The development of eating pathology in Chinese-Australian women: acculturation versus culture clash

Objective
Recent research suggests there has been an increase in the incidence of eating pathology among Asian women residing in the West. Two alternate explanations for the development of this eating pathology have been proposed; acculturation versus culture clash. The current study was designed to further examine the influence of acculturation versus culture clash on the development of eating pathology in Chinese-Australian women.

Method
Eighty-one Chinese-Australian women completed a questionnaire investigating their level of eating pathology, perceived sociocultural influences to lose weight, parental overprotection and care, self-perceptions of physical appearance, sociability and global self-worth, and the strength of their ethnic identity.

Results
It was found that, overall, low levels of satisfaction with physical appearance, high levels of parental overprotection, and high levels of perceived pressure from best female friends to lose weight predicted greater eating pathology in both acculturated and traditional women. However, acculturated women who perceived higher levels of pressure from their fathers and best male friends to lose weight and traditional women who experienced higher levels of parental care reported the greatest eating pathology.

Discussion
The findings suggest that there are both similarities and differences between the risk factors that correlate with eating pathology between acculturated and traditional women. © 2004 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 35: 579-588, 2004.

The development of eating pathology in Chinese-Australian women: acculturation versus culture clash

Recent research suggests there has been an increase in the incidence of eating pathology among Asian women residing in the West. Two alternate explanations for the development of this eating pathology have been proposed; acculturation versus culture clash. The present study was designed to further examine the influence of acculturation versus culture clash on the development of eating pathology in Chinese-Australian women. Eighty-one Chinese-Australian women completed a questionnaire investigating their level of eating pathology, perceived sociocultural influences to lose weight, parental overprotection and care, selfperceptions of physical appearance, sociability and global self worth, and the strength of their ethnic identity. It was found that overall, low levels of satisfaction with physical appearance, high levels of parental overprotection, and high levels of perceived pressure from best female friends to lose weight predicted greater eating pathology in both acculturated and traditional women. However, acculturated women who perceived higher levels of pressure from their fathers and best male friends to lose weight and traditional women who experienced higher levels of parental care, reported the greatest eating pathology. The findings suggest that there are both similarities and differences between the risk factors that correlate with the eating pathology among acculturated and traditional women.

Teaching Chinese, teaching in Chinese, and teaching the Chinese

This article examines specific issues encountered in various areas of Chinese teaching in Australia. These issues are linked to the spheres of language planning as acquisition and as recovery and language planning as retention (Lo Bianco, 10.1007/s10993-006-9042-3). Specifically relevant to Chinese in Australia is its current prominence in formally declared national language policy, its changing status over time and its similarities and differences with Chinese in the United States (Wang, 10.1007/s10993-006-9043-2). The internationalization of education, and its commodification, has in recent years led to a major expansion in the range of offerings in Chinese in Australia, now catering to growing, and in some institutions to numerically dominant, groupings of native speakers with radically different language and academic needs from the traditional clientele of tertiary and school Chinese programs.

Relationship between genotype and enzyme activity of glutathione S-transferases M1 and P1 in Chinese

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are the major detoxifying Phase II enzyme for eliminating electrophilic compounds. Mutations in GSTM1, GSTP1 and GSTT1 in Caucasian and GSTA1 in Chinese have been found to reduce enzyme activity. However, data on the impact of common genetic polymorphisms of GSTM1 and GSTP1 on enzyme activity in Chinese is lacking. This study aimed to investigate the effect of common GSTP1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms on erythrocyte GST activity in healthy Chinese (n = 196). GSTM1 null mutation (GSTM1*0) was analyzed by a PCR-Multiplex procedure, whereas GSTP1 313A → G polymorphism (resulting in Ile105Val at codon 105) was analyzed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Erythrocyte GST activity was measured using 1-chloro-2,4-dinitro-bezene (CDNB) as the model substrate. The frequency of GSTM1 null genotype was 54.3% and the frequency of GSTP1-Ile/Ile, -Ile/Val, and -Val/Val genotype was 60.7%, 35.2% and 4.1%, respectively, with a frequency of 21.7% for the 105 valine allele. Age, gender and smoking did not significantly affect the erythrocyte GST activities. The mean erythrocyte GST enzyme activity for GSTP1*-Ile/Val genotype group (3.53 ± 0.63 U/g Hb) was significantly lower than that for subjects with GSTP1-Ile/Ile genotype (4.25 ± 1.07 U/g Hb, P = 0.004), while subjects with the GSTP1-Val/Val genotype had the lowest enzyme activity (2.44 ± 0.67 U/g Hb). In addition, the GST activity in carriers of GSTM1*0/GSTP1-Ile/Ile was significantly higher than that of subjects inherited GSTM1*0/GSTP1-Ile/Val or GSTM1*0/GSTP1-Val/Val. However, there is no association between GSTM1 null mutation and reduced enzyme activity. GSTP1 codon 105 mutation led to reduced erythrocyte GST activity in Chinese. A combined GSTP1 and GSTM1 null mutations also resulted in significantly reduced GST activity. Further studies are needed to explore the clinical implications of GSTM1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms.

