Canada legalized nonmedical cannabis possession and sale in October 2018. In the United States, state legalization has been tied to an increase in cannabis-related emergency department (ED) visits; ...however, little research exists on provincial changes in pediatric visits after nationwide legislation. We compared pre- and postlegalization trends in pediatric cannabis-related ED visits and presentation patterns in urban Alberta EDs.
Retrospective National Ambulatory Care Reporting System data were queried for urban Alberta cannabis-related ED visits among patients aged <18 years from October 1, 2013, to February 29, 2020. Population subgroups included children (aged 0-11 years), younger adolescents (12 to 14 years), and older adolescents (15 to 17 years). We calculated interrupted time series, incident rate ratios (IRRs), and relative risk (RR) ratios to identify trend change. IRRs identified changes against growth-adjusted Alberta population, while RRs measured presentation pattern changes against prelegalization ED visits.
Pediatric visit volume did not change postlegalization when accounting for preexisting volume trends. Unintentional ingestions increased in children (IRR: 1.77, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.42 to 2.20 and RR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.47, respectively) and older adolescents (IRR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.71 and RR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.21 to 1.81, respectively). Presentation patterns remained similar, although older adolescent co-ingestant use decreased (RR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.67 to 0.88), whereas hyperemesis cases increased (RR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.13 to 2.37).
Cannabis legalization has increased child and older adolescent unintentional cannabis ingestions, increasing child cannabis-related ED visits. Changes highlight need for public health interventions targeting pediatric exposures.
The One Belt One Road (OBOR) project is perhaps China's most significant international relations initiative in recent times. It is based on openness, harmony, inclusivity, mutual benefit and market ...operations and aims to connect the economically vibrant East Asia and the developed Europe by land and by sea, and in the process, it brings growth and development to tens of countries along the modern Silk routes. In this paper, we compare the impact of the main initiatives of OBOR, namely enhancements in physical infrastructure and improvements in border administration, on the trade of countries that have signed on to this project, especially countries along the six economic corridors. We find overwhelming evidence that shows improvements in border administration has the greatest impact on exports of corridor countries. Although physical infrastructure is important for trade, the Chinese government should place equal attention to improvements in trade facilitation to ensure trade routes operate seamlessly across the various corridors.
Under the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide, students were forced to switch from face-to-face to online learning. This study reports the experience of Hong Kong students in higher education ...concerning the challenges they faced, the strategies they used and the support they needed in their online learning during the period. An online questionnaire was used to invite students to answer open-ended questions about these three aspects. 145 students from two higher education institutions completed the questionnaire and their comments were coded using thematic analysis. The study has discovered that socio-economic factors may have presented difficulties to students’ online learning concerning their study environment and access to equipment. Students were emotionally distressed by online learning, particularly by the quality of feedback and clarity of course arrangement, so support for these aspects should be given. Self-regulated learning strategies were found to have been deployed by students to facilitate their learning, in which the use of time management apps and lecture videos highlights the increasing importance of technology to self study. These socio-economic, technological and emotional factors will be further discussed and corresponding suggestions will be made to help teachers and university policy makers examine the conditions that can help improve and promote online learning for higher education students under COVID-19.
This article evaluates the international location decisions made by public listed Chinese firms during the period 2006–2008, using a Poisson count data regression model. Further, we categorize the ...firms into state-controlled and privately owned according to majority ownership. We find that the determinants of internationalization differ based on ownership. State-controlled firms are attracted to countries with large sources of natural resources and risky political environments. Private firms are more market seekers. Although all firms have strategic intent, the attraction is commercially viable technology rather than core research content. Our findings also show that existing theories can sufficiently explain the actions of private Chinese firms, but adjustments are needed to understand the behavior of state-controlled multinationals.
Ethical behavior among businesses has gained significant prominence in recent years. Survey evidence shows that Asian consumers demand for greater social responsibility among businesses. Thus, a ...deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to such a demand is useful. This study examines the influence of religiosity and values on corporate social responsibility (CSR) support among consumers in Hong Kong and Singapore. Primary data collected among consumers in these cities point to a significant direct relationship between religiosity and CSR support. In Hong Kong, this attitude is due both to altruistic as well as for egotistical (or face saving) reasons. In Singapore, this is mainly due to the latter. The results imply that different motivations should guide CSR strategies in these two cities.
Most multinationals have a presence in the East Asian region and target the urban Chinese population. In an effort to win over the loyalty of consumers, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been ...used increasingly as a marketing strategy. This paper explores how personal values influence the attitude and behavior towards CSR among Chinese consumers. By collecting data from three major East Asian cities — Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, and employing factor, cluster, conjoint and correspondence analyses, the authors demonstrate that Confucian value orientation can be a powerful antecedent of CSR support.
Background
The existing literature has predominantly focused on instructor social presence in videos in an asynchronous learning environment and little is known about student social presence on ...webcam in online learning in the context of COVID‐19.
Objectives
This paper therefore contrasts students' and teachers' perspectives on student social presence on webcam in synchronous online teaching through co‐orientation analysis.
Methods
Data were collected through an online questionnaire with 14 statements that measured participants' perceptions of webcam use in three constructs in social presence (i.e., emotional expression, open communication, and cohesion). 154 students and 36 teachers from two higher education institutions in Hong Kong responded to the questionnaire, and their responses were analysed using the co‐orientation model.
Results and conclusion
Results reveal the perceptual gaps between teachers and students on the use of webcam to promote student social presence by showing how teachers were comparatively more positive about its impacts for learning and consistently overestimated students' preference for it. Through analysing individual constructs/items, this paper argues that using webcams in synchronous online learning could enhance student social presence only to a limited extent in that it may help improve emotional expression and open communication but not cohesion.
Implications
The paper advises against the adoption of a clear‐cut policy that webcams should be either recommended or not recommended for online learning. Instead, teachers should take into account students' perspective to find out the types of activities that are apt for using webcams in online learning, and reflective tasks and oral assessments were amongst the ones considered appropriate by students in the study.
Lay Description
What is currently known about the subject matter
Teacher presence through videoconferencing is important to the construction of social presence.
Student presence on webcam is relatively understudied in online learning during COVID‐19.
Teachers struggled to use webcams for online learning during the pandemic.
Teachers and students have different concerns about using webcams for online learning that either party may not be aware of.
What this paper adds
The current study contrasted teachers' and students' perceptions of student presence on webcam in online learning under COVID‐19.
This is the first study using co‐orientation model as the analytical method for this area.
There were perceptual differences between students and teachers on the use of webcams in which teachers were comparatively more positive about its impacts for learning and consistently overestimated students' preference for it.
Using webcams in synchronous online learning could enhance social presence only to a limited extent in that it may help improve emotional expression and open communication but not cohesion.
Implications of study findings for practitioners
The paper advises against the adoption of a clear‐cut policy that webcams should be either recommended or not recommended for online learning.
Teachers should take into account students' perspective to find out the types of activities that are apt for using webcams in online learning, and reflective tasks and oral assessments were amongst the ones considered appropriate by students in the study.
It reveals how co‐orientation model can be a useful tool for perception studies in higher education.
Transition metal perovskite chalcogenides are a new class of versatile semiconductors with high absorption coefficient and luminescence efficiency. Polycrystalline materials synthesized by an ...iodine‐catalyzed solid‐state reaction show distinctive optical colors and tunable bandgaps across the visible range in photoluminescence, with one of the materials' external efficiency approaching the level of single‐crystal InP and CdSe.
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