Occurrence and remobilization of gold in the Dayingezhuang deposit in Jiaodong, North China Craton: Evidence from textural and geochemical features of pyrite - Yuan, Zhong-Zheng; Li, Zhan-Ke; Li, Jian-Wei; Zhao, Xin-Fu; Wu, Ya-Fei; Xu, Hai-Jun; Sun, Hua-Shan (Ore Geology Reviews, 2021)
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.
Keywords: Dayingezhuang; EBSD; Gold remobilization; Jiaodong; Pyrite deformation

Ockham on the Side of the Angels: Why a Classical Theist Shouldn't be Moved by Oppy's Argument from Simplicity - McNabb, Tyler; DeVito, Michael (New Blackfriars, 2022)

Ogień zapalony niegdyś na górze Moria: Woltyła i Newman o warunkach dla propozycju Chrystusa'=The fire once kindled on Moriah: Wojtyła and Newman on the conditions for the proposal of Christ - Morgan, Stephen (Jan Paweł II: Komunikacja i Kultura, 2020)

Oligopolistic Strategies in the Gaming and Hospitality Industries of Macau - Leong, Chi Leng (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

On the probability flow in the Stock market I: The Black-Scholes case - Arraut, Ivan; Au, Alan; Tse, Alan Ching-biu; Marques, Joao Alexandre Lobo (arXiv.org, 2020)
It is known that the probability is not a conserved quantity in the stock market, given the fact that it corresponds to an open system. In this paper we analyze the flow of probability in this system by expressing the ideal Black-Scholes equation in the Hamiltonian form. We then analyze how the non-conservation of probability affects the stability of the prices of the Stocks. Finally, we find the conditions under which the probability might be conserved in the market, challenging in this way the non-Hermitian nature of the Black-Scholes Hamiltonian.
Keywords: General Finance

Once More with Feeling: The Debate Over Yalta Resurrected [Concluding Remarks] - Roberts, Priscilla (H-Diplo State of the Field Roundtable on the Eastern European Settlements during the Second World War: Making the Peace Amidst the War, 2024)

Online Gaming with Digital Currencies: A Comparative Legal Study - Chan, Ka Yuen (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Lusophone and International Public Law(MLIPL); University of Saint Joseph

ONLINE IMPULSE BUYING BEHAVIOR: A STUDY OF MACAU CONSUMERS - Cheong, I. Lam (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
Due to the expansion of the Internet and advancements in technology, e-commerce has been frequently and widely used nowadays. The popularity of online shopping continues to develop and become increasingly common, yet, the concept of impulsive buying has consistently drawn significant attention over the years. In order to fit into the current shopping trend, recognizing the needs and wants of online shoppers as well as providing appropriate approaches are essential tasks for companies to achieve. The question of how to attract consumers to make purchases has been a concern for a long time, and in fact, it is necessary to explore consumers’ online purchase decisions in relation to their impulse buying behavior. In accordance with current academic knowledge, the main objective of this study is to investigate factors that influence consumers' online impulsive buying behavior based on external stimuli (such as sales promotions and websites characteristics) and the elements of marketing mix strategy (product, price, place, and promotion). According to the analysis, the promotion strategy has been identified as the most significant influence on consumers’ decision to make an online impulsive purchase. Therefore, the findings from this study are beneficial for companies and marketers to build a framework in order to develop suitable and effective strategies in order to encourage and stimulate consumers' desire for purchases. Furthermore, the research applies the qualitative methodology by conducting semi-structured interviews with 11 consumers who have previously experienced an online impulse buying
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph; e-commerce; external stimuli; marketing mix strategy; online impulse buying; online shopping

Optimization of Energy Storage Systems with Renewable Energy Generation and Consumption Data - Filho, Edmilson Moreira Lima; Silveira, Aêdo Braga; Ferreira, Alexandre Marques; Lobo Marques, Joao Alexandre; Batista, Josias Guimarães; Guimarães, Glendo De Freitas; Alexandria, Auzuir Ripardo De; Rodrigues, Joel José Puga Coelho (2024 IEEE 7th Student Conference on Electric Machines and Systems (SCEMS), 2024)
This work provides a comprehensive systematic review of optimization techniques using artificial intelligence (AI) for energy storage systems within renewable energy setups. The primary goals are to evaluate the latest technologies employed in forecasting models for renewable energy generation, load forecasting, and energy storage systems, alongside their construction parameters and optimization methods. The review highlights the progress achieved, identifies current challenges, and explores future research directions. Despite the extensive application of machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) in renewable energy generation, consumption patterns, and storage optimization, few studies integrate these three aspects simultaneously, underscoring the significance of this work. The review encompasses studies from Web of Science, Scopus, and Science Direct up to December 2023, including works scheduled for publication in 2024. Each study related to renewable energy storage was individually analyzed to assess its objectives, methodology, and results. The findings reveal useful insights for developing AI models aimed at optimizing storage systems. However, critical areas need further exploration, such as real-time forecasting, long-term storage predictions, hybrid neural networks for demand-based generation forecasting, and the evaluation of various storage scales and battery technologies. The review also notes a significant gap in research on large-scale storage systems in Brazil and Latin America. In conclusion, the study emphasizes the need for continued research and the development of new algorithms to address existing limitations in the field.

Orbital Eccentricity. Sound performance, using commercial and military satellites with real time tracking data - Paquete, Hugo; Bernardino Bastos, Paulo; Fernandes-Marcos, Adérito (ARTECH 2021: 10th International Conference on Digital and Interactive Arts, 2021)
Keywords: Micro Sound; Performance; Sonification; Sound art

Order parameter conditions from mutual information and symmetry conditions - Arraut, Ivan; Yu, Wing Chi (International Journal of Modern Physics B, 2024)
The mutual information method has demonstrated to be very useful for deriving the potential order parameter of a system. Although the method suggests some constraints which help to define this quantity, there is still some freedom in the definition. The method then results inefficient for cases where we have order parameters with a large number of constants in the expansion, which happens when we have many degenerate vacuums. Here, we introduce some additional constraints based on the existence of broken symmetries, which help us to reduce the arbitrariness in the definitions of the order parameter in the proposed mutual information method.
Keywords: Mutual information; order parameter; quantum phase transitions; spontaneous symmetry breaking

Ore-Forming Process of the Menez Gwen Hydrothermal Field: In situ S Isotopes and Trace Metals Constraints - Dias, Ágata; Qiu, Wenhong; Costa, Isabel Maria Amaral; Barriga, Fernando J A S (Goldschmidt2020, 2020)

ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN MACAO - Kaewmanee, Celina dos Santos (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
This study examined the relationships between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and subjective well-being of medical doctors and nurses in Macao. It applied a quantitative methodology through a cross-sectional applying self-response questionnaires to 149 healthcare workers. Consistent with the group-engagement model (Tyler & Blader, 2003), findings indicate that organisational justice and job satisfaction improve subjective well-being. Yet, inconsistent with the model and our hypotheses, organizational justice did not affect work satisfaction. Finally, nurses experienced less positive justice perceptions than doctors. The study provides insights into the relationship between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and subjective well-being among healthcare professionals, which might help enhance working conditions. Healthcare organizations should prioritize promoting job satisfaction and justice perceptions to increase healthcare personnel's subjective well-being. The cross-sectional design limits causal inferences about variable relationships, and the self-reported data may have social desirability or response biases. Still, the originality and value of this paper lie in its contribution to the literature on the well-being of healthcare workers, particularly in the unique context of Macao. To our knowledge, this is the first study in Macao to examine the relationship between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and subjective well-being among healthcare workers
Keywords: Healthcare; Job Satisfaction; Organizational Justice; Subjective well-being; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Organisational Psychology (MOP); University of Saint Joseph

Origin of the Qiyugou gold deposit in the southern margin of the North China Craton: Insights from trace elements of pyrite and mineralogy of Bi-minerals - Wu, Qiang; Zhao, Tai-Ping; Chen, Wei Terry; Gao, Xin-Yu; Meng, Lei; Qiu, Wenhong Johnson (Ore Geology Reviews, 2021)
The Qiyugou gold deposit, located in the Xiong’ ershan area of the North China Craton, contains abundant bismuth-sulfosalts that are closely associated with gold mineralization. Pyrite is the dominant Au-hosted mineral, and has been formed in three generations (Py1, Py2, and Py3). Py1 grains, generally intergrown with milky quartz, are coarse (>1 mm), euhedral in shape, and Au-depleted in composition. In contrast, subhedral Py2 grains, associated with light gray quartz, are medium to coarse (0.2–3 mm) and are enriched in gold that is both invisible and visible. Py3 grains (0.1–0.5 mm), intergrown with abundant sulfide minerals, are relatively fine and Au-depleted. The time-resolved LA-ICP-MS depth profiles of the Py2 grains indicate that invisible gold occurs as either solid solution or nano-particles of native gold and electrum. Visible gold occurs as small blebs in the Py2 grains where inclusions of native bismuth, galenobismutite, lillianite homologs, tetradymite, and galena are also present. In addition, it is common that electrum in microfracture infillings or along grain boundaries of the Py1 and Py2, are intergrown with bismuthinite derivatives, Bi-Cu sulfosalts, emplectite, tetradymite, chalcopyrite, galena, and Py3. Based on textural relationships and mineral assemblages, calculation of physicochemical conditions show that gold was formed in conditions of fTe2 = ~10−11 and fS2 = ~10−11 to 10−12 for Py2, and fTe2 = ~10−9 to 10-11and fS2 = ~10−10 to 10−11 for Py3. We thus proposed that such physicochemical conditions may have triggered the precipitation of Bi melt, and sulfidation driven by cooling or increase in sulfur content results in the transformation of the Au-Bi liquid into a stable assemblage of native gold and bismuthinite. These bismuth minerals are associated with native gold/Au-bearing minerals, indicating that the Au mineralization of the Qiyugou gold deposit might be genetically associated with Bi melt. The present study highlights the role of Bi as important gold scavengers in arsenic-deficient ore-forming fluid.
Keywords: Bi melts scavenging Au; Bismuth minerals; Qiyugou gold deposit; The southern margin of the North China craton; Trace element of pyrite

Original Sin and Reprobation in Renaissance Thomism: The Cases of Domingo Bañez and John of St. Thomas - Cai, Thomas Yilun (Nos sumus tempora, 2020)

Oxyhydroxide Hydrothermal Crusts from Saldanha Hydrothermal Field - Costa, Pedro; Dias, Ágata (Goldschmidt2020, 2020)

Palate Consciousness: A Philosophical Analysis on the Cultivation of Gustatory Aesthetics Through the Framework of Phenomenology of Perception - Chiang, I. Man (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Philosophy (MPH); University of Saint Joseph

Pandemic (Im)mobilities - Adey, Peter; Hannam, Kevin; Sheller, Mimi; Tyfield, David (Mobilities, 2021)

Papal Bull: A Response to Contemporary Papal Scholarship - McNabb, Tyler Dalton (Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies, 2021)

Parental Involvement and Child Development in Macao: Association with Family Income, Parental Education and Working in the Gambling Industry - Kung, Hang I (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Parental Perspectives on Inclusive Education in Macau - Leong, Ka Man (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

Parental Stress and Family Relations in Macao: The Mediating Role of Parenting Styles - Siu Kuan Lei (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Social Work (MSW); University of Saint Joseph

Parental Stress and Marital Satisfaction in Macao: The Mediating Effect of Parental Involvement - Wong, Pek Ieng (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Parental stress and parenting in Chinese immigrant families: The mediating role of social support - Liu, Shu-Wen; Zhai, Fuhua; Gao, Qin (Child & Family Social Work, 2020)
Abstract As the population of Chinese immigrants has been growing rapidly in the United States, it has been understudied on the parenting behaviours as well as the roles parental stress and social support playing in parenting in this group. This study investigated whether parental stress was associated with parenting and whether this relationship was mediated by social support in a sample of 255 Chinese immigrant parents from the Survey of Asian American Families in New York City. Regression analyses with a rich array of control variables found that a higher level of parental stress and the presence of one or more stressors such as unemployment, low income, and low education were positively associated with the use of harsh discipline and parent?child conflicts and negatively associated with positive parenting practices. Social support functioned as a significant mediator in the relationships between parental stress and positive parenting practices but not in the relationships of parental stress with parent?child conflict or the use of harsh discipline.
Keywords: Chinese immigrants; harsh discipline; parental stress; parenting practices; parent–child conflict; social support

Parenting Training for Enhancing Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and Emotional Regulation of Mothers Who Were Victims of Domestic Violence - Lou, On I. (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Parents’ Experiences in Macau: From Assessment to Inclusive Placement for Children with SEN - Estadieu, Karine Anne Marie Thepot (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

Park-meter: Designing an Innovative Macau System - Cheang, Chi Tat (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Design (MDG); University of Saint Joseph

Pavilhão de Bambu Intertwine – Preservação, Inovação e Promoção do Património Imaterial de Macau - Soares, Nuno (VIII Fórum Internacional CIALP, 2022)

Perceções das competências requeridas a futuros bibliotecários: um estudo internacional - Sanches, Tatiana; Chan, Emily (Atas do Congresso Nacional de Bibliotecários, Arquivistas e Documentalistas, 2023)
Resumo Os bibliotecários são profissionais que se devem manter constantemente atualizados, procurando ativamente o desenvolvimento das suas competências profissionais, pelas próprias características das funções que desempenham. Porém, é importante perceber o que pensam estes atores acerca da sua atual formação de base, concretamente se esta tem vindo a acompanhar as tendências de atualização. Assim, partindo de uma análise prévia ao conteúdo de diversos documentos orientadores, emanados de associações internacionais, no sentido de encontrar as competências preconizadas para a área de atuação, é realizado um questionário ao nível nacional e internacional a futuros profissionais, estudantes na área das ciências documentais. O principal objetivo é o de procurar entender, comparativamente, que habilidades e competências são valorizadas para o futuro desempenho profissional. O questionário foi aplicado a grupos de estudantes de ciências da documentação e informação em Portugal, Macau e República Checa, evidenciando-se as perspetivas comuns entre os inquiridos sobre as competências necessárias e aquelas que são recebidas na formação inicial, concluindo-se que existem ainda algumas assimetrias entre as necessidades da profissão e a formação recebida, na perspetiva dos futuros profissionais, independentemente do território a que pertencem.

Perception About Challenges and Opportunities of Social Enterprise in Macau - Wong, Chong Chio (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Community Development (MCD); University of Saint Joseph

Perception on occupational stress in the Hospitality Industry in Macau - Lam Chi Ieng (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
Employees in the hospitality industry, in particular, face difficult conditions such as overwork, job security, understaffing, and work-life imbalance in today's fast-paced society. Because of that, employees in the hospitality industry experience high levels of occupational stress. Severe conditions of occupational stress may not only lead to health issues for the employee but also affect their work performance. In order to get a better grasp of how occupational stress affects the employees in the hospitality industry in Macau, the research questions are: 1) What are the sources of stress in the Macau hospitality industry? 2) How does the COVID-19 pandemic change the perception of occupational stress among employees in the Macau hospitality industry? How do the companies help the employees in the Macau hospitality industry cope with occupational stress? have been formulated. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven participants working in the hospitality industry, with a median age of 39 years and a median range of 13 years. Based on these interviews, participants expressed their perceptions of occupational stress under the categories of distress and eustress, while coding schemes were applied to all semi-structured interviews. The results on distress showed that reactions from employees and their working conditions, in particular, were the two most important determinants of occupational stress, while motivation helped people grow and develop their confidence. For the changes in occupational stress due to the pandemic, mental reactions from employees were the most significant determinant of occupational stress in the Macau hospitality industry during the changes brought about by the pandemic in these years, closely followed by employee job insecurity. In order to cope with occupational stress, employees should take responsibility for coping with their stress, but employers also have a role to play in this process, like providing good communications and proactive assistance to the employees. Finally, employees' responses were described as more negative as a result of their experience. Further research could focus on more methods for employees to cope with occupational stress in both physical and mental ways
Keywords: Stress; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph; hospitality industry; occupational stress; stress management interventions

PERCEPTIONS OF, AND ATTITUDES TO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS’ IDENTITY AND ETHOS IN MACAO: TOWARDS A COMMON FRAMEWORK OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS’ IDENTITY - The Reh, Lawrence (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
The thesis identifies concerns preserving, maintaining, and developing the Catholic identity of Catholic schools in Macao, the largest providers of schooling whilst being a minority religion, and with its teachers, parents, and students coming from Catholic and non-Catholic backgrounds, cultures, and values. To understand the present situation of Catholic identity in Macao’s Catholic schools, manifesting itself in part through the Catholic ethos of schools, and to identify key features, mission, vision, values, and areas for the development of Catholic identity, together with its presence and practices, this thesis reports a study of the perceptions of, and attitudes to, Catholic identity held by three key stakeholder parties in a carefully chosen representative selection of Catholic schools: teachers, parents, and students. The thesis reports their views on what the Catholic schools are currently doing in the areas of Catholic identity, and what they consider that they should be doing in these areas. The areas of focus draw on scholarship and teachings on Catholic identity, with particular emphasis placed on documents on Catholic identity and ethos from the Vatican, Archbishop Miller, and Monsignor Stock. A large-scale empirical survey here found that there was considerable support for Catholic schools in Macao, their identity, ethos, and values from the three parties. Two emergent patterns of findings are reported concerning the steps that Catholic schools were taking to promote their identity: (a) what Catholic schools should be doing concerning Catholic identity received consistently higher scores than what they were currently doing; and (b) consistently higher support for Catholic identity came from the teachers, slightly less so from the parents, and slightly less than that from the students. The study conducted a follow-up, small-scale study to investigate why these might be the case, and it suggested that the combination of Catholic values and Chinese cultural features might explain the findings on Catholic identity in the schools. The study identifies areas for possible development of, and improvements to, the identity of Catholic schools, that take account of the local cultural contexts and the teachings of the Catholic church on identity, and how these might be addressed in practice
Keywords: Catholic Schools' Ethos; Catholic Schools' Identidy; Catholic schools; Thesis and Dissertations PhD in Education (D-SE); University of Saint Joseph

Perceptions of Sports Agents in a Small Territory: The Case of Macao - Deng, Hao You (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
This study aims to investigate the difficulties and challenges faced by sports agents in the development of Macao, as well as the feasibility of the emergence of this industry in Macao. Since there is a lack of research on sports agents and related sectors in Macao, this study analyses the current environment of Macao's sports industry and tries to explore the development of sports tourism projects in Macao as an industrial upgrading and transformation and to promote the emergence of sports agents as a breakthrough, which will help Macao find a better way of development to become a world center of tourism and leisure, in the context of the diversification of the ""1+4"" industries. This study also aims to contribute to developing sports tourism in Macao. This study also provides modest suggestions for the professionalization of sports and the commercialization of the sports market in Macao, as well as for the future personal development of Macao's athletes and the sustainable development of the sports industry. This study adopts a qualitative research approach, starting with a basic introduction to sports agents, the origin and development of sports agents, and the definition of the concepts, and then further insights into the current development status, constraints, and future outlook of sports agents in Macao through industry experiences. The study sought out ten local sports industry practitioners in Macao for in-depth interviews. By analyzing and summarising the data, the study proposes meaningful recommendations for the sustainable development of the sports agent industry in Macao. Overall, the study found that the development of sports agents in Macao is still early. With the improvement of the talent admission system in Macao, society will pay more attention to the development of the sports industry, and the profession of sports agent will be nurtured in the context of a developed sports environment. However, the lack of professional athletes and large-scale sports events in Macao and the lack of innovative thinking of the General Sports Association in cultivating sports talents will limit the emergence of sports agents to a certain extent
Keywords: Macao; Sport Agent; Sport Industry; Talent Introduction; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

Personal Care and Cosmetic Products as a Potential Source of Environmental Contamination by Microplastics in a Densely Populated Asian City - Bashir, Saidu M.; Kimiko, Sam; Mak, Chu-Wa; Fang, James Kar-Hei; Gonçalves, David (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021)
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.

