The Rise of Industrial East Asia: The Role of Confucian Values

The study of East Asia as an intriguing Problematik in the field of economic development and as a methodological challenge in comparative politics has fascinated academicians in North America and in Western Europe for a whole generation. Only recently has it become a major concern of policy makers and the general public in the so-called First World. Ironically, as government officials and the mass media begin to show great interest in the rise of industrial East Asia, cautious academicians feel compelled to make more differentiated observations about the region. As a result, the public demand for broad generalizations is often met with considerable qualifications from the academic community. Indeed, scholarly efforts have been made to show that the whole concept, "Industrial East Asia," may be inadvisable, that Japan is an anomaly on the world economic stage and that the rise of these states as the most dynamic region in international trade has very little to do with shared cultural orientations. As a student of East Asian culture, I am excited that interpreting East Asia in the light of conceptual resources learned from the West, originally the professional goal of a small coterie of like-minded researchers, is now shared by a widening network of concerned citizens of the world. I am also grateful that fascination with Japan and the Four "Mini-Dragons" has progressed from exclusively economic and political analyses to include social studies and cultural appreciation. I use the word "progressed" advisedly. Even though I emphasize the vital importance of culture in our understanding of East Asia, I am fully cognizant of factors such as international trade, the geopolitical situation and the institutional sector in formulating an explanation for the rise of industrial East Asia

Genetically engineered pre-microRNA-34a prodrug suppresses orthotopic osteosarcoma xenograft tumor growth via the induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor in children, and microRNA-34a (miR-34a) replacement therapy represents a new treatment strategy. This study was to define the effectiveness and safety profiles of a novel bioengineered miR-34a prodrug in orthotopic OS xenograft tumor mouse model. Highly purified pre-miR-34a prodrug significantly inhibited the proliferation of human 143B and MG-63 cells in a dose dependent manner and to much greater degrees than controls, which was attributed to induction of apoptosis and G2 cell cycle arrest. Inhibition of OS cell growth and invasion were associated with release of high levels of mature miR-34a from pre-miR-34a prodrug and consequently reduction of protein levels of many miR-34a target genes including SIRT1, BCL2, c-MET, and CDK6. Furthermore, intravenous administration of in vivo-jetPEI formulated miR-34a prodrug significantly reduced OS tumor growth in orthotopic xenograft mouse models. In addition, mouse blood chemistry profiles indicated that therapeutic doses of bioengineered miR-34a prodrug were well tolerated in these animals. The results demonstrated that bioengineered miR-34a prodrug was effective to control OS tumor growth which involved the induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, supporting the development of bioengineered RNAs as a novel class of large molecule therapeutic agents

Modeling and performance of a 100-element pHEMT grid amplifier

A 100-element hybrid grid amplifier has been fabricated, The active devices in the grid are custom-made pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) differential-pair chips. We present a model for gain analysis and compare measurements with theory. The grid includes stabilizing resistors in the gate. Measurements show the grid has a peak gain of 10 db when tuned for 10 GHz and a gain of 12 dB when tuned for 9 GHz. The maximum 3-dB bandwidth is 15% at 9 GHz. The minimum noise figure is 3 dB. The maximum saturated output power is 3.7 W, with a peak power-added efficiency of 12%. These results area significant improvement over previous grid amplifiers based on heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's)

Gates controlled parallel-coupled double quantum dot on both single layer and bilayer graphene

Here we report the fabrication and quantum transport measurements of gates controlled parallel-coupled double quantum dot on both bilayer and single layer graphene. It is shown that the interdot coupling strength of the parallel double dots can be effectively tuned from weak to strong regime by both the in-plane plunger gates and back gate. All the relevant energy scales and parameters of the graphene parallel-coupled double dot can be extracted from the honeycomb charge stability diagrams revealed through the transport measurements.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure