those with normal sputum provided annual samples. Primary endpoint was the percentage of lung cancers diagnosed at stage I/II (non-small cell) or limited disease (small cell). RESULTS: 1568 individuals were randomised 2007-2011, from 10 UK centres. 85.2% of those screened provided an adequate baseline sputum sample. There were 42 lung cancers among 785 screened and 36 among 783 controls. 54.8% (23/42) screened versus 45.2% (14/31) controls with known staging were diagnosed with early stage disease (one-sided p=0.24). Relative risk 1.21 (95%CI 0.75-1.95) or 0.82 (95%CI 0.52-1.31) for early stage or advanced cancers respectively. Overall sensitivity for sputum (in those randomised to surveillance) was low (40.5%) and cumulative false-positive rate (FPR) 32.8%. 55% of cancers had normal sputum results throughout. Among sputum-positive individuals who had AFB, sensitivity was 45.5% and cumulative FPR 39.5%; the corresponding measures for those who had LDCT were 100% and 16.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Our sequential strategy, using sputum cytology/cytometry to select high-risk individuals for AFB and LDCT, did not lead to a clear stage shift, and did not improve the efficiency of lung cancer screening