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Women experience higher morbidity than men, despite living longer. This is often attributed to biological differences between the sexes; however, the majority of societies in which these disparities are observed exhibit gender norms that favor men. We tested the hypothesis that female-biased gender norms ameliorate gender disparities in health by comparing gender differences in inflammation and hypertension among the matrilineal and patrilineal Mosuo of China. Widely reported gender disparities in health were reversed among matrilineal Mosuo compared with patrilineal Mosuo, due to substantial improvements in women's health, with no concomitant detrimental effects on men. These findings offer evidence that gender norms limiting women's autonomy and biasing inheritance toward men adversely affect the health of women, increasing women's risk for chronic diseases with tremendous global health impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Notwithstanding the growing empirical evidence from longitudinal studies on child-driven effects, they are limited in illuminating the existence of child-driven effects in day-to-day life and the affective mechanisms that underlie these processes. The current study examined mothers' affective experiences elicited by their preschoolers' behaviors in daily life. Seventy-seven families in China were studied for 14 days through a daily diary design. Children's behaviors elicited changes in both mothers' daily emotional reactivity and their global mood states. Mothers' emotional reactivity towards children's behaviors largely accounted for the child-elicited changes in their global mood. Moreover, when mothers were less educated, exhibited higher depressive symptoms, and when their children were perceived to be high in externalizing behaviors, mothers were more likely to react negatively. These findings suggest that parents' emotional reactions are closely linked to children's behaviors and these child-elicited emotional reactions further influence parents' daily overall mood on a day-to-day basis. Highlights • Children's behaviors elicited daily changes in mothers' emotional reactivity. • Child-elicited emotional reactivities predicted mothers' global mood. • Some mothers were more susceptible to emotional changes due to child behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current child-protection and women-protection frameworks tend to polarise the well-being of women and children. Abused mothers are often considered 'inadequate' or 'incompetent' if their children fail to achieve socially desirable outcomes. Conversely, children are seen as a burden on abused women in cases where women are ambivalent with respect to their mothering experience. Yet abused women need extra care and support to be competent again in the post-separation context, while children can serve a protective role for their abused mothers. This study employs Cooperative Grounded Inquiry (CGI) for working with abused Chinese women in Hong Kong and their teenage children in order to nurture a community of practice for transforming mothering into a mutual care project. Through partnering with teenage participants for setting care goals and care plans, abused women became aware of how they had monopolised the care work at home while teenage participants recognised how they could contribute to designing and accomplishing care plans. The findings shed light on the cultural fit of 'community of practice' in Chinese familial societies, and demonstrate the potential of 'doing family' for expanding postseparation protection for abused women and their children. In this article, 'community of practice' is proposed as an approach for helping to narrow the gap between childprotection and women-protection systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the importance of the first modern blue-water amphibious assault vessel, the 998 Kunlun Shan and the Type 071 Yuzhao-class landing platform dock to the militaries in China. It states that the ship can support a reinforced battalion of 400 to 800 marines, some landing craft and a brace of midsized helicopters in global littorals. It mentions that the said ship can perform well in many amphibious operations short of intense combat.

