Search Results (272)

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is deeply embedded in everyday social life, yet its officially recognized spatial distribution reflects both the independent influences of cultural traditions, development trajectories, and governance practices, and the complex interactions among them. Focusing on 494 national-level ICH items across ten categories in Jiangsu(J), Zhejiang(Z), and Shanghai(H), this study adopts a social-geographical perspective to examine both the spatio-temporal evolution and the driving mechanisms of ICH recognition in one of China’s most developed regions. After rigorous verification of point-based ICH locations, we combine kernel density estimation and the average nearest neighbor index to trace changes across five batches of national designation, and then employ the univariate and interaction detectors of the Geodetector model to assess the effects of 28 natural, socioeconomic, and cultural-institutional variables. The results show, first, that ICH exhibits significant clustering along river corridors and historical cultural belts, with a persistent high-density core in the Shanghai–southern Jiangsu–northern Zhejiang zone and a clear shift over time from highly concentrated to more dispersed and territorially balanced recognition. Second, human-environment factors—especially factors such as urban and rural income and consumption; residents’ education and cultural expenditures; and public education and cultural facilities—have far greater explanatory power than natural conditions, while different ICH categories embed distinctively in urban and rural socio-economic contexts. Third, bivariate interactions reveal that natural and macroeconomic “background” variables are strongly amplified when combined with demographic and cultural factors, whereas interactions among strong human variables show bivariate enhancement with diminishing marginal returns. In summary, these findings enrich international debates on the geography of ICH by clarifying how recognition processes align with regional development and social equity agendas, and they provide a quantitative basis for category-sensitive, place-based strategies that coordinate income policies, public cultural services, and the joint safeguarding of tangible and intangible heritage in both urban renewal and rural revitalization planning. Full article

Academic adaptation is widely recognized as a critical challenge for international students, with direct implications for their academic success and performance. While existing research has established a positive correlation between academic adaptation and performance, it has not adequately explored this relationship in the context of international students in China. Moreover, the potential mediating role of student engagement warrants further empirical investigation. To address this gap, this study employs a cross-sectional survey of 427 international students in China. The findings confirm a significant positive relationship between academic adaptation and academic performance. Moreover, student engagement was identified as a significant, albeit limited, mediator in this relationship. This result indicates that the effect of student engagement on academic performance may be more immediate, whereas its effect on academic adaptation may be prior. By elucidating this complex mediating pathway, this study advances our understanding of the processes linking adaptation to performance. It offers practical insights for educators seeking to enhance the international student experience. Full article

Against the backdrop of great power strategic games, countries around the world have been continuously intensifying their control over the trade of critical metals, including tungsten, in order to seize the commanding heights of scientific, technological, and economic development, which has led to increasingly fierce competition in the global tungsten industry chain and supply chain. Although China is endowed with abundant tungsten ore reserves, its tungsten industry chain remains dominated by mid-to-low-end products, with low added value and limited pricing power in the international market. Therefore, it is of great significance to clarify the export competitiveness level of China in each link of the tungsten industry chain and to identify the influencing factors for improving the overall competitiveness of the industrial chain, which will enhance China’s international status and assist in formulating sustainable tungsten resource management strategies. Based on the industrial chain perspective and the trade data of typical products at various stages of the tungsten industry chain from 2008 to 2022, this study first selects the World Market Share Index, Trade Competitive Advantage Index, and Revealed Comparative Advantage Index to quantitatively depict the export competitiveness of the overall, upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of China’s tungsten industry chain, and a horizontal comparison is conducted with major global tungsten resource trading countries. Secondly, the entropy weight method is adopted to further comprehensively evaluate the competitiveness level of various countries. Finally, the potential influencing factors of the overall export competitiveness of the tungsten industry chain are explored in accordance with Porter’s Diamond Model, and a fixed-effect model is used to perform regression analysis on the panel data. The research findings show that China has strong export competitiveness in the midstream and downstream sectors of the tungsten industry chain, while its export competitiveness in the upstream tungsten ore sector is relatively weak. The level of education, human capital, educational expenditure, gross national product, and trade openness all have a significant positive impact on the export competitiveness of tungsten resources. Greater efforts should be made in China to cultivate high-end talents in the tungsten industry. Moreover, innovation in green technologies and products should be encouraged, and international cooperation should be deepened, to improve the efficiency of the entire industrial chain so that stable and green long-term competitiveness in the tungsten industry can be achieved. Full article

