Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Endogenous Sex Selection Model and a Test Using the Chinese Census

The parental sex selection behaviour of altruistic parents without gender specific preference in a monogamous marriage market is studied. Using an OLG model with intra-household resource allocation determined by marriage market bargaining, we find that the equlibrium with a balanced male/female ratio is unstable. Depending on the effect of the marriage market sex ratio on intra-household allocation, there exist stable equilibria with unbalanced sex ratios. Specifically, if the marriage market responsiveness elasticity is small enough and males earn more than females, an equilibrium with a male/female birth ratio in excess of one is stable. From that equilibrium, a reduction in the value of a marriage will tend to increase the male/female birth ratio. This foreshadows the result from the extended model in Yang (2013a), where a reduction in the value of a marriage is attributed to China’s one-child policy, which is empirically associated with an increase in the male/female birth ratio. Another empirical implication of the model is the requirement for equilibrium that the marriage market male/female sex ratio has a negative effect on the number of male births. We find empirical support for this proposition in the 2000 Chinese census.
Sexual Infidelity among Married and Cohabiting Americans

Virtually all American couples, married or cohabiting, expect sexual exclusivity of one another. This article asks why some people are sexually exclusive while others have sex with someone besides their mate. Previous research has linked personal values, sexual opportunities, and quality of the marital relationship to extramartial sex. This paper integrates these findings in a multivariate model that incorporates factors informing sexual decision making as well as demographic “risk factors. ” Nationally representative survey data show higher likelihood of sexual infidelity among those with stronger sexual interests, more permissive sexual values, lower subjective satisfaction with their union, weaker network ties to partner, and greater sexual opportunities. With these factors controlled, gender differences are substantially reduced or eliminated, although racial effects persist.
Managerial Stress in Greater China: The Direct and Moderator Effects of Coping Strategies and Work Locus of Control

La presente etude examine les effets directs et moderateurs des strategies de defense (controle et support) et de la perception de controle au travail (exterieure) sur des relations stresseur-tension entre des gestionnaires de la grande Chine (la Republique populaire de Chine, Hong Kong, et Taiwan). Les donnees ont ete recueillies, via un questionnaire autoadministre, aupres de 876 gestionnaires soit 249 (164 hommes, 85 femmes) en Republique populaire de Chine, 280 a Hong Kong (159 hommes, 120 femmes, 1 non classifie), et 347 (191 hommes, 151 femmes, 5 non classifies) au Taiwan. Des effets directs et moderateurs pour les strategies de defense et pour la perception de controle ont ete demontres pour quelques relations stresseur-tension dans les divers echantillons etudies. The present study aims at examining the direct and moderator effects of coping strategies (control and support coping) and work locus of control (externality) on the stressor-strain relationships among managers in Greater China (the People's Republic of China [PRC], Hong Kong, and Taiwan). A self-administered survey method was employed to collect data from 249 (164 male, 85 female) managers in the PRC, 280 (159 male, 120 female, 1 unclassified) managers in Hong Kong, and 347 (191 male, 151 female, 5 unclassified) managers in Taiwan. The direct and moderator effects of control coping, support coping, and work locus of control on some stressor-strain relationships were demonstrated in the studied samples.
Autoantibodies, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum cytokine profiling in monitoring of early treatment

Introduction Currently used clinical scale and laboratory markers to monitor patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) seem to be not sufficient. It has been demonstrated that disease- related cytokines may be elevated very early in RA development and cytokines are considered as the biomarkers potentially useful for RA monitoring. Material and methods The group of patients with undifferentiated arthritis (UA) developing RA (UA→RA) was identified from a total of 121 people with arthralgia. UA→RA (n = 16) and healthy control (n = 16) subjects underwent clinical and laboratory evaluation, including acute phase reactants (APRs) and autoantibodies. Cytokines IFN-γ, IL-10, TNF, IL-17A, IL-6, IL-1b, IL-2 in sera were assayed using flow cytometric bead array test. Results 34.5% of patients with UA developed RA. DAS28 reduced as early as 3 months after initiation of treatment. No DAS28 difference between groups of autoantibody (RF, anti-CCP, ANA-HEp-2) -positive and -negative patients was observed, however, comparing groups of anti-CCP and RF-double negative and -double positive patients, the trend of sooner clinical improvement was visible in the second abovementioned group. After the treatment introduction, the ESR level reduced significantly, while CRP level reduction was not significant. Serum cytokine levels of IL-10, IL-6 and IL-17A reduced after 6 months since introduction of treatment. The positive correlations between ESR, CRP and specific cytokine levels were observed. Conclusions The autoantibody and APR profile is poorly connected with the RA course. The serum cytokine profile change in the course of RA and may be potentially used for optimization of RA monitoring.
Resistant or Favorable? Chinese Learners' Beliefs towards Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching

