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This article examines a specific set of literary texts, both in English and Chinese, produced by a few Chinatown leaders and some Chinese writers as they protested against the anti-Chinese sentiments and the Chinese Exclusion Act in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century. Those Chinese-authored texts resisted the homogenizing view of the Chinese people by the Westerners, advocating a cosmopolitan class above race, and used commercial amity to assert the Chinese people's cosmopolitan right. The moral compass of the Chinese merchants in those literary stories also puts forward an alternative model of global capitalism that evolved from the traditional Chinese idea of tianxia. Reading these texts can help us build a more historicized view of Chineseness and the Chinese worldview prior to the rise of state-centered nationalisms in modern China, on the one hand, and understand the epistemological framework and limit of modern nationalisms, on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the pricing of convertible bonds on a single underlying asset with dividend yield in a regime-switching economy. The dynamics of the risky asset are assumed to follow a Markov-modulated geometric Brownian motion. That is, the market parameters, such as the market interest rate, dividend yield and the volatility of the underlying risky asset, depend on unobservable states of the economy that are modelled by a continuous-time hidden Markov process. By means of the homotopy analysis method, an analytic formula for pricing convertible bonds with dividend yield in a two-state regime-switching model is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates American puts on a dividend-paying underlying whose volatility is a function of both time and underlying asset price. The asymptotic behaviour of the critical price near expiry is deduced by means of singular perturbation methods. It turns out that if the underlying dividend is greater than the risk-free interest rate, the behaviour of the critical price is parabolic, otherwise an extra logarithmic factor appears, which is similar to the constant volatility case. The results of this paper complement numerical approaches used to calculate the option values and the optimal exercise price at times that are not close to expiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections outside the healthcare setting are an increasing concern. We conducted a case-control study to investigate an MRSA outbreak during 2002-2003 in a Missouri prison and focused on hygiene factors. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, and hygiene practices of study participants was collected by interview and medical record review. Logistic regression was used to evaluate MRSA infection in relation to hygiene factors individually and as a composite hygiene score; potential confounding factors were controlled. Selected MRSA isolates were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). MRSA infection was significantly associated with a low composite hygiene score. Transmission among prison inmates appeared to be responsible for this outbreak. PFGE analysis showed that isolates were indistinguishable and associated with community-onset MRSA infections in other US prisons. Improving hygiene practices and environmental conditions may help prevent and interrupt future MRSA outbreaks in prison settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective : To examine the relationship between interpregnancy interval and low birth weight (LBW), using the retrospective cohort design. Methods : We used the maternally linked Michigan livebirth data documented between 1989 and 2000 to evaluate LBW in relation to interpregnancy (i.e., delivery-to-conception) interval, overall and at levels of other reproductive risk factors. We fit separate logistic regression models for pairs of first-second, second-third, third-fourth, and fourth-fifth births to control for confounding. Results : Of the 565,911 infants identified, 5.5% had LBW. Univariate and stratified analyses showed that the risk for LBW was lowest when the interpregnancy interval was 18–23 months, and increased with shorter or longer intervals. This J-shaped relationship persisted after controlling for all risk factors simultaneously. For example, among the first-second birth pairs, the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for LBW associated with interpregnancy intervals <6, 24–59, 60–95, and 96–136 months were 1.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3–1.5), 1.5 (95% CI = 1.3–1.6), 1.1 (95% CI = 1.0–1.1) and 1.5 (95% CI = 1.3–1.8), respectively, compared with an interval of 18–23 months. Among the second-third birth pairs, the AORs were 1.5 (95% CI = 1.3–1.6), 1.3 (95% CI = 1.2–1.4), 1.1 (95% CI = 1.0–1.1), and 1.6 (95% CI = 1.3–2.0), respectively. Among the third-fourth birth pairs, the AORs were 1.2 (95% CI = 1.1–1.4), 1.3 (95% CI = 1.1–1.5), 1.0 (95% CI = 0.9–1.1), and 1.4 (95% CI = 1.0–2.0), respectively. Among the fourth-fifth birth pairs, the AORs were 1.3 (95% CI = 1.1–1.6), 1.2 (95% CI = 0.9–1.5), 1.1 (95% CI = 1.0–1.4), and 1.3 (95% CI = 0.8–2.3), respectively. The population attributable risk associated with interpregnancy intervals shorter than 18 months or longer than 23 months was 9.4%.Conclusion : These data suggest that spacing pregnancies appropriately could be used as a strategy for preventing LBW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluates interpregnancy interval in relation to adverse perinatal outcomes among white and black women in Michigan. Analysis on the vital statistics data of singleton live birth delivery; Relationship between pregnancy spacing and perinatal outcomes; Prevalence of reproductive risk factors.

