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Objectives: Appropriate support services have an important impact on inclusive students. If there is sufficient and appropriate support in school, it will help improve the learning, social interaction and social adaptation of inclusive students. The Macau SAR government has proposed to promote school-based therapy services in the future. This policy will help improve the appropriateness of school support for inclusive students. Language is the basis of learning, so the implementation of school-based speech language therapy services will inevitably help support the learning needs of inclusive students with language disorders in school. However, a deeper understanding of the current situation is needed in order to formulate an appropriate implementation plan. This study aims to understand the current front-line primary school teachers' understanding of the work of speech language therapists, characteristics of related impairments, difficulties in implementation, suggestions for school-based speech language therapy, so as to serve as reference information for future implementation plans. Method: This study conducted semi-structured interviews with 8 current primary school teachers from inclusive schools with different backgrounds. The interviews were recorded in the form of audio recordings, transcribed verbatim, and then coded and organized according to the research questions. Combined with the support of literature review, implementation suggestions were given for the school-based speech language therapy. Conclusion and limitations: The results show that teachers who studied special education and educational psychology have a higher understanding of the scope of speech language therapy than teachers who studied general education. Most teachers believe that the work scope of speech language therapists is mainly in oral expression, communication skills, and articulation correction. The interviewees all pointed out that there is currently no communication channel and direct contact point between teachers and speech therapists. The current difficulties related to speech language therapy include multiple aspects: teachers, parents and policies, such as teachers' lack of understanding of related impairments, low social acceptance, and lack of transparency of school information. The study also summarized government policies, school resources, environment and other factors that affect the effectiveness of speech language therapy, including evaluation process and waiting time for the evaluation, school support for government policies, parents and teachers' understanding and acceptance of speech language therapy, etc. The interviewees all agreed that there is a need to provide school-based speech language therapy services to solve the current difficulties in implementation, and also provided a number of implementation suggestions as a reference for the Macau SAR government in implementing relevant policies. However, the number of respondents was small, and it is suggested that a larger-scale study should be conducted. In addition to considering the number of samples, different stakeholders should also be included as respondents to formulate a well-balanced implementation guideline for promoting school-based treatment services from a more neutral perspective, so as to improve the teaching quality of students with special learning needs. 目的：合適的支援服務對融合生有著重要的影響，若在校內有足夠且適宜的支援，有助提升融合生的學習、社交、以及其適應社會的能力；澳門特區政府提出未來致力於推行校本治療服務，此政策有助提升在校支援對融合生的適切性；其中語言為學習的基礎，故校本語言治療服務的推行必然有助支援伴隨語言障礙融合生校內之學習需要。然而，在推行前需要對現況有更深入的了解，以便制定合宜的落實方案，是次研究旨在了解目前前線教師對語言治療師工作的認識、對相關障礙的了解、與語言治療相關的支援及溝通、實行上面對的困境、對校本語言治療的想法及推行建議，以作為日後推行計劃的參考資訊。 方法：是次研究透過與 8位不同背景現職融合學校小學教師進行半結構性訪談，訪談以錄音形式記錄，以逐字稿形式轉錄後，再根據探研究問題進行編碼及整理，結合了文獻回顧的支持，為日後落實校本語言治療給予落實建議。 結論及限制：結果顯示修讀特殊教育系、教育心理學系的教師對語言治療工作範疇的認識較修讀一般教育系的教師為高；大部分教師認為語言治療師的工作範疇主要在口語表達、溝通能力，以及構音糾正等面向，可見對語言治療師工作了解不透徹；受訪者均指出現時教師與語言治療師處於零溝通、零接觸的狀況，現時與語言治療相關的困境包括多個面向：教師、家長及政策，例如教師對相關的障礙認識不足、社會接納度低、校內資訊不透明等；研究亦歸納了政府政策、校內資源、環境等多項影響語言治療成效的因素，包括評估流程及輪候時長、校方對政府政策的支持度、家長及教師對語言治療的認識及接受程度等；受訪教師均一致認為有需要提供校本語言治療服務，以解決現時實行上的困境，亦對推行校本語言治療服務提供多項落實建議，以作為澳門特區政府在推行相關政策的參考資料；然而是次受訪人數太少，建議進行更大型的研究，除了人數的考量，亦可加入不同持份者作為受訪對象，以更中立的角度研判並平衡各持份者對推行校本治療服務的實施方針，以提升有特殊學習需要學生的教學品質。