This study examines the roles, policy alignment, and challenges of civil society organizations (CSOs) in China’s disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts post-2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. Using qualitative analysis of national policies, international frameworks, and academic literature, it traces the evolution of Chinese CSOs from peripheral actors to state-integrated partners in disaster risk governance. Findings reveal that China’s top-down system has progressively institutionalized CSOs through Five-Year Plans, enabling their participation in emergency response and community resilience by using technological innovation. However, their contributions remain skewed toward short-term relief, with limited engagement in risk reduction or global humanitarian initiatives. Challenges include fragmented government–CSO collaboration and reliance on informal networks. While CSOs demonstrate growing technical proficiency, systemic barriers—such as funding gaps, weak institutionalized partnerships, and ideological divergences—hinder sustainability. Recommendations emphasize capacity building in risk education, policy literacy, and technology adoption, alongside reforms to formalize cross-sector collaboration and expand international engagement. By addressing these gaps, Chinese CSOs could transition from crisis responders to proactive agents of sustainable resilience, aligning local actions with global DRR agendas. This research offers critical insights for policymakers and practitioners seeking to optimize CSOs’ role in national and local risk governance and invest in their development. Full article

Objective: Understanding immunity from the patient’s perspective is essential for optimizing cancer treatment and improving patient-reported outcomes. Currently, there are no established self-reported scales designed to assess immune vulnerability in cancer populations. We aimed to fill this gap by developing a brief scale fit for this purpose. Methods: We developed a five-item brief perceived immune vulnerability (PIV) scale and conducted a two-phase study on cancer survivors in China. In Phase 1, we assessed the reliability and factor structure of the PIV scale, while in Phase 2, we evaluated its construct validity by comparing it with measures of overall well-being and various patient characteristics. Results: Between October and December 2022, 100 patients completed Phase 1, while 1275 patients were enrolled in Phase 2. The mean age of the participants was 68.7 years (SD 10.3); 892 (64.9%) patients were female, and 537 (40.3%) patients had at least high-school education. In Phase 1, Cronbach’s α = 0.913, indicating good internal consistency. We identified one component with an eigenvalue of 3.72, explaining 70.17% of the variance. In Phase 2, patients reporting poor well-being had worse immune function (Pearson r = 0.202, p < 0.001). Additionally, patients undergoing active cancer treatment had worse immune function than those receiving survivorship care (p = 0.024). Meanwhile, patients with stage III/IV disease had worse immune function than those with stage I/II disease (p = 0.041). Conclusions: The PIV scale is a reliable and valid tool for assessing immune vulnerability in patients with cancer and preliminarily offers a convenient approach to monitoring and evaluating their self-reported immunity. Further research is needed to explore the broader utility of this instrument. Full article

