Investigation In China Research Articles

The Use of Text Recitation as a Teaching Tool in EFL: A Cross-educational Level Investigation in China

The purpose of this investigation is to address the situation that although general ELT (English Language Teaching) literature does not endorse the practice of text recitation (TR), recent literature cautiously recommends it as a teaching tool with clear learning objectives, especially in countries with Confucian heritage. This paper therefore investigates why TR is commonly practiced in Chinese schools at all educational levels up to tertiary education. In particular, this inquiry considers teachers’ view of why TR is practiced and what its effects are. Furthermore, these views across groups at three educational levels are compared and their perceptions are checked against findings of analogous previous research. Analysis of data reveals that the usefulness of the practice of TR to foreign language teaching is generally acknowledged, though, to varying degrees. The study suggests that the contemporary pedagogic practice of TR in China is starting to bear some basic positive features such as differentiating tasks to suit students’ ability and choosing texts to cater for students’ interest.

Living with parents or with parents-in-law and postpartum depression: A preliminary investigation in China

BackgroundFew studies have investigated the association between puerperal women's living situation and postpartum depression. The aim of this study was to examine the association between living with parents or with parents-in-law and postpartum depression among Chinese puerperal women. MethodsA total of 1126 participants who completed questionnaire were included in our analysis. Postpartum depression status was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between living with puerperal women's parents or with parents-in-law and risk of postpartum depression after adjustment for potential confounders. ResultsThe prevalence of postpartum depression among participants was 11.8%. Of the 1126 participants, 524 (46.5%) lived only with their husbands, 387 (34.4%) lived with their parents-in-law, and 215 (19.1%) lived with their parents. Compared with those living only with their husbands, puerperal women living with their parents-in-law had higher risk of postpartum depression after adjustment for potential confounders (OR=2.48; 95% CI: 1.20, 5.15). No association between living with puerperal women's parents and postpartum depression was found after adjustment for confounders (OR=1.05; 95%CI: 0.42, 2.65). LimitationsAlthough we adjusted for a wide range of potential confounders, we cannot rule out the possibility of residual confounding by other unmeasured factors, such as breastfeeding, intimate partner violence, and marital relationship. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that living with parents-in-law may be a risk factor for postpartum depression among Chinese puerperal women. Future preventive interventions should include strategies that target the puerperal women who lived with parents-in-law.

The role of collaboration and technology diffusion on business performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically test the joint impact of trust, technology diffusion and organisational capacity on collaboration and investigate the effect of the interaction among them on business performance.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is formulated to achieve the study’s purpose. The research employs quantitative methodology to test the validity of the model. Pilot interviews were used to select applicable attribute for each of the model’s constructs and to revise the survey questionnaire. The survey is addressed to CEOs and senior managers of 500 electrical product manufacturers in Wenzhou province, China. The questionnaire covers 20 attributes of the model’s constructs, which are measured on a seven-point scale. A structured equation modelling software known as AMOS is used to analyse data.FindingsResults indicate that trust is an antecedent factor for successful collaboration, but not as a factor directly affecting business performance. However, the research shows that collaboration plays a full mediator between trust and business performance. The empirical evidence from this research implied that technology diffusion do not translate properly into collaboration and the organisations do not give adequate attention to the process performance in making collaboration with partners. In addition, the electrical Chinese organisations do not consider that the commitments of their partners exceed the expectations.Research limitations/implicationsThis research limits investigation in China only and considers one type of industry, that is, the manufacturers of small products.Practical implicationsThe conceptual model can be used as an audit tool for evaluating the effect of collaboration on business performance. Thus, managers could recognise weak attributes and plan for improvement.Originality/valueThis study provides new measurement instrument for evaluating the joint impact of collaboration, technology diffusion, trust and organisational capacity on business performance.

Servant leadership and employee voice behavior: a cross-level investigation in China.

This study tested the influence and mechanisms of servant leadership on voice behavior, including the mediating role of psychological safety, and the moderating role of supervisor-subordinate Guanxi. Data were collected from 430 civil servants and their immediate supervisors in Changsha, China. Cross-Level investigation revealed that servant leadership had a significant influence on voice behavior, psychological safety mediated the relationship between servant leadership and voice behavior, while supervisor-subordinate Guanxi negatively moderated the relationship between servant leadership and voice behavior.

Work characteristics and psychological symptoms among GPs and community nurses: a preliminary investigation in China.

