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In recent years, the concept of subculture has been fiercely criticized, with some scholars even claiming that it is no longer relevant in a multi-cultural world (Muggleton, 2000; Chaney, 2004; Stahl, 2004). However, the authors argue that by revisiting the Chicago School tradition and reconceptualizing subculture on the basis of acknowledging its limitations and its potential, subculture theory remains applicable in the context of contemporary China. Through an eight-month ethnographic study of a group of deviant students in a secondary school in urban China, the purpose of this paper is to contend that the subculture of these young people from lower-class backgrounds is a means to negotiate their space and power in a failing school system situated in a drastically transforming society full of diversified yet often conflicting values.

In this study, the authors undertook an ethnographic study to follow a group of deviant students for eight months, trying to understand their everyday lives and the process of their identity construction. The research was conducted in Xiamen, a coastal city located in the southeast part of mainland China. Unlike large metropolitan areas such as Beijing and Shanghai, where most studies have been conducted so far, Xiamen represents one of the medium-sized cities, which are the majority in China. After a process of sampling among 11 classes from five schools in different tiers, the authors chose one class in Grade 2 at a medium-level secondary school called “Central Park Secondary School” as a pseudonym. The authors stayed in the field for the main study and the authors also paid another visit to the school to follow up on students’ recent development.

In this study, a group of problem students identified with each other and shared the same problems and situations, and collectively formed a subcultural group, from within which they could challenge the authority of teachers and parents and negotiate power in the school; for example, reaching a truce with teachers so that they could have an easier time at school until they graduated. Their subculture and resistance may seem like a self-defeating practice, because what they learned at school and the qualifications they obtained could only assure them laboring jobs and reproduce their lower class status. However, this subculture offered an alternative way to safeguard their happiness and healthy development, which in this case is psychological well-being and better interpersonal skills.

This paper could provide the teachers and school administrators with a new perspective to look at some of their students’ poor performance and disruptive behaviors. With a deeper understanding of their “deviant” students, the teachers may develop more pertinent measures to help their students.

This paper argues that, through revisiting the Chicago School tradition and reconceptualizing subculture on the basis of acknowledging its limitations and potential, subculture theory remains applicable in the context of contemporary China.

The first Hong Kong Real Estate Investment Trust (HK‐REIT), the Link REIT, was successfully launched in late 2005. The retail tranche of its initial public offering (IPO) was 19 times oversubscribed, and the IPO is the largest of its kind in the world until now. Despite the initial phenomenon success, there have been only three others to follow and get listed. Indeed, it took Hong Kong over two years to have her first Link REIT listed after the legislation for REIT products had come into force. The development of REIT market in Hong Kong has been slow compared to its counterparts in some other Asian countries. This paper aims to explain the somewhat sluggish growth of the HK‐REIT market. Its development is compared with some emerging Asian markets as well as the more mature markets in the USA and Australia. The study is focused on the legislations that govern REITs in different jurisdictions, their different REIT market envi‐ronments and the rationale from the respective governments to introduce their REITs. It is concluded that the sluggish development of HK‐REITs is mainly due to its market environment and industry structure. There is not enough incentive for developers to dispose their assets in the form of REITs. Besides, the HK‐REIT Code was initially criticized by the industry as being too restrictive. Though subsequent amendments on the HK‐REIT Code have been made to make it more conducive to the development of REIT market, further sustainable success will however hinge on the willingness from sponsors, particularly large developers, to offer their portfolios of properties for sale through REITs.

Since China initiated its “go global” policy that promotes its overseas investment, China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) has increased almost twenty times during the last 10 years, reaching $55.9 billion in 2008. The issue of internationalization of Chinese OFDI has attracted increasing attention of researchers from a business perspective. This article systematically reviews the previous studies on overseas investments by Chinese MNEs and discusses the characteristics of Chinese internationalization behavior at both firm level and country level. The internationalization of Chinese companies cannot be understood as a simple game of “catch up” with established MNEs, and more firm‐level empirical studies should be carried out on how these characteristics influence firms’ strategic decisions.

This cross-sectional study focuses on the social psychological correlates of self-harm and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak in Lebanon, which is a country characterized by political and economic instability.

A convenience sample of 191 Lebanese individuals completed measures of length of being in lockdown, fear of COVID-19, job insecurity, political trust, self-harm and suicidal ideation. Data were analyzed using independent samples t-tests and multiple regression.

Fear of COVID-19 was associated with neither self-harm nor suicidal ideation. Males and people with lower income reported higher suicidal ideation than females and those with higher income, respectively, and religiosity was inversely associated with suicidal ideation. People who reported self-harm generally exhibited lower political trust than those who did not report self-harm.