English as Foreign Language (EFL) in East Asia involves major sociocultural issues. Modern, Western-based methodologies such as Communicative Language Learning (CLL, Communicative Language Teaching, CLT in this paper) and its further development Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching (TBLLT, Ellis, 2003), feature principles which can conflict with some of the fundamental values of Confucian Heritage Cultures (CHC) education and hinder their adoption in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Hong-Kong and Vietnam. This article introduces a sociocultural, ethnographic perspective on EFL in East Asia which contextualizes language teaching in its broader educational and cultural environment. Teacher-centeredness, book and writing focuses, memorization strategies within a grammar-translation approach are in contradiction with modern language teaching methodologies’ focuses on learner-centeredness and teachers’ facilitating roles, student participation and interactions, communication competence and learner autonomy. The text advocates for a mean between Western and Eastern learning cultures through a context-based, culturally-sensitive approach and introduces classroom’s strategies for the implementation of CLL and TBLLT in China and East Asia. Keywords: Chinese culture of learning, Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning, Intercultural learning. Received: 2014–04–17 / Accepted: 2015–02–26 How to reference this article: Le Gal, D. & I. Chou, P. (2015). Resistant or favorable? Chinese learners' beliefs towards task–based language learning and teaching. Akala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 20 (1), 95–110. doi: 10.17533/udea.ikala. v20n1a06
Anatomy and physiology of the clitoris, vestibular bulbs, and labia minora with a review of the female orgasm and the prevention of female sexual dysfunction

This review, with 21 figures and 1 video, aims to clarify some important aspects of the anatomy and physiology of the female erectile organs (triggers of orgasm), which are important for the prevention of female sexual dysfunction. The clitoris is the homologue of the male's glans and corpora cavernosa, and erection is reached in three phases: latent, turgid, and rigid. The vestibular bulbs cause “vaginal” orgasmic contractions, through the rhythmic contraction of the bulbocavernosus muscles. Because of the engorgement with blood during sexual arousal, the labia minora become turgid, doubling or tripling in thickness. The corpus spongiosum of the female urethra becomes congested during sexual arousal; therefore, male erection equals erection of the female erectile organs. The correct anatomical term to describe the erectile tissues responsible for female orgasm is the female penis. Vaginal orgasm and the G‐spot do not exist. These claims are found in numerous articles that have been written by Addiego F, Whipple B, Jannini E, Buisson O, O'Connell H, Brody S, Ostrzenski A, and others, have no scientific basis. Orgasm is an intense sensation of pleasure achieved by stimulation of erogenous zones. Women do not have a refractory period after each orgasm and can, therefore, experience multiple orgasms. Clitoral sexual response and the female orgasm are not affected by aging. Sexologists should define having sex/love making when orgasm occurs for both partners with or without vaginal intercourse. Clin. Anat. 26:134–152, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Post-transplant cyclophosphamide versus anti-thymocyte globulin as graft- versus-host disease prophylaxis in haploidentical transplant

Severe graft-versus-host disease is a major barrier for non-T-cell-depleted haploidentical stem cell transplantation. There is no consensus on the optimal graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis. This study compared the two most commonly used graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis regimens (post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based vs. the anti-thymocyte globulin-based) in adults with acute myeloid leukemia reported to the European Society for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation. A total of 308 patients were analyzed; 193 received post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based regimen and 115 anti-thymocyte globulin-based regimen as anti-graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis. The post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based regimen was more likely to be associated to bone marrow as graft source (60% vs. 40%; P=0.01). Patients in the post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based regimen group had significantly less grade 3–4 acute graft-versus-host disease than those in the anti-thymocyte globulin-based group (5% vs. 12%, respectively; P=0.01), comparable to chronic graft-versus-host disease. Multivariate analysis showed that non-relapse mortality was lower in the post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based regimen group [22% vs. 30%, Hazard ratio (HR) 1.77(95%CI: 1.09–2.86); P=0.02] with no difference in relapse incidence. Patients receiving post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based regimen had better graft-versus-host disease-free, relapse-free survival [HR 1.45 (95%CI: 1.04–2.02); P=0.03] and leukemia-free survival [HR 1.48 (95%CI: 1.03–2.12); P=0.03] than those in the anti-thymocyte globulin-based group. In the multivariate analysis, there was also a trend for a higher overall survival [HR 1.43 (95%CI: 0.98–2.09); P=0.06] for post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based regimen versus the anti-thymocyte globulin-based group. Notably, center experience was also associated with non-relapse mortality and graft-versus-host disease-free, relapse-free survival. Haplo-SCT using a post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based regimen can achieve better leukemia-free survival and graft-versus-host disease-free, relapse-free survival, lower incidence of graft-versus-host disease and non-relapse mortality as compared to anti-thymocyte globulin-based graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
The Political Economy of Rural Industrialization in China: Village Conglomerates in Shandong Province