To determine the effect of work characteristics on the psychological symptoms of general practitioners' (GPs) and community nurses. A stratified sampling cross-sectional survey was performed at the 12 community health services centres involved 233 GPs and 202 community nurses in three cities of Hubei Province in central China. The independent variables were career prospects, superior recognition, salary fairness, professional-patient relationship and self-perceived workload. The dependent variables were the General Health Questionnaire. The generalized linear regression showed the career prospects had a significant association with GPs' psychological health, whereas career prospects, self-perceived workload and superior recognition had significant association on the psychological health of community nurses. However, salary fairness and professional-patient relationship were not statistically significant for GPs or community nurses. A better understanding of the effects of career prospects on the psychological health of GPs and community nurses, and improvements in superior recognition and workload on the psychological health of community nurses, would improve psychological symptoms of primary-level medical staff.

Application and prospect of objective structured clinical examination in the evaluation of nurses′ competences

Structured clinical examination (OSCE) is an objective, orderly and organized appraisal frame, which was used broadly in medical and nursing education around the world. However, application of OSCE in the assessment of nurses′ clinical competences requires more investigation in China. We reviewed site settings of OSCE application, evaluations of nurses and educators on OSCE and challenges in carrying out OSCE, and expect applications of OSCE in the assessment of hierarchical nurses′ competences. Key words: Nurse; Competences assessment; Objective structured clinical examination; Review

Affect, Affective Variability, and Physical Health: Results from a Population-Based Investigation in China.

There is good evidence linking positive affect with adaptive psychological and physical health outcomes and negative affect with maladaptive outcomes, in multiple contexts and samples. However, recent research has suggested that the fluctuation of emotions, known as affective variability, may also be an important correlate of individuals' health. The present study examined the relationship between affect, affective variability, and self-reported health status in a large representative sample of adults in China. We analyzed cross-sectional data retrieved from the World Health Organization's study on global ageing and adults' health. A total of 15,050 Chinese adults (aged between 18 and 99) from China reported their affective experiences during the previous day, perceived health, and their history of multiple chronic illnesses from their medical records (stroke, angina, diabetes, chronic lung disease, depression, and hypertension). Hierarchical multiple regression and logistic regression analyses were employed to analyze the data. Independent of individuals' mean levels of affect, affective variability was negatively related to subjective health conditions and positively related to diagnosed illness status, after controlling for demographic variables. Results suggest that affective variability increases the likelihood of reported impaired health and diagnosis of affect-related illnesses such as angina and depression. The present study highlighted the importance of studying the impact of affective variability, in addition to that of mean affect levels, on health.

Suitability assessment of building energy saving technologies for office buildings in cold areas of China based on an assessment framework

Blind application and extensive copy of building energy saving technologies have been found very common through investigation in China. Emphases should be put on the suitability assessment when selecting and optimizing building energy saving technologies. This paper created an assessment method, namely an assessment framework to assess the suitability level of building energy saving technologies from a holistic point of view. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process was adopted. 3 factors and 8 sub-factors were included in the framework. The office buildings were classified into 3 types to calculate weights of factors and sub-factors. The assessment framework was established for each type of office buildings. 20 energy saving technologies from surveyed cases was selected as case study. Ranks of suitability level of the assessment objects were obtained for each type of office buildings. The assessment results could be referred when selecting building energy saving technologies in the design stage.

