In Case You Missed It: Cambridge Companion to Modern Chinese Culture

For scholars of China who are interested in modernity, the looming question seems to be, is ‘modernity’ a valid and useful analytical category for describing, explaining, and understanding China? And if so, how should modernity and its attendant conceptual apparatuses be deployed in investigations of China’s various aspects, historical, political, cultural, and so on? In The Cambridge Companion to Modern Chinese Culture, editor Kam Louie and a distinguished list of contributors seek to explore China within its particular modern contexts and clarify the idea of ‘modernity’ by using historical and contemporary cases. In his introduction Louie writes, “At first glance, the concept of ‘modern’ should not present many problems since it should really be a matter of definition only,” with the standard definition locating the French Revolution or the Industrial Revolution as the benchmark by which to recognize the advent of the modern era (3). Louie rejects this definition as being unrepresentative of changes in Chinese culture; he likewise rejects the rigid schema used to organize Chinese history using the terms jindai (mid-nineteenth-century to the 1919 May Fourth Movement), xiandai (1919 to 1949), and dangdai (the post-1949, i.e. contemporary, period) (3-4). Instead, Louie proposes 1900 as the beginning of modern Chinese culture, due to the changes heralded as well as influenced by the intense output of works on modernization from famous writers like Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei around that time (5). As this starting point implies, the influence of late Qing culture on China’s emerging modern cultures is taken seriously by the authors featured in this volume. And as Louie points out, this periodicization centers the discussion of modern Chinese culture firmly in the twentieth-century and beyond, into a “new millennium [that] has already witnessed a Chinese culture that was unimaginable only a few generations ago” (6-7)

Notes on a Conversation: Ian Johnson and Angilee Shah

Earlier this week, we held the final event of this year’s “China Lecture Series” at UC Irvine, featuring a dialogue between Ian Johnson and Angilee Shah. Johnson, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, is author of Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China and A Mosque in Munich: Nazis, the CIA, and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West. Shah is a freelance writer and blogger; her work has appeared at the Far Eastern Economic Review, Global Voices Online, Zócalo Public Square, and The China Beat. Below, a summary of the conversation between Johnson and Shah

Blogging AAS (3)

This intellectually and visually stimulating roundtable was chaired by Carma Hinton (George Mason University) and focused on the legacy of China’s socialist past in China’s not-quite-so socialist present. I’d like to think I took good notes, but this was a session very rich in materials and ideas (and excellently managed time-wise, which means things moved along at a brisk pace), so apologies in advance for any errors or omissions

Identification of Driving Forces in Service Innovations: Mobile Telecommunication Industry

Innovations in services continue to be a vital topic. Compared to product innovation, service innovation has received less attention in the literature. Studying service innovation is as important as ever especially since the world economy is shifting from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. Analytical and detailed discussion about service innovations is only beginning. This study aims to contribute to service innovation field through a theoretical formulation of a research framework supplemented with findings from a qualitative approach. By studying the mobile telecommunication industry, we found that organizations may pursue a complex of service innovations that may target different type of outcomes. Our findings provide new insights that suggest the basis for new discourse on IS for service innovations

Blogging AAS 2010 (5)

In this panel, organized by Siyen Fei (University of Pennsylvania), Mark Edward Lewis (Stanford University), Hilde De Weerdt (University of Oxford), and Fei presented papers that creatively engaged the work of G. William Skinner on how to conceptualize empire in time and space. Lewis proposed that the northern capital historically functioned as a peripheral center that connected the agricultural and economic centers found further south with the steppe, and this positioning, a prime concern of the dynasties founded by nomads, helped maintain China as a coherent empire. De Weerdt used social network analysis to mine Song dynastybiji for data that could model the level of connectivity of the elites that produced them. Fei explained her interest in emphasizing dynastic differences in the study of urbanization in China, arguing that the way rulers seek to order political/economic/social space has a strong impact on the types of urban development that take place. Discussant Kären Wigen’s comments pushed the conversation to include maritime frontiers, the merits of visual versus textual representations of data, and the intellectual dynamism within Skinner’s body of work. This panel brought together scholars from history and geography, using the Pearl River Delta as the means to explore questions of regionality

Blogging AAS 2010 (5)

