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Recent studies on China's digital industry have often highlighted the challenge of gaining access to internet companies, which has limited scholarly engagement with these corporations in critical research on China's digital economy. However, the endeavor of studying closed subjects is not new in the world of academia. Drawing from my prior ethnographic research experiences, this article presents three strategic approaches for conducting meso-level research on internet companies in China. The first strategy involves paying attention to a disparate array of sources. The second strategy focuses on acquiring fluency in the terminology commonly employed by individuals working in internet companies. The final strategy centers on de-escalating sensitivity. In conclusion, this article discusses the implications of these strategies for future ethnographic research on internet companies in China.

The current literature on algorithmic management primarily explores its external ramifications for workers. Drawing upon the case of Meituan Waimai, China's dominant food-delivery platform, this article delves into the internal logic that guides the design of algorithmic management. I highlight how an optimal mindset and a mechanized view of human labor drive the formulation of algorithmic management, leading to what I call "algorithmic unfitness." This concept represents a dissonance between algorithmically programmed, reductionist visions of food delivery and real-world experiences on the ground. In response, the platform constantly delegates tasks from machines to laborers who engage in repair work. The design logic positions couriers as adaptable robots, whose compliance and flexibility are simultaneously requested by the platform. By shedding light on the design choices behind algorithmic management, the article also offers methodological insights for scholars researching algorithmic power in general.

Scholarly discussions of the consequences of the on-demand economy on work mainly focus on precarity. Using a case study of Didi Chuxing, this article moves beyond this conventional approach to highlight coercion as a striking feature of labor relations in China's ride-hailing industry. Drawing upon the conceptual tool of neo-bondage, this article foregrounds the central role played by forced labor in securing a cheap and docile work force during Didi's rapid market expansion. This article advances the existing literature in two ways. First, it highlights the need for a more robust analysis of the productive forces in the on-demand economy. Second, it argues that the on-demand economy not only represents an intensification of the ongoing trend toward precarity, but also an extension of forced labor regimes from electronic assembly lines to the service industry.

Drawing upon policy analysis and textual analysis of official microblogs, this paper describes how Xi's new leadership regulates public opinion and public emotion in Chinese microblogs. The paper argues that the advent of the Xi Jinping administration demonstrates much more aggressive ideological demands. On the one hand, the new leadership has increasingly ramped up its efforts on censoring information and repressing critical public opinion. On the other hand, however, it has paid more attention to proactively guiding public opinion on the Internet. New strategies, represented by cultivating self-discipline among Internet users, repressing the insubordinate and wooing obedient public opinion leaders, establishing cooperation between official microblogs, and eliminating emotional outpourings in the microblogsphere have been used in Xi's new ideological campaign to repress Internet rumours and sanitise critical public discourse. (China Perspect/GIGA)

AbstractThis study was conducted to evaluate, in a probability sample of married individuals (N = 2,071), the psychometric properties of a measure of positive and negative relationship adjustment, based on perceived frequency of positive and negative partner exchanges or interactions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses support the presence of two correlated factors, and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for configural and metric invariance for gender, racial/ethnic, and age groups. The measure demonstrated good convergent validity in its association with another measure of relationship adjustment. Results support the use of this brief and easily administered measure to assess positive and negative aspects of relationship adjustment, particularly in situations in which the correlates of relationship adjustment are to be compared across demographic groups.

INTRODUCTION: The existing literature demonstrates that international students face a variety of stressors and barriers that can heighten the risk of suicide. However, up to now, no research has sought to summarise the available literature on the prevention strategies for suicide for international students in tertiary education. This document provides a scoping review protocol that aims to systematically chart and synthesise the published, unpublished and grey literature on the prevention strategies for suicide in the international student community. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The enhanced six-stage methodological framework for scoping reviews of Arksey and O'Malley will be used. Two main research questions guide the review: (1) What is the extent, range and nature of the evidence regarding suicide prevention for international students? and (2) What suicide prevention strategies are promising for targeting international students? Peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed articles, reports and policy documents will be eligible to be included in the review with no limits on publication date. Electronic searches of the CINAHL, ERIC, Medline, PsycInfo and ProQuest will be conducted to identify relevant academic publications. Grey literature searches will be undertaken on relevant databases as well as government and organisational websites. The reporting of the review will follow the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews. Criteria for evidence inclusion and exclusion will be used during literature screening and mapping. Screening and data charting of the published and grey literature will be conducted by three reviewers. Relevant stakeholders and experts will be consulted regarding the findings and their input will be integrated into the final report. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal, conference presentations and consultations with relevant stakeholders in policy and professional settings. Ethical ...

This is the postprint (accepted manuscript) version of the article published in Trends in Analytical Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2018.03.009 ; Thirty-seven laboratories from 25 countries present the development of an inter-laboratory testing scheme for the analysis of seven illicit drug residues in standard solutions, tap- and wastewater. Almost 10 000 concentration values were evaluated: triplicates of up to five samples and 26 laboratories per year. The setup was substantially improved with experiences gained across the six repetitions (e.g. matrix type, sample conditions, spiking levels). From this, (pre-)analytical issues (e.g. pH adjustment, filtration) were revealed for specific analytes which resulted in formulation of best-practice protocols for inter-laboratory setup and analytical procedures. The results illustrate the effectiveness of the inter-laboratory setup to assess laboratory performance in the framework of wastewater-based epidemiology. The exercise proved that measurements of laboratories were of high quality (>80% satisfactory results for six out of seven analytes) and that analytical follow-up is important to assist laboratories in improving robustness of wastewater-based epidemiology results ; This article is based upon work from COST Action ES1307 supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). We wish to acknowledge EMCDDA and Yeonsuk Ryu for support in the organization of the scheme and assistance in the preparation of the test samples, respectively. The following funding sources are acknowledged: the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) (Grant number: 1285216N), the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, the Generalitat Valenciana, Xunta de Galicia, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Office for Combating Narcotic Drug Abuse of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, EU FP7 project SOLUTIONS (603437), the Government of Catalonia, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Ministry of Education, Youth and ...