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Mindfulness, or [Chinese character omitted] (niàn) in Chinese, is a concept and set of related practices which have both ancient Eastern roots and current popularity (especially in the West). It provides a fascinating example of intercultural knowledge-work involving a complex set of conceptual migrations through time and space, across languages and cultures, and within domains and disciplines. We first review the vitality of the concept as used in Western disciplines (chiefly intercultural communication and psychotherapy), noting how the Eastern origins are mentioned but not fully discussed. We then review the ancient origins in Eastern religious and philosophical thinking concluding with an account of the development of the term in the East until recent times. As we discuss next, when these differing arenas of use and development interact, understandings become contested and issues of privilege vis-á-vis knowledge sources can be seen. These complexities raise questions about authenticity versus translation with regard to the differing uses made of the concept in the different arenas. Learning from the reviews of the differing understandings of this concept and the sometimes fraught interactions between them, we propose that scholars and practitioners working in our highly interconnected era, adopt an intercultural ethic to regulate and guide such knowledge-work.

With China's economic rise and influence, financial statecraft has increasingly been deployed to serve the country's national interest. The growth of China's financial statecraft in the region has drawn greater media and academic attention. Notwithstanding the abundant literature on China's financial statecraft in Southeast Asia, the previous studies lack a detailed analysis of various financial statecraft instruments deployed by China. To get a better understanding of China's deployment of financial statecraft over the years under Xi Jinping's administration, this article fills the gap in the existing literature by delving into various factors that influenced various financial statecraft instruments with respect to the objectives, trends or patterns and agencies involved in the region. Given Xi's successful bid for continued political rule by eliminating a term limit on the presidency as well as the escalating China-US strategic rivalry, it is important to examine how the interaction of domestic and international forces has shaped the evolution of financial statecraft in Southeast Asia. Due to the changes in domestic politics and shifts in the geopolitics and geoeconomics, an important question that deserves our attention is how these changes has influenced China's deployment of various financial statecraft instruments in different Southeast Asian countries. The paper focuses on two middle-income countries (i.e., Malaysia and Thailand) and two low-income countries (i.e. Cambodia and Laos) in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines startups' social media communication practice in China through the theoretical lens of dialogic communication. Drawing interdisciplinary insights from public relations and computer-mediated communication, this study explored conversational human voice and social presence as antecedents of startups' dialogic communication with publics on social media and explored publics' trust and positive word-of-mouth as potential outcomes of this process. Results from an online survey with 1061 social media users in China who had followed at least one startup organization revealed that startups' conversational human voice and social presence on social media helped drive organization–public dialogic communication, which in turn fostered publics' trust and positive word-of-mouth toward startups. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past two years have witnessed escalating geopolitical tensions occurring not only in the political but also economic domains especially technology and global supply chains, infrastructure connectivity, trade and finance. With tensions between the US and China escalating on many fronts, Southeast Asia has become a focal point of strategic rivalry again as Biden's Indo-Pacific Strategy 2022 attempts to rebuild the US-led order in Asia to blunt China's growing influence in the region. A series of economic initiatives following his Indo-Pacific strategy focuses on reconfiguring the semiconductor global supply chain. In this context, the paper aims to examine how Malaysia cope with the complex patterns of cooperation, competition and conflict arising from the current shifts in the global geopolitics and geoeconomics. The paper benefits from the insights from the international political economy research which explores how the Malaysian government strives to reconcile domestic and international imperatives in navigating the changing global geopolitical economy, which can be perceived as both a threat as well as an opportunity by the state and non-state actors in the country. The question of whether hedging is tenable is undoubtedly contingent upon the extent of big power rivalry. Given the greater uncertainty over the pernicious effects of rising regional polarization and retreat from economic globalization, Malaysia will continue to maintain strategic ambiguity as long as US-China rivalry has not (yet) escalated into outright military conflict. Nevertheless, the paper concludes that the space to hedge may be squeezed since small power like Malaysia may face harsher realities as it navigates the changing geopolitical economy landscape. Hence, the ASEAN solidarity and cohesion is crucial to ensure a more unified regional response to the escalating Sino-American strategic competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Clinical heterogeneity in major depressive disorder likely reflects the range of etiology and contributing factors in the disorder, such as genetic risk. Identification of more refined subgroups based on biomarkers such as white matter integrity and lipid-related metabolites could facilitate precision medicine in major depressive disorder. Methods: A total of 148 participants (15 genetic high-risk participants, 57 patients with first-episode major depressive disorder and 76 healthy controls) underwent diffusion tensor imaging and plasma lipid profiling. Alterations in white matter integrity and lipid metabolites were identified in genetic high-risk participants and patients with first-episode major depressive disorder. Then, shared alterations between genetic high-risk and first-episode major depressive disorder were used to develop an imaging x metabolite diagnostic panel for genetically based major depressive disorder via factor analysis and logistic regression. A fivefold cross-validation test was performed to evaluate the diagnostic