Background: Although progress has been made, substantial barriers exist in the development and implementation of pediatric palliative care (PPC) in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Possible explanations include the idea that cultural taboos erect barriers that short-circuit PPC discussions among stakeholders, and secondly, regional guidelines intended to support PPC fail to do so effectively. Here, we aimed to identify and document the scope of barriers to and facilitators of PPC practices in these regions and to explore to what extent and how regional PPC guidelines address these barriers/facilitators. Methods: We identified and compared two kinds of documents: (1) recent journal articles reporting on empirical studies of barriers to/facilitators of PPC practices in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan and (2) published PPC regional guidelines from the three regions. International and regional databases were searched to identify articles, along with PPC professional organizations in the three regions to identify PPC guidelines. Inductive content analysis was used for data analysis, synthesis, and document comparison. Results: Seventeen relevant articles on PPC barriers/facilitators and 16 documents with PPC guidelines were identified. Barriers/facilitators were reported on three organizational levels: micro, meso, and macro levels. Micro refers to children and parents, meso to medical institutions and healthcare providers (HCPs), and macro to policy/guidelines and networks. Most barriers were addressed by PPC guidelines, and most facilitators were acknowledged and endorsed in the guidelines. For instance, HCPs reported that insufficient PPC-related knowledge among stakeholders was a barrier, while PPC guidelines provided detailed information to address this shortfall. Unaddressed barriers in the guidelines were also uncovered, such as the cultural taboo of discussing death, suggesting that HCPs often struggled to have effective PPC conversations with parents and the child. Conclusions: Our finding that PPC guidelines addressed most barriers/facilitators while HCPs still struggled with implementing PPC indicates that mature PPC guidelines are necessary but not sufficient for PPC practices to improve in these three regions. The wide availability of PPC guidelines and PPC education/training for HCPs and families needs to improve. Full article

Against the backdrop of an escalating global environmental crisis, bridging the “knowledge–action gap” in the pro-environmental behavior (PEB) of university students has become a key challenge for sustainable development education, aligning with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). Traditional linear models often struggle to capture the complex non-linearities and interaction effects when explaining this gap. To overcome this limitation, this study introduces an integrated “prediction-plus-explanation” framework using eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI). Based on survey data from 463 university students in China, we constructed a high-precision PEB prediction model (Accuracy = 93.55%) using the CatBoost algorithm and conducted an in-depth analysis of its internal decision-making mechanisms with the SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) framework. The results reveal that a “Practice Primacy” model plays a dominant role in driving PEB: the formation of environmental habits, participation in environmental practices, and the investment of related resources are the overwhelmingly dominant factors in predicting individual behavior, with their cumulative contribution far exceeding that of traditional cognitive and attitudinal variables. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis revealed significant group differences in these driving mechanisms: the behavioral decisions of male students tend to be more “value-driven,” while lower-division students are more susceptible to external educational interventions. By quantifying the non-linear effects and relative importance of each driver, this study offers a new “Action-to-Cognition” perspective for bridging the knowledge–action gap and provides robust, data-driven support for universities to design precise and differentiated intervention strategies, thus contributing to the achievement of SDGs. Full article

With the rapid advance of digital technologies, the service industry has become a key driver of sustainable economic growth and the restructuring of international trade. Drawing on value-added trade flows for five pivotal service industries—construction, air transportation, postal telecommunications, financial intermediation, and education—over 2013–2021, this study examines the spatial evolution of the global service value chain (GSVC). Using social network analysis combined with a Temporal Exponential Random Graph Model (TERGM), we assess the dynamics of the GSVC’ core–periphery structure and identify heterogeneous determinants shaping their spatial networks. The findings are as follows: (1) Exports across the five industries display an “East rising, West declining” pattern, with markedly heterogeneous magnitudes of change. (2) The construction industry is Europe-centered; air transportation exhibits a U.S.–China bipolar structure; postal telecommunications show the most pronounced “East rising, West declining” shift, forming four poles (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, China); financial intermediation contracts to a five-pole core (China, United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany); and education becomes increasingly multipolar. (3) The GSVC core–periphery system undergoes substantial reconfiguration, with some peripheral economies moving toward the core; the core expands in air transportation, while postal telecommunications exhibit strong regionalization. (4) Digital technology, foreign direct investment, and manufacturing structure promote network evolution, whereas income similarity may dampen it; the effects of economic freedom and labor-force size on spatial network restructuring differ significantly by industry. These results underscore the complex interplay of structural, institutional, and geographic drivers in reshaping GSVC networks and carry implications for fostering sustainable services trade, enhancing interregional connectivity, narrowing global development gaps, and advancing an inclusive digital transformation. Full article