Objective. This study sought to reassess the relationship between cigarette smoking and education. Methods. Data from the 1983 to 1991 National Health Interview survey for participants aged 25 years and older were used to plot the prevalence of current smoking, ever smoking, heavy smoking and smoking cessation, as well as the adjusted log odds ratios, by years of education. Results. The "less than high school graduate" category consisted of two groups with distinct smoking patterns: persons with 0 to 8 years and persons with 9 to 11 years of education. The latter were the most likely to be current, ever, and heavy smokers and the least likely to have quit smoking, whereas the former were similar to persons having 12 years of education. After 11 years of education, the likelihood of smoking decreased and that of smoking cessation increased with each successive year of education. These results persisted after the statistical adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, poverty status, employment status, marital status, geographic region, and year of survey. Conclusions. The relationship between smoking and education is not monotonic. Thus, when evaluating smoking in relation to education, researchers should categorize years of education as follows: 0 to 8, 9 to 11, 12, 13 to 15, and 16 or more years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. This study assessed the prevalence of and demographic variables associated with lifetime never-daily smoking in the United States. Methods. Descriptive demographic data and logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations with never-daily smoking. Results. Lifetime never-daily smokers constituted a significant minority of non-White smokers. There was a strong association between never-daily smoking and college education among young adults, particularly men. Although never-daily smoking was associated with initiation behavior among young smokers, it also represented a persistent pattern for some smokers, particularly non-Whites and Hispanics. Conclusions. The demographic distribution of never-daily smoking may have implications for developing culturally appropriate smoking prevention and cessation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uganda is prone to epidemics of deadly infectious diseases and other public health emergencies. Though significant progress has been made in response to emergencies during the past 2 decades, system weaknesses still exist, including lack of a robust workforce with competencies to identify, investigate, and control disease outbreaks at the source. These deficiencies hamper global health security broadly. To address need for a highly competent workforce to combat infectious diseases, the Uganda Ministry of Health established the Public Health Fellowship Program (PHFP), the advanced-level Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP), closely modeled after the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) program. The 2-year, full-time, non-degree granting program is the first absolute post-master's FETP in Africa for mid-career public health professionals. Fellows gain competencies in 7 main domains, which are demonstrated by deliverables, while learning through service delivery 80% of the time in the ministry of health. During 2015-2017, PHFP enrolled 3 cohorts of 31 fellows. By January 2018, PHFP had graduated 2 cohorts (2015 and 2016) of 19 fellows. Fellows were placed in 17 priority areas of the ministry of health. They completed 153 projects (including 60 outbreak investigations, 12 refugee assessments, 40 surveillance projects, and 31 applied epidemiologic studies), of which 49 involved potential bioterrorism agents or epidemic-prone diseases. They made 132 conference presentations, prepared 40 manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication (17 published as of December 2017), and produced 3 case studies. Many of these projects have resulted in public health interventions that led to improvements in disease control and surveillance systems. The program has produced 19 issues of ministry of health bulletins. One year after graduation, graduates have been placed in key public health decision-making positions. Within 3 years, PHFP has strengthened global health security through improvement in public health emergency response; identification, investigation and control of outbreaks at their sources; and documentation and dissemination of findings to inform decision making by relevant stakeholders.