A Laboratory Study of Partial Anode Effects during Aluminium Electrowinning

Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are potent greenhouse gases (GHG) with long lifetimes and high global warming potentials, giving them a high capacity to inflict harm on the environment. The aluminium industry is one of the bigger emitters of these gases and consequently a lot of effort has been put into understanding the mechanism behind the emissions. Aluminium is produced electrochemically by consuming alumina (dissolved in molten cryolite) and carbon. In addition to aluminium this also produces CO2 with a fraction of CO. The reversible potential for the reaction is about 1.2 V, but due to overpotentials related to the electrodes and IR drops in different parts of the cell, especially from the electrolyte, a regular industrial cell needs to operate at a much higher voltage (3.8 – 4.5 V). If the alumina concentration in the electrolyte gets too low the polarisation increases which opens the possibility for other anode reactions, like the production of the PFC gases CF4 and C2F6. The phenomenon is termed anode effect (AE) and traditionally when this occurred the voltage could raise to levels of 20 V or higher, and the current distribution over the anodes would become erratic. The existence of PFCs not related to the traditional anode effect in industrial aluminium production cells has been documented for a wide range of technologies [1-4]. Industrial measurements have shown that PFC production can begin at one anode during normal cell potentials and propagate to the full cell given the right conditions [5]. To experience the phenomenon in the laboratory, a system with more than one anode was designed. The setup consists of two separate chambers made out of a single cylindrical block of graphite, which acts as a shared cathode for the system. Each chamber has its own electrolyte solution, reference electrode and anode. A thermocouple is placed within each anode to get instant feedback on the heat production of the reactions occurring (Figure 1). The anodes are connected in parallel to a power supply unit that can operate under both constant current (CC) and constant voltage (CV). Individual anode currents are measured over a resistance connected in series with each parallel anode, and voltages are measured against the respective reference. By varying factors such as alumina concentration it is possible to emulate the local variances in feeding that can develop over the vastness of an industrial cell. By measuring individual anode voltages, currents and temperatures valuable information regarding partial and low voltage anode effects can be gained. The results indicate that it is possible for at least one anode to go into, and out of what is believed to be partial production of PFC. It was also discovered that this mode could be sustained for a half hour before a traditional anode effect with full blocking of the surface was experienced. Keywords: GHG, PFC, NAE-PFC, Anode effect, Aluminium Electrolysis, Low voltage AE, LCV-AE References [1] W. Li, Q. Zhao, S. Qiu, S. Zhang, and X. Chen, “PFC Survey in Some Smelters of China,” Light Metals 2011, pp. 357-360: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011. [2] L. Wangxing, C. Xiping, Y. Jianhong, H. Changping, L. Yonggang, L. Defeng, and G. Huifang, “Latest Results from PFC Investigation in China,” Light Metals 2012, pp. 617-622: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012. [3] J. Marks, and C. Bayliss, "GHG Measurement and Inventory for Aluminum Production,” Light Metals 2012, pp. 803-808: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012. [4] H. Åsheim, T. A. Aarhaug, A. Ferber, O. S. Kjos and G. M. Haarberg, “Monitoring of Continuous PFC Formation in Small to Moderate Size Aluminium Electrolysis Cells,” Light Metals 2014, pp. 535-539: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2014. [5] S. Kolås, P. McIntosh and A. Solheim, “High Frequency Measurements of Current through Individual Anodes: Some Results from Measurement Campaigns at Hydro,” Light Metals 2015, pp. 729-734: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2015. Figure 1

Promise keeping, relational closeness, and identifiability: An experimental investigation in China

We experimentally investigate some key features of internet peer-to-peer (P2P) lending: the borrower specifies the amount of money required and makes a contingent promise about the value of the generally higher repayment prior to the investor's decision to lend the required sum or not. We examine the role played by two factors related to traditional Chinese culture and ethics: whether (i) guanxi, relational closeness between the actors and (ii) the ability of the actors to observe each other's identity after the repayment decision (identifiability or mianzi concerns) affect the borrowers' decisions to make the promised repayments and ultimately the consequent aggregate realized social benefits. Using a two-by-two factorial design, we conduct four experimental treatments in China and also perform the identifiability treatment in New Zealand as a cultural control. We find that in China both manipulations were positively and significantly related to the probability of a repayment promise being kept. Moreover, these two factors were substitutes for each other. In New Zealand, there was no significant identifiability effect on promise keeping. Over time, relational closeness and identifiability both led investors in China to accept more proposals, resulting in more investment and the creation of greater social surplus.

Epidemiology of chronic rhinosinusitis: results from a cross-sectional survey in seven Chinese cities.

BackgroundChronic sinusitis (CRS) is a common otorhinolaryngologic disease that is frequently encountered in everyday practice, but there is a lack of precise data regarding the prevalence of CRS in developing countries. We performed a national investigation in China to determine the prevalence and associated factors of CRS.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional investigation in 2012. A stratified four-stage sampling method was used to select participants randomly from seven cities in mainland China. All participants were interviewed face-to-face via a standardized questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between smoking and sinusitis after adjusting for socio-demographic factors.ResultsThis study included a total of 10 636 respondents from seven cities. The overall prevalence of CRS was 8.0% and ranged from 4.8% to 9.7% in seven centres. Chronic sinusitis affected approximately 107 million people in mainland China. Chronic sinusitis was particularly prevalent among people with specific medical conditions, including allergic rhinitis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and gout. The prevalence was slightly higher among males (8.79%) than females (7.28%) (P = 0.004), and the prevalence varied by age group, ethnicity and marital status and education (P < 0.05), but not by household per capita income or living space (P > 0.05). Both second-hand tobacco smoke and active smoking were independent risk factors for CRS (P = 0.001).ConclusionsChronic sinusitis is an important public health problem in China. Our study provides important information for the assessment of the economic burden of CRS and the development and promotion of public health policies associated with CRS particularly in developing countries.