The current conservative wave of U.S. policies on higher education lacks the recognition of international students’ various backgrounds and ideologies, economic contributions, and nuanced experiences that would enrich college campuses. This paper provides a critical discourse analysis of anti-DEI rhetoric and legislation with Ohio’s higher education senate bill (S.B. 1 signed March 2025) as an exemplary case and with international students in mind. With this, I explicated some relevant legal issues of the bill (intellectual diversity, DEI programs, American civic literacy course, evaluating faculty’s role in maintaining a bias-free classroom, and partnership with People’s Republic of China) and their implications on freedom of expression and international student admissions, retention, safety, and student services. As a scholar from abroad, I aim to provide a voice, perspective, and analysis for international students in these politically charged times in U.S. higher education. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the development of virtual internationalization (VI) in higher education institutions (HEIs). Yet, how it becomes normalized and how digital governance factors collectively address the challenges arising from its implementation remain underexplored, particularly in non-Anglophone contexts. This qualitative study draws on eight focus group discussions involving 46 participants from Austria, Belgium, China, Portugal, Poland, and Türkiye. Guided by Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the study reveals that VI has been widely normalized through pandemic-driven adaptations. While its conceptual boundaries remain contested and continually negotiated amid rapid technological advancement, the findings illuminate VI’s expansive international outreach and potential for building institutional global visibility and national soft power. Despite the normalization of VI, its implementation is constrained by pedagogical, technological, and cross-cultural factors, alongside governance and management complexities. An interdependent system of digital governance factors has also been identified across strategic, operational, human, and collaborative dimensions. This study concludes that effective VI implementation does not arise from static policies but from the continuous negotiation and coordinated alignment of these digital governance factors. Full article

In the context of global modernization, both the United States and China faced major challenges in rural social development. In the early twentieth century, the American federal government launched the Country Life Movement, during which Christianity addressed the rural crisis through rural church reforms. Meanwhile, influenced by the American-led World Agricultural Mission Movement, the Christian churches applied the experiences and insights gained from the U.S. rural church reforms to China’s rural reconstruction movement. During the first half of the twentieth century, the Christian rural reconstruction models in China evolved to become increasingly comprehensive and targeted. In the early decades, Christian missions promoted the establishment of an agricultural education system to cultivate rural talents. By the 1920s, churches in China had developed a comprehensive rural social reform program. After the 1928 Jerusalem Meeting of the International Missionary Council (IMC), the concept of “Rural Community Parish” emerged as the guiding principle for the comprehensive rural reconstruction program in China. The Christian church further clarified its ultimate goal: to build a “Christian rural civilization in China.” Based on this, Christian rural work in China developed steadily until 1950, when the withdrawal of Christian forces brought an end to their rural influence in China. Full article

Background: This paper aims to outline an ethical overview of the potential challenges related to AI technologies in the doctor–patient relationship. Methods: This study is structured as a narrative review of the literature (2015–2025), based on searches conducted in the main scientific databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar), supplemented by official documents issued by the following international organizations: World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the World Medical Association (WMA), as well as key regulatory frameworks of the European Union, China, and the United States. The selection included academic contributions, guidelines, and institutional reports relevant to the clinical applications of AI and their ethical and regulatory implications. Specifically, the analysis herein presented is grounded on four key aspects: the rationale for AI in patient care, informed consent about AI use, confidentiality, and the impact on the therapeutic alliance and medical professionalism. Results and Conclusions: Depending on their application, AI systems may offer benefits regarding the management of administrative burdens and in supporting clinical decisions. However, their applications in diagnostics, particularly in fields as radiology and dermatology, may also adversely impact the patient–doctor relationship and professional autonomy. Specifically, the implementation of these systems, including generative AI, may lead to increased healthcare costs and jeopardise the patient–doctor relationships by exposing patients’ confidentiality to new risks and reducing space for healthcare empathy and personalisation. The future of the medical profession and the doctor–patient relationship will largely depend on the types of artificial intelligence that are integrated into clinical practice and how effectively such additions are reconciled with core ethical values on which healthcare rests within our systems and societies. Full article