本研究採用質性研究法，旨在探討澳門教育碩士二年級學生的學習體驗、影響學習體驗的主要因素、學習過程中所面對的挑戰與困難，以及學生對課程優化的建議與期望。研究透過半結構式深度訪談十位教育碩士生，並加以整理與分析，以深入回應研究問題並歸納研究結論。研究結果顯示： （一）受訪學生普遍肯定課程對其專業知識和實務能力的提升作用，但指出理論與實踐之間存在明顯落差，特別是在統計分析與研究方法教學方面的支援不足。此外，積極的師生互動與同儕合作有助提升學習動機與成效，惟小組合作中常見的角色衝突、任務分配不均及教師指導不足等情況亦對學習體驗造成負面影響。 （二）影響學生學習體驗的關鍵因素包括：師資專業素質、院校資源配套、同儕互動質量及時間管理壓力。教師教學策略與專業水準對學習成效有直接影響，學生偏好案例導向與互動性強的教學形式。而院校資源方面，如數據庫使用受限、設施老化等問題亦限制了學生的學術發展。在職學生則面臨工作與學業角色衝突，影響學習的持續性與專注度。 （三）受訪學生普遍面臨理論與實踐銜接困難、學術能力落差、時間壓力與團隊協作挑戰等問題。跨專業學生對學術論文與與研究設計的掌握不足，需要更有系統的研究方法訓練。隨機分組亦導致成員能力不均，降低了合作效率。部份學生在資源使用與情緒管理方面亦顯得較為薄弱，進一步削弱其學習投入。課程定位與職業發展期望之間的落差對學習動機構成不利影響。 （四）學生建議課程可加強案例教學與實踐機會，增設研究方法進階訓練，並優化評價設計。採用更多元的評估形式。同時，應明確學術型與專業型課程的培訓目標，建立清晰的課程命名與專業認證制度，以提高學歷認受性及學生未來的就業競爭力。 最後，根據研究結果，本文提出若干針對澳門教育碩士課程之優化建議。並指出未來可延伸之研究方向，以持續深化對本澳教育碩士學習體驗的理解與關注。 This study adopted a qualitative research approach to explore the learning experiences of second-year Master of Education students in Macao. It investigated the factors that influenced their learning experiences, the challenges and difficulties encountered during their studies, and their expectations for curriculum improvement. Through semi-structured in-depth interviews with ten Master of Education students, the collected data was organized and analyzed to thoroughly address the research questions and summarize the research findings. The results indicate that: 1. Findings indicated that while participants generally affirmed the programme’s contribution to enhancing their professional knowledge and practical skills, they also identified a clear imbalance between theoretical instruction and practical application, particularly in the area of statistical analysis and research methodology. Positive student-teacher interactions and peer collaboration were seen to support motivation and learning outcomes. However, issues such as role conflict in group works, unequal task distribution, and insufficient teacher guidance negatively impacted their overall experience. 2. Key factors influencing students’ learning experiences included teacher quality, institutional support, peer relationships, and stress related to time management. Teaching strategies and educator’s expertise were found to directly affect course quality, with participants favouring case-based and interactive teaching approaches. However, limited access to databases and outdated facilities were seen as barriers to academic development. Working students also faced a conflict of roles between their professional responsibilities and academic commitments, which hindered their ability to maintain engagement. 3. Challenges commonly reported included difficulties bridging theory and practice, gaps in academic preparedness, time pressures, and team collaboration issues. Cross-disciplinary students often lacked a strong foundation in academic writing and research design and expressed a need for more structured research training. Random group allocation was seen to reduce group effectiveness. Additionally, some participants demonstrated limited capacity for resource use and emotional regulation, and this affected their learning engagement. Misalignment between course orientation and career expectations was also a factor in the decline in motivation. 4. Participants recommended increasing opportunities for case-based learning and hands-on experience, as well as enhancing research training and diversifying assessment methods. They also suggested clearer distinctions between academic and professional degree pathways and the establishment of a standardised course naming and a professional accreditation framework to improve recognition and employment competitiveness. Based on the findings, this study proposed several recommendations for improving the Master of Education curriculum in Macao. Future research directions are also suggested that may deepen an understanding of and support the development of postgraduate learning experiences within the local context.