While the people's communes were formally dismantled in 1984 with the implementation of the Household Responsibility System (HRS), in Shandong province this dismantling has not resulted in a privatized rural economy. After eighteen years of economic reform, many peasants who have gained autonomy in agricultural production are still largely dependent on rural collective institutions for their income and welfare. Paradoxically, the communal benefits and services that one would normally associate with socialism, which were rarely found in Shandong's countryside before the economic reform, have appeared only after the demise of socialism under the incentives of market pressures. If socialism had originally promised prosperity and mutual benefit, why was the promise not fulfilled under the Maoist model of development from 1958 to 1978, and why is this promise being fulfilled in many villages in Shandong today? This case study of the village conglomerate (VC; cunjituan zonggongsi) provides a partial answer by examining the politics of rural industrialization as it occurred in four villages in Shandong province. It describes in detail the extreme end of the continuum of villages on the local state corporatism scale. '
HIV Transmission among Men Who Have Sex with Men due to Condom Failure

Background Despite preventive efforts, HIV incidence remains high among men who have sex with men (MSM) in industrialized countries. Condoms are an important element in prevention but, given the high frequency of condom use and their imperfect effectiveness, a substantial number and proportion of HIV transmissions may occur despite condoms. We developed a model to examine this hypothesis. Methods We used estimates of annual prevalent and incident HIV infections for MSM in Ontario. For HIV-negative men, we applied frequencies of sexual episodes and per-contact HIV transmission risks of receptive and insertive anal sex with and without a condom and oral sex without a condom. We factored in the proportion of HIV-infected partners receiving antiretroviral therapy and its impact in reducing transmissibility. We used Monte-Carlo simulation to determine the plausible range for the proportion of HIV transmissions for each sexual practice. Results Among Ontario MSM in 2009, an estimated 92,963 HIV-negative men had 1,184,343 episodes of anal sex with a condom and 117,133 anal sex acts without a condom with an HIV-positive partner. Of the 693 new HIV infections, 51% were through anal sex with a condom, 33% anal sex without a condom and 16% oral sex. For anal sex with a condom, the 95% confidence limits were 17% and 77%. Conclusions The proportion of HIV infections related to condom failure appears substantial and higher than previously thought. That 51% of transmissions occur despite condom use may be conservative (i.e. low) since we used a relatively high estimate (87.1%) for condom effectiveness. If condom effectiveness were closer to 70%, a value estimated from a recent CDC study, the number and proportion of HIV transmissions occurring despite condom use would be much higher. Therefore, while condom use should continue to be promoted and enhanced, this alone is unlikely to stem the tide of HIV infection among MSM.
Classroom Assessment Practices and Learning Motivation: A Case Study of Chinese EFL Students

Classroom-based assessment carried out by teachers has received renewed interest and support in current international educational research and policy, particularly across a number of diverse jurisdictions in locations such as Australia, Hong Kong and England (Author 2, 2009; Author al. 2018). This renewed interest in classroom-based assessment parallels the paradigmatic movement towards assessment for learning that serves as an integral part of the teaching and learning process (Black & Wiliam, 1998). Contextually bound and contingent to individual teachers’ classrooms, classroom assessment is often described as encompassing all activities performed and artefacts used by a teacher to gather relevant information to make well-supported inferences about student learning. In recent years, a large body of literature around L2 teachers’ cognitions and experiences with classroom-based assessment has been gradually building up (e.g., Rea–Dickins, 2007; Cheng & Fox, However, relatively fewer studies have examined what
Cultural policy and revolutionary music during China’s Cultural Revolution: the case of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

This paper examines the relation between the cultural policy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the music of model plays (yangbanxi 样板戏), especially music produced by Western symphony orchestras, during the ten-year Cultural Revolution in China. It takes the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO) as the focal point of this historical episode. Model plays of the Cultural Revolution promoted communist and revolutionary themes. All aspects of their performance were examined for conformity to Maoist thought. This paper explores how the CCP’s ideology and its cultural policy were embodied in revolutionary music, using one of the model plays, Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, as an analytical case study. Most of the historical materials cited in this research are held by the SSO Archive. The SSO played a crucial role in creating and performing the music for Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy. The academic value of its archive has long been overlooked. This paper provides a new perspective on the Cultural Revolution, one viewed through policies of a Western symphony orchestra, and it suggests that scholars apply the term ‘cultural policy’ more deliberately in future studies of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
State and Agents in China: Disciplining Government Officials