What Affect Lower Grade Learner's Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use of Mobile Digital Textbook Learning System? An Empirical Factor Analyses Investigation in China

Although perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are two important factors which could directly influence the acceptance of technology and actual usage for digital textbook, less attention has been paid to children’s mobile digital textbook usage. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate and empirically validate the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of use by elementary school students during their usage of digital textbook. For data analyses, two questionnaires were developed using existing scales from prior TAM instruments. The sample of this study included 5,245 elementary school students in China who have experience of using digital textbook. The results indicate that students believe that using mobile digital textbook enhance their study performance, but they believe it is not very easy to use. Besides, gender, grade and parents’ attitudes towards mobile digital textbook affect the usage. Gender differences exist only in the perceived ease of use. Male students make less effort in using mobile digital textbook than female students. In addition, the students in lower grades tend to have more positive perspectives on mobile digital textbook than the students in higher grades. Furthermore, mobile digital textbook usage experience (time & frequency) has a significant effect on the students’ perceived usefulness. Finally, parents’ attitudes towards mobile digital textbook influence their children’s perceived usefulness.

On Statistical Principles for Clinical Trials in Pharmaceutical Development-A Review of China FDA Draft Guidance

On August 21, 2015, the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) circulated draft guidance on Statistical Principles for Clinical Trials in Pharmaceutical Development for public comments. The draft guidance is to assist the sponsor for providing accurate and reliable assessment of a test treatment under investigation in China. The draft guidance focuses on study designs, basic considerations for on-going trials, data management, and statistical principles for data analysis and reporting. In this article, we intend to comment on the draft guidance and provide constructive input and recommendations whenever possible.

Epitome of China's unnatural deaths: a historically retrospective study of forensic autopsy cases in Shanghai Public Security Bureau from 1990 to 1999.

The unnatural death investigation in China seems vague to the world. Shanghai is one of the largest city located in Yangtze River Delta in the East China. This study is committed to lift the veil of unnatural death investigation and describe the epitome of China's unnatural deaths. Based on the 7302 forensic report archives from 1990 to 1999 in Shanghai Public Security Bureau, statistics were carried out in 5 areas according to the manner of death. In 3502 accidental deaths, there was a rapid increase during the 1990s, and 71.6% were involved in traffic accidents whose major cause of death was head and neck injuries. The first 3 causes of death in nontraffic accidents (994) were head and neck injuries (42.8%), poisoning (11.8%), and drowning (9.0%). In 2456 homicides, sharp force injury (36.7%), blunt force injury (35.8%), and manual strangulation (12.9%) were the first 3 causes of death. In 563 suicides, drug/chemical intoxication (40.1%), hanging (23.4%), and injuries because of fall from height (11.4%) were the 3 leading causes of death, especially pesticides ingestion. The causes of natural deaths were diseases mainly in circulatory system (23.1%), central nervous system (12.8%), and respiratory system (6.4%). However, the cause of death remained undetermined in 500 victims. Childhood fatalities were different. The victims of accidents and homicides were nearly equal, and the main cause of homicide was manual strangulation. Besides, 1997 was the landmark year when drug abuse began to emerge in Shanghai.

Study and Application of Integrated Patient Satisfaction Survey System

Based on the analysis of current status for the patient satisfaction survey investigation in China, this paper introduced the structure and functions of an integrated patient satisfaction survey investigation system using kinds of data collecting devices and advanced data analysis technologies. Some suggestions such as optimization procedure and data mining, etc. were raised to better the public administration and the life of common population.

Supply chain characteristics and disruption mitigation capability: an empirical investigation in China

This research investigates the impact of supply chain characteristic factors on disruption mitigation capabilities. We intend to derive specific supply chain factors that either contribute to or conversely impact a firm's supply chain disruption mitigation capabilities. We find that supply chain geographic dispersion has a negative impact on a firm's disruption mitigation capabilities. Supply chain agility has a positive impact on a firm's disruption recovery capability. Supply chain integration has direct positive impacts on a company's disruption warning capability and recovery capability. And supply chain visibility enhances a company's disruption warning capability. In addition, high level of disruption warning capability enhances a company's disruption recovery capability. The results offer guidelines for supply chain managers to enhance disruption mitigation capabilities through understanding the role of supply chain characteristic factors.

AC breakdown performance and voltage correction of rod-plane short air gap under rain conditions

According to the operation experience and investigation in China, the insulation performance of transmission line can be reduced due to the effect of strong rain, which is not considered in the external insulation design. Meanwhile, there is no correction reference regarding the breakdown voltage of air gap under rain conditions in IEC standards. Therefore, a series of experimental tests were conducted in the artificial climate chamber and at Xuefeng Mountain Natural Site with the usage of rod-plane air gap to analyze the relationship between ac breakdown voltage and rain precipitation rate, rain conductivity and ambient temperature. It is shown that the breakdown voltage of air gap decreases with an increase of rain precipitation rate and rain conductivity, and increases with an increase of ambient temperature. In addition, according to the test results, the correction formula of ac breakdown voltage of rod-plane air gap under rain condition is proposed and verified in this paper.

