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Robotics are being used in the intervention with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in many places and already for many years. Many robots were developed and different studies are being made in order to evaluate its effectiveness. “Socially Assistive Robotics” is shown to be effective in different areas mainly in social and emotional development. Milo, a robot developed by a team led by Richard Margolin for the Robots4Autism program (RoboKind, 2020), is one of the robots whose use is reported to be successful. In Macao there is no report of studies or experiences on the use of robots in the intervention with children with ASD. In a collaboration between the Macao Science Centre, the Macao Autism Association (MAA) and the University of Saint Joseph, an exploratory study was developed to understand the applicability of Milo to the work with children with ASD in Macao. The study showed that the robot is able to facilitate social and emotional competences of children with ASD. However, several limitations including language, cultural differences, the inexperienced facilitators and the level of sessions are too simple for the participants to be aware of that may affect the effectiveness of the intervention. It is important to show that the adoption of Milo in Macao for intervening children with ASD can be further implemented, with better practical solutions.

The article sets off from a speech given by Benedict XVI in the German Bundestag in 2011, where he requested an ecological learning process to aim at sustainable human development. Appreciating the Ecological Movement, he asked to learn to listen to Nature’s language and act accordingly, which he applies analogically to “human ecology”. The article bridges elements of “Listening to Nature” and the Natural Moral Law Tradition in Benedict’s speech and in Francis’ Encyclical Letter Laudatu Si’ inview of serving human flourishing in an ecological civilization. Keywords: Natural Moral Law; Nature, Laudatu Si’, Benedict XVI, Francis; Ecological Civilization/生態文明, Sustainable Development, Ecology of Man.

Whilst after decades of research, exegetes have all agree on the complexity of Paul’s line of thinking in Rom 2:14–16, the ITC in its 2009 document, In Search of a Universal Ethic, still in an oversimplified manner propagates the view that Rom 2:14 presupposes a theory/theology of the natural law. This article makes plain the major disagreements among Pauline exegetes whether such presupposition stands by reviewing some major contributions to the discussion by raising major questions regarding the issue of φύσει in those verses, the nature of the law mentioned by Paul, the identity of the people Paul calls “Gentiles.” This article offers a more nuanced understanding of Rom 2:14. Keywords: Rom 2:14, ITC, Universal Ethic, Natural Law, φύσει, Gentiles

Malacca Portuguese Creole (MPC) (ISO 639-3; code: mcm), popularly known as Malacca Portuguese or locally as (Papiá) Cristang, belongs to the group of Portuguese-lexified creoles of (South)east Asia, which includes the extinct varieties of Batavia/Tugu (Maurer 2013) and Bidau, East Timor (Baxter 1990), and the moribund variety of Macau (Baxter 2009). MPC has its origins in the Portuguese presence in Malacca, and like the other creoles in this subset, it is genetically related to the Portuguese Creoles of South Asia (Holm 1988, Cardoso, Baxter & Nunes 2012).

China’s return to social work education, after a nearly 35-year absence, opened the door for partnerships like the 2012 China Collaborative partnership between the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Katherine A. Kendall Institute, the China Association of Social Work Education (CASWE) and the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). The University of Alabama School of Social Work (UA SSW) was selected to participate in the collaborative and was connected to the Southwest China Region, specifically partnered with Yunnan University. This manuscript will share the strategies used to engage faculty and students from each partnering institution. Data collected by UA SSW over the five-year partnership will be utilised to contribute to the discussion of the extent to which Western knowledge and theory about social work education might usefully be applied to the Chinese context.

This study examines the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Engaged Teacher Scale (C-ETS). A translated questionnaire with 16 items was administered to a sample of 341 primary and secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. A series of confirmatory factor analyses were performed to assess the construct, convergent, and discriminant validity of the scale in alternative models. Results provide support for a second-order model with teacher engagement as an overarching construct with four hypothesized dimensions: emotional engagement, cognitive engagement, social engagement (students), and social engagement (colleagues). The C-ETS provides a useful measure for teacher engagement in Chinese societies. Contributions and limitations of the study are discussed.