panel. Results: Alterations of white matter integrity in corona radiata, superior longitudinal fasciculus and the body of corpus callosum and dysregulated unsaturated fatty acid metabolism were identified in both genetic high-risk participants and patients with first-episode major depressive disorder. An imaging x metabolite diagnostic panel, consisting of measures for white matter integrity and unsaturated fatty acid metabolism, was identified that achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.86 and had a significantly higher diagnostic performance than that using either measure alone. And cross-validation confirmed the adequate reliability and accuracy of the diagnostic panel. Conclusion: Combining white matter integrity in corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus and corona radiata, and unsaturated fatty acid profile may improve the identification of genetically based endophenotypes in major depressive disorder to advance precision medicine strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study took a personification approach and examined how strategic communication influences the development of startup corporate character and associated outcomes in China. Specifically, it examined the relationships among startups' symmetrical communication model, startup characters of agreeableness, enterprise, competence, and ruthlessness, customer identification with the startup, and eventually, customer advocacy. Results from an online survey with 641 startup customers in China revealed the importance of practicing symmetrical communication at startups, which effectively helps shape startup character. In turn, startup corporate character would affect customer identification with the startup, which eventually contributes to customer advocacy. This study provides valuable theoretical grounds to advance the growing literature on corporate character, stakeholders-organization identification, and symmetrical communication, emphasizing a unique startup context in the culturally distinctive market of China. It also provides practical insights for startup leaders, communication practitioners, and entrepreneurs on how to build a favorable corporate character, strengthen connections with customers, and win support from customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial endophytes are integral factors in plant evolution, ecology, and physiology. However, the endophyte communities across all major plant lineages have yet to be characterized, and data are particularly scarce for lycophytes. Here we used a culture-based approach to survey the diversity of endophytic bacteria in five sympatric Lycopodiaceae species in central New York. The most notable endophyte isolated from this study is a bacterial species Allobranchiibius huperziae, which was only recently described from the roots of Huperzia serrata in China. The fact that the same endophyte was also found in our North American samples suggest a possible specific association with Lycopodiaceae species. The data and cultures from this study provide an important foundation for future metagenomic and functional studies to characterize better the diversity and significance of plant endophytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI − also known as One Belt One Road (OBOR)−is undoubtedly one of People's Republic of China's (PRC) largest yet most controversial development program of its kind worldwide. In the light of the controversy, the paper aims to study Malaysia's perception and strategy toward China's BRI expansion since the Najib's administration. Based on the political economy analysis of Malaysia's response from Najib to Mahathir 2.0 administrations, the paper focuses on the interaction between state and non-state actors such as the corporations, political parties and non-government organizations (NGOs). Particular attention will be given to the question of what accounts for the continuity or change in Malaysia's perception and strategy toward China's BRI expansion during the two different administrations. Given the institutional setting that gives rise to concentration of political and economic power in the hand of prime minister in Malaysia, its leadership plays a vital role in shaping the outcome of China's BRI expansion in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the under-researched topic of leadership communication in the context of startup companies in China. Specifically, this study examined the role of executive leadership in shaping corporate culture and leadership communication purposes, strategies, and channels in startups. Findings were derived through 25 in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs in China, and they suggested that 5 major corporate culture types are prevalent and can coexist at startups, including innovation/adventure, openness, inclusiveness/participation, supportiveness, and aggressiveness/ competitiveness. The character and management style of startup leaders shape the culture of the organization. Leadership communication serves various internal and external purposes at the informational, motivational, and behavioral levels. Symmetrical, transparent, authentic, and visionary communications are found to be effective leadership communication strategies at startups. Startup leaders overall prefer using face-to-face communication and mobile social messengers (e.g., WeChat) to communicate with internal and external stakeholders, followed by email and phone. Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the strategic use of social media for stakeholder engagement in startup companies in China. Guided by the theoretical framework of stakeholder engagement, in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 entrepreneurs in China, and a content analysis was performed with 419 corporate social media posts on Weibo and WeChat. Findings suggest that generating awareness, along with information sharing and word-of-mouth, cultivating long-term relationships, developing new businesses, and building image and reputation, are the primary purposes for stakeholder engagement. Thought leadership building, co-branding, and influencer endorsement were identified as new social media engagement strategies for startups. Message tactics and appeals utilized by startups and measurement and evaluation issues were also examined. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article presents a study which investigated amygdala-prefrontal cortex (PFC) functional connectivity during emotional face processing in medication-naive individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). Researchers utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study emotional face processing and learned that individuals with MDD showed decreased amygdala-left rostral PFC functional connectivity.