Perspectives and Practices of Macau Secondary School Teachers Regarding ICT in Teaching and Learning - Das, Amit (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

Perspectives of Local Communities on the Impact of Chinese Aid: A Case Study of China's Aid Projects in the Education Sector in Guinea - Diakite, Ansoumane Douty (Journal of Globalization Studies, 2023)
China's re-emergence as an aid donor has attracted the attention and criticism from Western donors, academia, and the media. In contrast to traditional donors, China's aid has been portrayed as anti-poverty aid, mainly due to its combination with other instruments, such as investment, and the absence of any political or economic conditions. This paper examines the impact of Chinese aid projects in Guinea's education sector from the perspective of the beneficiaries. The author collected data from both primary (interviews) and secondary (document analysis) sources. The present study concludes that China's aid projects in the education sector have received both positive and negative feedback, mainly because the recipients' needs have not been appropriately targeted. This study contributes to the literature on China's role in Africa. More specifically, it discusses the conditions for aid effectiveness in the field of education. Moreover, in the context of the globalization of aid practices, the study proposes best practices for China to adopt in order to improve the practices of its aid delivery. The novelty of this study lies in the methodology (qualitative method) used to understand China's aid from the perspective of the beneficiaries of its aid.

Pestilent Popes or a Pestilent Church? Judaism, Catholicism, and Skeptical Theism - McNabb, Tyler Dalton (The Heythrop Journal, 2020)

Physiology, endocrinology and chemical communication in aggressive behaviour of fishes - Silva, Melina Coelho da; Canário, Adelino Vicente Mendonça; Hubbard, Peter Colin; Gonçalves, David (Journal of Fish Biology, 2021)
Fishes show remarkably diverse aggressive behaviour. Aggression is expressed to secure resources; adjusting aggression levels according to context is key to avoid negative consequences for fitness and survival. Nonetheless, despite its importance, the physiological basis of aggression in fishes is still poorly understood. Several reports suggest hormonal modulation of aggression, particularly by androgens, but contradictory studies have been published. Studies exploring the role of chemical communication in aggressive behaviour are also scant, and the pheromones involved remain to be unequivocally characterized. This is surprising as chemical communication is the most ancient form of information exchange and plays a variety of other roles in fishes. Furthermore, the study of chemical communication and aggression is relevant at the evolutionary, ecological and economic levels. A few pioneering studies support the hypothesis that aggressive behaviour, at least in some teleosts, is modulated by “dominance pheromones” that reflect the social status of the sender, but there is little information on the identity of the compounds involved. This review aims to provide a global view of aggressive behaviour in fishes and its underlying physiological mechanisms including the involvement of chemical communication, and discusses the potential use of dominance pheromones to improve fish welfare. Methodological considerations and future research directions are also outlined.

Pilgrimage Christian and Secular: a Phenomenological Approach - Yuan, Haojun (USJ Theses and Dissertations, 2021)
In the light of the many kinds of journeys that have been considered pilgrimages, this book uses phenomenology as a method to examine the claim that pilgrimage is a journey to the ‘center’ during which pilgrims seek meaning s for themselves. First, by analyzing a phenomenology of Christian pilgrimage, this work attempts to identify what commonalities, as well as differences, exist between Christian pilgrimage and secular pilgrimage in terms of ‘natural attitude’. Next, by using a phenomenological method, such as transcendental reduction, the distinction between these two types of pilgrimage could be clarified that the happiness sought in Christian pilgrimage is both intentionally spiritual and sustainable, while primarily intellectual or sensory in secular pilgrimage. Lastly, this work seeks to establish whether or not ‘being at leisure’ is the primary element for pilgrims whose aim is to attain an understanding of happiness during a pilgrimage
Keywords: Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages; Phenomenology

Place Marketing: Macao as the Art City for the Future Direction - Wong Ka I (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Communication and Media (MCM); University of Saint Joseph

Plugin Program Reconfigurable Architecture System For Sustainable Future - Au Yeung, Kam Sheung (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
The primary research focus of this dissertation revolves around the concept of a "plugin" program. It raises a fundamental question about whether a building can attain long-term usability through metabolic flexibility (plugin units and their reconfigurable space), promoting adaptability (accommodating various program transfers), and meeting sustainable future criteria. Specifically, this dissertation inquires whether this "plugin" building design, with its reconfigurable units and metabolic system, can adapt to different spatial programs and become sustainable architecture
Keywords: Building program transfer; Metabolism Architecture; Plugin capsule units; Reconfigurable; Sustainable Architecture; Theses and Dissertations Master of Architecture (MARCH); University of Saint Joseph

Pope John Paul II, ‘Memory and Identity: conversations at the dawn of a millennium’ - Morgan, Stephen (Memory and Identity: the proceedings of the 28th ASEACCU Annual Conference, 2023)

Positive Approach in Preventing Depression in Adolescents: Comparing Local Chinese and Filipino Migrant Adolescents in Macao - Tejada, Anali Jane Gabala (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Post-Covid-19 Gender Inequality in Global Employment: A Difference-In-Difference Analysis - Lei, Weng Chi (2024 SSEME workshop on Social Sciences and Education (SSEME-SSE 2024), 2024)
The fifth Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations targets achieving gender equality by 2030, but recent progress has been sluggish. Gender inequalities in the labor markets may have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 recession. This paper aims to investigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on gender inequalities in the labor markets by...

Post-Digital Fashion: The Evolution and Creation Cycle - Pereira, Selma; Fernandes-Marcos, Adérito (ZoneModa Journal, 2021)
In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fashion industry was surprised and quickly had to adapt to digital media. However, the relationship between fashion and the multiplicity of screens is not new. Fashion emerged and took its first steps with Cinema, in Modernity. Although there are times when these two systems are further apart from each other, the alliance survived. To analyse contemporaneity, we take as main reference the studies of Gilles Lipovetsky, and his reflections on aesthetic capitalism. The fashion system has many Western fields of life, including art and technology. In this article we discuss how this relationship of fashion adapts and develops with aesthetic capitalism and post-digital art while we analyse representative artefacts from/about fashion. We propose to put the recent digital fashion artefacts in dialogue with post-digital aesthetics theories, discussing the blurred boundaries between the digital and the post-digital, and proposing the instantiation of a post-digital creation cycle applied to fashion artefacts.

Post Disaster Temporary Housing System based on Generative Design Method - Afonso, Filipe (The 6th International Conference on Architecture, Materials and Construction ICAMC, 2020)

Post-disaster Temporary Housing System based on Generative Design Method - Afonso, Filipe G.; Lu, Jun C. (International Journal of Structural and Civil Engineering Research, 2021)

Post-Divorce Parent-Child Relationships Impacts and Coping Mechanisma: Qualitative Study In Macao - Vong, Iek Chong (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Post-pandemic Human Resources Challenges in Macau’s Hospitality Industry: Christy, Chu Ian I - Chu, Ian I. (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
In today's rapidly changing and fiercely competitive environment, talents are the key factor for a company's success and success, and a good strategy for retaining talents is how to use effective management measures to grasp employees' focus, vitality and service on work enthusiasm can generate dedication and loyalty to the enterprise, making the enterprise more consolidated and sustainable. Previous studies have shown that human resource management measures can increase employee contribution. Therefore, this study takes the important role of human resource management as an intermediary to explore how the human resource management of Macau's hospitality industry is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes in post-pandemic human resource management. At the same time, the company's commitment to its employees after the outbreak is further analyzed for the success of the solutions made by the human resource management of the hospitality industry in Macau. The research results are expected to be used as a reference for leaders or managers in the hospitality industry when an unexpected pandemic occurs, by enhancing and improving human resource management. The qualitative research method was adopted, and in-depth interviews were conducted with hotel employees. The key findings of this research were that there are five factors affecting human resource management post-pandemic in the hospitality industry. More importantly, we found that Macau’s hospitality industry needs to transform in the future, which will also have a key impact on human resources management
Keywords: Dilemmas 2; Diversified 1; Theses and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph; Vulnerabilities 3

Power Allocation for 5G Mobile Multiuser Cooperative Networks - Yin, Fagen; Du, Wencai (Journal of Advanced Transportation, 2021)
With the fifth generation (5G) communication technology, the mobile multiuser networks have developed rapidly. In this paper, the performance analysis of mobile multiuser networks which utilize decode-and-forward (DF) relaying is considered. We derive novel outage probability (OP) expressions. To improve the OP performance, we study the power allocation optimization problem. To solve the optimization problem, we propose an intelligent power allocation optimization algorithm based on grey wolf optimization (GWO). We compare the proposed GWO approach with three existing algorithms. The experimental results reveal that the proposed GWO algorithm can achieve a smaller OP, thus improving system efficiency. Also, compared with other channel models, the OP values of the 2-Rayleigh model are increased by 81.2% and 66.6%, respectively.

Predicting consumer ad preferences: Leveraging a machine learning approach for EDA and FEA neurophysiological metrics - Marques, João Alexandre Lobo; Neto, Andreia C.; Silva, Susana C.; Bigne, Enrique (Psychology & Marketing, 2025)
This research unveils to predict consumer ad preferences by detecting seven basic emotions, attention and engagement triggered by advertising through the analysis of two specific physiological monitoring tools, electrodermal activity (EDA), and Facial Expression Analysis (FEA), applied to video advertising, offering a twofold contribution of significant value. First, to identify the most relevant physiological features for consumer preference prediction. We integrated a statistical module encompassing inferential and exploratory analysis tools, which identified emotions such as Joy, Disgust, and Surprise, enabling the statistical differentiation of preferences concerning various advertisements. Second, we present an artificial intelligence (AI) system founded on machine learning techniques, encompassing k-Nearest Neighbors, Support Vector Machine, and Random Forest (RF). Our findings show that the RF technique emerged as the top performer, boasting an 81% Accuracy, 84% Precision, 79% Recall, and an F1-score of 81% in predicting consumer preferences. In addition, our research proposes an eXplainable AI module based on feature importance, which discerned Attention, Engagement, Joy, and Disgust as the four most pivotal features influencing consumer ad preference prediction. The results indicate that computerized intelligent systems based on EDA and FEA data can be used to predict consumer ad preferences based on videos and effectively used as supporting tools for marketing specialists.
Keywords: advertising; consumer ad preferences; consumer neuroscience; emotions; explainable artificial intelligence; machine learning

Predicting consumer ad preferences: Leveraging a machinelearning approach for EDA and FEA neurophysiologicalmetrics - Lobo Marques, Joao Alexandre; Neto, Andreia C.; Silva, Susana C.; Bigne, Enrique (Psychology & Marketing, 2024)
Abstract This research unveils to predict consumer ad preferences by detecting seven basic emotions, attention and engagement triggered by advertising through the analysis of two specific physiological monitoring tools, electrodermal activity (EDA), and Facial Expression Analysis (FEA), applied to video advertising, offering a twofold contribution of significant value. First, to identify the most relevant physiological features for consumer preference prediction. We integrated a statistical module encompassing inferential and exploratory analysis tools, which identified emotions such as Joy, Disgust, and Surprise, enabling the statistical differentiation of preferences concerning various advertisements. Second, we present an artificial intelligence (AI) system founded on machine learning techniques, encompassing k‐Nearest Neighbors, Support Vector Machine, and Random Forest (RF). Our findings show that the RF technique emerged as the top performer, boasting an 81% Accuracy, 84% Precision, 79% Recall, and an F1‐score of 81% in predicting consumer preferences. In addition, our research proposes an eXplainable AI module based on feature importance, which discerned Attention, Engagement, Joy, and Disgust as the four most pivotal features influencing consumer ad preference prediction. The results indicate that computerized intelligent systems based on EDA and FEA data can be used to predict consumer ad preferences based on videos and effectively used as supporting tools for marketing specialists.

Predicting the Geographic Spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study from Brazil - Marques, Joao Alexandre Lobo; Gois, Francisco Nauber Bernardo; Xavier-Neto, José; Fong, Simon James (Predictive Models for Decision Support in the COVID-19 Crisis, 2020)

Prediction for Decision Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Marques, Joao Alexandre Lobo; Gois, Francisco Nauber Bernardo; Xavier-Neto, José; Fong, Simon James (Predictive Models for Decision Support in the COVID-19 Crisis, 2020)

Predictive Models for Decision Support in the COVID-19 Crisis - Marques, João Alexandre Lobo; Gois, Francisco Nauber Bernardo; Xavier-Neto, Jose; Fong, Simon James (SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology, 2021)
COVID-19 has hit the world unprepared, as the deadliest pandemic of the century. Governments and authorities, as leaders and decision makers fighting the virus, enormously tap into the power of artificial intelligence and its predictive models for urgent decision support. This book showcases a collection of important predictive models that used during the pandemic, and discusses and compares their efficacy and limitations. Readers from both healthcare industries and academia can gain unique insights on how predictive models were designed and applied on epidemic data. Taking COVID19 as a case study and showcasing the lessons learnt, this book will enable readers to be better prepared in the event of virus epidemics or pandemics in the future.