The role of hormones as modulators of aggressive behavior in fish remains poorly understood. Androgens and corticosteroids, in particular, have been associated with aggressive behavior in fish but it is still not clear if animals adjust the secretion of these hormones to regulate behavior during ongoing fights, in response to fight outcomes in order to adjust aggressive behavior in subsequent fights, or both. With its stereotyped displays and high aggression levels, the Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens is an excellent model to investigate this question. Here, we compared the behavioral and endocrine response of male B. splendens to fights where there is no winner or loser by presenting them with a size-matched live interacting conspecific behind a transparent partition or with a mirror image. The aggressive response started with threat displays that were overall similar in frequency and duration towards both types of stimuli. Fights transitioned to overt attacks and interacting with a live conspecific elicited a higher frequency of attempted bites and head hits, as compared with the mirror image. There was a pronounced increase in plasma androgens (11-ketotestosterone and testosterone) and corticosteroids (cortisol) levels in response to the aggression challenge, independent of stimulus type. Post-fight intra-group levels of these hormones did not correlate with measures of physical activity or aggressive behavior. A linear discriminant analysis including all behavioral and endocrine data was a poor classifier of fish from the conspecific and mirror trials, showing that overall the behavioral and endocrine response to mirror images and conspecifics was similar. The results show that fight resolution is not necessary to induce an evident increase in peripheral levels of androgens and corticosteroids in B. splendens. However, the function of these hormones during present and future aggressive contests remains to be clarified.

The occurrence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is a major issue for marine and coastal environments in the proximity of urban areas. The occurrence of EDCs in the Pearl River Delta region is well documented but specific data related to Macao is unavailable. The levels of bisphenol-A (BPA), estrone (E1), 17α-estradiol (αE2), 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) were measured in sediment samples collected along the coastline of Macao. BPA was found in all 45 collected samples with lower BPA concentrations associated to the presence of mangrove trees. Biodegradation assays were performed to evaluate the capacity of the microbial communities of the surveyed ecosystems to degrade BPA and its analogue BPS. Using sediments collected at a WWTP discharge point as inoculum, at a concentration of 2 mg l−1 complete removal of BPA was observed within 6 days, whereas for the same concentration BPS removal was of 95% after 10 days, which is particularly interesting since this compound is considered recalcitrant to biodegradation and likely to accumulate in the environment. Supplementation with BPA improved the degradation of bisphenol-S (BPS). Aiming at the isolation of EDCs-degrading bacteria, enrichments were established with sediments supplied with BPA, BPS, E2 and EE2, which led to the isolation of a bacterial strain, identified as Rhodoccoccus sp. ED55, able to degrade the four compounds at different extents. The isolated strain represents a valuable candidate for bioremediation of contaminated soils and waters.

The Dayingezhuang gold deposit in the Jiaodong district, eastern margin of the North China Craton is hosted in Mesozoic granitic rocks and consists of quartz-sulfide veins/veinlets and sulfide disseminations in alteration envelopes. Previous studies mainly focused on the geochronology, sources of ore-forming fluids and metals to investigate the ore genesis. However, enrichment mechanism of Au and other associated trace metals remain unclear. In this study, we present detailed textures and in-situ LA-ICP-MS trace-element compositions of different generations of pyrite, as well as EMP analysis of Au-bearing minerals to discuss the occurrence and enrichment mechanism of Au at this deposit. Three generations of pyrite (Py1, Py2 and Py3) formed during three hydrothermal ore stages (I, II, and III) at Dayingezhuang. Py1 occurs as disseminations in sericitic alteration assemblages and is characterized by low Au (mean 0.15 ppm), Ag, As and Te contents. The time-resolved depth-concentration profiles indicate that Au in Py1 mainly occurs as nanoparticles and/or micron-sized inclusions. Py2 can be further divided into the early undeformed Py2a and later Py2b, which is the product of deformed Py2a with different degrees of brittle to plastic deformation and recrystallization. Py2a in pyrite-siderite-quartz veins is relatively enriched in invisible Au (mean 0.41 ppm), Ag, As, and Te compared to Py1, and contains numerous micron-sized Au inclusions. In contrast, Py2b contains lesser invisible Au (0.21 ppm) and host abundant gold minerals along the grain boundaries and microfractures. Py3 in polymetallic sulfide veins has little Au. As a whole, Au in pyrite is positively correlated with Ag and Te, which is consistent with the results of EMP analysis showing the occurrence of Au as electrum, native gold and minor petzite in pyrite. Such evidences show that the deformation and recrystallization of auriferous Py2a potentially caused local remobilization of Au (mainly as micron-sized inclusion Au) via solid-state ductile flow and subsequent reconcentration of Au in microfractures of Py2b. The pyrite deformation and Au remobilization events were suggested to be related to the continuous reactivation of the regional Zhaoping Fault contemporaneous with gold mineralization. Our study highlights the importance of remobilization and reconcentration of Au triggered by syn-ore tectonic activities at Dayingezhuang and possibly other Au deposits in the Jiaodong district.

