This dissertation explores how son preference is constructed and renegotiated in light of social change in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Based on secondary sources and interviews with women and men in rural Anhui Province as well as key informants, it addresses son preference from conceptual, methodological, empirical and ideological perspectives. The analysis centres around son preference

• Premise of the study: Small, autogamous flowers have evolved repeatedly in the plant kingdom. While much attention has focused on the mechanisms that promote the shift to autogamy, there is still a paucity of information on the factors that underlie the reduction of flower size so prevalent in selfing lineages. In this study of Crepis tectorum, I examine the role of inbreeding, acting alone or t

Human immunodeficiency virus type-2 (HIV-2) infected individuals develop immunodeficiency with a considerable delay and transmit the virus at a lower rate as compared to HIV-1 infected. Conceivably, comparative studies on immune responsiveness of the HIV-1 and HIV-2 infected hosts may help to explain differences in pathogenesis and transmission between the two types of infection. Previous studies

We calculate potential-energy surfaces as functions of spheroidal (epsilon(2)), hexadecapole (epsilon(4)), and axial-asymmetry (gamma) shape coordinates for 7206 nuclei from A = 31 to A = 290. We tabulate the deformations and energies of all minima deeper than 0.2 MeV and of the saddles between all pairs of minima. The tabulation is terminated at N = 160. Our study is based on the FRLDM macroscopi

Background: There are several risk factors for the colonisation, infection and spreading of antibiotic resistant bacteria among elderly residents of nursing homes. An updated estimate of the native prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in uropathogens among Swedish nursing home residents is needed. Methods: Urine specimens were collected for culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing agains

The autosomal dominantly inherited east Texas bleeding disorder is linked to an A2440G variant in exon 13 of the F5 gene. Affected individuals have normal levels of coagulation factor V (FV) activity, but demonstrate inhibition of global coagulation tests. We demonstrated that the A2440G mutation causes upregulation of an alternatively spliced F5 transcript that results in an in-frame deletion of

The high false negative rates for initial prostate biopsies refer a large number of the men for repeat biopsies each year. Therefore, biomarkers associated with high risk of the presence of malignancy in histologically benign biopsies could provide a tool to discriminate the patients who need repeat biopsy or intensive follow-up from those who do not. Here we examined the diagnostic applicability

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to inquire into the management of construction supply chains by directing attention toward the different types of interdependencies that exist in such chains and in construction projects. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is developed as part of two ongoing research projects on supply chain management (SCM) in construction. A case study approach is used fo

Thirty correlated alpha-decay chains were observed in an experiment studying the fusion-evaporation reaction 48Ca + 243Am at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum f¨ur Schwerionenforschung. The decay characteristics of the majority of these 30 chains are consistent with previous observations and interpretations of such chains to originate from isotopes of element Z = 115. High-resolution alpha-photon coinciden

We have studied the photoinduced low spin (LS) to high spin (HS) conversion of [Fe(bipy)(3)](2+) in aqueous solution. In a laser pump/X-ray probe synchrotron setup permitting simultaneous, time-resolved X-ray diffuse scattering (XDS) and X-ray spectroscopic measurements at a 3.26 MHz repetition rate, we observed the interplay between intramolecular dynamics and the intermolecular caging solvent re

A highly efficient anode for glucose biofuel cells has been developed by a combination of pyranose dehydrogenase from Agaricus meleagris (AmPDH) and cellobiose dehydrogenase from Myriococcum thermophilum (MtCDH). These two enzymes differ in how they oxidize glucose. AmPDH oxidizes glucose at the C(2) and C(3) carbon, whereas MtCDH at the C(1) carbon. Both enzymes oxidize efficiently a number of ot

The molecular mechanisms by which the black eumelanin biopolymers exert their photoprotective action on human skin and eyes are still poorly understood, owing to critical insolubility and structural heterogeneity issues hindering direct investigation of excitation and emission behavior. Recently, we set up strategies to obtain water-soluble 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI)-based polymers as useful models

Research indicates a crisis in the journalistic field due to economic, technological, institutional and cultural shifts. This seems to have led to a paradigm shift in arts journalism, from a cultural to a journalistic focus, and a loss of autonomy for culture departments in the Swedish press. This article investigates how arts journalists’ professional values are affected by this presumed autonomy