Predictive models to the COVID-19 - Bernardo Gois, Francisco Nauber; Lima, Alex; Santos, Khennedy; Oliveira, Ramses; Santiago, Valdir; Melo, Saulo; Costa, Rafael; Oliveira, Marcelo; Henrique, Francisco das Chagas Douglas Marques; Neto, José Xavier; Martins Rodrigues Sobrinho, Carlos Roberto; Lôbo Marques, João Alexandre (Data Science for COVID-19, 2021)
Following the World Health Organization proclaims a pandemic due to a disease that originated in China and advances rapidly across the globe, studies to predict the behavior of epidemics have become increasingly popular, mainly related to COVID-19. The critical point of these studies is to discuss the disease's behavior and the progression of the virus's natural course. However, the prediction of the actual number of infected people has proved to be a difficult task, due to a wide range of factors, such as mass testing, social isolation, underreporting of cases, among others. Therefore, the objective of this work is to understand the behavior of COVID-19 in the state of Ceará to forecast the total number of infected people and to aid in government decisions to control the outbreak of the virus and minimize social impacts and economics caused by the pandemic. So, to understand the behavior of COVID-19, this work discusses some forecast techniques using machine learning, logistic regression, filters, and epidemiologic models. Also, this work brings a new approach to the problem, bringing together data from Ceará with those from China, generating a hybrid dataset, and providing promising results. Finally, this work still compares the different approaches and techniques presented, opening opportunities for future discussions on the topic. The study obtains predictions with R2 score of 0.99 to short-term predictions and 0.93 to long-term predictions.
Keywords: COVID-19; Forecast; Holt Winters; Kalman filter; Machine learning; Prophet; SEIR

Prefeace for Espectros Inquietos, Elis Bodêgo - Simoes, José Manuel (2021)

Preservation and Rehabilitation of Macao Industrial Heritage: A Case Study of the Iec Long Firecracker Factory - Ng, Kit Leng (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of History & Heritage Studies (MHHS); University of Saint Joseph

Primary teachers' burnout at the inclusive education schools in Macao - Ieong, Iek Kuan (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
"In 2021/2022 academic year, there are 2,244 SEN students in Macau and its growth rate is 36% in ten years. However, at the present, there are 38 schools providing the related education to them. Admittedly, this is an unbalanced supply and demand. In fact, the teachers who work at inclusive education schools are bearing all responsibility to teach SEN students and their mental health is worth to attention. Moreover, there are 1,224 SEN students in primary (2021/2022 academic year), it accounting for 55% of all. That is, the numbers of their teachers are the most and they are representative. Therefore, exploring primary teachers’ burnout at inclusive education schools becomes the topic of this study, even more important, it is including to compare normal and resource teachers. This topic is rarer currently in Macau. On the one hand, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and (reduced) personal accomplishment are dimensions of burnout (Maslach et al., 1996). These become the dependent variables of this study. According Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and the factors of self-efficacy in inclusive education (Sharma et al., 2012), the following hypotheses are provided to guide this study: (1) normal teachers’ emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment are higher than those in resource teachers; (2) teachers’ attitudes into inclusive education, (3) teachers’ self-efficacy to use inclusive instruction (SEII), (4) teachers’ self-efficacy in collaboration (SEC) and (5) teachers’ self-efficacy in v managing behavior (SEMB) both are negatively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment; (6) teachers’ stress of Covid19 is positively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. On the other hand, quantitative methodology, and snowball sampling are used in this research. At last, 132 responds are collected, including 100 normal teachers and 32 resource teachers. They are from 48 inclusive education schools in Macau. All data were analyzed by SPSS 25.0. The results of this study are followed: (1) teachers’ emotional exhaustion level is middle, their depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment levels both are low; (2) resource teachers’ emotional exhaustion and depersonalization are higher than normal teachers; (3) teachers’ attitudes into inclusive education negatively related to depersonalization but positively related to reduced personal accomplishment; (4) in the factors of self-efficacy, only SEII is negatively related to reduced personal accomplishment; (5) teachers’ stress of Covid-19 is positively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment."
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Prize-giving time for Macau - Morrison, Keith (Macau Business, 2020)

Probabilistic Forecasting Model for the COVID-19 Pandemic Based on the Composite Monte Carlo Model Integrated with Deep Learning and Fuzzy System - Fong, Simon James; Marques, João Alexandre Lobo; Li, Gloria; Dey, Nilanjan; Crespo, Rubén González; Herrera-Viedma, Enrique; Gois, Francisco Nauber Bernardo; Neto, José Xavier (Epidemic Analytics for Decision Supports in COVID19 Crisis, 2022)
There are several techniques to support simulation of time series behavior. In this chapter, the approach will be based on the Composite Monte Carlo (CMC) simulation method. This method is able to model future outcomes of time series under analysis from the available data. The establishment of multiple correlations and causality between the data allows modeling the variables and probabilistic distributions and subsequently obtaining also probabilistic results for time series forecasting. To improve the predictor efficiency, computational intelligence techniques are proposed, including a fuzzy inference system and an Artificial Neural Network architecture. This type of model is suitable to be considered not only for the disease monitoring and compartmental classes, but also for managerial data such as clinical resources, medical and health team allocation, and bed management, which are data related to complex decision-making challenges.
Keywords: COVID-19; Composite Monte Carlo simulation; Healthcare decision-making systems; Prediction

Problematic Internet Use and Subjective Wellbeing Among University Students in Macao - Kam, Chi Fat (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Government Studies (MGS); University of Saint Joseph

Project-based Learning in the Subject of General Studies in a Grade Five Class: A Case Study Approach - Chan, Ka Ho (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ADOPTION AND MATURITY LEVEL IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY OF MACAU AND HENGQIN - Wong, Ka Seng (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
Projects are tactical and operational initiatives, and achieving specific outcomes through projects can help organizations achieve strategic goals. The effective use of project management tools and techniques is essential to achieve successful results, since the goal is to maximize the realization of the project's plan by effectively using the budget, time, and resources provided by the project owner to achieve the project's original purpose. The Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) is a tool for measuring project management capabilities and is essential to improve project and portfolio performance in different industries. The main objective of this research is to analyze and characterize the maturity level and capacity of the IT industry in Macau and HengQin based on the assessment of the PMMM. The research also aims to assess and compare the maturity level in the IT industry in Macau and HengQin. An online survey was conducted and sent to IT project managers from Macau and HenqQin. A total of 34 responses were collected, divided into 3 different parts: Part I - General Information, Part II - Project Management Areas, and Part III - Perception. The results indicate that, in general, Project Managers state that their companies do not follow Project Management standards and best practices, classifying as Low and Very Low essential PM areas such as Planning and Scheduling (68%), Scope (61%) and Communications (64%). From a comparison perspective, project managers in Macau follow less formal frameworks than Hengqin in managing the triple constraints of the project. The collected data also indicate that Macau's communication management and stakeholder engagement are less mature than Hengqin's. Furthermore, the data indicate that maturity level is not necessarily related to education level, which means not higher education has a higher maturity level. Recommendations are provided for the IT industry in both areas, and specific comments are provided for each group or professionals. In conclusion, this work allows a novel characterization and a better understanding of the Project Management adoption and maturity level of the IT Industry in Macau and Hengqin
Keywords: Theses and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph; information technology; maturity level; project management; project management maturity model; project maturity assessment

Promoting Future Elderly Social Participation In Macau: An exploratory Analysis - Leong Kai Chong; Ho, Jacky (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
"The purpose of the research aimed to explore the challenges and future possiblities of ways of promoting elderly social participation in Macau. As lack of related research has been conduted in Macau, this community services and government policies and to provide suggestions for improving the direction of sustainable development and future possible research topics in this area. The research adopts a qualitative and phenomenological approach to explore the current situations, difficulties and ideas through the industry experience and insights. Nine in-depth interviews with 9 representatives of elderly social service providers subsidised by Macau SAR Government from late April to July 2022 in Macau. The content analysis using open coding to collect inductive data. Throughout themetic analysis identified by four levels: individials, community and social services, governmental policies and infrastructures. Overall, the study found that the autonomy trend of future social participation of the elderly in Macao is enhanced by education and self-health concerns and they are more independent, but the participation of male elders and female elders is unbalanced. Social service providers for the elderly provide a large number of repetitive services and are too passive and dependent on government policies andsupport, resulting in a lack of innovative thinking. The infrastructure design promoted by the government does not consider the continuous health and activity development of the elderly. This study looks at the ability of the elderly in Macau to continue to develop their strengths in the future, and suggests the need to strengthen individual retirement life planning and development for the elderly, personal health monitoring improvement, diversification of social services, elderly-led community programs, private social enterprise capital, and elderly volunteering The urgency of the number of elderly people, more practical and effective elderly inclusive urban planning."
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Community Development (MCD); University of Saint Joseph

Psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey among secondary-school students in Hong Kong - Kwan, Yee Wan (Learning Environments Research, 2020)
The study examined the factor structure, reliability and validity of a Chinese version of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (C-CLES), an instrument for assessing students’ perceptions of the extent of constructivist approaches prevalent in classrooms. A convenience sample of 967 students in Secondary Three (Grade 9) in Hong Kong participated in this study by completing a self-administered questionnaire in their class time. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesised factor structure, indicating five theoretical constructivist environment dimensions that showed goodness-of-fit to 25 items: Personal Relevance, Uncertainty, Critical Voice, Shared Control, and Student Negotiation. Criterion-related validity, involving evidence based on relations to other variables, was assessed by correlations between the constructivist environment dimensions and cognitive strategies and academic ability. Most correlations were statistically significant and in the positive direction. The C-CLES with 25 items provides a useful measure for educational practice and research among school students.
Keywords: Cognitive outcomes; Constructivist learning environment; Secondary schools; Validation

PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF BASIC FAMILY RELATIONS INVENTORY (BFRI) IN MACAO - Chan, Kuai Ian (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
By discussing various aspects of family functioning, including the intricate nature of family functioning, family dynamics’ impact on adolescent growth and lifelong development, and the COVID-19’s effects on family relationships, it reveals the importance and necessity of assessment instruments in the field of family counselling. And concerning the gap between family research and clinical practice as well as the absence of a singular tool capable of evaluating various family functions comprehensively in the Macao context, the study introduced the Basic Family Relations Inventory (BFRI; or ‘Cuestionario de Evaluación de las Relaciones Familiares Básicas’, CERFB), a self-reported questionnaire based on Linares’ Basic Family Relations Theory. This valuable tool consists of 25 items, assessing simultaneously the quality of family relationships in two basic dimensions—marital and parental functioning. This study aimed to develop the Chinese version of the BFRI and investigate its psychometric properties in the context of Macao. By employing a quantitative research approach, it evaluated the normal distribution, exploratory factor analysis and reliability of the BFRI in a non-clinical snowball and convenience sample of 165 participants with at least one biological child from 12 to 18 years old. In the exploratory factor analysis, the initial factor extraction resulted in four components, reflecting both marital and parental items. This suggested potential overlap and interconnectedness between the marital and parental subsystems. Subsequent analysis identified a three-factor solution, separating marital, negative parental, and positive parental components. This aligned with the factor structure of the original Spanish version of the BFRI. A two-factor solution was also explored, replicating findings from the previous Italian and Portuguese validation of the BFRI despite some inconsistencies in item alignment. The EFA results revealed that the three-factor structure of the Chinese version of the BFRI was the best fitting model for the Macao population. Reliability analysis, assessed through Cronbach’s alpha, indicated satisfactory internal consistency of the scales. The results of the analyses demonstrate promising psychometric properties, supporting the tool’s effectiveness in assessing marital and parental relationships in a Macao population. The study contributed to the development of the valuable family assessment instrument. It suggested that the Chinese version of the BFRI could serve as a useful instrument to concurrently assess the quality of marital and parental relationships and systematically collect the data of family functioning in both dimensions. It’s also believed that this instrument could benefit the evaluation of family dynamics and comprehension of family relations not only in family research studies, but also in counselling intervention and clinical therapy, preventing risks to the health of children as well as promoting healthy family contexts in Macao
Keywords: Basic Family Relations Inventory (BFRI); Marital relationship; Parental relationship; Psychometric properties; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Public Matters: Identity, Design, and Placemaking in Macau’s Inner Harbou - Soares, Nuno (Making Place in the Greater Bay Area International Symposium, 2021)

PUBLIC POLICIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN MACAO: LOCAL PERSPECTIVES AND EXPERIENCES - Tai, On Teng (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
This dissertation explores Macao residents' experiences and perspectives regarding Macao's public policies and infrastructure for electric vehicles. It delves into residents' viewpoints on the effectiveness of electric vehicle policy implementation, the layout and convenience of public facilities such as charging stations and designated parking spaces for electric vehicles, and their actual experiences and feedback while using electric cars. This study is significant because it provides valuable insights into Macao residents' fundamental attitudes and needs toward electric vehicle policies and public facilities. By understanding these perspectives, policymakers can make more informed decisions to optimize electric vehicle policies and improve public facilities, ultimately promoting the healthy development of the electric vehicle market in Macao and facilitating the construction of a green transportation system. In terms of research methods, this study primarily employed questionnaires to collect data from road users in Macao. The questionnaires were designed to gather comprehensive information on their experiences and feedback related to electric vehicle policies, infrastructure, and usage. The findings of this study are intriguing. Firstly, it was discovered that Macao residents have a relatively low awareness of electric vehicle policies, but generally, they believe these policies contribute to environmental protection. Secondly, regarding public facilities, some residents reported issues such as uneven distribution and insufficient number of charging stations, as well as inadequacies in using and managing designated parking spaces for electric vehicles. Additionally, residents provided specific opinions and suggestions regarding the purchase costs of electric vehicles and government subsidy policies. Based on these findings, my conclusion is that there is an urgent need to optimize and improve Macao's electric vehicle policies and public facilities. Policymakers should increase publicity efforts to raise residents' awareness of electric vehicle policies and reasonably plan the layout of charging stations and designated parking spaces for electric vehicles to enhance their convenience and availability. Furthermore, the government could consider providing more subsidies and preferential policies for purchasing electric vehicles to reduce the financial burden on residents. These measures will help promote the further development of the electric vehicle market in Macao and facilitate the construction of a green transportation system
Keywords: Electric vehicles; Green transportation; Macao; Public infrastructure; Public policies; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Government Studies (MGS); University of Saint Joseph

Quality Detection Method for Controller Process Based on Mask R-CNN Network Model - Ma, Xinlei; Chen, Yanyu; Li, Shaobin; Du, Wencai; Tan, Zehan; Li, Qinggu; Ma, Yaqi; Deng, Haiyan (2021 8th International Conference on Computational Science/Intelligence and Applied Informatics (CSII), 2021)

Quality of Life and Wellbeing of the Foreign Communities in Macao - Mohr, Silvia Isabel (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Quality of life during the pandemic: a cross sectional study about attitude, individual perspective and behavior change affecting general population in daily life - Khatoon, F.; Kumar, M.; Khalid, A. A.; Alshammari, A. D.; Khan, F.; Alshammari, R. D.; Balouch, Z.; Verma, D.; Mishra, P.; Abotaleb, M.; Makarovskikh, T.; El-kenawy, E. M.; et al. (2022)
Quality of life in general population before and during pandemic is topic need to be address by researcher in terms of mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. The study was carried out among Saudi population. Data were collected from general population using questionnaire during the period from 22 August 2021 to 10th January 2022. As a result, total 214 participants have included in this study. Among them prevalent age group include 40 years (n= 63, 29.4%) shadowed by the age group 25-35 (n= 61, 28.5%) while above 60 years group were least frequent (n= 1, 0.5%). On questioning the applicants whether they were satisfied with their health and how would they rate their quality of life, their answers were as follows: yes, or satisfied (n= 86, 40.2%), very Satisfied (n= 102, 47.7%) Dissatisfied (n= 11, 5.1%) and neither satisfied nor dissatisfied (n= 15, 7%). Due to pandemic, they were rate quality of life very good (n= 94, 43.9%), good (n= 63, 29.4 %) poor (n= 5, 2.3 %) and neither good and nor poor (n= 52, 24.3 %). During pandemic 96 participants feel no change in their weight but 110 participants respond that there is increase in coffee intake during the pandemic. Similarly increased in smoking habits and decrease rate in social activities (n=119,41.4%). The psychosomatic well-being of people has been interrupted by disturbing their social activities during pandemic.

Quantification of insecticides in commercial seafood sold in East Asian markets: risk assessment for consumers - Ivorra, Lucia; Cardoso, Patricia G.; Chan, Shek Kiu; Cruzeiro, Catarina; Tagulao, Karen (Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2023)
The extraction of 21 insecticides and 5 metabolites was performed using an optimized and validated QuEChERS protocol that was further used for the quantification (GC–MS/MS) in several seafood matrices (crustaceans, bivalves, and fish-mudskippers). Seven species, acquired from Hong Kong and Macao wet markets (a region so far poorly monitored), were selected based on their commercial importance in the Indo-Pacific region, market abundance, and affordable price. Among them, mussels from Hong Kong, together with mudskippers from Macao, presented the highest insecticide concentrations (median values of 30.33 and 23.90 ng/g WW, respectively). Residual levels of fenobucarb, DDTs, HCHs, and heptachlors were above the established threshold (10 ng/g WW) for human consumption according to the European and Chinese legislations: for example, in fish-mudskippers, DDTs, fenobucarb, and heptachlors (5-, 20- and tenfold, respectively), and in bivalves, HCHs (fourfold) had higher levels than the threshold. Risk assessment revealed potential human health effects (e.g., neurotoxicity), especially through fish and bivalve consumption (non-carcinogenic risk; ΣHQLT > 1), and a potential concern of lifetime cancer risk development through the consumption of fish, bivalves, and crustaceans collected from these markets (carcinogenic risk; ΣTCR > 10–4). Since these results indicate polluted regions, where the seafood is collected/produced, a strict monitoring framework should be implemented in those areas to improve food quality and safety of seafood products.
Keywords: Bivalves; Crustaceans; Health risk assessment; Mudskippers; Organochlorine pesticides

Radial String Chimes: A Behavioural Driven Tangible Instrument Derived from Networked Music Performance Practices - Barbosa, Alvaro; Olga Ng Ka Man, Sandra; Estadieu, G (Ubimus 2023, 2023)
Research in ubiquitous networked music systems has unveiled the potential of behavioural-driven interaction interfaces as an effective model to cope with network communication delays in remote musical performances. Most of the techniques developed under these premises are based on digital music interfaces implemented on laptop computers or tablet devices, where a certain degree of gestural control comes as an added dimension. The purpose of this paper is to present an implementation of such type of interfaces in the form of a physical tangible musical instrument, contemplating multiple expressive possibilities. This is viable at the current stage of technological development thanks to leveraging 3D printing and laser cutting technologies for effective prototyping and testing of such a device. The paper seeks to demonstrate that this approach opens a wide range of possibilities for creating musical instruments with versatility and expressiveness beyond what is usually accomplished in traditional instruments. This implementation, entitled “Radial String Chimes,” is presented with its advantages, the challenges it faces, and the methods used to create it. Finally, the paper will offer suggestions for further developing such an instrument to unlock its potential.

Re-experiencing Street Signage with Augmented Reality around the City of Macau - Lio, Si Weng; Martins de Abreu, F. (11th International Conference on Digital and Interactive Arts (ARTECH2023), 2023)

Re-thinking Chinese Ecumene in the Global Age - Duraj, Jaroslaw (Eric Voegelin’s Asian Political Thought, 2020)
The rise of Asia in global affairs has forced western thinkers to rethink their assumptions, theories, and conclusions about the region. Eric Voegelin’s Asian Political Thought brings together a mixture of established and rising scholars from both Asia and the West to reflect upon the political philosopher’s thought about China, Japan, Korea, Central Asia, and India. From Voegelin’s writings, readers will not only understand how Voegelin’s approach can illuminate the fundamental principles and issues about Asia but also what are the challenges and possibilities that Asia offers in the twentieth-first century. For those who want to move past the superficial commentary and clichés about Asia, Eric Voegelin’s Asian Political Thought is the book for you.