Chinese government officials have played a crucial role in China's economic development, but they are also responsible for severe problems, including environmental pollution, violation of citizens' rights, failure in governance, and corruption. How does the Chinese Party-state respond when a government official commits a duty-related malfeasance or criminal activity? And how does it balance the potential political costs of disciplining its own agents versus the loss of legitimacy in tolerating their misdeeds? State and Agents in China explores how the party-state addresses this dilemma, uncovering the rationale behind the selective disciplining of government officials and its implications for governance in China. By examining the discipline of state agents, Cai shows how selective punishment becomes the means of balancing the need for and difficulties of disciplining agents, and explains why some erring agents are tolerated while others are punished. Cai finds that the effectiveness of punishing erring officials in China does not depend so much on the Party-state's capacity to detect and punish each erring official but on the threat it creates when the Party-state decides to mete out punishment. Importantly, the book also shows how relaxed discipline allows reform-minded officials to use rule-violating reform measures to address local problems, and how such reform measures have significant implications for the regime's resilience.
The telecommunications regulatory regimes in Hong Kong and Singapore: when direct state intervention meets indirect policy instruments

Abstract Successful economic liberalization somewhat paradoxically requires high levels of state capacity, while ‘deregulated’ markets deploy new regulatory mechanisms that, rather than diminishing state power, reconfigure it. A comparative case study into the recent liberalization reforms of the telecommunications sectors of Hong Kong and Singapore is presented here in order to throw light on these developments. The end result of the reform processes in each jurisdiction is quite similar – globally open, competitive and highly efficient telecommunications markets in which major global companies are leading players. However, the routes by which this end result was achieved tell different stories about the manner in which governments balance domestic interests in the process of liberalization. They build on local institutional strengths and deploy instruments appropriate to their own bureaucratic and political contexts. Correspondingly, in constructing the ‘new regulatory state’, they produce subtle variations on the pro-competitive model of regulation. However, detailed analysis of the two reformed telecommunications regimes shows that underlying these differences is the prominence of a common set of instruments that make less use of highly intrusive, direct forms of state power but greater use of more indirect forms that thrive ‘in the shadow’ of state authority, a phenomenon that is at the heart of theorizing about the new regulatory state. These instruments enhance rather than diminish state capacity where they are deployed strategically by governments.
Televised Sexual Content and Parental Mediation: Influences on Adolescent Sexuality

Little research has been conducted to examine the influence of exposure to televised sexual content on adolescent sexuality or how parental intervention may reduce negative effects of viewing such content. This study uses self-report data from 1,012 adolescents to investigate the relations among exposure to sexually suggestive programming, parental mediation strategies, and three types of adolescent sexuality outcomes: participation in oral sex and sexual intercourse, future intentions to engage in these behaviors, and sex expectancies. As predicted, exposure to sexual content was associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in sexual behaviors, increased intentions to do so in the future, and more positive sex expectancies. Often, parental mediation strategies were a significant factor in moderating these potential media influences.
Private Transfers and Emerging Welfare States in East Asia: Comparative Perspectives

Empirical studies on income distribution and poverty have indicated that the public transfer system has been successful in terms of poverty and inequality reduction in welfare states. However, very little attention has been paid to private transfers in this analysis. Recently, while there has been an increasing interest in the unique features of East Asian welfare states/regimes, many scholars have begun to have an interest in the role of the family in their welfare mix. This article aims to widen the scope of comparative income studies, firstly by analyzing 12 Western welfare states and two newly emerging East Asian welfare states, i.e. South Korea and Taiwan, and secondly, by comparing the poverty and inequality reduction effects of private transfers with those of public transfers. The Luxemburg Income Study dataset is used for the analysis. The empirical results indicate that private transfers are much more effective than public transfers in terms of income inequality and poverty reduction effects in both South Korea and Taiwan, in contrast to western counterparts including three Southern European countries. Finally, based on the results, we propose further research questions.
Rare variants in FBN 1 and FBN 2 are associated with severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Department of Genetics, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Psychiatry, Department of Neurology Department of Pediatrics, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Colorado, Denver, CO 80202, USA, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China and St. Louis Shriners Hospital for Children, St. Louis, MO 63131, USA