'The New Generation: Chinese Childhoods'

Based on a data set of 72 semi-structured interviews, undertaken with 12 British Chinese families, this PhD sets out to explore the nature of the childhood experience within contemporary British Chinese households. By speaking to parents and children of each family using repeat interviews over a nine-month period, accounts of family life and their relationships with one another can be revealed from both generational perspectives. From this research, there appears to be a similarity between the practices of past and contemporary British Chinese households, which also coincides with accounts from pre-existing academic literature. Research findings suggest that Chinese parents (regardless of backgrounds and length of UK residency), not only identify themselves as being Chinese, but also hold strong attachments to 'traditional' Chinese values and norms. For some British Chinese families this causes domestic issues and problems between parents and their more Westernised offspring. However in comparison to the past, some parents alter and modify their Chinese cultural beliefs which then affect their child-rearing methods, intimacy levels and opportunities for the child's agency. Reasons for this include the parent's own childhood experience, parent's exposure and acceptance of Western practices, as well as empathy for their child's experience of being a British Chinese citizen. External circumstances such as the social setting and surroundings, the actions of the child as well as the parent-child relationship itself also influence household relations and operations. As such, cultural factors alone are not sufficient in explaining and investigating British Chinese families. Instead contemporary British Chinese parenting approaches, parent-child intimacy levels and children's agency should be seen as an interactive and reciprocal process, that are created by and contingent upon practices within and outside of the home. By highlighting the many levels to which British Chinese families play out their lives and how members make sense of their relationships and behaviours, this study expands on the current literature that portrays cultural norms as the main explanatory factor for British Chinese household functioning

‘With my parents I can tell them anything’:Intimacy Levels Within British Chinese Families

Intimacy within relationships and the parent–child bond in particular is said to provide feelings of acceptance, warmth, sensitivity and an appreciation of self and can impact positively upon health and well-being of individuals. Views of intimacy can differ across cultures however, and may not be universally shared or understood. Accordingly, societies will have differing perspectives on how intimacy should be displayed between parents and children. For contemporary Chinese households living in Britain, we do not have an understanding of how residency in the UK may impact upon traditional Chinese values in terms of parent–child intimacy levels. Through a qualitative study with a set of 12 diverse Chinese families living in Britain, using repeat interviews over a nine-month period, Chinese parents and children were asked to reflect on past and present childhood experiences to uncover the ways in which intimacy is displayed and promoted within the parent–child dyad

An Investigation into the Lexicon of Waste

Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the increase in population, urbanization, cheap energies, and new technologies have bankrupted the environment into destruction. This chaos has created a society that transformed itself into one of continual wasting, where energy and resources are constantly dissipating. The myriad of new materials, the decline of the skilled craftsman, and cheap construction are part of the lexicon that defines the 21st century built landscape and ultimately contribute to current plight. Architecture will become an increasingly significant factor in determining the sustainability of the built environment, as defined in terms of life span, carbon footprint, and in our ability to confine this dissipated and inert energy into near infinite circulation. This thesis investigates methods to maximize the value of existing resources such as waste in the context of a much larger framework of systems—societal, socioeconomic, geopolitical, and environmental factors that concern the current discourse. An analysis of design methods and strategies into the ecology of waste, such as: cradle to cradle, secondary re-use of post consumer materials, embodied energy, life-cycle analysis tools, and design for deconstruction—aid in a series of themed hypotheses and experimental projects. These projects use waste and wasted landscape to seek answers to a series of questions that deal with the future predicament of our cities in order to shift perceptions and form contemporary methodologies that assist in calibrating potentials for future waste and waste-scapes

Managing sovereign loans: An analytical framework with empirical applications for Latin American countries.

The motivation for this thesis began with observations of the debate in the media over the implications of the debt crisis, who was to blame and possible solutions. The terminology used (liquidity, solvency, default, repudiation, arrears, etc.) was not considered to be helpful in critically analysing the situation. Indeed, this terminology was likely to create confusion when trying to understand the causes, consequences and alternatives for the debt crisis. What causes debt repayment problems. Why do borrower countries prefer to suspend debt repayments rather than simply repudiate debt. How have lenders coped with this situation. Is there any evidence of an improvement in the situation. For a reader interested and familiar with the debt literature, these questions are not new. What is important is to have an understanding of the possible remedies and be able to design a solution that might resolve the debt crisis in a timely manner rather than allow it to drag on indefinitely with all the costs that that would imply. This thesis explores these questions and shares the views of the advocates of debt relief as part of the solution to the debt problem. In order to place the debt problem in context, the thesis begins with a brief historical account of the borrowing practices of Latin American countries since their independence from Spain. Default is not a new phenomenon. What is new is the source of lending (private banks and not bond holders) and the institutions involved (IMF and World Bank). This has implications for the way debt has been handled which we explore in chapter 1. In addition we review the efforts of researchers in modelling sovereign loans, explaining debt restructuring and searching for the determinants of debt repayment problems. The complexities found when dealing with sovereign loans lie in their nature, or more simply, the lack of collateral. In chapter 2, we take into consideration more explicitly the peculiar nature of sovereign loans and design a two period horizon pure "willingness to pay" model to explore its implications in the loan market equilibrium. If we assume sufficiently risk-averse borrowers and neither adverse selection nor moral hazard, we find that the competitive equilibrium is inefficient. We then reframe this basic model into a bilateral monopoly context and include some bargaining elements. We derive the elements of conflict, the Pareto negotiation locus and discuss possible bargaining solutions in the context of the static axiomatic approach. The design of any solution to the debt crisis requires an understanding of what precipitates a borrower into arrears. Chapter 3 offers an empirical study of LACs during 1971-86 which aims to compare different empirical specifications and trace variables that might usefully be included in our statistical model. Using those results, in chapter 4, we test our empirical model which now includes economic indicators, "crude" political proxies and country heterogeneity fixed effects. Our findings suggest that they are relevant in the assessment of the causes of debt servicing problems. Finally, in chapter 5, we consider the debate concerning "debt overhang" in Latin America. We also provide an account of how the debt problem has been managed and conclude that a prompt solution can not rely on "refinancing" nor on voluntary market debt reduction schemes

Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors Alpha, Beta, and Gamma mRNA and Protein Expression in Human Fetal Tissues

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) regulate lipid and glucose homeostasis, are targets of pharmaceuticals, and are also activated by environmental contaminants. Almost nothing is known about expression of PPARs during human fetal development. This study examines expression of PPARα, β, and γ mRNA and protein in human fetal tissues. With increasing fetal age, mRNA expression of PPARα and β increased in liver, but PPARβ decreased in heart and intestine, and PPARγ decreased in adrenal. Adult and fetal mean expression of PPARα, β, and γ mRNA did not differ in intestine, but expression was lower in fetal stomach and heart. PPARα and β mRNA in kidney and spleen, and PPARγ mRNA in lung and adrenal were lower in fetal versus adult. PPARγ in liver and PPARβ mRNA in thymus were higher in fetal versus adult. PPARα protein increased with fetal age in intestine and decreased in lung, kidney, and adrenal. PPARβ protein in adrenal and PPARγ in kidney decreased with fetal age. This study provides new information on expression of PPAR subtypes during human development and will be important in evaluating the potential for the developing human to respond to PPAR environmental or pharmaceutical agonists

Improvement of myocardial perfusion reserve detected by cardiovascular magnetic resonance after direct endomyocardial implantation of autologous bone marrow cells in patients with severe coronary artery disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent studies suggested that bone marrow (BM) cell implantation in patients with severe chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) resulted in modest improvement in symptoms and cardiac function. This study sought to investigate the functional changes that occur within the chronic human ischaemic myocardium after direct endomyocardial BM cells implantation by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR).</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>We compared the interval changes of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), myocardial perfusion reserve and the extent of myocardial scar by using late gadolinium enhancement CMR in 12 patients with severe CAD. CMR was performed at baseline and at 6 months after catheter-based direct endomyocardial autologous BM cell (n = 12) injection to viable ischaemic myocardium as guided by electromechanical mapping. In patients randomized to receive BM cell injection, there was significant decrease in percentage area of peri-infarct regions (-23.6%, <it>P </it>= <it>0.04</it>) and increase in global LVEF (+9.0%, <it>P </it>= <it>0.02</it>), the percentage of regional wall thickening (+13.1%, <it>P= 0.04</it>) and MPR (+0.25%, <it>P </it>= <it>0.03</it>) over the target area at 6-months compared with baseline.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Direct endomyocardial implantation of autologous BM cells significantly improved global LVEF, regional wall thickening and myocardial perfusion reserve, and reduced percentage area of peri-infarct regions in patients with severe CAD.</p

Evaluation of a peer counselling programme to sustain breastfeeding practice in Hong Kong

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Peer counselling is reported to increase breastfeeding rates. We evaluated an intervention consisting of mainly telephone contact peer counselling programme on breastfeeding duration and exclusivity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Peer counsellors (PCs) were mothers who had successfully breastfed and had received formal training. Following a postnatal visit, they provided scheduled telephone consultations (Days 1, 4, 7, Weeks 2, 4, 8, and Month 4) to PC group mothers (n = 100) who continued breastfeeding their infants after discharge. Control group mothers (n = 100) received routine care.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After adjusting for mothers' previous breastfeeding experiences, mothers' working status and breastfeeding problems, no statistical differences in mothers' feeding methods (exclusive, almost exclusive or predominant breastfeeding) were noted at the three follow-up times for intervention and control mothers respectively (Day 5: 37%/38%, 46%/53%, 57%/63%; Month 3: 10%/9%, 17%/23%, 20%/26%; Month 6: 2%/1%, 18%/18%, 18%/19%). All differences between the groups were not significant. Also, there was no evidence to suggest that PC intervention prolonged breastfeeding duration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The lack of effect of our PC intervention may reflect the low baseline breastfeeding rate and low value placed on breastfeeding in our population, the type of PC intervention or group allocation biases.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ISRCTN93605280.</p