Comparative study of accounting adaptation: China and Japan during the nineteenth century

This study attempts to examine why western accounting was adopted in one Asian country, Japan, and not in another, China, when modern accounting methods were brought to the East during the mid-19th century. The explanation offered is socio-cultural. China was characterized by centralized political power, a society resistant to change, an anti-merchant policy and narrow-based learning. In contrast, Japan had dispersed structures of political power, a society receptive to change, a pro-merchant policy and broad-based learning. In China, the emphasis was to preserve harmony and integration in accord with mainstream Chinese ideology which had created a highly stable and tradition-oriented society. Chinese enterprises that operated within this institutional framework were unlikely to adopt western-style double-entry bookkeeping. In Japan there was no specifically institutionalized anti-capitalist doctrine to prevent the rise of industrialism and the adoption of modern accounting

Effects of oxytocin on attention to emotional faces in healthy volunteers and highly socially anxious males

Background: Evidence suggests that individuals with social anxiety demonstrate vigilance to social threat, whilst the peptide hormone oxytocin is widely accepted as supporting affiliative behaviour in humans. Methods: This study investigated whether oxytocin can affect attentional bias in social anxiety. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, within-group study design, 26 healthy and 16 highly socially anxious (HSA) male volunteers (within the HSA group, 10 were diagnosed with generalized social anxiety disorder) were administered 24 IU of oxytocin or placebo to investigate attentional processing in social anxiety. Attentional bias was assessed using the dot-probe paradigm with angry, fearful, happy and neutral face stimuli. Results: In the baseline placebo condition, the HSA group showed greater attentional bias for emotional faces than healthy individuals. Oxytocin reduced the difference between HSA and non-socially anxious individuals in attentional bias for emotional faces. Moreover, it appeared to normalize attentional bias in HSA individuals to levels seen in the healthy population in the baseline condition. The biological mechanisms by which oxytocin may be exerting these effects are discussed. Conclusions: These results, coupled with previous research, could indicate a potential therapeutic use of this hormone in treatment for social anxiety

Continuous backward-wave generation by degenerate four-wave mixing in optical fibers

We report on the observation of cw backward-wave generation using degenerate four-wave mixing in a nonresonant medium. The interaction took place inside a 3-m-long CS2-filled 4-µm i.d. optical fiber. With a pump power of only 6 mW inside the fiber, a backward-wave conversion efficiency of 0.45% has been observed, which is in reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions

Optimization and Functional Effects of Stable Short Hairpin RNA Expression in Primary Human Lymphocytes via Lentiviral Vectors

Specific, potent, and sustained short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated gene silencing is crucial for the successful application of RNA interference technology to therapeutic interventions. We examined the effects of shRNA expression in primary human lymphocytes (PBLs) using lentiviral vectors bearing different RNA polymerase III promoters. We found that the U6 promoter is more efficient than the H1 promoter for shRNA expression and for reducing expression of CCR5 in PBLs. However, shRNA expression from the U6 promoter resulted in a gradual decline of the transduced cell populations. With one CCR5 shRNA this decline could be attributed to elevated apoptosis but another CCR5 shRNA that caused cytotoxicity did not show evidence of apoptosis, suggesting sequence-specific mechanisms for cytotoxicity. In contrast to the U6 promoter, PBLs transduced by vectors expressing shRNAs from the H1 promoter could be maintained without major cytotoxic effects. Since a lower level of shRNA expression appears to be advantageous to maintaining the shRNA-transduced population, lentiviral vectors bearing the H1 promoter are more suitable for stable transduction and expression of shRNA in primary human T lymphocytes. Our results suggest that functional shRNA screens should include tests for both potency and adverse metabolic effects upon primary cells

Analytical model for residual bond strength of corroded reinforcement in concrete structures

Bond strength deterioration in corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete structures significantly affects serviceability and load-carrying capacity in their remaining service life. This paper presents a new analytical model for predicting the cracking development in the surrounding concrete and the residual bond strength of rebar in concrete structures due to reinforcement corrosion. The proposed analytical method adopts the thick-walled cylinder model for the cover concrete and considers the realistic properties of the corrosion-induced cracked concrete such as anisotropic behavior, residual tensile strength, and reduced tensile stiffness. As corrosion progresses, three phases for bond strength evolution associated with concrete cracking development are defined and the corresponding corrosion levels in each phase are determined. By using the constructed new governing equation, the crack width growth in the concrete cover and the radial bursting pressure at the bond interface are evaluated. The ultimate bond strength is then estimated from the contributions of adhesion, confinement, and corrosion pressure as a function of corrosion level. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed analytical model is demonstrated by comparing the predicted results with experimental data available, and the results show that the proposed model is useful for predicting the bond strength evolution of the corroded rebar in concrete structures

A behavioral comparison of male and female adults with high functioning autism spectrum conditions

Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) affect more males than females in the general population. However, within ASC it is unclear if there are phenotypic sex differences. Testing for similarities and differences between the sexes is important not only for clinical assessment but also has implications for theories of typical sex differences and of autism. Using cognitive and behavioral measures, we investigated similarities and differences between the sexes in age- and IQ-matched adults with ASC (high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome). Of the 83 (45 males and 38 females) participants, 62 (33 males and 29 females) met Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) cut-off criteria for autism in childhood and were included in all subsequent analyses. The severity of childhood core autism symptoms did not differ between the sexes. Males and females also did not differ in self-reported empathy, systemizing, anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive traits/symptoms or mentalizing performance. However, adult females with ASC showed more lifetime sensory symptoms (p = 0.036), fewer current socio-communication difficulties (p = 0.001), and more self-reported autistic traits (p = 0.012) than males. In addition, females with ASC who also had developmental language delay had lower current performance IQ than those without developmental language delay (p<0.001), a pattern not seen in males. The absence of typical sex differences in empathizing-systemizing profiles within the autism spectrum confirms a prediction from the extreme male brain theory. Behavioral sex differences within ASC may also reflect different developmental mechanisms between males and females with ASC. We discuss the importance of the superficially better socio-communication ability in adult females with ASC in terms of why females with ASC may more often go under-recognized, and receive their diagnosis later, than males

Transgene Excision Has No Impact on In Vivo Integration of Human iPS Derived Neural Precursors

The derivation of induced human pluripotent stem cells (hiPS) has generated significant enthusiasm particularly for the prospects of cell-based therapy. But there are concerns about the suitability of iPS cells for in vivo applications due in part to the introduction of potentially oncogenic transcription factors via viral vectors. Recently developed lentiviral vectors allow the excision of viral reprogramming factors and the development of transgene-free iPS lines. However it is unclear if reprogramming strategy has an impact on the differentiation potential and the in vivo behavior of hiPS progeny. Here we subject viral factor-free, c-myc-free and conventionally reprogrammed four-factor human iPS lines to a further challenge, by analyzing their differentiation potential along the 3 neural lineages and over extended periods of time in vitro, as well as by interrogating their ability to respond to local environmental cues by grafting into the striatum. We demonstrate similar and efficient differentiation into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes among all hiPS and human ES line controls. Upon intracranial grafting in the normal rat (Sprague Dawley), precursors derived from all hiPS lines exhibited good survival and response to environmental cues by integrating into the subventricular zone, acquiring phenotypes typical of type A, B or C cells and migrating along the rostral migratory stream into the olfactory bulb. There was no teratoma or other tumor formation 12 weeks after grafting in any of the 26 animals used in the study. Thus neither factor excision nor persistence of c-myc impact the behavior of hiPS lines in vivo.United States. National Institutes of HealthNew York State Stem Cell ScienceNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (U.S.)Starr Foundation (Tri-Institutional Starr Stem Cell Scholars Fellowship