In this panel, organized by Siyen Fei (University of Pennsylvania), Mark Edward Lewis (Stanford University), Hilde De Weerdt (University of Oxford), and Fei presented papers that creatively engaged the work of G. William Skinner on how to conceptualize empire in time and space. Lewis proposed that the northern capital historically functioned as a peripheral center that connected the agricultural and economic centers found further south with the steppe, and this positioning, a prime concern of the dynasties founded by nomads, helped maintain China as a coherent empire. De Weerdt used social network analysis to mine Song dynastybiji for data that could model the level of connectivity of the elites that produced them. Fei explained her interest in emphasizing dynastic differences in the study of urbanization in China, arguing that the way rulers seek to order political/economic/social space has a strong impact on the types of urban development that take place. Discussant Kären Wigen’s comments pushed the conversation to include maritime frontiers, the merits of visual versus textual representations of data, and the intellectual dynamism within Skinner’s body of work. This panel brought together scholars from history and geography, using the Pearl River Delta as the means to explore questions of regionality

Molecular Mechanisms of Skin Aging and Rejuvenation

The aging process in the skin is complex and influenced by more intrinsic and extrinsic factors than any other body organ. The effects of these two types of factors overlap for the most part. The combined effects of these two aging processes also affect dermal matrix alterations. The main clinical signs of skin aging include wrinkling and irregular pigmentation, which are influenced by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic (e.g., UV radiation, heat, smoking, and pollutants) factors. Histologically, collagen decreases, and the dermis is replaced by abnormal elastic fibers as a cause of wrinkle formation through the loss of skin elasticity. There have been numerous studies of skin aging performed to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms and to develop various antiaging therapeutics and preventive strategies. We summarized the molecular mechanisms and treatments of skin aging. Mainly UV radiation induces ROS formation and DNA damage, leading to increased production of MMPs and decreased production of collagen in keratinocytes and fibroblasts, which reflect the central aspects of skin aging. Besides UV radiation exposure, extrinsic factors including tobacco smoking, exposure to environmental pollutants, infrared radiation, and heat contribute to premature skin aging. Like UV radiation, these factors cause ROS formation and increase expression of MMPs, thus accelerating skin aging by inducing extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation. Accumulated collagen fibrils inhibit the new collagen synthesis and account for the further degradation of the ECM through this positive feedback loop. Accumulating evidence for molecular mechanisms of skin aging should provide clinicians with an expanding spectrum of therapeutic targets in the treatment of skin aging

Effect of ProRoot MTA® and Biodentine® on osteoclastic differentiation and activity of mouse bone marrow macrophages

Objectives: This investigation aimed to assess the differentiation inhibitory effects of ProRoot MTA® (PMTA) and Biodentine® (BIOD) on osteoclasts originated from murine bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) and compare these effects with those of alendronate (ALD). Materials and Methods: Mouse BMMs were cultured to differentiate into osteoclasts with macrophage colonystimulating factor and receptor activator of NF-κB (RANKL), treated with lipopolysaccharide. After application with PMTA, BIOD, or ALD, cell toxicities were examined using WST-1 assay kit, and RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation and activities were determined by resorption pit formation assay and tartrate-resistant acid phosphate (TRAP) staining. The mRNA levels of osteoclast activity-related genes were detected with quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction. Expressions of molecular signaling pathways were assessed by western blot. All data were statistically analyzed with one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test (p<0.05). Results: Mouse BMMs applied with PMTA, BIOD, or ALD showed highly reduced levels of TRAP-positive osteoclasts. The BIOD treated specimens suppressed mRNA expressions of cathepsin K, TRAP, and c-Fos. Nonetheless, it showed a lower effect than PMTA or ALD applications. Compared with ALD, PMTA and BIOD decreased RANKL-mediated phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and IκBα. Conclusions: PMTA and BIOD showed the inhibitory effect on osteoclast differentiation and activities similar to that of ALD through IκB phosphorylation and suppression of ERK signaling pathways

Regulation of Sli15/INCENP, kinetochore, and Cdc14 phosphatase functions by the ribosome biogenesis protein Utp7

The Sli15–Ipl1–Bir1 chromosomal passenger complex is essential for proper kinetochore–microtubule attachment and spindle stability in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. During early anaphase, release of the Cdc14 protein phosphatase from the nucleolus leads to the dephosphorylation of Sli15 and redistribution of this complex from kinetochores to the spindle. We show here that the predominantly nucleolar ribosome biogenesis protein Utp7 is also present at kinetochores and is required for normal organization of kinetochore proteins and proper chromosome segregation. Utp7 associates with and regulates the localization of Sli15 and Cdc14. Before anaphase onset, it prevents the premature nucleolar release of Cdc14 and the premature concentration of Sli15 on the spindle. Furthermore, Utp7 can regulate the localization and phosphorylation status of Sli15 independent of its effect on Cdc14 function. Thus, Utp7 is a multifunctional protein that plays essential roles in the vital cellular processes of ribosome biogenesis, chromosome segregation, and cell cycle control