Real-time emotion recognition based on facial expressions using artificial intelligence techniques - A review and future directions - Cheng, Qian; Lobo Marques, Joao Alexandre; de Alexandria, Auzuir Ripardo (2025)

Reawakening Macanese identity: the impact of Chinese outbound tourism - Lou, Lai-Chu Ivy; Xie, Philip Feifan (Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 2020)
The purpose of this paper examines the potential role of Chinese outbound tourism as a catalyst of change for the Macanese identity. There is an emerging trend to have a new identity amongst Macanese residents to valorize cultural and heritage assets. By using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, it proposes that the social media space is built to voice concerns of language, place attachment and induced public participation. The study utilizes a mixed method approach comprising a survey for netizens and content analysis of online discussions, in order to fully understand changes due to Chinese outbound tourism.
Keywords: China; Identity; Macau; linguistic sensitivity; place attachment; public participation

Recent Progress in the Discovery and Design of Antimicrobial Peptides Using Traditional Machine Learning and Deep Learning - Yan, Jielu; Cai, Jianxiu; Zhang, Bob; Wang, Yapeng; Wong, Derek F.; Siu, Shirley W. I. (Antibiotics, 2022)
Antimicrobial resistance has become a critical global health problem due to the abuse of conventional antibiotics and the rise of multi-drug-resistant microbes. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a group of natural peptides that show promise as next-generation antibiotics due to their low toxicity to the host, broad spectrum of biological activity, including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-parasitic activities, and great therapeutic potential, such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, etc. Most importantly, AMPs kill bacteria by damaging cell membranes using multiple mechanisms of action rather than targeting a single molecule or pathway, making it difficult for bacterial drug resistance to develop. However, experimental approaches used to discover and design new AMPs are very expensive and time-consuming. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in using in silico methods, including traditional machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) approaches, to drug discovery. While there are a few papers summarizing computational AMP prediction methods, none of them focused on DL methods. In this review, we aim to survey the latest AMP prediction methods achieved by DL approaches. First, the biology background of AMP is introduced, then various feature encoding methods used to represent the features of peptide sequences are presented. We explain the most popular DL techniques and highlight the recent works based on them to classify AMPs and design novel peptide sequences. Finally, we discuss the limitations and challenges of AMP prediction.
Keywords: antimicrobial peptide; classification; deep learning; machine learning; medicine; regression; therapeutic peptide

Reciprocity in a school-university partnership project: Towards a Macau-based Give-Get Model - Chu, K. W.; Mak, M. C. K.; Ng, M. H.; Wong, U. W. K.; Cheng, P. W.; Tse, T. P. M.; Ho, G. W. S (The IV Uniservitate Global Symposium 2023, 2023)

Redefining Macau's Film Industry: Case Studies on local Film Marketing & Distribution - Choi Chi Cheng (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Communication and Media (MCM); University of Saint Joseph

Reframing the Urban Edge - Design Strategies for Macau x Zhuhai Waterfront - Soares, Nuno (The Greater Bay Area Urban Design Conference, 2020)

Regulating the Use of Artificial Intelligence(AI): Achievements and Challenges - Hamamoto, Mayumi (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
This dissertation is research regarding the achievements and challenges in artificial intelligence (A) regulation at a domestic level and international level. This study is important because there are more legal issues regarding the application of AI, and AI has grown to be part of the public’s daily lives. A mixed method has been adopted in this research: doctrinal legal research and a comparative legal research method. AI was invented in the 1950s and in the 2000s, has been more accessible to the public. The first AI regulation, the EU AI ACT, has recently been enforced, an AI regulation that has been around for nearly seven decades after its invention. It is high time that regulators in different states invest more effort in AI regulations
Keywords: AI; Artificial Intelligence; System Learning; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Lusophone and International Public Law(MLIPL); University of Saint Joseph

Relações entre o pós-digital e o complexo industrial do capitalismo: reformulações sobre a tecnologia como ideologia e lixo digital na arte - Paquete, Hugo; Fernandes-Marcos, Adérito; Bastos, Paulo Bernardino (AVANCA | CINEMA, 2021)
This essay presents a mapping of the historical concepts that contributed to the emergence of post-digital aesthetics and their connections to the concept of post-media in historical terms. It also analyzes the transition from techno-positivism to discourse of resistance against the effects of the capital technological industrial complex and how these advances in technology influence artistic discourses, practices and are the leverage of art and technology which is nothing more than a representation of the aesthetics of capital. Following art and capitalism as an ideology of innovation. Is proposed an unstinting theory about technology, geology, and the importance of these conditions to the post-digital aesthetics in terms of material disponible and conceptual articulation. Producing a reconfiguration of the post-digital conceptual approach as I propose beyond the dysfunctional aesthetics and connected with the concept of radical ecology centered in the usability of electronic garbage and technical obsolescent technologies in the arts.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT FULFILLMENT, WORK ENGAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR, AND ABUSIVE SUPERVISION OF EMPLOYEES IN MACAU SIX GAMING AND INTEGRATED RESORTS - U, Weng Ian (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
In Macau, gaming is a pillar industry. The job performance of the employees is a determining factor for gaming and integrated resorts’ ability to improve their competitiveness in an evolving environment. Therefore, organizational behavior is an important topic for gaming and integrated resorts. In view of social exchange theory, this study takes the employees of the six gaming and integrated resorts in Macau as sampling. The study would be overviewing how psychological contract fulfillment affects their organizational citizenship behavior in the organization, and relationship between work engagement and their abusive supervision in the six gaming and integrated resorts employees in the Macau gaming and related industry. This study takes psychological contract fulfillment as the independent variable, organizational citizenship behavior as the dependent variable, work engagement as the mediating variable, abusive supervision as the moderating variable. Data was collected through random online questionnaire research method and 257 valid questionnaires were obtained. SPSS statistical software applied for reliability and validity analysis, Pearson correlation and regression analysis. The conclusions are listed in following: (1) Psychological contract fulfillment has a partial positive impact on organizational citizenship behavior ; (2) Psychological contract fulfillment has a partial positive impact on work engagement; (3) Work engagement has a positive impact on organizational citizenship behavior; (4) Work engagement has a positive mediating effect between psychological contract fulfillment and organizational citizenship behavior; (5) Abusive supervision has no moderating effect between psychological contract fulfillment and work engagement; (6) Abusive supervision has no moderating effect between work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior
Keywords: Abusive Supervision; Organizational Citizenship Behavior; Psychological Contract Fulfillment; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Organisational Psychology (MOP); University of Saint Joseph; Work Engagement

Relationship between Student Teachers' Beliefs and Practices on Early Chinese Literacy Instruction - Sun, Chunrong; Ho, Ka Lee Carrie (Universal Journal of Educational Research, 2023)
This study explores the relationship between student teachers' beliefs and practices in early Chinese literacy instruction. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, and document analysis were conducted with six student teachers during their teaching practices. Findings indicated that the student teachers believed explicitly teaching literacy skills and imperceptible acquisition of literacy abilities through communication and meaning-making processes are essential in Chinese early literacy learning. However, they mainly taught Chinese literacy skills in their practices, which means the student teachers still needed to practice what they preached fully. The study suggests that possible reasons for the discrepancies include 'direct teaching' and 'rote learning' might be much easier for student teachers to design and conduct a lesson. Student teachers have limited abilities and experiences in conducting an ideal lesson, and the kindergarten curriculum and onsite supervisors highly influenced their teaching practices. The findings from this study suggested that more operational activities (such as designing lesson plans and conducting micro-teaching) should be used during pre-service training. Furthermore, the communication of educational beliefs between the university supervisor and the onsite supervisor should be strengthened.

Relationship Between the Academic Achievement and Extra-curricular Tutoring of Primary Students: Perspectives From the Parents = 課外補習與小學生學業成績之間的關係----來自家長的視角 - Vong, Sok Kuan (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

Relationships among critical thinking disposition components of Chinese undergraduates: A moderated mediating effect analysis - Zhao, Yangyintao; Liu, Yong; Wu, Hao (International Journal of Educational Research, 2024)
Critical thinking (CT), as a form of higher-order thinking, is intended to help individuals form reasonable reflection and judgment to deal with increasingly severe employment situations. As the primary workforce in the labor market, undergraduates must possess a strong critical thinking disposition (CTD) to make better use of CT. Despite extensive research on components of CTD from the perspective of educational practices, there is limited emphasis on investigating the components and their relationships of CTD in the labor market and the impact of gender differences. Therefore, this study presented an analysis of 1535 Chinese undergraduates (Mage = 20.89; SD = 1.43) using the Employer-Employee-Supported Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (2ES-CTDI), aiming to explore the CTD that undergraduates should possess before entering the labor market. The relationships among the components were examined using SmartPLS4.0 in conjunction with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Additionally, a multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) with a measurement invariance (MI) test was conducted to validate the moderating effects of gender. The findings indicate that (a) self-efficacy has a significant negative effect on habitual truth-digging, and boys are more affected than girls, instant judgment plays a competitive partial mediating role in this relationship; (b) self-efficacy has a significant positive effect on instant judgment, and boys are more likely to make instant judgments than girls; (c) instant judgment significantly positively affects habitual truth-digging. These findings highlight the dynamic equilibrium among the internal components of CTD in the labor market and call for increased attention from educators to the importance of gender differences in the cultivation process.
Keywords: Critical thinking disposition; Labor Market; Moderated mediation; Undergraduates

Religious Epistemology in Analytic Theology - McNabb, Tyler Dalton; Baldwin, Erik (T&T Clark Handbook of Analytic Theology, 2021)

Religious Vows in their Mystic and Prophetic Dimensions - Gallares, Judette (Religious Life Asia, 2022)

REMINISCENCE THERAPY IN INSTITUTIONALIZED ELDERLY PEOPLE: CASE STUDY = TERAPIA DE REMINISCÊNCIAS EM IDOSOS INSTITUCIONALIZADOS: ESTUDO DE CASO - Araújo, Filipa Maria Santos (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
Keywords: Depression; Elderly; Mental Health; Reminiscence Therapy; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph; Well-being

Remote Learning's Impact on Students' Cognitive Development: Evidence from Time Series Assessment [Conference presentation] - Wu, Hao; Molnár, Gyöngyvér (EARLI SIG1 Conference 2024, 2024)
Remote Learning's Impact on Students' Cognitive Development: Evidence from Time Series Assessment [Conference presentation]

Replacement or plume fallout? Both, please! Evidence from active and fossil VMS systems - Relvas, J M R S; Barriga, F; Pinto, A; Marques, A F; Carvalho, J; Dias, A Á (16th SGA Biennial Meeting 2022, 2022)

Replication research in education: a guide to designing, conducting and analysing studies - Morrison, Keith (Routledge, 2022)
"Providing an overview of key issues in theory and practice, Replication Research in Education is designed to identify and discuss the benefits and challenges facing replication studies in education. Both clear and practical, this ground-breaking volume covers how to introduce, develop, conduct, report and discuss these studies, and the issues they raise for policy and practice. Bridging theory and practice, this book considers what replication research should look like, how it should be conducted and how to judge when it has been successful. It enables researchers to plan and conduct studies successfully, from their earliest stages through to completion. This key text: brings together in a single volume, existing issues, claims and counter-claims, discourses and practices of replication introduces, covers, and extends this field of research, indicating its possibilities and limits expands and adds to existing discussions and practices will enable researchers to design, conduct, evaluate and critique studies. The comprehensive and exhaustive coverage of issues and practices within Replication Research in Education make it a "must read" for all novice and experienced educational researchers who are considering, conducting, and reviewing replication studies in education"--

Reply to the "Comment on The Tully-Fisher law and dark matter effects derived via modified symmetries" by I. Arraut. - Arraut Guerrero, Ivan (Europhysics Letters, 2024)
It has been claimed in \cite1, that the idea proposed in \cite2 has certain mistakes based on arguments of energy conditions and others. Additionally, some of the key arguments of the paper are criticized. Here we demonstrate that the results obtained in \cite2 are correct and that there is no violation of any energy condition. The statements claimed in \cite1 are based on three things: 1). Misinterpretation of the metric solution. 2). Language issues related to the physical quantities obtained in \cite1, where the authors make wrong interpretations about certain results over the geometry proposed in \cite2. 3). Non-rigorous evaluations of the vacuum condition defined via the result over the Ricci tensor R_μν=0.

Resale value of used electric vehicles-based on consumer perception in Zhuhai area - Lu, Yueying (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
China leads in global automobile production and sales, but fuel vehicle usage causes energy crisis and pollution. Electric vehicles, as energy-saving and environmentally friendly transportation, can alleviate urban ecological pressure and reduce dependence on non-renewable energy. Development of electric vehicles is thus prioritized. However, the current electric vehicle market is immature and faces slow growth due to various constraints. Despite state policies, market performance lags, and consumer acceptance is low, leading to a mismatch between praise and sales. Therefore, exploring factors influencing consumer demand and purchase intention for electric vehicles is crucial. This paper focuses on consumer perceived value to study factors affecting second-hand electric vehicle resale value, offering practical relevance and value. Consumer behavior theory suggests that consumers' purchase decisions hinge on their perception of a product. Consumer perception involves a subjective, overall evaluation of a product or service based on usage purposes and needs, and an analysis of relevant information from various channels. For used electric vehicles, perception includes understanding of appearance, function, cost, and performance.This study aims to analyze factors affecting the resale value of used EVs and explore consumers' perception of this value. Guided by consumer perception, the study conducted a literature review-based comprehensive analysis and qualitative exploration of used EV resale value. The findings reveal that price, battery performance, endurance, environmental protection, and safety significantly impact the resale value of used EVs. Finally, combined with the research conclusions of this paper, management suggestions are put forward, and countermeasures are summarized from the two levels of government and second-hand electric vehicle marketing enterprises
Keywords: Resale value of used electric vehicles; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph; Zhuhai area; consumer perception

Research and Technology Development Achievements During the COVID-19 Pandemic—An Overview - Marques, João Alexandre Lobo; Fong, Simon James; Li, G.; Arraut, Ivan; Gois, F. Nauber Bernardo; Neto, José Xavier (Epidemic Analytics for Decision Supports in COVID19 Crisis, 2022)
At the beginning of 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) started a coordinated global effort to counterattack the potential exponential spread of the SARS-Cov2 virus, responsible for the coronavirus disease, officially named COVID-19. This comprehensive initiative included a research roadmap published in March 2020, including nine dimensions, from epidemiological research to diagnostic tools and vaccine development. With an unprecedented case, the areas of study related to the pandemic received funds and strong attention from different research communities (universities, government, industry, etc.), resulting in an exponential increase in the number of publications and results achieved in such a small window of time. Outstanding research cooperation projects were implemented during the outbreak, and innovative technologies were developed and improved significantly. Clinical and laboratory processes were improved, while managerial personnel were supported by a countless number of models and computational tools for the decision-making process. This chapter aims to introduce an overview of this favorable scenario and highlight a necessary discussion about ethical issues in research related to the COVID-19 and the challenge of low-quality research, focusing only on the publication of techniques and approaches with limited scientific evidence or even practical application. A legacy of lessons learned from this unique period of human history should influence and guide the scientific and industrial communities for the future.
Keywords: COVID-19; Research cooperation; Research ethics; Scientific research; Technology development

Research on Quality Control of Intelligent Injection Molding System Based on Process Monitoring - Han, Wang; Shasha, Lv; Shaobin, Li; Wencai, Du; Qinggu, Li; Bo, Wang (2021 8th International Conference on Computational Science/Intelligence and Applied Informatics (CSII), 2021)

Research on Risk Management Practices and Countermeasures of Overseas Operations in State-owned Enterprises - Wang, Huan Huan (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
In the current context of intensified economic globalization, Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have actively responded to the "Belt and Road" initiative by expanding their overseas operations, seeking new growth points through competition and cooperation in the global market. However, along with opportunities come the necessity for risk management in the overseas operations of SOEs. Based on theories of systematic and non-systematic risks, this thesis employs methods such as case study analysis and multiple linear regression to thoroughly examine key risk types in SOEs’ overseas operations, including political risks and exchange rate risks. Using quantitative models like the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and neural network early-warning models, the thesis empirically tests the effectiveness of mechanisms for risk identification, assessment, and control. Data sources include national statistics and corporate annual reports, and techniques such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis are applied to reveal statistical characteristics of risk factors and the internal and external linkage mechanisms of risk events. The thesis points out that the management of risks in overseas operations of SOEs not only relies on scientific assessment and precise early warning but also requires the establishment of a risk management framework and governance system that aligns with international rules. Through in-depth analysis of the overseas operations of enterprises like PetroChina and Huawei, the thesis distills strategies for risk prevention and control, such as diversified investment strategies and the construction of compliance risk control systems, and conducts a comprehensive evaluation of the current risk management system, proposing pathways for sustainable development. The outcomes of the research aim to help SOEs enhance their level of risk management, ensure national economic security, and also provide theoretical guidance and practical reference for the implementation of international strategies by SOEs
Keywords: Overseas operation; Risk assessment; Risk control; Risk management; State-owned enterprise; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

Resource estimation of the sulfide-rich deposits of the Yuhuang-1 hydrothermal field on the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge - Yu, Junyu; Tao, Chunhui; Liao, Shili; Dias, Ágata; Liang, Jin; Yang, Weifang; Zhu, Chuanwei (Ore Geology Reviews, 2021)
Seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits are important deep-sea mineral resources expected to occur predominantly on slow- and ultraslow-spreading mid-ocean ridges. Resource estimates are already available for some of the largest SMS deposits on slow-spreading ridges but not on ultraslow-spreading ridges. Based on geological mapping and sampling, this study investigates the distribution and content of sulfide-rich deposits in the Yuhuang-1 hydrothermal field (YHF), located on the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge. The sulfide-rich deposits in the YHF are composed of two areas ∼500 m apart: the southwest sulfide area (SWS) and the northeast sulfide area (NES). We calculated the volume of sulfide-rich mounds in the YHF and arrived at a total accumulation of ∼10.6 × 106 tons, including at least ∼7.5 × 105 tons of copper and zinc and ∼18 tons of gold. Furthermore, considering the coverage of layered hydrothermal sediment mixed with sulfide-rich breccias, which may have underlying massive sulfide deposits, the maximum total mass was estimated at ∼45.1 × 106 tons. This suggests that the YHF is one of the largest SMS deposits worldwide and confirm that ultraslow-spreading ridges have the greatest potential to form large-scale SMS deposits.
Keywords: Resource estimate; Seafloor massive sulfide deposits; Southwest Indian Ridge; Yuhuang-1 hydrothermal field

