WeChat: social and political development of China’s dominant messaging app

This article traces the development of the Chinese social media app WeChat from its origins to its current role as a leading communications tool for some 600 million Chinese citizens. It analyzes the ways the small-group oriented app is changing China’s social connections, as it enhances trusted, personal contacts while transforming opportunities for larger online group formation. The article assesses methods the Chinese Government employs to monitor and control WeChat communication, and provides a case-focus study. It also considers the apolitical features, in particular, those related to entertainment and personal social relations, which have made important contributions to WeChat’s great popularity.     

Managing Serials in an Institutional Repository: An Interview With Kay Teel

ABSTRACT

In this interview from March 2017, Kay Teel, metadata librarian for serials and arts resources at the Stanford University Libraries, discusses the issues involved in providing access to serials through an institutional repository.     

Short Break and Respite Services for Disabled Children in England: Comparing Children's and Parents' Perspectives of Their Impact on Children

Researchers, health and social care workers often seek to understand the perspectives of children; but gathering views directly from children can present difficulties. Parents are often asked to provide accounts of children's feelings or opinions on the assumption that their proxy reports are accurate and unproblematic. This qualitative thematic analysis of open‐question responses from 352 parents and 73 disabled children examines their accounts of the impact of short break services on disabled children. Participants' perspectives differed; children tended to describe immediate outcomes such as enjoying activities and participation; parents acknowledged these, but focused on longer term developmental outcomes for children.     

NPO,Internal Controls,and Supervision Mechanisms in a Developing Country

The premise of this paper is that effective supervision and proper internal control system (ICS) can promote accountability and transparency, and this will attract more donors. However, in a developing country like Malaysia, it is common that proper accounting standards are not available, the laws are not enforced, and charities often struggle for survival. Debates on regulating nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have been sensitive to many and are often left unresolved, and some quarters believe that NPOs should be left to handle their own affairs. This paper provides evidence from a survey of 60 charities on the status of their ICS. It briefly describes the current state of regulations in Malaysia and makes a case for better monitoring of the sector, as this might be the reason NPOs are lacking in their ICS. We propose what type of regulation and assistance can be provided by the authorities to this sector, not only in Malaysia but also in other developing countries facing similar challenges.     

“思想的无端骄傲”——评《中国思想史》第一卷

本文是对清华大学教授葛兆光新著《中国思想史》第一卷的学术评论。文章认为 ,葛先生“重写”思想史的基本路子即以论带史、以今视昔、以文领义 ,而“基本路子只有一条 ,一分为三 ,乃是方便说法”。事实上 ,思想史领域本来就别有洞天 ,“葛先生自许的突破之处 ,不过是划地为牢 ,然后纵身一跃 ,作突破状而已。”文章还批评了《中国思想史》中存在的理路不清、用词不当的一些“大议论”。本文作者总结道 :如果要我用一句话来评论这本书 ,我将说 :“在这本号称‘思想史’的书里 ,我看不到历史上的思想和知识 ,我只看到现在一位中国人葛兆光的‘思想’”。     

论科学发现中的非理性因素

本文探讨了科学发现过程中的非理性因素直觉、灵感,等等,它们在科学研究中往往起到十分重要的作用.文章阐述了灵感思维的突发性、非逻辑性等特点,以及机遇在加速科学发现进程中所起的作用.文章指出,研究环境尤其研究单位的学风、传统和学术水平等,对于科研的进程和成败起着极大的作用,并以诺贝尔奖得主的情况作了深入的讨论.     

A Model of Quality of College Life (QCL) of Students in Korea

This study develops and tests a model of quality of college life (QCL) of students in Korea. In this study, QCL of students is conceptualized in terms of needs satisfaction and affect balance. It has been hypothesized that satisfaction with education services, administrative services, and facilities have a significant impact on QCL, which in turn positively influences identification, positive word of mouth, and overall quality of life. The results of a survey on 228 Korean college students largely support the model. Managerial and policy implications are discussed.     

Seasonal forcing on the dynamics ofClethrionomys rufocanus: Modeling geographic gradients in population dynamics

We interpret gradients in population dynamics of the gray-sided vole from the southwestern part of the island of Hokkaido to its northeastern part within the framework of a phenomenological model involving the relative length of summer and winter. In Hokkaido, as in other northern regions, both spring and fall is considered as short transition periods between the two main seasons — summer (the primary breeding season) and winter (the non-reproductive or secondary breeding season). We show that the geographic transition in dynamics may be understood as the combined consequence of different patterns of density-dependence during summer and winter, and geographically varying season lengths. Differences are shown to exist between summer and winter with respect to strength of density-dependence. Direct density-dependence, in particular, is stronger during winter than during summer. A model is presented to show how relative lengths of seasons can induce both stable and periodically fluctuating population dynamics. The results are compared and contrasted with what is otherwise known about the gradient in rodent dynamics in Fennoscandia.     

Hybridization and speciation in the carabid beetles of the subgenusOhomopterus (Coleoptera, Carabidae, genusCarabus)

Natural hybridization among wingless carabid beetles of the subgenusOhomopterus (Carabidae, genusCarabus) is reviewed, and its significance in the evolution of this subgenus discussed. Natural hybridization occurs between parapatric species of similar size. Two case studies of natural hybridization suggest that natural hybridization could have affected the evolution of this subgenus in different ways. When there is a large difference in genital morphology between hybridizing species, interspecific copulation often results in genital injuries that causes mortality of copulating individuals, and hence reduces the fitness of hybridizing individuals greatly. In such a case, hybridization may be effective in maintaining the parapatric distribution of the two species, and in the long term, may promote reinforcement selection for traits which are effective in prezygotic reproductive isolation. When the morphological difference in genitalia is not so large as to cause genital injury, a hybrid population may be established at the intermediate zone between two parental species, provided that the immigration rates of the two species into the intermediate zone are small. Thus, natural hybridization may have contributed to both divergence and reticulate evolution in this subgenus.