Background: Abnormalities in the anterior interhemispheric connections provided by the corpus callosum (CC) have long been implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD). The purpose of this study was to investigate interhemispheric connectivity in medicationnaive patients with MDD by measuring fractional anisotropy in the CC with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) techniques. Methods: We obtained DTI scans from medication-naive patients with MDD and from matched healthy controls. Fractional anisotropy values were compared using semiautomatic region of interest methods to localize the regional CC differences between these 2 groups. Results: We enrolled 27 patients and 27 controls in our study. Fractional anisotropy values were significantly lower in the anterior genu of the CC in the MDD group than in the control group (p = 0.009, corrected); results were not significantly different in any other CC subregions. Limitations: As patients with MDD were already experiencing acute episodes, future studies of individuals at risk for MDD are warranted to elucidate the interhemispheric connectivity abnormalities associated with the predisposition to MDD. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate abnormalities in the structural integrity of the anterior genu of the CC in medication-naive individuals with MDD, which may contribute to impairment of interhemispheric connectivity in patients with this disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a general expectation that the emerging economies of South Africa and China, which are heavily dependent upon fossil fuels, could successfully leverage the potential of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). However, experience to date indicates that South Africa has significantly lagged behind China in the uptake of CDM, accounting for only 0.9 per cent of the worldwide registered annual Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), whereas China has dominated the market, generating 54 per cent of the annual worldwide CERs. This article provides a comparative analysis of the CDM experience in China and South Africa to identify the underlying drivers and obstacles to CDM in both countries. The analysis reveals that a strong industrial and energy policy in the host country plays a crucial role in the development of CDM. Our analysis indicates that policies which foster a low-carbon pathway encourage CDM uptake, rather than CDM driving a low-emission development pathway. In addition, the active engagement by key government and private sector stakeholders and the presence of a friendly business environment to uptake CDM significantly impact the utilization of the mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of culture on caregiver psychological morbidity among informal caregivers of institutionalised persons with dementia in three different populations: (1) Shanghai, (2) Australian-Chinese and (3) Australian mainstream (non-Chinese). Methods Caregivers and residents with dementia were recruited from (1) a dementia hospital in Shanghai, (2) three ethno-specific Chinese nursing homes in Sydney and (3) four mainstream nursing homes in Sydney. Psychological morbidity was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale, mental health component (MHC) of the RAND-36 Health Status Inventory and a guilt scale. Results There were no significant differences between the three groups as measured by the guilt scale and MHC. Shanghai caregivers had higher mean depression scores than Australian-Chinese caregivers (p < 0.001), who in turn had higher mean depression scores than Australian mainstream caregivers (p = 0.015). Higher depression scores were found to be inversely associated with the caregiver's education level and physical health status, and associated with increased frequency of nursing home visits, but not with levels of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Conclusion Levels of depression in caregivers of institutionalised persons with dementia differ by culture and country of residence. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fritillaria yuminensis X.Z. Duan ( Liliaceae) is described and illustrated; the species in the Fritillaria verticillata complex are listed and their relationship to the rest of the genus, as revealed by DNA studies, is described. The cultivation of Fritillaria (bei mu) for medicine and its conservation in China are summarised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]