Resources for Future in a Caring Economy - Gassner, Franz (Menschenrechte und Gerechtigkeit als bleibende Aufgaben, 2020)

Retrieving the Sense of the Sacred: a Paradigm of Silence in the Liturgy - Wong, Lee Chun (USJ Theses and Dissertations, 2021)
Keywords: Catholic Church; Liturgy Theology; Religious aspects Catholic Church; Silence

Revenue Management in Airlines and External Factors Affecting Decisions: The Harmonic Oscillator Model - Arraut, Ivan; Rosado, Wilson; Leong, Victor (Mathematics, 2024)
The Revenue Management (RM) problem in airlines for a fixed capacity, single resource and two classes has been solved before by using a standard formalism. In this paper we propose a model for RM by using the semi-classical approach of the Quantum Harmonic Oscillator. We then extend the model to include external factors affecting the people’s decisions, particularly those where collective decisions emerge.
Keywords: collective decisions; harmonic oscillator; revenue management; spontaneous symmetry breaking

Review of Biesta. G. (2020) Educational research: an unorthodox introduction, Educational Research and Evaluation - Morrison, Keith (Educational Research and Evaluation, 2020)

Review of Gorard, S. (2020) Getting evidence into education: evaluating the routes to policy and practice - Morrison, Keith (Educational Research and Evaluation, 2020)

Rewriting Life Story and Career Development: a Case Study Using a Narrative Approach - Choi, Ka Lok (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Risk Analysis in Sustainable Buildings' Construction Projects: A Perspective from Macau and Hong Kong - Santos, Eduardo José Piteira Paulo dos (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

Ritual and the Sacred in Peter Shaffer's Theatre - Phillips, Jenny O. L. (Sacred and the Everyday: Comparative approaches to literature, religious and secular, 2021)

Sacred and the Everyday: Comparative Approaches to Literature, Religious and Secular - Morgan, Stephen (USJ Press, 2021)

Santa Claus is not coming to everyone in Macau - Morrison, Keith (Macau Business, 2023)
Macau, Macau Business, MAG, MB, MB Featured, Opinion | Macau Business | December 2023 Keith Morrison – Author and educationist

Sediments in the mangrove areas contribute to the removal of endocrine disrupting chemicals in coastal sediments of Macau SAR, China, and harbour microbial communities capable of degrading E2, EE2, BPA and BPS - Moreira, Irina S.; Lebel, Alexandre; Peng, Xianzhi; Castro, Paula M. L.; Gonçalves, David (Biodegradation, 2021)
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.
Keywords: Biodegradation; Bisphenols; EDCs-degrading bacteria; Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs); Estrogens; Mangrove

Seeing the True Self: A Comparison of Arthur Schopenhauer and Japanese Zen - Ng, Fong Man (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Philosophy; University of Saint Joseph

Segmentation of CT-Scan Images Using UNet Network for Patients Diagnosed with COVID-19 - Bernardo Gois, Francisco Nauber; Lobo Marques, Joao Alexandre (Computerized Systems for Diagnosis and Treatment of COVID-19, 2023)
The use of computational tools for medical image processing are promising tools to effectively detect COVID-19 as an alternative to expensive and time-consuming RT-PCR tests. For this specific task, CXR (Chest X-Ray) and CCT (Chest CT Scans) are the most common examinations to support diagnosis through radiology analysis. With these images, it is possible to support diagnosis and determine the disease’s severity stage. Computerized COVID-19 quantification and evaluation require an efficient segmentation process. Essential tasks for automatic segmentation tools are precisely identifying the lungs, lobes, bronchopulmonary segments, and infected regions or lesions. Segmented areas can provide handcrafted or self-learned diagnostic criteria for various applications. This Chapter presents different techniques applied for Chest CT Scans segmentation, considering the state of the art of UNet networks to segment COVID-19 CT scans and a segmentation experiment for network evaluation. Along 200 epochs, a dice coefficient of 0.83 was obtained.

Selection for winners impacts the endocrine system in the Siamese fighting fish - Ramos, A.; Gonçalves, D. (General and Comparative Endocrinology, 2022)
In southeast Asia, males of the Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, have been selected across centuries for winning paired staged fights and previous work has shown that males from fighter strains are more aggressive than wild-types. This strong directional selection for winners is likely to have targeted aggression-related endocrine systems, and a comparison between fighter and wild-type strains can bring into evidence the key hormones implicated in aggression. Here, we compared the plasma levels of the androgen 11-ketotestosterone (KT) and of the corticosteroid cortisol (F) in F2 males of a fighter and a wild-type strain raised under similar laboratory conditions. We show that F was generally lower in fighter as compared with wild-type males, while no overall differences in KT levels were detected between strains. When presented with a mirror-induced aggressive challenge, post-fight levels of F increased but more significantly so in wild-type males, while KT increased in males of both strains. After the challenge, fighter males had higher levels of KT as compared with wild-type males, while the pattern for F was opposite. As compared with animals in social groups, wild-type males placed under social isolation had lower F levels, while KT decreased for fighters. Taken together, this data suggests that while wild-type males responded to aggression with an increase in circulating levels of both androgens and corticosteroids, males selected for winning fights maintained a blunt F response, increasing only KT levels. These data agree with the hypothesis that a combination of high levels of androgens and low levels of corticosteroids is associated with high aggression. Overall, these results seem to indicate that selection for winning had a stronger impact in the hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal axis than in the hypothalamus-pituitary–gonadal axis in B. splendens.

Self-Efficacy, Stress and Job Satisfaction among Pre-Service, Novice and Experienced English Teachers: A Study of their Occupational Health - Lam, Stacy; Kuok, A. C. H.; Sze, Tat Ming (Health Psychology Report, 2022)
Background This study aimed to investigate English teachers’ self-efficacy for student engagement, classroom management, instructional strategies and literacy instruction, as well as to discover teacher stress and job satisfaction can play a role in interfering their occupational health (in terms of self-efficacy). In addition, this is one of the first studies to understand the differences in self-efficacy among pre-service, novice and experienced in-service teachers in a Chinese society, where English is positioned as a foreign language. Participants and procedure 271 English teachers (90 pre-service, 181 in-service) with mean teaching experience of 5.57 months for per-service, and 98.51 months for in-service were participated in this quantitative research study, as the targets were not be able to approach randomly, the English teachers were approaching individually though referral sampling, informing that the purpose of the study and receive their consent. Results It discovered both pre-service and novice in-service teachers posses lowest self-efficacy. Moreover, teachers’ stress from classroom predicted their self-efficacy for student engagement and classroom management negatively. On the other hand, teachers’ job satisfaction predicts their self-efficacy for student engagement, instructional strategies and literacy instruction positively. Conclusions Implications (based on the findings) are discussed in order to provide insights for for schools and education departments to strengthen the teachers’ capability of teaching and their occupational health.

Self-perception of primary students with dyslexia in Macao =: 探討澳門小學讀寫困難融合自我探索學習現況及挑戰 - 何素儀 (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

SENIOR LEARNERS, ANDRAGOGY, GERAGOGY, AND SYNTHETIC PHONICS: A CASE STUDY - Bhroin, Aine Ni (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
Although there is a substantial body of research on the second language acquisition of adults, there is little specific research on the learning experiences of senior and very senior adults. This thesis investigates and discovers the experience of being a senior from a traditional Confucian Heritage Culture aged between 55 and 75 years old, learning English as a foreign language through various interventions, including, the introduction of an adapted version of synthetic phonics to improve pronunciation, alongside the use of andragogical and geragogical principles to accommodate and encourage the development of agency and self-directed learning. This research adopted a case study methodology to investigate the lived experiences of seniors, and investigated the participants’ subjective constructions of the situation, learning experiences, challenges, circumstances, needs, and wants with regard to the situation. Therefore, an open and exploratory case study design was selected to understand the participants and report the findings. Furthermore, this thesis identifies the challenges faced by senior and very senior learners who are post-work and post-family rearing to make recommendations from the findings to complement, enhance and empower their learning
Keywords: ANDRAGOGY; GERAGOGY; SENIORS; SYNTHETIC PHONICS; Thesis and Dissertations PhD in Education (D-SE); University of Saint Joseph

SenSwave: DRAW YOUR MUSIC BY EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC, IMAGES, AND EMOTIONS - He, Minghao (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
According to research, it is found that images, music, and emotions are closely related, and integrating visual and tactile elements into the music creation process, combined with auditory experience, can enhance emotional expression and understandability. The results highlight the potential of tangible interfaces in autonomous music creation and promoting emotional well-being. This work aims to explore the intersection of music creation, emotional expression, and technological innovation by creating a unique tangible interface for music. It does this by combining the challenges presented by the complexity of modern music production, the emotional issues faced by today's youth, and bringing a new way of expression to the phonograph technology. It hopes to draw inspiration from the historical significance of the phonograph through visual expression, user experience, and algorithmic music generation technology, and seek to provide a new way of music creation for young people who are creative and curious but not musicians, and provide a new way to express emotions. All things considered, the project demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of combining historical inspiration with modern technology to create innovative solutions for music technology. Furthermore, it is focusing on enhancing the interface design even more and carrying out longitudinal research to assess the long-term effects on emotional expressiveness and user experience. It is also being explored as an artistic installation, hoping to bring more changes and presentation methods and provide users with a more comprehensive and immersive music creation and emotional expression experience
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Interaction design; Interdisciplinary; Music generation; Tangible interface; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Design (MDG); University of Saint Joseph; Well-being Emotional expression

Serpentinization and its implications for ultramafic-hosted sulfide mineralization: A case study at the Tianzuo hydrothermal field, 63.5°E, Southwest Indian Ridge - Ding, Teng; Dias, Ágata Alveirinho; Wang, Jia; Tan, Tingting; Liang, Jin; Wu, Bin; Tao, Chunhui (Marine Geology, 2023)
Reaction of ultramafic rocks with seawater and subsequent serpentinization has been considered one of the most important factors controlling the formation of ultramafic-hosted seafloor massive sulfide (UM-SMS) deposits. However, the mineralization processes responsible for these deposits remain poorly understood, in particular because they are less abundant as compared with their basaltic counterparts. In this work, serpentinites with different alteration grades collected at the Tianzuo hydrothermal field (THF), Southwest Indian Ridge, were studied. Mineralogical and chemical analyses were performed in the secondary opaque minerals resulting from serpentinization to understand the role of this process during the formation of UM-SMS deposits. Our results show that these opaque minerals mainly consist of magnetite, hematite, pentlandite, and minor pyrite, suggestive of high but varying oxygen and sulfur fugacities. The hematite is characterized by an enrichment in Mg, Si, Ni, and Co as compared with magnetite. Pentlandite associated with hematite has elevated and consistent Ni contents as compared with that associated with magnetite. These results indicate that breakdown and decomposition of primary silicate and sulfide minerals during serpentinization has controlled the sources of ore-forming materials. Concentrations of Te are variable and show a positive correlation with Ni in pentlandite associated with magnetite or hematite, suggesting that gabbroic intrusions provided additional material to the hydrothermal system. Oxidation and sulfidation conditions are ideal for the formation of trisulfur ion S3− in THF, which can significantly improve the capability of hydrothermal fluids for leaching ore-forming metals from the wall rocks, promoting the formation of THF. In addition of reduced systems, hydrothermal fluids with high oxygen and sulfur fugacities triggered by extensive seawater infiltration can most likely also develop in ultramafic-hosted systems. These results suggest that the areas with well-developed fractures are promising candidates for further exploration of UM-SMS deposits along mid-oceanic ridges.
Keywords: Opaque minerals; Oxidation and sulfidation; Sulfide mineralization; Tianzuo hydrothermal field; Ultramafic rocks

Sharing towards cohesive community: the role of social capital in sharing economy - Lai, Michael (ResearchGate, 2024)
PDF | Purpose Whilst the majority of academic studies have focused on the for-profit business-to-consumer type of sharing economy, the community-based... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

SINGERS' ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGIES IN GUANGDONG PROVINCE: HOW TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN A STRONG ONLINE PRESENCE FOR EFFECTIVE MUSIC PROMOTION AND FAN ENGAGEMENT - Feng, Qiuyuan (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
Previous research has explored the development of online music and singers in Guangdong Province; however, there is a gap in understanding how singers establish and maintain a strong online presence through effective online marketing strategies. To fill this gap, this study employs a mixed-methods approach to deeply investigate how Guangdong singers leverage digital platforms for effective music promotion and fan engagement. Online questionnaires were distributed via Xiaohongshu and WeChat, collecting 153 valid responses from fans, which were analyzed to understand interaction methods and their impact on singers. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three Guangdong singers and one music company employee, and the interview data were thoroughly analyzed.The findings indicate that Guangdong singers utilize specific social media platforms (such as TikTok) to create and share personalized content and establish direct interactions with fans. These strategies are crucial for successful music promotion and fan engagement. In the highly competitive online music market, adopting such targeted digital marketing strategies allows singers to significantly enhance their visibility and fan engagement. This approach not only holds significant importance for the personal development of singers in Guangdong but also has far-reaching implications for the prosperity of the music industry and the creative economy as a whole
Keywords: Guangdong singer; Internet influence; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Communication and Media (MCM); University of Saint Joseph; audience engagement; music promotion; online marketing; singer fans

Single-Use Plastic Assessment in Macau Hospitality Industry: Bottled Water as a Case Study - Ao Ieong, Kin San (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Environmental Sciences and Management (MESM); University of Saint Joseph

SLEEP PROBLEMS IN MACAU CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: ASSOCIATION WITH BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE - Hio, Sam U. (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
The adverse impact of sleep problems on children and adolescents’ health and development raises concern in the community. Although some studies have examined the association of sleep problems with behavioural problems and academic performance, few have been done in Macau, especially for the children population and regarding academic performance. Hence, the primary purpose of the present study was to identify sleep problems of children and adolescents in Macau and explore its relationship with behavioural problems and academic performance. 948 participants (466 children and 482 adolescents) from Macau were included in the study. Data was collected using the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) forms: CBCL, TRF and YSR. Children sleep problems were assessed by the reports of mother and father, in addition self-report was also included to measure adolescents sleep problems. Behavioural problems were reported by mother, father and teacher for children, as well as self-report for adolescents. Academic performance was the average of teacher’s rating of all academic subjects. The prevalence of sleep problems was 10.1% in children and 17.4% in adolescents. The results showed significant difference between children’s sleep problems and their mother and father-reported total behavioural problems, but not with teacher-reported total behavioural problems. However, whereas the t-test found that adolescent’s sleep problems significantly predicted all informants reported total behavioural problems, the chi-square test found no significant relationship between the two factors in teacher’s ratings, suggesting that while adolescents who had more sleep problems did show a higher frequency of total behavioural problems in the teacher’s perspective, but they may not be severe enough to be considered clinical. In addition, significant association between academic performance and sleep problems were only observed in children but not in adolescents; and no significant relationship was found between sleep problems and grade retention. Findings provided further support for some associations of sleep problems with behavioural problems and academic performance. In general, the findings of Macau were similar to those in other countries. Given that chronic sleep problems create multiple negative consequences to students’ lives, practical implications are provided to help lower it through the collaboration between parties, education about sleep hygiene and the development of healthy sleeping habits. Keywords: sleep problems; behavioural problems; academic performance; children; adolescents
Keywords: Macau; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph; academic performance; adolescents; behavioural problems; sleep problems

Smart Home Interactive Design: How can Interactive Design be Combined with a Smart Home System to help Human Future? - He, Min Yi (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Design (MDG); University of Saint Joseph

Social Integration and the Screening of the Early-Stage Dementia in Older Adults: The Mediation Role of Mental Health - Wong Wai Hong (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Social Work (MSW); University of Saint Joseph

SOCIAL MEDIA AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVE OF RELIGION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EVERY NATION IN THE PHILIPPINES AND MACAU - Tabilas, Analeah Marie R. (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
This research analyzed and compared the Instagram content of Victory Philippines and Every Nation Manila to evaluate its impact on the faith perception of university students associated with these churches. In this digital age, institutions have embraced the shift towards online interactions, including adapting religious practices such as worship services to online platforms. Religious organizations are navigating the dynamics between online and offline communication methods as they adapt to engaging with their audience through social media channels. While previous research has delved into online religious content and virtual church services, no prior studies have specifically compared the social media communication strategies of Every Nation churches in Manila, Philippines, and Macau. The research employed a mixed-method approach, compromising interviews, focus groups, and quantitative content analysis. As per the interviews, these took place with four pastors and four media content creators within the Metro Manila region of Every Nation Philippines, commonly recognized as Victory Philippines, and one pastor and one content creator of Every Nation Macau. These interviews helped gather insights into their thought processes and analyze their social media strategies and plans. Three distinct focus group discussions were carried out, involving 15 undergraduate students from Manila and Macau affiliated with Victory Philippines and Every Nation Macau. The participants were equally divided into three groups. These students also actively engage with the Victory Philippines and Every Nation Macau Instagram posts. These focus group discussions were employed to analyze patterns to understand their thought processes. Furthermore, a quantitative content analysis was carried out on Victory Philippines and Every Nation’s Instagram account as part of the study. Despite the active engagement on social media platforms by Victory Philippines and Every Nation Macau, both organizations maintained a strong offline church community. Interviews conducted indicated that the online activities of these churches significantly influenced the faith of students, while their spiritual growth was further supported by an inclusive offline community. This approach exemplified a multi-generational ethos, fostering collaboration between younger and older members towards the shared objective of evangelism. This research validates the Figuring and Disfiguring theoretical framework of Taylor (2007, apud Åhman and Thorén, 2021). The results of the empirical data may provide strong practical guidance to churches of any size as they build and develop their online presence while strengthening their offline presence
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Communication and Media (MCM); University of Saint Joseph

SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES ABOUT CANTONESE OPERA IN MACAO ACROSS GENERATIONS: CULTURAL IDENTITY AND SOCIAL BONDING - Sin, Shuk Ching; Silva, Maria Rita (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
"Cantonese opera (CO) represents an art form that had its golden time in Macao during the mid-twentieth century. CO still has many loyal fans but they mainly are in the older generation. The purpose of this study was to explore if CO is considered a cultural capital heritage in Macao, related to cultural identity and transmitted across generations to support social bonding. Applying a qualitative methodology, a script for exploring participants’ experiences and opinions about CO was designed, and different groups of individuals were recruited for semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The data collected was analysed by a thematic analysis of the verbatim transcripts. Findings show that in the past first contacts with CO happened in family and related social context, mainly during participants’ developing age. However, currently CO is no longer passed on to the next generation. Despite that the young generations acknowledging their cultural identities in CO, mainly in terms of Cantonese culture and Cantonese language, older individuals engaged with CO seemed to perceive their cultural identities more in depth in its history, literacy and music. Actually, engagement is an important factor that generates social bonds. The CO leisure practitioners, no matter young or old, experienced the effects of social bonding during the ritual of enquiry in the process of learning and practising CO. To improve CO’s preservation in Macao, the adoption of strategies such as developing new productions, crossover with other media, innovations in promotion targeting the young audiences, and absorbing audiences in the Great Bay area were proposed. Finally, the potential use of CO as a tool in counselling and community work is discussed. "
Keywords: Cantonese Opera; Cultural Identity; Individual Well-being; Social Bonding; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Socio-economic Impacts of Low Unemployment in Macau - Wong, Leng Cheng (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

Soka Education Philosophy as a Foundation for Teacher Preparation in Creating Inclusive Education - Agbenyega, Joseph Seyram; Ikegami, Kiiko; Rivalland, Corine (International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, 2021)
Current global shifts in education towards inclusive early childhood education are deeply engineered by the crisis of educational exclusion. In responding to exclusion, teachers have mainly utilized dominant western theories to plan and implement inclusive teaching. In this chapter, we draw on a non-western philosophy, a Nichiren Buddhist (Soka) philosophy, to provide a ‘kaleidoscopic’ lens through which to create inclusive educational learning spaces that engender full participation of all children. The Soka education philosophy is a humanist concept which can guide teachers when preparing to create inclusive education. The aims of this chapter are threefold: The first is an exploration of the Nichiren Buddhist (Soka) philosophy. The second aim is to highlight how this philosophy can enable teachers to unleash the unlimited potential of children in inclusive learning settings. Thirdly, we argue that grounding early childhood teacher education in this philosophy can help improve the effectiveness of inclusive educational experience for all children.

Solving the dark energy problem via symmetry constraints - Arraut, Ivan (The European Physical Journal C, 2025)
We derive the vacuum energy from the zero-point quantum fluctuations after imposing a natural constraint emerging from the rotational symmetry inside the de-Sitter metric. The constraint imposes a maximum azimuthal angle for each frequency mode emerging from the vacuum. In this way, the shorter the wavelength of the mode, the larger will be its suppression. The same result is derived subsequently by using the Friedmann–Lemaitre–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) metric. We then make a physical interpretation of the physical effects from the perspective of pair creations over the vacuum, where the mentioned constraint emerges, limiting then the maximum angle which each pair generated from the vacuum can rotate with respect to each other during their short existence.

SOUNDSCAPE.AI - A Sonic Perspectives on Macau - Estadieu, G (Iberian Soundscapes Conference, 2023)

Southern Inner Harbour Public Domain – Conceptual Design: Zone 01 –Manduco (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)

Southern Inner Harbour Public Domain – Conceptual Design: Zone 02 - Padre António (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)

Southern Inner Harbour Public Domain – Conceptual Design: Zone 03 – Ponte e Horta (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)

Southern Inner Harbour Public Domain – Conceptual Design Zone 04 – Harbou (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)

Southern Inner Harbour Public Domain – Conceptual Design: Zone 05 - Felicidade (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)

Southern Inner Harbour Public Domain – Conceptual Design: Zone 06 – Santo Agostinho (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)

Southern Inner Harbour Public Domain – Conceptual Master Plan (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)

Southern Inner Harbour Public Domain – Strategic Vision (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)

SPORTS FACILITIES IN HIGH-DENSITY URBAN AREA - Wong, Si Weng (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
How can we provide more sports areas in a high-density urban environment? Nowadays, most cities in Asia are experiencing high-speed development (Satterthwaite, 2023). There is an intensely increasing demand for land that is confronted with an insufficient supply of space, resulting in a shortfall of suitable construction space to meet the rising demand. Over the past few decades, different countries and cities have created various solutions for this issue. This shortage of space has been resolved in various ways, for example: through land reclamation, renovation, and architectural design (Grydehoj, 2015). This dissertation seeks to analyse and discuss how architects have used design to expand spaces within the limited available areas for public spaces like sports facilities (Carmona, 2021). Understanding how sports modalities influence architecture and space utilisation for sports activities will also be covered. Additionally, it will examine case studies on how to better implement the program in a limited urban area with regards to the typology connections of sports facilities and their interaction with users. Finally, this dissertation is practice-based and oriented, the case study and project development will focus on a sports facility in the high-density populated Taipa Centre (Macau). This specific project solution will address the real problem for the city, and research will conclude by analysing the constraints of sports architecture in high-density areas, providing design solutions for these situations, and thereby contributing to the improvement of public spaces in a city
Keywords: Centrality; High-Density Urban Spaces; Indoor-Outdoor Interaction; Sports Facilities; Stacking; Theses and Dissertations Master of Architecture (MARCH); University of Saint Joseph

Static recording apparatus for soundscape analysis in Macau - Estadieu, Gerald; Cheung, Yin Yan; Pestana, Pedro Duarte; Barbosa, Alvaro (INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Congress and Conference Proceedings, 2023)
The concept of Soundscape was initially proposed to study the relationship between humans and their sonic environment. It has gathered momentum from academia to environmentalists and policymakers throughout the years. The study and characterisation of Soundscapes can be complex as it tries to take a holistic and qualitative approach rather than simply quantifying sound pressure levels. This paper introduces a comprehensive Soundscape study process in an ongoing research project in Macao (China), a small territory (32.9 km2) and one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The paper seeks to show a first version of a technical solution to systematically capture the local soundscape, analyse it, classify it, and ultimately deliver a dataset library and the intangible qualities of the environmental sound. This implementation, including technical documentation, code, and sound library with strong labelling, is presented under an open-source license to encourage future collaborative research. Finally, the paper offers suggestions on further developing the apparatus to reach a systematic and near real-time soundscape analysis with the development of a machine learning system.

Statistical Forecast Applied to Two Macao Air Monitoring Stations - Lei, M.; Monjardino, J.; Mendes, L.; Gonçalves, D.; Ferreira, F. (IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2020)
The levels of air pollution in Macao often exceeded the levels recommended by WHO. In order for the population to take precautionary measures and avoid further health risks under high pollutant exposure, it is important to develop a reliable air quality forecast. Statistical models based on multiple regression (MR) analysis were developed successfully for Macao to predict the next day concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and NO2. All the developed models were statistically significantly valid with a 95% confidence level with high coefficients of determination (from 0.89 to 0.92) for all pollutants. The models utilized meteorological and air quality variables based on five years of historical data, from 2013 to 2017. The data from 2013 to 2016 were used to develop the statistical models and data from 2017 were used for validation purposes. A wide range of meteorological and air quality variables were identified, and only some were selected as significant dependent variables. Meteorological variables were selected from an extensive list of variables, including geopotential height, relative humidity, atmospheric stability, and air temperature at different vertical levels. Air quality variables translate the resilience of the recent past concentrations of each pollutant and usually are maximum and/or the average of latest 24-hour levels. The models were applied in forecasting the next day average daily concentrations for PM10, PM2.5, and NO2 for the air quality monitoring stations. The results are expected to be an operational air quality forecast for Macao.

Statistical Forecast of Pollution Episodes in Macao during National Holiday and COVID-19 - Lei, Man Tat; Monjardino, Joana; Mendes, Luisa; Gonçalves, David; Ferreira, Francisco (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020)
Statistical methods such as multiple linear regression (MLR) and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis were used to build prediction models for the levels of pollutant concentrations in Macao using meteorological and air quality historical data to three periods: (i) from 2013 to 2016, (ii) from 2015 to 2018, and (iii) from 2013 to 2018. The variables retained by the models were identical for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM10), PM2.5, but not for ozone (O3) Air pollution data from 2019 was used for validation purposes. The model for the 2013 to 2018 period was the one that performed best in prediction of the next-day concentrations levels in 2019, with high coefficient of determination (R2), between predicted and observed daily average concentrations (between 0.78 and 0.89 for all pollutants), and low root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and biases (BIAS). To understand if the prediction model was robust to extreme variations in pollutants concentration, a test was performed under the circumstances of a high pollution episode for PM2.5 and O3 during 2019, and the low pollution episode during the period of implementation of the preventive measures for COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding the high pollution episode, the period of the Chinese National Holiday of 2019 was selected, in which high concentration levels were identified for PM2.5 and O3, with peaks of daily concentration exceeding 55 μg/m3 and 400 μg/m3, respectively. The 2013 to 2018 model successfully predicted this high pollution episode with high coefficients of determination (of 0.92 for PM2.5 and 0.82 for O3). The low pollution episode for PM2.5 and O3 was identified during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic period, with a low record of daily concentration for PM2.5 levels at 2 μg/m3 and O3 levels at 50 μg/m3, respectively. The 2013 to 2018 model successfully predicted the low pollution episode for PM2.5 and O3 with a high coefficient of determination (0.86 and 0.84, respectively). Overall, the results demonstrate that the statistical forecast model is robust and able to correctly reproduce extreme air pollution events of both high and low concentration levels.
Keywords: COVID-19; air pollution; air quality forecast; modelling; national holiday; pollution episodes

Statistical Methods to Forecast Air Quality in Taipa Ambient and Taipa Residential of Macao - Lei, Man Tat; Monjardino, Joana; Mendes, Luisa; Gonçalves, David; Ferreira, Francisco (Springer, 2021)
Air pollution is a major concern issue on Macao since the concentration levels of several of the most common pollutants are frequently above the internationally recommended values. The low air quality episodes impacts on human health paired with highly populated urban areas are important motivations to develop forecast methodologies in order to anticipate pollution episodes, allowing establishing warnings to the local community to take precautionary measures and avoid outdoor activities during this period. Using statistical methods (multiple linear regression (MLR) and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis) we were able to develop forecasting models for the main pollutants (NO2, PM2.5, and O3) enabling us to know the next day concentrations with a good skill, translated by high coefficients of determination (0.82–0.90) on a 95% confidence level. The model development was based on six years of historical data, 2013 to 2018, consisting of surface and upper-air meteorological observations and surface air quality observations. The year of 2019 was used for model validation. From an initially large group of meteorological and air quality variables only a few were identified as significant dependent variables in the model. The selected meteorological variables included geopotential height, relative humidity and air temperature at different altitude levels and atmospheric stability characterization parameters. The air quality predictors used included recent past hourly levels of mean concentrations for NO2 and PM2.5 and maximum concentrations for O3. The application of the obtained models provides the expected daily mean concentrations for NO2 and PM2.5 and maximum hourly concentrations O3 for the next day in Taipa Ambient air quality monitoring stations. The described methodology is now operational, in Macao, since 2020.

Stock market prediction using artificial intelligence: A systematic review of systematic reviews - Lin, Chin Yang; Lobo Marques, Joao Alexandre (Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2024)
There are many systematic reviews on predicting stock. However, each reveals a different portion of the hybrid AI analysis and stock prediction puzzle. The principal objective of this research was to systematically review the existing systematic reviews on Artificial Intelligence (AI) models applied to stock market prediction to provide valuable inputs for the development of strategies in stock market investments. Keywords that would fall under the broad headings of AI and stock prediction were looked up in Scopus and Web of Science databases. We screened 69 titles and read 43 systematic reviews, including more than 379 studies, before retaining 10 for the final dataset. This work revealed that support vector machines (SVM), long short-term memory (LSTM), and artificial neural networks (ANN) are the most popular AI methods for stock market prediction. In addition, the time series of historical closing stock prices are the most commonly used data source, and accuracy is the most employed performance metric of the predictive models. We also identified several research gaps and directions for future studies. Specifically, we indicate that future research could benefit from exploring different data sources and combinations, while we also suggest comparing different AI methods and techniques, as each may have specific advantages and applicable scenarios. Lastly, we recommend better evaluating different prediction indicators and standards to reflect prediction models’ actual value and impact.

Stock Market Prediction Using Artificial Intelligence: A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews - Lin, Coka Chinyang; Marques, Joao Alexandre Lobo (2023)
There are many systematic reviews on predicting stock. However, each of them reveals a different portion of the hybrid AI analysis and stock prediction puzzle. The principal objective of this research was to systematically review and conclude the systematic reviews on AI and stock to provide particularly useful predictions for making future strategies for stock markets. Keywords that would fall under the broad headings of AI and stock prediction were looked up in two databases, Scopus and Web of Science. We screened 69 titles and read 43 systematic reviews which include more than 379 studies before retaining 10 of them.
Keywords: Deep Learning; Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM); Machine Learning; Neural Networks (NN); Support Vector Machines (SVM)

STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING A SMART TOURISM CITY: A CASE STUDY OF MACAO SAR AND THE PERCEPTION OF EXPERTS - Da Rosa Ho, Hoi Lam (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
This dissertation explores the strategies for developing a smart tourism city in the background of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the perceptions of different experts in Macao. Awared that the Macao government aims to expedite the development of a livable, smart, and green Macao and requires smart technology to be applied to upgrade the people’s livelihood. This is a long-term ambition to achieve and whether success remains uncertain. Through literature review, understood that the traditional tourism industry must be transformed and innovated to enhance competition since the 90s. And smart tourism cities provide enhanced tourists’ experience and residents’ better quality of life. Although prior research have studied the tourist behavior of smart tourism contents or evalutated strategic plans for the construction of a smart tourism city, there is no previous research explored on the topic. Therefore, this dissertation through qualitative research methods including on-site observations, analyzing government-released documents and interviewing relevant experts. The findings present the seven components of the conceptual framework, including physical infrastructures, technology applications, experience sharing, big data, business co-creation, technical professionals, and cyber security, are strongly support the smart tourism city development in Macao. Provide a clear understanding for the relevant stakeholders to practice in a smart tourism city context. In addition, from the perspective of experts, the key for successfully develop Macao as a smart tourism city is that should apply ‘government-led, multi-party participation, and marketing operation’ in every component of the framework. The key for success depends on all stakeholders actively participae the activities. Four recommondations also present at the end of this disseartation. Prospects the development of smart tourism city in Macao can enhance both the quality of tourists’ experience and residents’ life as well as driven the long-term economic growth sustainably
Keywords: Smart Tourism City; Technology and tourism development; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Government Studies (MGS); University of Saint Joseph

STRATEGIES FOR DEFINING AND RESOLVING NON-PERFORMING ASSETS IN STATE-OWNED CHINESE BANKS - Wu, Xiao (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
Given the rapid growth of China's economy and its maturing financial market, state-owned banks have played a crucial role in driving national economic growth and ensuring financial stability. However, this progress has been accompanied by a pressing challenge - the accumulation of non-performing assets (NPAs), which pose significant obstacles to both the banking industry and China's economic development. Therefore, it is imperative to comprehensively analyze strategies aimed at mitigating NPAs in state-owned commercial banks, with an emphasis on seeking more effective resolution mechanisms. This study delves into the institutional environment surrounding NPAs in state-owned banks, including improvements in laws and regulations as well as advancements in financial market structures and legal frameworks. The initial step involves analyzing the current status and manifestations of NPAs within state-owned banks to clarify their ambiguously defined areas. Furthermore, considering China's unique policy context and socio-economic landscape, this study conducts an analysis and comparison of diverse strategies for addressing NPAs from the perspectives of asset quality management, risk-profit equilibrium, and legal regulatory support system. Ultimately, several suggestions are proposed regarding the trajectory of NPA resolution
Keywords: Bank; NPA; NPL; Risk management; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

Student engagement, higher education, and social justice: beyond neoliberalism and the market - Bramley, Corinna; Morrison, Keith (Routledge, 2023)
"Student engagement is a catch-all term, irresistible to educators and policy makers, and serving many agendas and purposes. This ground-breaking book provides a powerful theory of student engagement, rooted in critical theory and social justice. It sets out a compelling argument for student engagement to promote social justice and to repel neoliberalism in, and through, higher education, addressing three key questions: -Student engagement in what? -Student engagement for what? -Student engagement for whom? The answers draw on Habermas, Honneth, Gramsci, Foucault, and Giroux in examining ideology, power, recognition, resistance, and student engagement, with examples drawn from across the world. It sets out key features, limitations and failures of neoliberalism in higher education, and indicates how student engagement can resist it. Student engagement calls for higher education institutions to be sites for challenge, debate on values and power, action for social justice, and for students to engage in the struggle to resist neoliberalism, taking action to promote social justice, democracy, and the public good. This book is essential reading for educators, researchers, managers and students in higher education, social scientists and social theorists. It is a call to reawaken higher education for social justice, human rights, democracy and freedoms"--
Keywords: Active learning; Education, Higher; Neoliberalism; Social aspects; Social justice and education