This study aims to investigate the current status of teaching difficulties and professional competencies among secondary school teachers working with students with special educational needs (SEN) in inclusive classrooms in Macao. It examines differences in teachers' teaching difficulties and professional competencies across various demographic variables. Furthermore, it explores the relationship between teachers' professional competencies and their teaching difficulties, as well as identifying the predictive factors influencing both aspects. A questionnaire survey method was employed, collecting 171 valid responses. Data analysis methods included descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and linear regression analysis. Key findings include: • Teachers reported a moderately low level of teaching difficulties related to inclusive education. • Teachers reported a moderately high level of professional competencies in inclusive education. • Significant differences in teaching difficulties were observed based on teachers' gender and participation in inclusive education training courses. • Significant differences in professional competencies were observed based on teachers' years of experience in inclusive education and their participation in inclusive education training courses, seminars and workshops. • A low negative correlation was found between teachers' teaching difficulties and their professional competencies. • Teachers' professional competencies significantly predict their teaching difficulties. • Gender significantly predicted teaching difficulties in inclusive education contexts. Based on these findings, relevant recommendations are provided. 本研究旨在瞭解澳⾨融合教育學校中學教師⾯對融合學⽣的教學困擾及融 合教育專業知能的現況與相關性，並分析不同背景變項下澳⾨中學教師的教學困 擾及融合教育專業知能之差異、融合教育專業知能對教學困擾的預測⼒，以及背 景因素對教學困擾的預測⼒。 本研究採⽤問卷調查法，回收有效問卷171份。問卷數據以描述性統計、獨 ⽴樣本T檢驗、單因⼦變異數分析、⽪爾遜積差相關、線性迴歸分析進⾏分析。 研究結果歸納如下： ⼀、 澳⾨中學教師融合教育教學困擾屬「中等偏低」程度。 ⼆、 澳⾨中學教師融合教育專業知能屬「中等偏⾼」程度。 三、 不同性別及融合教育課程進修的澳⾨中學教師融合教育教學困擾有顯著差 異。 四、 不同融合教育年資、融合教育課程進修及講座、⼯作坊參與的澳⾨中學教師 融合教育專業知能有顯著差異。 五、 澳⾨中學教師融合教育教學困擾與專業知能呈「低度負相關」。 六、 澳⾨中學教師的整體融合教育專業知能對融合教育教學困擾具微弱預測⼒。 七、 「性別」對融合教育教學困擾具微弱預測⼒。 本研究最後根據研究結果提出相關建議。

Background: Maternal infections are linked to neurodevelopmental impairments, highlighting the need to investigate SARS-CoV-2-induced immune activation. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of maternal infection on neurodevelopment and investigate whether cytokine and chemokine profiles predict delays at 24 months. Methods: Conducted in Brazil (January 2021–March 2022), this follow-up study included 18 SARS-CoV-2 positive pregnant women at 35–37 weeks’ gestation, 15 umbilical cord blood samples, and blood samples from 15 children at 6 months and 14 at 24 months. Developmental delay was defined using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition, with scores below 90 in cognitive, communication, or motor domains. Results: At 6 months, 33.3% of infants exhibited cognitive delays, 20% communication delays, and 40% motor delays, increasing to 35.71%, 64.29%, and 57.14% at 24 months, respectively. Elevated interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in cord blood correlated with cognitive delays, while interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-17, and IL-1β were associated with motor delays. Increased C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 and other cytokines were associated with communication delays. Conclusion: Maternal SARS-CoV-2 may impact infant neurodevelopment, as early cytokine elevations correlate with delays, highlighting the importance of early monitoring and interventions to reduce long-term effects. Impact: Prenatal SARS-COV-2 infection in pregnant women is linked to developmental delays in toddlers, with cytokine and chemokine changes associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes at 24 months. This study shows the long-term impact of maternal SARS-COV-2 infection on child development, highlighting inflammatory markers like IFN-γ, TNFα, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17, IL-1β, and CXCL10. Identifying specific cytokines correlating with cognitive, communication, and motor delays suggests potential biomarkers for early intervention. Conducted in Fortaleza, Brazil, the study emphasizes understanding local epidemiological impacts on child development, especially in regions with high infection rates. (Figure presented.)

The ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict has had significant repercussions for businesses, with many scaling back operations in Russia due to international sanctions. However, some companies continue operating there while making superficial gestures to appear supportive of the oppressed side (a practice known as ‘warwashing’). These actions conflict with profit motives and contribute to consumer skepticism and potential boycotts. This study examines how Portuguese and Danish consumers respond to warwashing, aiming to assess if cultural differences influence reactions. A quantitative survey, including nine questions based on literature and key differences between the two countries, was conducted using a deductive approach. Results were analyzed via JMP statistical software, with paired t-tests applied. Findings reveal a significant difference in reactions between Portuguese and Danish consumers, with Danish consumers showing a heightened response, engaging more frequently in impactful actions. This aligns with Hofstede’s cultural model, which portrays Danes as more open to change and expecting transparency. Boycott theory is also supported, suggesting that Danes are more inclined to boycott products and services, while Portuguese consumers show less faith in the effectiveness of such actions. This cross-country comparison reaffirms Hofstede’s Cultural Value Dimensions, providing insight into real-world cultural differences. Additionally, the study highlights the concept of collective action, where individuals avoid certain products or services as a form of protest, revealing variations in the prevalence of this behaviour across different societies.

The study of Catholic churches in Macau is of significant importance for both architectural heritage conservation and the transmission of cultural values. As religious structures, these churches serve as tangible representations of religious ideology and spiritual essence, thereby embodying the core principles of cultural expression. This paper aims to critically examine the Catholic churches of Macau, exploring their intrinsic values through an architectural research framework that emphasizes three key morphological elements: spatial characteristics, stylistic features, and structural composition. By contextualizing the historical background and architectural attributes, this study sheds light on the multifaceted significance of Catholic church construction in modern Macau, while offering a comprehensive analysis of the intersection, fusion, and coexistence of Eastern and Western cultural influences in this unique locale. Through this investigation, the paper uncovers a range of compelling cultural phenomena, providing insights that may serve as valuable reference points for future practices in architectural heritage conservation in Macau.

This dissertation examines the implementation of smart policing in Macau, focusing on the adoption and challenges of facial recognition technology within the Macau Urban Electronic Surveillance System. As Macau pursues its smart city ambitions, the integration of advanced technologies into law enforcement has become a central strategy for enhancing public safety and operational efficiency. However, the actual acceptance and use of these technologies by frontline police officers remain underexplored. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach. documentary analysis of government policies and strategic documents provides an overview of Macau’s smart policing initiatives and the legal and infrastructural frameworks supporting them. The core of the research is a quantitative survey of Macau police officers who have direct experience with the facial recognition system. The survey is structured around the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), with additional attention to compatibility and perceived legal knowledge. The results reveal that performance expectancy and perceived legal knowledge are the strongest factors influencing officers’ adoption of facial recognition while effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and compatibility are less influential. Practical challenges were discovered through the Macau police officers.

This study examines consumer perceptions of all-electric vehicles in Macau, focusing on Tesla owners. As the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) pursues its long-term carbon reduction strategy, adopting BEV is a key step towards sustainable urban mobility. However, consumer attitudes and behavioral responses to BEV in Macau's unique high-density urban environment remain underexplored. This study adopts the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT-2) model with the addition of the “technological show-off” (TS) dimension to explore how Tesla owners perceive the challenges and opportunities of adopting BEV. This study used a qualitative methodology to conduct in-depth interviews with ten Tesla owners in Macau through semi-structured interviews and unstructured quantitative assessments. Data were analyzed across multiple UTAUT-2 dimensions, including Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation, Price Value, Habit, and the added factor of Technology Show-Off. The findings suggest that Tesla owners in Macau value their vehicles' convenience, efficiency, and technological sophistication, with a particular focus on Autopilot, acceleration, and low maintenance costs. However, issues such as limited charging infrastructure, service accessibility, and technology learning curve remain. Social status and identity are influential factors, especially in a compact and socially connected urban environment like Macau. By examining the experiences of EV users, this study fills a gap in the existing literature. It provides practical insights for policymakers and manufacturers aiming to accelerate the diffusion of BEVs. The study concludes that consumer perceptions are critical for practical benefits and emotional fulfillment for the continued growth of the electric vehicle market in Macau and similar regions.