Expatriate‐local interactions: an investigation in China

PurposeThis study aims to build on recent research, by investigating and examining how likely it is that Chinese locals (i.e. host country nationals (HCNs)) would offer support to expatriates from India and the USA.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from 222 participants in Chinese organizations, asking them to respond to questions about their willingness to offer support to expatriates.FindingsAs predicted, perceived values similarity was significantly related to higher dogmatism, which had a significant positive relationship with ethnocentrism. Further, ethnocentrism had a significant negative relationship with willingness to offer support.Research limitations/implicationsAll data were collected from the participants at one point in time, so the study's results are subject to common method bias. Also, it only included India and the USA, as the two countries of origin of the expatriates.Practical implicationsGiven HCNs do not automatically offer support to all expatriates, organizations might consider sending expatriates who are culturally similar to HCNs, as they are more likely to receive support, which will help their adjustment and thus organizational effectiveness.Originality/valueThis study adds to the small, but growing, number of empirical investigations of HCN willingness to support expatriates.

Knowledge, skills, and attitudes of medical students to patient safety: a cross‐sectional pilot investigation in China

To reduce harm caused by health care is a global priority. Medical students should be able to recognize unsafe conditions, systematically report errors, and near misses, investigate and improve such systems with a thorough understanding of human fallibility, and disclose errors to patients. Therefore, incorporating knowledge about patient safety into medical school curriculums is an urgent necessity. To describe the extent to which Chinese medical students have patient safety in their knowledge, skills, and attitudes so as to provide evidence for implementation of a patient safety curriculum in medical schools, and to assess the quality of this investigative questionnaire. Our questionnaire of 31 items was developed based on a 2008 WHO pilot study for a patient safety curriculum guide. Our investigation was conducted in three university medical schools in China. Year 3 and year 4 medical students were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire in their classroom settings. All items were scored from 1 to 5. Differences in responses among different universities, genders, and levels, as well as the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, were analyzed using SPSS 15.0. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and 143 male and 262 female students completed the survey. An average of 0.96% of survey questions were not answered, of which the most frequently unanswered item was "what will happen when medical error occurs?" The students' attitudes to learning about patient safety were positive, although their knowledge of medical error and how to report error was poor. There were no statistical differences among different medical schools and levels in any item responses. The only gender difference appeared in the response to "I would like to discuss with others when I made a medical error." There was a good coherence of reliability in sections 2, 3, and 4 of the questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha > 0.8), while sections 5 and 6 scored as less reliable. The validity of the questionnaire was good. Although medical students' understanding of patient safety is very poor in China, the students have a positive attitudes to learning about the knowledge of patient safety in their future careers.

Phase II multicenter, randomized, double‐blind study of recombinant mutated human tumor necrosis factor‐α in combination with chemotherapies in cancer patients

We previously prepared a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α mutant (rmhTNF-α) that showed higher antitumor activity and lower systemic toxicity compared with native TNF-α. The safety profile and the pharmacokinetic characteristics of rmhTNF-α were suited for clinical use according to biological Investigational New Drug application, a standard guideline for new drug investigation in China. Here, we evaluate the activity and safety of rmhTNF-α combined with chemotherapies in head/neck, lung, colorectal, stomach, and renal cancer patients. Ninety-five eligible patients received i.m. rmhTNF-α treatment combined with standard chemotherapies. Another 95 patients were treated with standard chemotherapies. After two treatment cycles, one patient achieved a complete response and 24 patients had partial response, yielding an overall response rate (complete response + partial response) of 27.47% in the rmhTNF-α plus chemotherapy cohort. The chemotherapy alone group acquired only a 11.39% response rate (P < 0.05). When compared between different cancers, a 48.89% response rate was detected in the 45 lung cancer patients of the combination cohort. The most common grade 1-2 adverse events of rmhTNF-α were drug-related fever, allergy, flu-like symptoms, and myalgia. No significant difference was found in grade 3-4 toxicities between the two cohorts. Based on the results of this research, rmhTNF-α can significantly enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy. An extended phase III trial of rmhTNF-α combined with standard chemotherapy is warranted for evaluating its antitumor activity and toxicity in a larger cohort of tumor patients. The studies in this paper were registered with the State Food and Drug Administration of China (No. 2003S00692).