Students’ wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic - Ikegami, Kiiko (The International Webinar of University Riau Conference, 2021)

Study and Analysis of English Press in Macau: Its Impact and Challenges - Pangan, Cheila Alexis Clemente (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Communication and Media (MCM); University of Saint Joseph

Study of management style in Canada - Ao, Ka Chon (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

Study of the Compositional Rules of Design in Chaoshan Traditional House: A Computational Approach - Afonso, Filipe (ARTECH 2021: 10th International Conference on Digital and Interactive Art, 2021)

Study of the Compositional Rules of Design in Chaoshan Traditional House: A Computational Approach - Afonso, Filipe (Association for Computing Machinery, 2022)
This study is an attempt to understand and describe the compositional principles of Chaoshan traditional houses (CTH) through a computational space syntax. In this approach, the space syntax is used to describe and verify the compositional rules of Chaoshan houses. Chaoshan rural residence is a classical Lingnan style building in Chaoshan area of eastern Guangdong province, associated with Teo-Swa people, a Han Chinese minority. This study takes the example the prototypes existing in the village of Zhupu, Haojiang District, Shantou city as a case study, to analyse the spatial form of the residences. The Zhupu village houses date from the Qing Dynasty - Qianlong period, around 1700 AD. The hypothesis of this study is that CTH buildings are a result of a space compositional rule system that can be described and replicated through a computational design methodology. This study will establish a computational architectural syntax, and is the first stage of an extended research work on the evolution of Chaoshan residential types. The understanding of this evolution may help, as future work, to develop urban strategies for adaptation of the CTH heritage buildings to the contemporary living conditions. As the result of this study is a computational 3D graphics modelling algorithm, the ability of the system to generate the house layouts is not limited to the reconstruction of existing typologies of CTH and its variations. The same algorithm will allow the generation of new housing schemes, with adaptation to design variables extracted from a particular site and region.
Keywords: Chaoshan house; Qing dynasty; Space syntax; computational design; courtyard house

Study of the Cross-Border Family Mediation Mechanisms and Practices in the Greater Bay Area (China, Hong Kong SAR, and Macau SAR”) - Wong, Hang Si (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
The dissertation is about the study on the usage of mediation as the dispute mechanism on the cross-border family dispute issue in the Guangdong -Hong Kong- Macau Greater Bay Area through a comparative law aspects. Under the background of the Country’s Policy in integrating the citizens of the two SARs into China. The citizens of different provinces in PRC and the two SARs have frequent contact such as in business, in personal affairs and so on, the more the contact the more the possibility disputes will arise. With three different jurisdictions and the backlogs from the Courts, to find out the possibility of using another dispute resolution is essential. The study found out the perspectives of the disputed / litigated parties, courts and legal practitioners in usage of mediation, the nature of mediation in use in GBA and the strengths and limitations on the usage of mediation. This research used a mixed methods including doctrinal legal research, comparative legal research method and empirical legal research method. It result from the finding that though there is no specialized legislation in usage of mediation in Macau SAR, there is practice in usage of family mediation. Besides that the judicial mediation in PRC is not the mediation we defined in the literature review, thus it is the conciliation. Whether the recent development in Hong Kong SAR on the procedures M-FDR and M-CDR are in conflict with the facilitative mediation which has all along been practiced in Hong Kong SAR. In conclusion, the perspectives in usage of mediation in PRC and Hong Kong SAR are higher than Macau SAR and the nature of mediation in usage are different in the three jurisdictions. Lastly, in the dissertation provided some reflections on the development of family mediation mechanism in Macau SAR and how to merge the different natures of mediation in GBA
Keywords: ADR; Alternative Dispute Resolution; GBA; Greater Bay Area; Mediation; Mediation Mechanism; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Lusophone and International Public Law(MLIPL); University of Saint Joseph

Study on Influencing Factors of University Students' entrepreneurial Intention: Greater Bay Area as an example - Yu, Yuan Bao (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
Keywords: Macro level; Micro level; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph; college student; entrepreneurial Intention; entrepreneurship

Study on User Acceptance on Customer Behavior for Online Payment in Macau: MPAY Case Study - Wong, Chi Cheng (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
With the rapid expansion of mobile e-commerce, an increasing number of businesses have jumped into the fray in all facets of the mobile electric commerce industry chain. The payment link is the most competitive. From the norm in the sector to the consumer market, telecom operator rivalry, as well as third-party payment between different companies, never ceases. In the context of mobile e-commerce, however, competition has shifted from traditional product-centered to customer- centered, and business success frequently rests on the customer. As a result, the competition in the mobile e-commerce payment industry is essentially about competing for users. Mpay is characteristic of mobile e-commerce payment firm representatives; on the basis of theoretical analysis, combined with the reality of the economic background, the study chose Mpay mobile payment users as research subjects and analyzed the major variables of user acceptability. The model was built on the basis of an extensive evaluation of past research results of user acceptance model and reference to UTAUT model. The model considered performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence, facilitating condition as independent variables determining user behavior intention, Based on the conceptual model, the paper conducted an empirical investigation as a case study of a Mpay mobile payment user using data from a questionnaire, while also conducting a separate discussion of the impact of perceived risk and trust on user acceptance. The empirical results indicate that for mobile payment users, performance expectancy has the greatest positive effect on behavior intention, while facilitating conditions, social influence, perceived risk, effort expectancy, and trust have no effect. In addition, gender and age were discovered to influence user acceptance
Keywords: Online mobile payment; SmartPLS; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); UTAUT model; University of Saint Joseph; user acceptance

Sub-Seafloor Sulfide Mineralization in the Saldanha Hydrothermal Field, Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) - Dias, Ágata; Qiu, Wenhong; Barriga, Fernando J A S; Tao, Chunhui (Goldschmidt2020, 2020)

Succession in Chinese family business: transgenerational transmission of social capital in Macao - Phillips, Jenny O. L. (USJ Theses and Dissertations, 2022)
Macao is well known for its gaming industry. However, there are also many traditional small-to-medium enterprises which are family-owned and run. There is no doubt that social capital is one of the key competitive advantages that family businesses possess, particularly when it comes to Chinese businesses with strong family values that emphasize the importance of trustworthiness and guanxi (relationships). As opposed to other forms of capital, social capital cannot be passed from one generation to another through the will of the incumbents. So, how is social capital passed on in family businesses from one generation to the next? Based on an in-depth study of five cases of successful family businesses in Macao, this research identified the forms of social capital present in business families and the succession process of these firms. From the generalizations drawn from the five cases, a theoretical framework is proposed to understand the intergenerational transmission of social capital in Chinese family businesses
Keywords: China Macau (Special Administrative Region); Family-owned business enterprises

Sudden cardiac death multiparametric classification system for Chagas heart disease's patients based on clinical data and 24-hours ECG monitoring - Cavalcante, Carlos H. L.; Primo, Pedro E. O.; Sales, Carlos A. F.; Caldas, Weslley L.; Silva, João H. M.; Souza, Amauri H.; Marinho, Emmanuel S.; Pedrosa, Roberto C.; Marques, João A. L.; Santos, Hélcio S.; Madeiro, João P. V.; Cavalcante, Carlos H. L.; et al. (Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 2023)
About 6.5 million people are infected with Chagas disease (CD) globally, and WHO estimates that $ > million people worldwide suffer from ChHD. Sudden cardiac death (SCD) represents one of the leading causes of death worldwide and affects approximately 65% of ChHD patients at a rate of 24 per 1000 patient-years, much greater than the SCD rate in the general population. Its occurrence in the specific context of ChHD needs to be better exploited. This paper provides the first evidence supporting the use of machine learning (ML) methods within non-invasive tests: patients' clinical data and cardiac restitution metrics (CRM) features extracted from ECG-Holter recordings as an adjunct in the SCD risk assessment in ChHD. The feature selection (FS) flows evaluated 5 different groups of attributes formed from patients' clinical and physiological data to identify relevant attributes among 57 features reported by 315 patients at HUCFF-UFRJ. The FS flow with FS techniques (variance, ANOVA, and recursive feature elimination) and Naive Bayes (NB) model achieved the best classification performance with 90.63% recall (sensitivity) and 80.55% AUC. The initial feature set is reduced to a subset of 13 features (4 Classification; 1 Treatment; 1 CRM; and 7 Heart Tests). The proposed method represents an intelligent diagnostic support system that predicts the high risk of SCD in ChHD patients and highlights the clinical and CRM data that most strongly impact the final outcome.

Sulfur isotopic compositions of sulfides along the Southwest Indian Ridge: implications for mineralization in ultramafic rocks - Dias, Ágata; Ding, Teng; Tao, Chunhui; Liang, Jin; Chen, Jie; Wu, Bin; Ma, Dongsheng; Zhang, Rongqing; Wang, Jia; Liao, Shili; Wang, Yuan; Yang, Weifang; et al. (Mineralium Deposita, 2020)

Sunshine and shadows - Morrison, Keith (Macau Business, 2023)
Macau, Macau Business, MAG, MB, MB Featured, Opinion | The recent euphoria over Macau’s economic resurrection should not mask the long-standing challenges facing its society and values. Sunshine creates shadows in which can lurk a range of pathologies.

SURVIVAL, MORPHOLOGY AND REPRODUCTION OF ENHALUS ACOROIDES (L.f.) ROYLE IN THE BOLINAO-ANDA REEF SYSTEM, NW PHILIPPINES: EFFECTS OF VARYING LIGHT CONDITIONS - Tagulao, Karen Araño (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
Seagrasses play a critical role in coastal ecosystems worldwide, providing various ecosystem services based on their region and genus. In Southeast Asia, where seagrass biodiversity and extents are at their highest, the livelihoods and food security of many coastal communities depend on these plants. Despite their ecological and economic importance, seagrasses face global threats from human activities such as pollution and land use changes. Enhalus acoroides, a widely distributed seagrass species in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, is particularly valuable for coastal management and conservation efforts due to its size and provision of various ecosystem services. Although previous research has indicated that it is less sensitive to environmental changes than other tropical seagrass species, recent reports highlight its vulnerability to siltation and eutrophication. This dissertation aimed to examine how Enhalus responds and adapts to changes in light availability, taking into account both morphological adaptation and phenotypic plasticity. Field surveys, reciprocal transplantation field experiments, and investigations of sexual reproductive effort were conducted in the Bolinao-Anda Reef system (NW Philippines) to evaluate the impact of long-term environmental changes on Enhalus populations. The findings of this study revealed that Enhalus has the capacity to adapt its traits and survive changes in depth, light gradients, and different habitat types. This is evidenced by larger shoots in low-light environments, which is apparently a response to the reduction in light availability, as evidenced in both in situ and experimental setups. Larger leaf surface area in light-reduced setups also had higher concentration of chlorophylls a and b pigments. Transplants from light-reduced environments, although morphologically large, appeared more vulnerable (with low survival values) to environmental changes associated with translocation. Being morphologically large is therefore likely a stress response to light reduction, allocating more energy on light harvesting than sexual reproduction. Reciprocal transplantation experiments indicated a high survival rate, suggesting the potential of Enhalus for use in rehabilitation. However, despite having wider plasticity to adapt to light-limitation, they can be wiped out when threshold is reached. This thesis underscores the need for further research on Enhalus' response to stressors, genetic variation, and adaptive capacity to address conservation and management challenges
Keywords: Enhalus acoroides; Thesis and Dissertations PhD in Science (D-SC); University of Saint Joseph; light availability; phenotypic plasticity; seagrass; transplantation

Sustainable Buildings’ Projects – A Perspective from Consultants and Contractors based in Macau SAR, China - J.P.P. Santos, Eduardo; Lobo Marques, Joao; Phyllips, Jenny O. L. (Association for Computing Machinery, 2021)
China growing awareness of sustainability has brought out relevant aspects to move towards a green environment. Since its subscription in 2016, China has been committed to implementing the Paris Agreement, and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) development plan prioritizes ecology and pursuing green development. The primary purpose of this research is to perceive the companies' insights concerning the implementation of sustainable buildings’ projects in Macau. For this multi-case study analysis, primary data was gathered from interviews with two groups involved in the construction projects’ lifecycle: Consultants and Contractors, to analyze different perceptions and concerns. The interviews considered two different themes about the main topic: (1) Perception on Companies’ Experience in Sustainable Projects; (2) Key Drivers towards Sustainable Buildings’ Projects’ Implementation. In conclusion, according to the analyzed data, it is essential to notice that companies’ background and the market particularities affect their corporate performance specially connected to the green construction frameworks. The data also indicate that it is necessary to move towards regulations and policies to change corporate and people's mindset.
Keywords: Construction industry; Green building; Sustainable Policies; Sustainable building

Sustainable development or survival of Macau? - Morrison, Keith (Macau Business, 2022)
Macau, Macau Business, MAG, MB, MB Featured, Opinion | In June of this year, a publication entitled ‘Macau’s sustainability and diversification’ noted that Macau’s ‘economic volatility caused by an unbalanced industrial structure restricts the diversified development of society. Economic diversification is the only way for Macau to achieve sustainable development’. Nothing new there, and, anyway, such a singular view is unconvincing. What about other aspects of society? Diversity is not singular, and it requires inclusion.

Sustainable Practices in Hotel Chains—A Comparative Analysis of Official Annual Hospitality Sustainable Reports from Listed Companies in Macau SAR, China - Santos, Ana Sofia Kong; Marques, João Alexandre Lobo (Springer International Publishing, 2023)
In the last few years, the tourism industry has experienced rapid expansion and diversification, making it one of the fastest-growing financial industries in the world. Consequently, the hotel industry has significantly affected the environment's long-term viability. Many hotels have begun voluntarily implementing environmentally sustainable practices as they become more aware of their ecological footprint. There has been a great deal of discussion about the effects of hotel operations on the environment and tourism sustainability in Macau. It is because of these negative impacts that hoteliers have adopted green practices in an attempt to minimize them. By developing sustainability reports, hotels can set goals, measure performance, and manage change, resulting in better sustainability. It could also be viewed as a strategy to enhance the company’s sustainability reporting to ensure stakeholders know what the company does. The objective of this study is twofold based on the analysis of the official sustainability reports of four major hotel chains. Firstly, seven categories of sustainable practices effectively adopted by these chain hotels are identified and clusterized. Second, it is presented in which areas some hotels performed more efficiently than others, considering the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a reference. The results allow a comprehensive clusterized analysis of the industry in a highly developed gaming and entertainment area of South China and create a clear comparison between relevant players and their concerns about sustainability practices.
Keywords: Environmentally sustainable practices; Macau hotels; Sustainable development goals (SDGs); Sustainable reports; Tourism industry

Taming randomized controlled trials in education: exploring key claims, issues and debates - Morrison, Keith (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021)
"There is a recent surge in the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) within education globally, with disproportionate claims being made about what they show, 'what works', and what constitutes the best 'evidence'. Drawing on up-to-date scholarship from across the world, Taming Randomized Controlled Trials in Education critically addresses the increased use of RCTs in education, exploring their benefits, limits and cautions, and ultimately questioning the prominence given to them. While acknowledging that randomized controlled trials do have some place in education, the book nevertheless argues that this place should be limited. Drawing together all arguments for and against RCTs in a comprehensive and easily accessible single volume, the book also adds new perspectives and insights to the conversation; crucially, the book considers the limits of their usefulness and applicability in education, raising a range of largely unexplored concerns about their use. Chapters include discussions on: The impact of complexity theory and chaos theory Design issues and sampling in randomized controlled trials Learning from clinical trials Data analysis in randomized controlled trials Reporting, evaluating and generalizing from randomized controlled trials. Considering key issues in understanding and interrogating research evidence, this book is ideal reading for all students on Research Methods modules, as well as those interested in undertaking and reviewing research in the field of education"--
Keywords: Clinical trials; Education; Educational indicators; Research Data processing; Research Methodolgy

Teacher Burnout: Applying the Job Demands and Resources Model in Macao - Ng, Kun Keong (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

Teacher Efficacy: Inclusive Practice to Support Learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) among Chinese-Speaking Students with Dyslexia in Macau - Oksana, Zorina (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

Teacher's Teaching Style and the Learning Attitude of Elementary School Students: A Macau Case Study = 小學生學習態度與教師教學風格現況之研究—以澳門某小學為例 - 洪麗 (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
Keywords: Learning Attitude; Macau; Primary School; Teacher's Teaching Style; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

Teachers' Approaches to Ethical Dilemmas in Catholic Schools - Ngo, Van Thu Giang (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

Teachers’Perceptions of Performance Appraisal in a Secondary School in Asia: A Case Study - Potger, Matthew Rodney (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

Teaching and learning with older adults: Research ethics, risk analysis, and covert research - Ní Bhroin, Áine; Morrison, Keith (Educational Gerontology, 2024)
This article reports a case study of older adults learning English in China. It indicates how, founded on consequentialist ethics, risk analysis, and safeguarding, it was decided to use covert research, drawing on the confluence of risk analysis, risk evaluation, risk management, safeguarding, research ethics, and important contextual and cultural features. Ethical principles of nonmaleficence, beneficence, safeguarding, and protection were addressed, and account was taken of the strength, likelihood, and consequences of risks, safeguards, and benefits, informed by Chinese cultural contexts, values, behaviors, and features of teaching and learning based on andragogy and geragogy. Implications are drawn for teaching and learning with older adults, advocating significant account to be taken of contextual factors.