This research focuses on the design of the in-vehicle interactive interface of L4 autonomous driving vehicles, aiming to explore how to improve the passengers experience by optimizing the interface interaction mode. With the development of autonomous driving technology, the shortcomings of existing interface design in transparent feedback, emotional adaptation and multi-modal interaction support have become the main obstacles affecting user trust and satisfaction. Based on user research and prototype design, the study proposed an interface design scheme that combines transparent feedback with emotional perception, focusing on real-time display of vehicle behaviour logic and dynamic adaptation to passenger emotional state. In user testing, the system showed some improvements in trust enhancement and ease of use, especially in response to complex road conditions and emergencies. Although this research has provided some preliminary results through innovative design, there are still limitations in technical implementation and scope of application. Future research will focus on sample diversification and accuracy improvement of emotional perception technology to further improve the design scheme and expand its application scenarios.

Legalizing gambling has brought numerous advantages to Macau, including employment opportunities, economic growth, improved quality of life, and accelerated urban development. While these macro-level benefits are evident, the industry has also significantly impacted local families and communities. In particular, the initial discovery of a family member's gambling problem inflicts immeasurable harm on the household, and the coping strategies adopted by affected family members critically influence their relationships with the gambler and the overall trajectory of the family unit. This qualitative study, conducted in collaboration between the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) and SKH 24-hour online gambling counseling service (SKH-24H), employed semi-structured interviews to explore the coping strategies of family members of problem gamblers. Nine participants were interviewed, and thematic analysis revealed eight key coping strategies: (1) Bailing out The Problem Gambler, (2) Maintaining Status Quo of the Family, (3) Help Seeking in Macau Community, (4) Coping by Self-Regulation, (5) Coping by Engagement, (6) Coping by Withdrawal, (7) Tolerance and (8) Seeking Psychiatric Consultations. The study aims to enhance the understanding of local gambling counseling professionals regarding the coping strategy employed by Macau families dealing with problem gamblers. By aligning intervention strategies with the lived experiences of these families, the findings can inform more effective, family-focused approaches to service delivery. Furthermore, the research provides insights for government agencies into the real-world challenges faced by families affected by problem gambling, offering evidence-based recommendations for evaluating and revising existing regulations to mitigate the adverse effects of the gambling industry on Macau's households. "

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games established themselves as a unique worldwide sports event, which took place in 2021 without spectators after a year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The media became the sole information distributor about the Games because there were no live spectators present at the events. Academic research about the Paralympic movement showed substantial growth since the London 2012 as media attention alongside public interest expanded. Research about the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics faces limited availability because of immigration and infection control measures combined with spectator restrictions. There is insufficient research about the social consequences of the Paralympic media coverage especially from the viewpoint of people with disabilities. This study analysed the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics through qualitative methods to understand media communication effects on Tokyo and Aichi Prefecture residents with disabilities. Four main themes emerged through reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interview dataset which included: 1) the duality of the media, 2) the suspension between the medical and social models, 3) Japanese culture and the human rights movement, and 4) Paralympian decoded. By comparing with previous research on media perception among Japanese non-disabled people, this study revealed that people with disabilities viewed the Paralympic media coverage with both critical and objective perspectives by acknowledging its benefits and challenges. People with disabilities demonstrated little optimism regarding how the media could improve public disability awareness. The study also revealed that Paralympians carry diverse and widely recognised social meanings within disability communities and that a fundamental mismatch exists between disability goals and mainstream media representations, which tend to simplify disability into one-dimensional categories. This study established a social framework that recognised and respected the diverse differences within the disability population, rather than using reductionist classification systems.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer a sustainable approach to mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss while delivering socio-economic benefits. This study examines mangroves as a key NbS in Macao, assessing their ecosystem services and economic valuation through a hedonic pricing model. Despite their limited spatial coverage, Macao's mangroves provide critical services, including coastal protection, carbon sequestration, and habitat provision, yet face threats from invasive species and urbanization. The research employs a hedonic pricing model to analyze the relationship between property prices and proximity to mangrove ecosystems in Macao Peninsula, Taipa, and Coloane. Results demonstrate a statistically significant negative correlation, indicating that residential properties closer to mangrove areas command higher prices, reflecting the premium placed on ecological amenities. The model explains 65.0% of price variation, underscoring mangroves' influence on real estate values. This study contributes a novel valuation framework for mangrove ecosystem services in high-density coastal cities, integrating ecological and economic perspectives. The findings support evidence-based policy recommendations for mangrove conservation and sustainable urban development. Future research should expand the model to incorporate additional variables and longitudinal data to enhance predictive accuracy and applicability across diverse coastal regions. Biodiversity assessment and conservation planning in highly urbanized environments. 基于自然的解决方案（NbS）为缓解气候变化和生物多样性丧失提供了一种可持续的方法，同时还能带来社会经济利益。本研究以澳门的红树林为例，探讨其作为关键的基于自然的解决方案的作用，通过享乐定价模型评估其生态系统服务和经济价值。尽管澳门红树林的分布面积有限，但它们提供了重要的服务，包括海岸保护、碳封存和栖息地提供，然而却面临着外来物种入侵和城市化的威胁。 研究采用享乐定价模型，分析澳门半岛、氹仔和路环地区房产价格与红树林生态系统距离之间的关系。结果表明，两者之间存在显著的负相关关系，即靠近红树林区域的住宅价格更高，这反映了人们对生态设施的重视。该模型解释了 65.0%的价格差异，突显了红树林对房地产价值的影响。 本研究为高密度沿海城市的红树林生态系统服务提供了一种新的估值框架，将生态和经济视角相结合。这些发现为红树林保护和可持续城市发展提供了基于证据的政策建议。未来的研究应扩展该模型，纳入更多变量和纵向数据，以提高预测的准确性和在不同沿海地区的适用性。在高度城市化环境中进行生物多样性评估和保护规划。

