This article deploys narrative method to explore how young adults in China enrolled in higher education negotiate future intergenerational obligations. The study finds that the process through which filial piety is being renegotiated is complex and sometimes contradictory, and norms and values do not always align with practices, as intergenerational obligations need to be managed in tandem with ob

The integrated-multistage process proposed herein is a practical example of a biorefinery platform in which the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is used as a valued source for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) and biogas production. Technical and economical feasibilities of this approach have been demonstrated at pilot-scale, providing a possible upgrade to traditional biowaste manageme

In post-industrialist societies, similar high standards of living are becoming not only desired but also expected the world over. Globalising processes ensure that every material desire is within the reach of ordinary citizens, and then flame these desires in order to sustain continuous growth narratives. But are increasingly resource-intensive lifestyles sustainable, or even desirable? This artic

Given difficult conditions in different regions of the world, it is no wonder that people embark on journeys to regions where they may feel secure, seek refuge, be able to acquire a livelihood, as well as carry on a type of living. At the same time, when migrants arrive in a new country that they have hitherto never been to, there is an expectation that they will integrate into the host country’s

Cadmium and lead have been classified as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. However, their associations with breast cancer risk are unknown despite their persistence in the environment and ubiquitous human exposure. We examined associations of circulating levels of cadmium and lead with breast cancer risk in three case–control studies nested within the Cancer Preventio

STUDY QUESTION: Are chemerin levels different in subfertile men compared to men from the general population, and how does chemerin relate to reproductive hormonal status? SUMMARY ANSWER: Chemerin is negatively associated to LH, SHBG and estradiol and lower levels of chemerin are detected among subfertile men compared to controls. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Adipokines have pleiotropic effects on tissue

Background: Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) is an established risk factor for cardiovascular events in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We hypothesized that AAC is associated with a decline in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) as well as with some other cardiovascular risk factors. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a randomized controlle

In this paper, we discuss how the structural and observational properties of globular clusters (GCs) can be used to infer the presence of a black hole system (BHS) inhabiting their inner regions. We propose a novel way to define the BHS size as the radius from the GC centre within which half of the mass is in stellar mass BHs and the remaining half is in other stars. Using this definition, similar

Visuals like photographs and videos produced and circulated by lay people in social media serve as significant mediators in crisis communication. Such visuals are crucial for the way contemporary crisis events are defined and perceived in public (Mortensen, 2015; Coombs, 2007). This type of eyewitness footage is a growing visual genre of crisis communication. Yet, previous studies tend to neglect

Background: Pathogenic enteric bacteria aspirated from the oropharynx are the main cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Using chlorhexidine (CHX) orally or selective decontamination has been shown to reduce VAP. In a pilot study we found that oral care with the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum 299 (Lp299) was as effective as CHX in reducing enteric bacteria in the oropharynx.

Visually guided behaviour is constrained by the capacity of the visual system to resolve detail. This, in turn, is limited by the spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity of the underlying visual system. Because these properties are interdependent and vary nonuniformly, it is only possible to fully understand the limits of a specific visually guided behaviour when they are investigated in combi

The development of migratory behaviour is a continuous process which is not only determined by genes, but also moulded by individual differences based on life-history variations occurring at each ontogenetic stage. Assessing consistency and plasticity in migratory traits between long distance (LDM) and short distance migratory (SDM) populations within the same species that may express dissimilarit

We present the measurement of a new set of jet shape observables for track-based jets in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV. The set of jet shapes includes the first radial moment or angularity, g; the momentum dispersion, pTD; and the difference between the leading and sub-leading constituent track transverse momentum, LeSub. These observables provide complementary information on the jet fr