Beyond the fear of COVID-19, the socioeconomic sequelae of COVID-19 (especially the economic fallout and declining political trust), which are accentuated in already economically and politically unstable societies, may precipitate poor mental health and maladaptive coping strategies in Lebanon. There is a need to ensure adequate access to mental health services to the general population amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Lebanon.

This study provides novel insight into the risk factors for self-harm and suicidal ideation in Lebanon during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A methodology for producing an elevated-temperature tension stiffening model is presented.

The energy-based stress–strain model of plain concrete developed by Bažant and Oh (1983) was extended to the elevated-temperature domain by developing an analytical formulation for the temperature-dependence of the fracture energy G_f. Then, an elevated-temperature tension stiffening model was developed based on the modification of the proposed elevated-temperature tension softening model.

The proposed tension stiffening model can be used to predict the response of composite floor slabs exposed to fire with great accuracy, provided that the global parameters TS and K_res are adequately calibrated against global structural response data.

In a finite element analysis of reinforced concrete, a tension stiffening model is required as input for concrete to account for actions such as bond slip and tension stiffening. However, an elevated-temperature tension stiffening model does not exist in the research literature. An approach for developing an elevated-temperature tension stiffening model is presented.

The purpose of this paper is to determine if high versus low ethnocentric consumers differ in their attitudes toward buying domestic and foreign brands of underwear that are made domestically or in foreign countries.

Australian residents recruited through a mall intercept participated in this study through a self‐completed questionnaire. Fishbein's Multi‐Attribute model was used as the measure, along with repeated‐measures ANOVA and t‐tests, to examine whether the groups differed in their attitudes toward buying underwear with “Made in Australia”, “Made in the USA”, and “Made in China” labels.

The findings generally indicated that there is no significant difference between high and low ethnocentric consumers in attitude towards underwear that are made in Australia and the USA. On the other hand, high ethnocentric consumers viewed domestically made and branded underwear as more durable, easier to care for, better priced, more colourful, more attractive, more fashionable, of stronger brand name, more appropriate for occasions, and more choices of styles. Domestically‐made but foreign‐branded underwear is viewed as easier to care for and better priced.

The study suggests that China should improve its country image as compared to such developed nations as Australia and the USA in terms of production and manufacturing standards. The study also purports that American underwear brands with strong presence in the global fashion world that have not already established operation in Australia can consider entering the market.

The paper fills the gap in the ethnocentrism literature by validating the study in Australia and focusing on the attitudes of high ethnocentric (and low ethnocentric) consumers. It also examines underwear, which is a common product category in apparels but inherently deficient in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to make the mobile e-commerce shopping more convenient and avoid information overload by a mobile e-commerce recommendation system using an improved Apriori algorithm.

Combined with the characteristics of the mobile e-commerce, an improved Apriori algorithm was proposed and applied to the recommendation system. This paper makes products that are recommended to consumers valuable by improving the data mining efficiency. Finally, a Taobao online dress shop is used as an example to prove the effectiveness of an improved Apriori algorithm in the mobile e-commerce recommendation system.

The results of the experimental study clearly show that the mobile e-commerce recommendation system based on an improved Apriori algorithm increases the efficiency of data mining to achieve the unity of real time and recommendation accuracy.

The improved Apriori algorithm is applied in the mobile e-commerce recommendation system solving the limitation of the visual interface in a mobile terminal and the mass data that are continuously generated. The proposed recommendation system provides greater prediction accuracy than conventional systems in data mining.

The purpose of this study is to find out the future development of the Panama Canal after opening of the new waterway (third set of locks project), in terms of the change of cargo throughput, further deployment of fleets by the shipping companies and competition for the canal.

The research of this paper is based on an empiric study by collecting the relevant data from annual report of the Panama Canal Authority, publications related to the same field. Graphs pertaining to toll revenue also are made based on statistical data provided by the Panama Canal Authority.

The findings show that the opening of the new waterway of the Panama Canal generates more toll revenue for Panama government by allowing mega-vessels to transit, expediting further economic development of the country largely from behind. At the same time, shipping operators also can enjoy earning more revenue by deploying New Panamax vessels transiting the Canal.

Ingenuity in tabling the users of the Panama Canal by incorporating the logo marks of the shipping companies/implication is drawn through empirical analysis to provide the shipping companies and ports authorities concerned with more understanding toward the very significance of the new waterway expansion of the Panama Canal.

Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the state of the art over the 1979‐97 period, with particular emphasis on the topics that have been researched, the extent of the theory development in the field and the methodologies used in conducting research. Uses content analysis to review 75 relevant articles. Suggests that, while a considerable breadth of topics have been researched, there remains much to be done, there is further room for theoretical development in Chinese consumer behaviour studies; and the methodologies used need improvement and further refinement.