The suicide rate has been increasing these decades. A good mental health could prevent people from committing suicide. Parents are the ones whom we spend most of the time with. How parents treat us does have an impact on both our development and mental health. However, some people can always see the positive side of things and expect things to turn out well. Therefore, the present study aims to examine if resilience would mediate the relationship between parenting styles and mental health in bachelor students. A cross-sectional research method was used in this study. Data were collected through Google Forms. The sample consists of 110 Bachelor students in Macau, with 46 males (42%) and 64 females (58%). According to the findings of the study, the mediating role of resilience in the relationships between parenting styles and mental health were found to be not significant. However, bachelor students who perceived their mothers as authoritative parenting style were found to have better mental health. While higher resilience was found to have less impact on the mental health of bachelor students. This study has pointed out the importance of different parenting styles on bachelor students' mental health and further proves the positive influence of resilience towards mental health. There is a need to cultivate the resilience of bachelor students to help them better equip themselves for stressful situations and cope with crises. Workshops or interventions are also needed for parents to teach them better parenting skills and knowledge, so that the mental health of their children could be enhanced by that.

Marriott International, Inc. (Marriott) is a worldwide company that operates, franchises, and licenses a diverse portfolio of hotels, residential properties, timeshares, and other lodging options across various brands, catering to multiple price levels and service standards. Currently, Marriott operates in the U.S. & Canada segment and the international segment, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The major business segment is the U.S. & Canada, representing 80% of the consolidated net sales in 2023. To pioneer the development in the industry, Marriott has to expand its international operations to diversify geographic revenue streams and reduce dependence on the U.S. & Canada markets. Maintaining its competitive advantage is a constant challenge due to the intense competition in the global hospitality industry and the sector’s sensitivity to economic, political, and social changes. Understanding how these factors affect both the industry and Marriott is crucial for accurately assessing Marriott’s intrinsic value and its future positioning. Comparing the intrinsic value derived from three valuation models with Marriott’s market share price as of December 31, 2023, will offer valuable insights for investors.

This dissertation investigates the effectiveness and shortcomings of employee incentive mechanisms at GF Advertising Company, with a specific focus on the motivation of staff. Amid rapid changes in the advertising and printing materials industry, employee satisfaction and retention have become increasingly critical. However, the company’s current incentive system—characterized by an overreliance on material rewards and lack of development opportunities—has struggled to meet employees’ evolving needs. To explore this issue, the study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining a quantitative survey of 115 employees with qualitative interviews of 7 selected staff members. The research draws upon Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory to analyze employee motivation and satisfaction. The findings reveal key challenges in four areas: insufficient economic incentives, weak organizational environment support, underdeveloped career growth mechanisms, and ineffective work-related motivation. Based on the results, the dissertation proposes a multi-layered, localized incentive model that incorporates both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Recommendations include optimizing communication platforms, strengthening team culture, refining promotion pathways, and diversifying reward structures to better align with employee expectations. The study concludes that a strategic and human-centered incentive mechanism not only improves employee engagement but also enhances organizational performance. Future research could further expand the sample scope and explore long-term impacts of different incentive models across companies and regions.

