Benson Tong. Unsubmissive Women: Chinese Prostitutes in Nineteenth Century San Francisco. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994. xix, 203 pp. Hardcover $24.95, isbn 0-8061-2653-1.

Book reviewIn lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Notes 1. Making Waves: An Anthology of Writings by and about Asian American Women is a collection of essays edited by Asian Women United of California, and published by Beacon Press (1989). Sucheng Chan's article appears in Entry Denied: Exclusion and the Chinese Community in America, 1882-1943 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991), pp. 94-146. 2. One of the most impressive studies on Chinese immigrant women can be found in Lucie Cheng Hirata's 'Free, Indentured, Enslaved: Chinese Prostitutes in Nineteenth Century America,' Signs (Autumn 1979): 3-29. Tong's research moves in a different direction from Hirata's work, as his efforts are concerned with the women's experiences rather than the economic consequences of Chinese prostitution. 3. Tong notes that section 16 of the Civil Rights Act of 1870 mandated the right to testify in court. [Abstract from Project MUSE]published_or_final_versio

Ion source for neutral beam injection meant for plasma and magnetic field diagnostics

At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) a diagnostic neutral beam injection system for measuring plasma parameters, flow velocity, and local magnetic field is being developed. The systems is designed to have a 90 % proton fraction and small divergence with beam current at 5-6 A and a pulse length of {approx}1 s occurring once every 1-2 min. The ion source needs to generate uniform plasma over a large (8 cm x 5 cm) extraction area. For this application, we have compared RF driven multicusp ion sources operating with either an external or an internal antenna in similar ion source geometry. The ion beam will be made of an array of six sheet-shaped beamlets. The design is optimized using computer simulation programs

Macro Aspects of Housing

This paper aims to achieve two objectives. First, we demonstrate that with respect to business cycle frequency (Burns and Mitchell, 1946), there was a general decrease in the association between macroeconomic variables (MV) and housing market variables (HMV) following the global financial crisis (GFC). However, there are macro-finance variables that exhibited a strong association with the HMV following the GFC. For the medium-term business cycle frequency (Comin and Gertler, 2006), we find that while some correlations exhibit the same change as the business cycle counterparts, others do not. These “new stylized facts” suggest that a reconsideration and refinement of existing “macro-housing” theories would be appropriate. We also provide a review of the recent literature, which may enhance our understanding of the evolving macro-housing-finance linkage

Macro Aspects of Housing

This paper aims to achieve two objectives. First, we demonstrate that with respect to business cycle frequency (Burns and Mitchell, 1946), there was a general decrease in the association between macroeconomic variables (MV) and housing market variables (HMV) following the global financial crisis (GFC). However, there are macro-finance variables that exhibited a strong association with the HMV following the GFC. For the medium-term business cycle frequency (Comin and Gertler, 2006), we find that while some correlations exhibit the same change as the business cycle counterparts, others do not. These “new stylized facts” suggest that a reconsideration and refinement of existing “macro-housing” theories would be appropriate. We also provide a review of the recent literature, which may enhance our understanding of the evolving macro-housing-finance linkage

Corporate Real Estate Holding and Stock Returns: International Evidence from Listed Companies

This study examines the relationship between corporate real estate (CRE) holdings and stock returns before and after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). We find that (1) the United States and the United Kingdom show a negative relationship before the GFC and positive after the GFC. (2) Firms that pay positive tax or have positive R&D investments are not systematically different from the full sample. This finding cannot support the "scarce capital" theory or the tax incentive explanation, but it is consistent with the “empire building” theory. After the GFC, financial constraints tightened, and both CRE holding and stock returns dropped. (3) European (excluding the United Kingdom) sample shows a positive relationship in the pre-crisis period. This finding is compatible with the "illiquidity premium" theory. However, the association becomes inconclusive in the post-crisis period. (3) The Japanese sample shows a negative association between CRE and stock returns in the pre-crisis period, like the United States and the United Kingdom. However, the relationship becomes statistically insignificant in the post-crisis period, consistent with the theory of financial constraint tightening after the GFC