Teaching Portuguese and Patuá Languages at the University of Saint Joseph and its contribution to the Portuguese and Patuá languages in Macau - U, Elvino Agostinho (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
This study analyses how to contribute to the Portuguese cultural language in Macau. Macau has a long Portuguese governing history, which has lasted for around 450 years and formed the Portuguese cultural heritage. One of the elements is Portuguese and Patuá languages, the languages the Macau residents used to speak. Since the Portuguese and Patuá cultural heritage influence happened, the Macau government has tried to preserve the Portuguese cultural language as much as possible. In Macau, the University of Saint Joseph is a part of the Portuguese and Patuá language contribution in conducting Portuguese programmes for students. This study aims to find out how to effectively promote the Portuguese and Patuá cultural language via the Macau education system and how to benefit the development of the Portuguese cultural language in Macau. To find out the efficient way of the Portuguese and Patuá cultural language contribution at the University of Saint Joseph, we applied snowball analysis to find the key interviewees to conduct face-to-face semi-structured interviews with six interviewees. The results show that the Portuguese and Patuá cultural languages are vital to the Macau education system, especially for students learning Portuguese. For students, learning Portuguese should be compulsory in Macau
Keywords: Audio-lingual method; Patuá drama; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Communication and Media (MCM); University of Saint Joseph; cultural difference; cultural identity; learning Portuguese; reading-lingual method; translation theory

Technology Developments to Face the COVID-19 Pandemic: Advances, Challenges, and Trends - Lobo Marques, Joao Alexandre; Fong, Simon James (Computerized Systems for Diagnosis and Treatment of COVID-19, 2023)
The global pandemic triggered by the Corona Virus Disease firstly detected in 2019 (COVID-19), entered the fourth year with many unknown aspects that need to be continuously studied by the medical and academic communities. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), until January 2023, more than 650 million cases were officially accounted (with probably much more non tested cases) with 6,656,601 deaths officially linked to the COVID-19 as plausible root cause. In this Chapter, an overview of some relevant technical aspects related to the COVID-19 pandemic is presented, divided in three parts. First, the advances are highlighted, including the development of new technologies in different areas such as medical devices, vaccines, and computerized system for medical support. Second, the focus is on relevant challenges, including the discussion on how computerized diagnostic supporting systems based on Artificial Intelligence are in fact ready to effectively help on clinical processes, from the perspective of the model proposed by NASA, Technology Readiness Levels (TRL). Finally, two trends are presented with increased necessity of computerized systems to deal with the Long Covid and the interest on Precision Medicine digital tools. Analyzing these three aspects (advances, challenges, and trends) may provide a broader understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of Computerized Diagnostic Support Systems.

Temporary transnational labour mobility and gendered individualization in Europe - Harsløf, Ivan; Zuev, Dennis (Mobilities, 2022)
In a context of a new transnational division of labour, temporary international labour mobility is on the rise in Europe. In particular, recent decades have seen considerably more women seeking work experience abroad. Observers have been concerned with how such mobility is related to individualization, and in particular how it may challenge collective institutions, communities and families. The aim of this study is to explore such issues among women and men with international work experience. Using data from European Social Survey, the paper investigates previously mobile workers in terms of their current working and living conditions. Across genders, we consider different forms of individualization that may be associated with transnational labour mobility. While both women and men with transnational work experience generally feature strong strategic individualization, this is most pronounced among men. Hence, men's mobility is among other things associated with increased autonomy in working life, while – in contrast to women – it does not seem to hamper their integration in the sphere of social reproduction.
Keywords: Europe; Temporary labour mobility; individualization; sphere of production; sphere of social reproduction; transnational division of labour

The 50 Reasons for Voluntary Turnover: A Qualitative Exploration of Factors Contributing to Former Teacher Attrition in Macau - Ao, I. Leng (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
Teacher turnover is a global issue that has not received much research attention in Macau despite studies indicating that teachers in the region experience high levels of stress and burnout. Given that private school teachers account for a significant proportion (88.6%) of the non-tertiary education system in Macau, this qualitative study focused on this specific group who voluntarily resigned from their positions. Through in-depth interviews with 13 former teachers from different kindergartens, primary, and secondary schools, the research identified 50 reasons categorized into 15 factors under three categories. Although schoolrelated factors account for the most, personal reasons were found to be the primary driver. The findings of the study highlight the complex nature of teacher turnover which can be attributed to both single and multiple factors, in both direct and indirect forms. The factors could also interplay in both unidirectional and mutual relationships. A conceptual framework for teacher turnover in Macau was developed to address the 15 contributing factors and the complex interplay of these factors. This study could fill the gap in the literature and serve as a valuable resource for policymakers and school leaders seeking to reduce teacher attrition rates in the region
Keywords: Macau; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph; leavers; teacher turnover

THE ANALYSIS OF MACAO TRADITIONAL PUBLICATION INDUSTRY BETWEEN 2000 TO 2023: TRANSFORMATION BEFORE AND AFTER PANDEMIC AND SUGGESTED STRATEGY - Ung, Cheng Nam (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
In this dissertation, the Macau traditional printing industry between 2000 and 2023 is studied. This period is critical for the publication industry due to several key events that have transformed the landscapes of both local and global publishing. These events include the rise of the internet, electronic devices, and the Chinese economy, the establishment of the Macao ISBN Agency, the emergence of online digital platforms, and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. This dissertation will mainly focus on written Chinese publications and consider publications in other languages as references. Governmental official data, academic literature, questionnaires, interviews, and participant observation analysis will be used as the major approaches when collecting data and analyzing the Macao publication industry. Several development and transformation strategies will be suggested. In the future, the Macau publishing industry will need to make significant adjustments to stay competitive in the market. It will need to incorporate current technologies, such as electronic platforms and Print-on-demand (POD), into the publication process. Books will exist in electronic and physical formats at different stages. Vanity in publications will also be another new trend in the future. The role of the publisher has evolved in the modern publishing industry. Participants in publishing industry will need to acquire new skill sets to adapt to the industrial transformation. Allocating resources to structural training courses will help develop talent in the publication industry during the transition. We hope to provide insights into solutions for the transformation of the publishing industry in Macao
Keywords: Linguistic industry; Print on Demand; Thesis and Dissertations Master of History & Heritage Studies (MHHS); University of Saint Joseph; digital publication; publication; vanity publication

The Anglican Patrimony in Catholic Communion ed. by Tracey Rowland (review) - Morgan, Stephen (Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal, 2021)

The Application of Nudge Theory in Ensuring Change Acceptance in the Hospitality-Gaming Industry – A Case Analysis from Macau SAR, China - Tagulao, Thea Clarice Saavedra; Marques, Joao Alexandre Lobo (Association for Computing Machinery, 2022)
As the rate of change increases exponentially, organizations must adapt quickly to the business landscape's volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). As a result, organizations must implement agile strategies and practices to ensure their responsiveness and readiness to any changes brought about by internal or external factors. With a greater number of changes, change agents are tasked with implementing various change management methodologies to ensure that change recipients accept change initiatives. This research will look at one of the methodologies used by change agents, the use of nudges from Thaler and Sunstein's Nudge Theory, which is a subtle intervention to influence an individual's decision-making with the goal of steering them towards a specific desired outcome; and analyze their effectiveness towards the change recipients when implemented. Change agents were interviewed on the application of Nudge Theory to change recipients when managing to change initiatives within their respective organizations. The results indicate that the use of nudges created by the change agents can significantly impact the level of resistance from the change recipients. If used correctly, the Nudge Theory can mitigate change resistance, and the success of a change initiative is higher. But, if change recipients are forced to comply, their resistance will be greater, affecting the organization overall.
Keywords: Change Initiatives; Change Resistance; Nudge Theory; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Change Management

The Application of Supervised and Unsupervised Computational Predictive Models to Simulate the COVID19 Pandemic - Fong, Simon James; Marques, João Alexandre Lobo; Li, Gloria; Dey, Nilanjan; Crespo, Rubén González; Herrera-Viedma, Enrique; Gois, Francisco Nauber Bernardo; Neto, José Xavier (Epidemic Analytics for Decision Supports in COVID19 Crisis, 2022)
The application of different tools for predicting COVID19 cases spreading has been widely considered during the pandemic. Comparing different approaches is essential to analyze performance and the practical support they can provide for the current pandemic management. This work proposes using the susceptible-exposed-asymptomatic but infectious-symptomatic and infectious-recovered-deceased (SEAIRD) model for different learning models. The first analysis considers an unsupervised prediction, based directly on the epidemiologic compartmental model. After that, two supervised learning models are considered integrating computational intelligence techniques and control engineering: the fuzzy-PID and the wavelet-ANN-PID models. The purpose is to compare different predictor strategies to validate a viable predictive control system for the COVID19 relevant epidemiologic time series. For each model, after setting the initial conditions for each parameter, the prediction performance is calculated based on the presented data. The use of PID controllers is justified to avoid divergence in the system when the learning process is conducted. The wavelet neural network solution is considered here because of its rapid convergence rate. The proposed solutions are dynamic and can be adjusted and corrected in real time, according to the output error. The results are presented in each subsection of the chapter.
Keywords: ANN predictor; COVID19; Epidemiology; Fuzzy predictor; PID control; SEAIRD

The Application of Zhuangzi's View on Death to the Philosophical Counselling - Choi, Cheng In (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Philosophy (MPH); University of Saint Joseph

The Association Between Early/ Emerging Adult-Parent Attachment and Problematic Internet Use Among College Students in Macao - Lao, Sio Mei (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

The Association Between Interpersonal Relationships and Mental Health in College Students in Macao - Guo, Peiling (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph

The attractiveness of Taobao: why do people always come back despite negative feedback - Chan, Nga Man (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
Online shopping in Macau has developed rapidly in recent years. And the success of Taobao is significantly hard to not notice. Its’ sales are breaking the record every year. However, there are a lot of negative comments towards Taobao. Various researches and data have shown that live-streaming is one of the biggest contributions towards Taobao’s sales and record breaking. This research aims to investigate deeply to understand how Taobao counters those issues and the role of live-streaming in relation to it. Based on a review of the literature in the relevant areas , qualitative methodology is adopted after thorough considerations. A small sample size of 10 were selected to conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews and the participants agreed to respond to answer the original interview questions and the follow-up questions. Analysis of the responses demonstrated e-customer service is the most influential variable towards repurchase intention. Live-streaming strategy can effectively and directly reduce constomer’s uncertainty of products and increase the efficiency of responsiveness. And product uncertainty and responsiveness speed are variables that impact purchase intention. The result demonstrated live-streaming's effectiveness in combating multiple negative aspects of Taobao and strengthening the positive aspects. On this basis, live-streaming is an impactful method to combat Taobao. In addition, e-service in terms of sufficiency of the staff’s communication skill have been found important towards customer’s satisfaction. A gap related to such an issue has been recommended in the further research recommendations along with other factors or sample groups, which are needed to explore deeply in the future
Keywords: Authenticity; Customer satisfaction; E- Service quality; Repurchase intention; Taobao; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

The business of social justice in Macau - Morrison, Keith (Macau Business, 2023)
Macau, Macau Business, MAG, MB, MB Featured, Opinion | As Macau rebuilds its post-pandemic economy, one could be forgiven for believing that the good life for all has arrived, as evidenced in the manifest opulence on display in its up-market shopping malls. However, this is not the case; social justice needs attention in Macau.

The Caluation of Microsoft Coproration - Lee, Ka Lou (University of Saint Joseph, 2021)
Keywords: Theses and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

The Challenges of Nursery Teachers in the Early Childhood Inclusion Classes: A Qualitative Study of Macao Nursery Teachers - Wu, Ma Lei (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph

The Collaboration and Challenges Faced by Therapists within Professional Inclusive Education Teams in Macau =: 澳門治療師在融合教育專業團隊中的合作情況及挑戰 - Lao, Pek San (University of Saint Joseph, 2023)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Education (MED); University of Saint Joseph; 合作模式; 團隊合作; 治療服務; 澳門治療師

The combat of truth and error: Newman and Chesterton on heresy - Morgan, Stephen (Lead Kindly Light. Essays for Ian Ker, 2022)

The Comparison of Different Linear and Nonlinear Models Using Preliminary Data to Efficiently Analyze the COVID-19 Outbreak - Fong, Simon James; Marques, João Alexandre Lobo; Li, G.; Dey, N.; Crespo, Rubén G.; Herrera-Viedma, E.; Gois, F. Nauber Bernardo; Neto, José Xavier (Epidemic Analytics for Decision Supports in COVID19 Crisis, 2022)
The COVID-19 pandemic spread generated an urgent need for computational systems to model its behavior and support governments and healthcare teams to make proper decisions. There are not many cases of global pandemics in history, and the most recent one has unique characteristics, which are tightly connected to the current society’s lifestyle and beliefs, creating an environment of uncertainty. Because of that, the development of mathematical/computational models to forecast the pandemic behavior since its beginning, i.e., with a restricted amount of data collected, is necessary. This chapter focuses on the analysis of different data mining techniques to allow the pandemic prediction with a small amount of data. A case study is presented considering the data from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus was first detected, and the place where the major outbreak occurred. The PNN + CF method (Polynomial Neural Network with Corrective Feedback) is presented as the technique with the best prediction performance. This is a promising method that might be considered in future eventual waves of the current pandemic or event to have a suitable model for future epidemic outbreaks around the world.
Keywords: Artificial neural networks; Epidemiology; Machine learning; Prediction models

The concept of “Object-image” revisited through the interactive-film installation “Sense of Place” - Caires, C. S; Estadieu, G (Besides the Screen 2020, 2020)

The concept of “Object-image” revisited through the interactive-film installation “Sense of Place - Caires, C. S; Estadieu, G (Besides the Screen, 2020)

The Conditions of Achieving Interactive Mindfulness Through Virtual Reality Single User: A Case Study Experience in Macao - Ng, Ka Man; Caires, Carlos (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
Virtual reality (VR), a computer-generated 3D environment, allows one to navigate and possibly interact, resulting in real-time simulation of one or more of the user’s five senses (M. Gutierrez et al., 2008; Vince, 2004). Despite its history through past decades, this technology has quickly developed recently. Virtual tours and spaces have been widely used in the education, arts, and rehabilitation industries. According to research, it has significant effects on mindfulness (improving mood), cognitive development (better learning ability), and embodiment (relieving pain and medical conditions). This thesis aims to identify the conditions for Macao's single-user experience to achieve mindfulness in virtual reality through immersion and interactivity. With their various definitions, this research uses the two spectrums on the levels of immersion and interactivity, conducts four experiment settings with Macao residents, and collects qualitative questionnaires and quantitative survey data. The four settings differ as they tackle different aspects: spiritual memory, historical memory, aesthetic appreciation, and meditation through concept. The analysed results were then evaluated to seek better conditions for the local community to achieve mindfulness by immersing themselves in virtual reality
Keywords: Single user experience; Thesis and Dissertations PhD in Global Studies (D-GLS); University of Saint Joseph; immersion; interactivity; mindfulness; virtual reality; well-being

The Conservation and Restoration of Pith Painting: A Case Study of Five Art Pieces from Private Collections - Chan, Chi Leong (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of History & Heritage Studies (MHHS); University of Saint Joseph

The cosmological constant emerging from a symmetry invariant - Arraut, Ivan (Modern Physics Letters A, 2024)
The cosmological constant is normally introduced as an additional term entering the Einstein–Hilbert (EH) action. In this letter, we demonstrate that, instead, it appears naturally from the standard EH action as an invariant term emerging from spacetime symmetries. We then demonstrate that the same constraint emerging from this invariant suppresses the short wavelength modes and it favors the long wavelength ones. In this way, inside the proposed formulation, the observed value for the vacuum energy density is obtained naturally from the zero-point quantum fluctuations.
Keywords: Dark energy; cosmological constant; zero point quantum fluctuations

The Development of Brand Equity in the Five-star Hotel Industry of Macao - U, Weng I. (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Business Administration (MBA); University of Saint Joseph

The Effect of Empathy on Relationship Satisfaction in Young Adult Lovers in Macau: The Role of Love Maintenance Behaviors - 黎志濠 (University of Saint Joseph, 2024)
The purpose of this study was to explore the correlation between empathy, love maintenance behaviors, relationship satisfaction in a convenience sample of young adult lovers in Macau. Participants were N = 183 (84 males, 99 females) recruited from the social media platform (e.g. Instagram, WeChat, Facebook). Firstly, young adult lovers who tended to have high relationship satisfaction and empathy are tended to use positive love maintenance behaviors but less likely to use negative love maintenance behaviors. Besides, there were differences found by gender in empathy (affective empathy & total empathy), some dimensions of positive love maintenance behaviors (openness & advice), and negative love maintenance behaviors (causing jealousy, destructive conflict & negative love maintenance behaviors in general). Lastly, the findings in this study supported the hypotheses that love maintenance behaviors mediated the relationship between relationship satisfaction and empathy among young adult lovers in Macau. It was revealed that there was higher satisfaction in younger adult lovers in younger group (18-24 years) compared to older groups (32-40 years). For empathy, it correlated positively with relationship satisfaction and most positive love maintenance behaviors, but also with certain negative love maintenance behaviors. Positive love maintenance behaviors mediate the relationship between relationship satisfaction and empathy, highlighting their critical role in maintaining healthy relationships
Keywords: Love maintenance behaviors; Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph; empathy; relationship satisfaction

The Effect of Organizational Justice on Work Engagement Between Foreigner and Local Workers in Macau: The Moderating Effect of Organizational Commitment - Wong, Wai Fai (University of Saint Joseph, 2022)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Organisational Psychology (MOP); University of Saint Joseph

The Effect of Peers, School Connectedness, Parents on Internet Gaming Addiction in Adolescents - Ip, Tan Long (University of Saint Joseph, 2020)
Keywords: Thesis and Dissertations Master of Couselling and Psychotherapy (MCP); University of Saint Joseph