Long-term livestock over-grazing causes nitrogen outputs to exceed inputs in Inner Mongolia, suggesting that low levels of nitrogen fertilization could help restore grasslands degraded by overgrazing. However, the effectiveness of such an approach depends on the response of production and species composition to the interactive drivers of nitrogen and water availability. We conducted a five-year experiment manipulating precipitation (NP: natural precipitation and SWP: simulated wet year precipitation) and nitrogen (0, 25 and 50 kg N ha-1 yr-1) addition in Inner Mongolia. We hypothesized that nitrogen fertilization would increase forage production when water availability was relatively high. However, the extent to which nitrogen would co-limit production under average or below average rainfall in these grasslands was unknown. Aboveground net primary production (ANPP) increased in response to nitrogen when precipitation was similar to or higher than the long-term average, but not when precipitation was below average. This shift in limitation was also reflected by water and nitrogen use efficiency. Belowground live biomass significantly increased with increasing water availability, but was not affected by nitrogen addition. Under natural precipitation (NP treatment), the inter-annual variation of ANPP was 3-fold greater than with stable water availability (CVANPP=61±6% and 17±3% for NP and SWP treatment, respectively) and nitrogen addition increased CVANPP even more (89±14%). This occurred in part because fertilizer nitrogen left in the soil in dry years remained available for uptake during wet years and because of high production by unpalatable annual species in wet years in the NP treatment. In summary, plant growth by residual fertilizer nitrogen could lead to sufficient yields to offset lack of additional production in dry years. However, the utility of fertilization for restoration may be constrained by shifts in species composition and the lack of response by belowground biomass, which reduces replacement of soil carbon and nitrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drywall from China has been reported to release sulfur producing products which are corrosive to metals, result in noxious odors, and represent a significant health risk. It has been reported that these emissions produce medical symptoms such as respiratory or asthma type problems, sinusitis, gastrointestinal disorders, and vision problems in home owners and their household pets. We report here a method of identifying a causative agent for these emissions by sampling affected gypsum wallboard and subjecting those samples to Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction [RT-PCR] studies. Specific DNA probes and primers have been designed and patented that detect a specific iron and sulfur reducing bacterium (i.e., Thiobacillus ferrooxidans). One hundred percent of affected drywall samples obtained from homes located in the southeastern United States tested positive for the presence of T. ferrooxidans. All negative controls consisting of unaffected wallboard and internal controls, Geotrichum sp., tested negative within our limits of detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which explored the theme of globalization and resistance in post-Mao China, in reference to consumer products. Global products during the inauguration of the open door policy; Forces of resistance towards foreign products; Conclusions.

Examines the role of the Chinese youth in preserving the political and economic achievements of their country. Disaffection of the Chinese youth towards the political and social developments in their country; Contrast between the life lived by young people in the urban and rural areas; Social problems facing Chinese youth in the 1990's.

The article focuses on the paradox facing the Chinese culture and society as communism gives way to commercialism. One of the most obvious texts for continuing analysis is the poster and billboard, from the explicitly political, Soviet-influenced versions of the communist years under Mao Tsetung, to the Hong Kong and American inspired advertisements of the eighties and nineties. Television advertising, another product of China's new market economy, follows the pattern of 10-15 minute blocks between programmes. Still something of a novelty, the ads are regarded by many viewers as the best feature of the medium rather than providing space for a tea or coffee break. Probably even more than the advertisements on billboards and in popular magazines, TV ads offer wide scope for the analysis of China's burgeoning consumer culture and especially of changing gender relations. As in most developing countries, the products of advanced industrialized societies have become the major status symbols, reducing Chinese goods to an inferior status.

The article discusses the status of women in China. The author explains that demands made by the Women's Liberation Movement in the West are also important issues in China, such as abortion, discrimination in employment, and maternity leave. Sexual freedom in China is also discussed. The author examines Communist leader Mao Tse-tung's position on equality for women. The superiority of the male in traditional Chinese culture, based on Confucian doctrine, is examined. The article also discusses the position of married women in China.

Abstract: The CTN rabies virus was isolated from a human in China in 1953 and subsequently attenuated by multiple passaging to a vaccine strain now approved by the WHO. In this study, we describe the development of a reverse genetics system for the CTN rabies virus strain. The recombinant full-length genomic cDNA was flanked by a hammerhead ribozyme (HamRz) and the hepatitis delta virus ribozyme (HdvRz) while the non-coding G–L region was replaced with a green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene. A set of helper plasmids encoding nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P), and large protein (L) were constructed and co-transfected with recombinant full-length genome plasmid into BHK-21 cells. Recombinant virus was successfully recovered from cloned cDNA under control of the CMV promoter driven by RNA polymerase II. The recombinant virus, CTN–GFP, stably expressed GFP as detected by fluorescence microscopy. A group of 1-day-old suckling mice was challenged with the CTN–GFP strain by intracerebral inoculation, resulting in 100% morbidity and GFP expression was detected in brain tissues. The recombinant virus CTN–GFP strain recovered from cloned cDNA will be useful as a viral vector to express other foreign genes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]