Recent policy initiatives, such as the Ministry of Education of China’s guidelines on student sleep management, together with international empirical studies on daytime rest, highlight that appropriate opportunities for midday rest can support students’ attention, memory, and overall learning. Motivated by these developments, this study introduces a conflict-sensitive, multidimensional framework for evaluating nap-compatible classroom chairs. The proposed PLEASURC framework integrates eight evaluation dimensions, organized into four domains—ergonomic, operational, perceptual, and affective—thereby combining both expert and student perspectives across three use scenarios (writing, adjusting, and napping). Perceptual divergence between groups is addressed through Jensen–Shannon divergence–based adaptive weighting, which adjusts expert–student influence according to their agreement level. Scenario-sensitive patterns are extracted via tensor decomposition (a statistical factor analysis technique), while SHAP-enhanced machine learning (an explainable model interpretation method) is employed to identify the most influential predictors of perceived comfort. Findings indicate that relational and emotional dimensions (e.g., Relatability, Learnability, Aesthetics) significantly influence perceived comfort, surpassing structural considerations alone. The study also demonstrates a closed feedback loop from evaluation to redesign, supporting the practical utility of the framework through the optimized chair prototype. Overall, this research offers a replicable and interpretable framework for ergonomic evaluation and data-driven redesign of multifunctional school furniture, contributing to both student-centered learning environments and sustainable educational infrastructure. Full article

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has become a crucial technology for rapid prototyping and enhancing the efficiency of producing lighter components. Despite these advantages, many challenges remain. We examine how mineral-rich developing countries can upgrade in the metal AM global value chain (GVC). We do so by applying the theory of GVCs and the multi-level perspective (MLP) framework to the metal powder segment. We investigate how Kazakhstan can link itself to the metal AM GVC by cooperating with China. Our case studies are based on 20 interviews with metal AM industry experts and scholars from Kazakhstan, China, and Europe. Using the MLP framework, we identify eight drivers that have enabled China to become prominent in the global metal AM industry. In addition, we identify eight barriers restricting Kazakhstan’s upgrading. For Kazakhstan to begin producing metal powders for AM, we suggest that its government start by implementing three policies, based on China’s experience: improve education and training systems, with a focus on advanced metallurgy; target AM industry segments in which cost, not quality, is a primary focus; and adopt international standards for metal AM-related activities. Our findings offer important lessons for other mineral-rich developing countries that may be more relevant than experiences from developed nations. Full article

This paper examines the risks linked to E-business collaboration between China and West Africa, with particular emphasis on Ghana as a pivotal digital commerce centre. This research employs the Hesitant Fuzzy Best–Worst Method (HF-BWM) to systematically identify and prioritise the institutional, technological, sociocultural, and legal issues affecting cross-border e-business operations. This study combines Transaction Cost Theory (TCT), the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Commitment–Trust Theory to create a comprehensive framework for analysing the interplay of these risks and their effects on transaction costs and company sustainability. The findings indicate that institutional risks constitute the most substantial obstacles, with deficient digital transaction legislation and inadequate data governance recognised as the principal drivers of uncertainty and increased transaction costs. The research indicates that these institutional challenges necessitate immediate focus, as they immediately affect corporate operations, especially in international digital commerce. Technological risks, such as cybersecurity vulnerabilities, insufficient IT skills, and deficiencies in digital infrastructure, were identified as the second most critical factors, leading to considerable operational disruptions and heightened expenses. Sociocultural hazards, such as language difficulties and varying consumer behaviours, were recognised as moderate concerns that, although significant, exert a weaker cumulative impact than technological and institutional challenges. Eventually, legal risks, especially concerning cybercrime legislation and the protection of intellectual property, were identified as substantial complicators of e-business activities, increasing the intricacy of legal compliance and cross-border contract enforcement. The results underscore the imperative for regulatory reforms, investments in cybersecurity, and methods for cultural adaptation to alleviate the identified risks and promote sustainable growth in China–West Africa e-business relationships. This study offers practical insights for governments, business leaders, and investors to effectively manage the intricate risk landscape and make educated decisions that foster enduring collaboration and trust between China and West Africa in digital trade. Full article