The present research aimed to assess and compare the perspectives of teachers, parents, and youth regarding the main positive aspects and concerns they have about youth in Macao, namely: (1 and 2) What are the main positive aspects/concerns Macao teachers, parents, and youth focus on? And (2 and 3) How aligned are teachers, parents, and youth in Macao regarding the positive aspects/concerns? We applied a quantitative methodology based on a quantitative content analysis of open-ended questions included in the Macao validation (Simões et al., Unpublished report) of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (Achenbach, 1991; “what are your concerns regarding your child/your student/yourself”, and “what are the most positive aspects about your child/your student/yourself”). We found alignment regarding positive aspects, with youth, parents and teachers focusing on personality, abilities, and attitudes, and parents additionally on independence. Regarding concerns, there was less alignment. All mentioned academic performance and interpersonal relationships, but parents and teachers also mentioned health, morality, attitudes, and teachers’ class engagement concerns. Teachers and youths mentioned future planning, while only the youth mentioned school activities and facilities, their abilities and character and class rules and assignments. These categories are aligned with development models, including ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1994), social learning theory and social cognitive learning theory (Bandura, 1977, 1986), moral development perspectives (Mead, 1928; Gilligan 1933), self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and positive youth development perspectives (e.g., Lerner, 2005). The main practical implications are that (1) youth should have a greater awareness of their physical and mental health; (2) parents should build up a support system to enhance autonomy (3) schools play a crucial role in promoting students’ health by creating a supportive environment; (4) counsellors should promote re-connection between youth and their parents or teachers; and (5) decision-makers should invest in mental health education awareness to diminish the stigma, de-emphasise education strategies based on standardised testing, and address broader social and economic inequalities to reduce disparities and academic pressure among youths, parents and teachers.

This study examines the collaboration between kindergarten teachers and resource teachers in Macau's inclusive early childhood education settings, focusing on the extent of their collaboration, challenges, satisfaction, support needs, and suggestions for improvement regarding collabroation. The study surveyed 53 kindergarten teachers and 15 resource teachers from inclusive kindergartens in Macau. Key findings are: (1) Over 60% of kindergarten teachers and all resource teachers had collaborative experience, and both parties reported they primarily used the ""one teaching, one assisting"" co-teaching model; (2) Over 70% of kindergarten teachers reported less than 30 minutes of weekly discussion time with resource teachers, while 40% of resource teachers reported about one hour per week for discussion with kindergarten teachers ; (3) Both groups identified communication as the main challenge; (4) Primary collaboration areas included case information exchange and teaching strategy discussions; (5) Overall satisfaction was above average, with highest satisfaction in ""positive attitude"" and lowest in ""support system;"" (6) Teachers expressed high support need for professional training and parent training; and (7) Both groups emphasized the key to improve collaboration relates to enhanced communication and more professional training and development. Based on these findings, recommendations were offered with a focus on establishing comprehensive support networks and communication platforms at policy, school, and teacher levels. 本研究旨在探討澳門幼稚園教師與資源教師在學前融合教育環境中的合作現況，包括合作程度、合作中遇到的狀況、合作滿意度、對合作的支援需求、以及對合作的建議。研究採用問卷調查法，研究對象包括澳門參與融合教育計劃的幼稚園中的53名幼稚園教師和15名資源教師。結果顯示，(1) 6成以上幼稚園教師與資源教師有合作經驗;資源教師全部都有與幼稚園教師合作的經驗，雙方教師都認為開展最多的合作教學類型是「一人教學，一人協助」;（2）雙方合作時間有限，7成以上的幼稚園教師表示每週與資源教師討論時間少於30分鐘，而有4成資源教師表示每週討論時間約1小時;(3)雙方教師表示合作時最大的困難是溝通協調;(4)最主要的合作領域是交流個案的基本情況和討論學生的教學策略;(5)兩組教師對合作的整體滿意度高於中等程度，其中「正面態度」維度滿意度最高，「支援系統」維度滿意度最低;(6)教師對專業培訓和家長培訓的支援需求較高;(7)雙方教師都認為「加強溝通」和「增加教師培訓與專業發展」是改善合作的關鍵。根據這些研究結果，筆者建議從政策、學校及教師三個層面著手，建立完善支援網絡、多元交流平臺，並持續提升教師專業能力。