Scleroderma, Stress and CAM Utilization

Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease influenced by interplay among genetic and environmental factors, of which one is stress. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is frequently used to treat stress and those diseases in which stress has been implicated. Results are presented from a survey of patients with scleroderma. Respondents were a convenient sample of those attending a national conference in Las Vegas in 2002. Findings implicate stress in the onset, continuation and exacerbation of scleroderma. The implication is that CAM providers may be filling an important patient need in their provision of services that identify and treat stress and its related disorders

Linking Changes in Epithelial Morphogenesis to Cancer Mutations Using Computational Modeling

Most tumors arise from epithelial tissues, such as mammary glands and lobules, and their initiation is associated with the disruption of a finely defined epithelial architecture. Progression from intraductal to invasive tumors is related to genetic mutations that occur at a subcellular level but manifest themselves as functional and morphological changes at the cellular and tissue scales, respectively. Elevated proliferation and loss of epithelial polarization are the two most noticeable changes in cell phenotypes during this process. As a result, many three-dimensional cultures of tumorigenic clones show highly aberrant morphologies when compared to regular epithelial monolayers enclosing the hollow lumen (acini). In order to shed light on phenotypic changes associated with tumor cells, we applied the bio-mechanical IBCell model of normal epithelial morphogenesis quantitatively matched to data acquired from the non-tumorigenic human mammary cell line, MCF10A. We then used a high-throughput simulation study to reveal how modifications in model parameters influence changes in the simulated architecture. Three parameters have been considered in our study, which define cell sensitivity to proliferative, apoptotic and cell-ECM adhesive cues. By mapping experimental morphologies of four MCF10A-derived cell lines carrying different oncogenic mutations onto the model parameter space, we identified changes in cellular processes potentially underlying structural modifications of these mutants. As a case study, we focused on MCF10A cells expressing an oncogenic mutant HER2-YVMA to quantitatively assess changes in cell doubling time, cell apoptotic rate, and cell sensitivity to ECM accumulation when compared to the parental non-tumorigenic cell line. By mapping in vitro mutant morphologies onto in silico ones we have generated a means of linking the morphological and molecular scales via computational modeling. Thus, IBCell in combination with 3D acini cultures can form a computational/experimental platform for suggesting the relationship between the histopathology of neoplastic lesions and their underlying molecular defects

What do we know about Housing Supply? The case of Hong Kong

The house price in Hong Kong is well-known to be "unaffordable." This paper relates the macroeconomy and the housing market of Hong Kong and argues that the housing supply plays a vital role in explaining the phenomenon. This paper also shows that there are some practical challenges in understanding the housing supply of Hong Kong, including the potentially complicated ownership structure of real estate development. While the discussion centers on the situation of Hong Kong, its lesson may also apply to the housing markets in other small open economies

What do we know about Housing Supply? The case of Hong Kong

The house price in Hong Kong is well-known to be "unaffordable." This paper relates the macroeconomy and the housing market of Hong Kong and argues that the housing supply plays a vital role in explaining the phenomenon. This paper also shows that there are some practical challenges in understanding the housing supply of Hong Kong, including the potentially complicated ownership structure of real estate development. While the discussion centers on the situation of Hong Kong, its lesson may also apply to the housing markets in other small open economies

Does an Oligopolistic Primary Market Matter? The Case of an Asian Housing Market

This paper takes advantage of the oligopolistic structure of the Hong Kong primary housing market and examines whether the time-variations of the market concentration are caused by or cause the variations of the local economic factors. The analysis also takes into consideration of the changes of the U.S. variables and commodity prices, which arguably may represent changes in the construction cost. We find clear evidence of time-varying responses of housing market variables to macroeconomic variables. Policy implications and directions for future research are also discussed