Whiteness, Imperial Anxiety, and the “Global 1930s”:the White British League Debate in Hong Kong

What is a British colony for, and who is it for? These questions were at the crux of a heated public debate in 1933 in Hong Kong sparked when a British resident claimed to have formed an organization for the "protection and advancement" of the "British white race." This article explores how anxieties about fascism, white privilege, and "others" in the empire allowed the very idea of such a political movement to be elevated to the subject of a heated debate. The discussion on British unemployment, poor whites, and European "intruders" in the colony tells us less about the actual socio-economic conditions that Hong Kong Britons faced, than their subjective experience of being "British" in an imperial context. The articulation of imperial anxiety also shows us how the fluid, ambiguous borders of whiteness and Britishness were negotiated at the intersection of nationalism, ethnicity, class, and race. In highlighting the global perspectives demonstrated in the debate, and the various transnational networks sat across Hong Kong, I argue that the debate was as much about global socio-political circumstances as what was happening in Hong Kong. The article therefore provides us a timely opportunity to rethink how the local, "national," regional, and global was interwoven in the "global 1930s," even amongst the English reading public in the British colony of Hong Kong

Dockless micromobility sharing in Calgary: A spatial equity comparison of e-bikes and e-scooters

This paper reports on a comparison of the spatial equity dimensions of dockless bike and e-scooter sharing in Calgary, Alberta. Using trip data from the City of Calgary’s Shared Mobility Pilot (between July-September 2019), this study investigates differences in micromobility utilization by dockless mode between areas characterized by different levels of deprivation. ANOVA and linear regression results show that utilization of both dockless modes was spatially inequitable, with e-scooter and dockless bike trips concentrated in the least deprived areas. Dockless bike and e-scooter sharing utilization declined with each increase in deprivation level by 0.138 trips per 1,000 persons per vehicle for dockless e-scooters, and 0.015 trips per 1,000 persons per vehicle for dockless bikes, suggesting that more equity considerations are required to ensure that the benefits of dockless micromobility sharing are available to all areas regardless of the relative advantage or disadvantage.Cet article rend compte d’une comparaison des dimensions d’équité spatiale du partage de vélos et de scooters électriques sans quai à Calgary, en Alberta. À l’aide des données sur les déplacements du projet pilote de ‘mobilité partagée’ de la ville de Calgary (entre juillet et septembre 2019), cette étude examine les différences d’utilisation de la micromobilité en mode sans quai entre les zones caractérisées par différents niveaux de privation. Les résultats de l’ANOVA et de la régression linéaire montrent que l’utilisation des deux modes sans quai était spatialement inéquitable, et de même que spatialement inéquitable, tant les déplacements en scooter électrique et en vélo sans quai étant concentrés dans les zones les moins défavorisées. L’utilisation du partage de vélos et de scooters électriques sans quai diminue à chaque augmentation du niveau de privation de 0,138 trajets pour 1 000 personnes par véhicule pour les scooters électriques sans quai et de 0,015 trajets pour 1 000 personnes par véhicule pour les vélos sans quai. Ce qui suggère que davantage de considérations d’équité sont nécessaires pour garantir que les avantages du partage de la micromobilité sans quai sont disponibles dans toutes les régions, quel que soit l’avantage ou le désavantage relatif

The Spatial Equity of Dockless Micromobility Sharing Systems in Calgary, Canada

Micromobility sharing systems, including bikes and e-scooters, are often promoted as solutions to urban transportation equity challenges. Dockless micromobility sharing systems however remain understudied due in part to their novelty. In particular, there has been limited research on the spatial equity of e-scooter sharing, which concerns whether systems are equally accessible across a city regardless of the relative advantage and disadvantage of urban areas. This thesis reports on two related analyses of the spatial equity of e-scooter sharing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada using an open dataset of three months worth of trip data (July – September, 2019): a gravity model approach to analyzing the spatial equity of e-scooter trip flows, and an ANOVA and linear regression-based comparison of the spatial equity profiles of dockless bike and e-scooter sharing. The results show that both dockless bike and e-scooter sharing in Calgary are spatially inequitable, and that there are no significant spatial equity differences between the use of dockless bikes and e-scooters

Surface ozone variations at the Great Wall Station, Antarctica during austral summer