This research examines aspects that influence career development for women in the public sector in Macau. The combination of local customs and what remains from Portuguese rule in Macau has led to a special society that influences how gender is dealt with in public institutions. While nations promise gender equality, women do not hold many leadership positions in their government agencies. To conduct this study, qualitative research using semi-structured interviews was performed with 12 female public sector staff, some in leadership positions and some aiming for them. Analysis of interview data shows that cultural norms, organizational structures and new technological trends together block women from advancing at work. It appears that strong cultural habits about gender keep valuing women’s domestic duties over professional goals, supporting the belief that top management should be mostly male. Women in these sectors which are largely male, are doubted about their ability to lead. Organizational barriers, including opaque promotion practices, gender-biased recruitment, lack of mentorship, and limited access to gender-sensitive leadership development programs, further impede women's career advancement. Even though work-life balance policies exist in the handbook, managers often ignore them and consider them a hindrance for women hoping to move ahead.In parallel, the study explores how digital transformation—the so-called "Internet+" era— offers both opportunities and challenges for women in the public sector. Although digital tools improve skills and career paths, poor training often keeps women from gaining from these resources. The impact of digitalization brings out more gender inequality, because women find it harder to access major leadership roles in high-tech sectors. To tackle these different problems, the dissertation recommends strategies such as running gender-focused mentorship programs, making sure work-life balance policies are properly enforced, increasing transparency during promotions and launching digital skill training just for female employees. Equally importantly, it stresses the need for shifts in cultural values together with new policies, encouraging campaigns to raise awareness and welcoming new leadership models opposed to patriarchy. The research, by considering Macau’s special setting, helps advance the debate on gender equity in governance and provides useful tips for supporting inclusive leadership paths in societies with similar characteristics.

Facial expression recognition is a key topic in computer vision, playing a crucial role in non-verbal communication. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, significant progress has been made in improving recognition accuracy and generalization abilities. Traditional methods often suffer from low precision and poor generalization, while deep learning models have substantially advanced the field. However, deploying deep and complex models on different platforms remains challenging due to their high computational demands and frameworks. Hence, developing an efficient, real-time, and lightweight facial expression recognition system is critical. This study focuses on creating an efficient, accurate, and lightweight real-time facial expression recognition system with an emphasis on cross-platform deployment. It integrates various deep learning and optimization techniques to demonstrate flexibility across platforms. In this context, this study evaluates the performance of 10 advanced CNN models (VGG16, VGG19, ResNet50, etc.) on the facial expression dataset FER2013. YOLOv8 combined with ResNet50 achieved 70.56% accuracy on FER2013, outperforming YOLOv8 alone by 2.1%. Multi-module fusion models (MobileFaceNet, IR50, HyViT, SE) achieved an accuracy of 92.58% and 74.8% on the RAF-DB and FER2013 datasets, respectively, showing superior performance in ablation experiments. Given the significant impact of data quality on model performance, this study performed data cleaning on the FER2013 dataset, resulting in a 3.25% accuracy improvement for the YOLOv8 + ResNet50 model, which reached 73.81%. The high-resolution RAF-DB dataset, with fewer errors, led to improved performance, achieving 92.56% accuracy with the fusion model. A multi-purpose facial expression recognition system, VISTA, was developed using Python and PyQt5. The system supports multiple data formats and provides real-time emotional feedback, thus enhancing its usability for both research and practical applications. Furthermore, the fusion model was quantized using the OpenVINO toolkit, reducing its parameters by 75% while maintaining an accuracy of 91.17%. Inference speed was improved, and XGrad-CAM was employed to enhance model interpretability, revealing that the YOLOv8 + ResNet50 combination more effectively captured facial features. Finally, the high-performance model was successfully deployed on Intel CPUs, NVIDIA GPUs, and embedded devices Raspberry Pi 4B, demonstrating the portability and flexibility of the VISTA system across various platforms. This research provides promising solutions for applications in human-computer interaction, affective computing, and real-time emotional analysis, with significant advancements made in improving system real-time performance, accuracy, and cross-platform deployment capabilities. It contributes to the development of facial expression recognition technology and lays the foundation for its widespread future applications in fields such as smart healthcare, business analytics, education, and mental health.