The prevalence of microplastics in the environment has become a major global conservation issue. One primary source of environmental microplastics is personal care and cosmetic products (PCCPs) containing microbeads. The market availability of PCCPs containing microbeads and the level of contamination of coastal sediments by microplastics was studied in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Macao in China. We found that PCCPs containing microbeads are still widely available for sale in the region, with over 70% of surveyed PCCPs containing at least one type of microbeads as an ingredient, with polyethylene (PE) being the most common one. In an estimate, the use of PCCPs in the territory may release over 37 billion microbeads per year into the environment via wastewater treatment plants. The density of microplastics in coastal sediments varied between 259 and 1,743 items/L of sediment, amongst the highest reported in the world. The fraction of < 1 mm was the most abundant, representing an average of 98.6% of the total, and correlated positively with the abundance of larger sized fragments. The results show that although environmental pollution with microplastics released from PCCPs usage is significant, other sources, namely fragmentation of larger plastic debris, likely contribute more to the issue. The study highlights the magnitude of the problem at a local level and suggests possible mitigating strategies.

Mangroves are a unique group of plants growing along tropical and sub-tropical coastlines, with the ability to remove several types of contaminants such as heavy metals and other persistent organic compounds in coastal waters. However, little attention has been given to the possible role of mangroves in the removal of organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs) from the environment. Used worldwide, these pesticides were banned in the late 80s, withal they can still be quantified in aquatic environments due to their high stability. Moreover, as persistent and lipophilic compounds, OCPs are known for their tendency to bioaccumulate and biomagnify through the food chain, affecting local ecosystems, and potentially human health. This work aimed to investigate the potential benefits of mangrove ecosystems as OCP phytoremediators. For this purpose, a total of seventy-three articles from non-mangrove and mangrove areas around the world were gathered, integrated and re-analysed as a whole. These data include information from four different matrices (water, sediment, benthic fauna and mangrove plants). A common trend of less pesticide contamination in mangrove areas was observed for all the selected matrices. As a complement, average concentrations were discussed considering International Directives, such as the European legislation 2013/39/EU for water policy and the Dutch List together with the International Sediment Quality Guideline, for sediments. Additionally, theoretical risk assessments were also included. Since information regarding OCPs in mangroves ecosystem is very scarce compared to non-mangrove areas, this review provides valuable insights regarding these environments, and the importance of preserving them as a relevant remediation unit.

The article analyses the media system in Macao, a special administrative region of China that transitioned from Portuguese to Chinese sovereignty in 1999, becoming one of cities in the world with the largest number of published newspapers per capita. Combining historical research with the analysis of contemporary empirical data collected through interviews with journalists working on the ground, the research demonstrates how there is a long tradition of state control that goes back to the colonial era and that has assumed different forms, ranging from outright censorship to physical intimidation of journalists and economic dependence on the government. Limitations and control strategies imposed on news reporting during the Portuguese administration continue to be practiced today by the Chinese authorities. Even so, journalists operating on the Macao media market tend to overstate the level of freedom they are given, which can be attributed to media outlets being economically dependent on the state. Nevertheless, the level of freedom attributed to the press is today higher than it had been during the colonial period with some critical voices being allowed to reach the media. This needs to be understood in the context of what has been defined as the Chinese safety valve strategy.

The identification of barriers for e-commerce to thrive in specific countries is a topic of great interest. This work proposes two models to study the barriers to B2C e-commerce adoption in Portugal, highlighting obstacles less exploited by previous research: the impact of offline shopping pleasure and the influence of the distance to shopping malls on online shopping intent. An online survey was conducted based on different constructs. A multivariate OLS hierarchical regression was used to analyse the proposed models regarding the intention to buy online and the number of online purchases. The results revealed that customer satisfaction is a strong predictor of intent to buy online and that perceived product risk remains a barrier to e-commerce. Consumers living in high urbanised areas have more propensity to buy online. Helpful information is provided regarding the impact of context, culture, product, and individual barriers, showing that multichannel strategies are best suited for success.

Robotics are being used in the intervention with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in many places and already for many years. Many robots were developed and different studies are being made in order to evaluate its effectiveness. “Socially Assistive Robotics” is shown to be effective in different areas mainly in social and emotional development. Milo, a robot developed by a team led by Richard Margolin for the Robots4Autism program (RoboKind, 2020), is one of the robots whose use is reported to be successful. In Macao there is no report of studies or experiences on the use of robots in the intervention with children with ASD. In a collaboration between the Macao Science Centre, the Macao Autism Association (MAA) and the University of Saint Joseph, an exploratory study was developed to understand the applicability of Milo to the work with children with ASD in Macao. The study showed that the robot is able to facilitate social and emotional competences of children with ASD. However, several limitations including language, cultural differences, the inexperienced facilitators and the level of sessions are too simple for the participants to be aware of that may affect the effectiveness of the intervention. It is important to show that the adoption of Milo in Macao for intervening children with ASD can be further implemented, with better practical solutions.