Surface ozone (O3) is a secondary pollutant harmful to human health and a greenhouse gas which is one of the prime climate forcers. Due to the clean atmospheric environment of the Antarctic region and given the complexity of O3 chemistry, the observation of surface O3 variability in this region is necessary in the quest to better understand the potential sources and sink of polar surface O3. In this paper, we highlighted our observations on O3 variability at the Great Wall Station (GWS) during austral summer in December 2018 and January 2019. The continuous surface O3 measurement at the GWS, Antarctica was carried out using the Ecotech Ozone analyzer. To understand the roles of the meteorological conditions on the temporal variations of O3, meteorological data was obtained from the conventional auto-observational station at the GWS. The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model was employed to investigate the air mass transport over the region. The observed austral summer surface O3 concentrations at the GWS exhibited variability and were significantly lower than those previously observed at other permanent coastal stations in Antarctica. The surface ozone variability at the GWS was strongly influenced by the synoptic change of air mass origin although the roles of photochemistry production and destruction were still uncertain. Marine characteristics and stable surface O3 characterized the air masses that reached the GWS. The unique characteristic of surface O3 at the coastal site of GWS was emphasized by its synoptic air mass characteristics, which displayed a significant influence on surface O3 variability. Air mass that traveled over the ocean with relatively shorter distance was linked to the lower O3 level, whereby the marine transport of reactive bromine (Br) species was thought to play a significant role in the tropospheric chemistry that leads to O3 destruction. Meanwhile, the diurnal variation indicated that the O3 background concentration levels were not strongly associated with the local atmospheric conditions

Combined QM/MM Study of Thyroid and Steroid Hormone Analogue Interactions with αvβ3 Integrin

Recent biochemical studies have identified a cell surface receptor for thyroid and steroid hormones that bind near the arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) recognition site on the heterodimeric αvβ3 integrin. To further characterize the intermolecular interactions for a series of hormone analogues, combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods were used to calculate their interaction energies. All calculations were performed in the presence of either calcium (Ca2+) or magnesium (Mg2+) ions. These data reveal that 3,5′-triiodothyronine (T3) and 3,5,3′,5′-tetraiodothyroacetic acid (T4ac) bound in two different modes, occupying two alternate sites, one of which is along the Arg side chain of the RGD cyclic peptide site. These orientations differ from those of the other ligands whose alternate binding modes placed the ligands deeper within the RGD binding pocket. These observations are consistent with biological data that indicate the presence of two discrete binding sites that control distinct downstream signal transduction pathways for T3

Growth of four generations of Zebra-snout Seahorse, Hippocampus barbouri (Jordan & Richardson, 1908) in captivity

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different generations affecting the size of Hippocampus barbouri in captivity. Seahorse in-house breeding was carried out in Fisheries Research Institute, Penang. Adults H. barbouri were conditioned prior to breeding. All newborn H. barbouri juveniles were transferred to rearing tank once they were born. Growth of H. barbouri juveniles was measured at 10 days interval, up to 60 days. Results showed that different F2 H. barbouri juveniles recorded the smallest size when compared to other generations at day 10 after birth. However, starting from day 50 after birth to day 60 after birth, F2 H. barbouri juveniles recorded the best growth when compared to other generations. Although F3 H. barbouri juveniles had better growth from day 10 of birth until day 40 of birth, the growth was limited after day 50 of birth. F4 and F5 H. barbouri juveniles had similar finding as F3. One of the possible reasons was due to feeding. At initial stage of life, H. barbouri juveniles were fed with newly hatch Artemia nauplii. Starting from day 40, H. barbouri juveniles were weaned over to live Mysis and adult Artemia. Inconsistency supply of live mysids due to monsoon season might affect growth of H. barbouri. Moreover, nutritional content of adult Artemia was another concern. To conclude, culture of H. barbouri in captivity is feasible, where growth of H. barbouri can reach maximum height of 72 mm at day 60 of birth, with the survival rate of more than 43%

Climate change scenarios over Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s regions most vulnerable to climate change impacts with low-lying land, more severe floods and droughts, larger populations, higher dependency on agriculture for the economic sector, and low resilience of communities. Therefore, a study on how future climate change will affect this region has been conducted, and the results are provided in this paper. Projected surface temperatures and total precipitation from the baseline period of 2013 up to 2100 for Southeast Asia were investigated using the Global Climate Model (GCM) and the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) v3.9.1.1 modelling systems under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 future climate scenarios. The results showed that future temperatures were projected to increase under both climate scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5; however, precipitation was projected to decrease. The temperature was projected to increase by 0.93◦C and 2.50◦C under RCP4.5 and 8.5. Meanwhile, precipitation greatly varied under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate scenarios in both monsoonal seasons. We conclude that the change in climate variables, particularly the temperature and precipitation, could potentially increase the vulnerability of this region