Social transformation and curriculum reform in Chinese physical education

This thesis examines how Chinese physical education teachers are experiencing curriculum reform within the context of broad social change. Using a qualitative framework the research findings reveal how structural, personal and cultural factors converge to limit the extent to which teachers are able to embrace and implement the new curriculum.

An empirical study of high performance HRM practices in Chinese SMEs

This paper explores the performance effects of human resource management (HRM) practices in 74 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Four high performance HRM practices are identified: performance-based pay, participatory decision-making, free market selection, and performance evaluation. Regression analysis results support the conventional idea that the adoption of HRM practices generates better HRM outcomes and, in turn, better HRM outcomes contribute positively to firm performance. However, not all HRM practices, and their effects, led to improved SME performance. Among the Chinese SMEs investigated, a high level of employee commitment was identified as being the key HRM outcome for enhancing performance.

Empirical analysis of customer behaviors in Chinese e-commerce

With the burgeoning e-Business websites, E-Commerce in China has been developing rapidly in recent years. From the analysis of Chinese E-Commerce market, it is possible to discover customer purchasing patterns or behavior characteristics, which are indispensable knowledge for the expansion of Chinese E-Commerce market. This paper presents an empirical analysis on the sale transactions from the 360buy website based on the analysis of time interval distributions in perspectives of customers. Results reveal that in most situations the time intervals approximately obey the power-law distribution over two orders of magnitudes. Additionally, time interval on customer’s successive purchase can reflect how loyal a customer is to a specific product category. Moreover, we also find an interesting phenomenon about human behaviors that could be related to psychology of customers. In general, customers’ requirements in different product categories are similar. The investigation into individual behaviors may help researchers understand how customers’ group behaviors generated.

The applicability of Western socio-legal frameworks to the study of negotiation in Chinese society

Theoretical frameworks for the examination of negotiation generated by Western academics do not easily translate to Chinese society because of fundamental differences between Western and Chinese society. Attempts to study negotiation in Chinese society and to improve negotiation between Chinese and Western business people are themselves constrained by cross-cultural differences. Extended immersion of Western academics in Chinese settings and the involvement of cross-cultural specialists is required to advance understanding of cross-cultural negotiation. There is enormous potential for improved understanding of cross-cultural dynamics and development of innovative teaching methodologies if institutional and personal cooperation can be secured. Cross-cultural negotiation as a useful tool in socio-legal framework and/or higher education administration is important especially in the current environment for the Australian education export market.

Need to know : lessons from Sino-Australian business negotiators on the importance of guanxi, emotions and generational differences in Chinese negotiation behaviour

The forces of globalisation over the last few decades have created opportunities for intemational business as never before, whilst leaving no organisation immune to competition. With the Global Financial Crisis impacting the world economy, the BRIC economies as a group - Brazil, Russia, India and China, have steadily benefited from continuing growth in 2008 and 2009 (Bhattacharya, Hemerling and Waltermann,2010). Despite China being a key international trading partner for Australia, the number of successful joint ventures and negotiations between the two countries remains limited. A closer examination of the international business interactions between Australia and China is thus urgently needed. When negotiating with the Chinese, Western managers may not always be aware of what they are really negotiating for. To be successful, they have to be equipped with the 'specialised knowledge', a form of 'tacit or implicit knowledge', which comes with experience (Nonaka, 1994, Pavesi, 2003) in communicating and negotiating with their Chinese counterparts. The Chinese way of business negotiation can challenge the logic of Western business thinking. This, coupled with possible generational differences or changes in the Chinese business counterpart's way of doing business, means we must try to understand the business communication and negotiation process from not only the Western but also the Chinese perspective. In particular, in addition to the contextual (Phatak, & Habib, 1996; Risberg, 1997), social (Ghauri, & Fang, 2001), and cognitive factors (George, Gareth, & Gonzalez, 1998) focused on by past researchers, the intangible aspects of negotiation must also be considered. These include trust, reputation, relationship quality (guanxi in the case of the Chinese), and the moods and emotions that shape the processes and outcomes of communication and negotiation (Griffith, 2002; Hartel & Ma, 2006; Ma & Hartel 2005; and Zhao & Krohmer, 2006). This paper reports on a qualitative investigation of the communication processes occurring in negotiations between Australian and Chinese managers and entrepreneurs. The examination is based on a theoretical framework looking at emotions and culture from an affective events theory (AET) perspective. Both interview and focus groups techniques were used. Findings identified guanxi, core to relationship development and maintenance in Chinese culture, together with emotions as major determining factors of negotiation outcomes. Findings also suggest there are generational differences in attitudes among Chinese managers with Gen. X and Gen. Y placing a different emphasis on guanxi in business. These findings suggest that the popular advice to people doing business in China is out of date.

Elevated levels of triglyceride and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein triglyceride induced by a high-carbohydrate diet is associated with polymorphisms of AP0A5-1131T>C and AP0C3-482C> in chinese healthy young adults

Background/aims: Changes in lipid profiles have been shown to be associated with diet and apolipoprotein (APO) polymorphisms. Therefore, 2 polymorphisms, i.e. APOA5-1131T>C and APOC3-482C>T, and serum lipids were examined in a Chinese healthy young population with high-carbohydrate/low-fat (HC/LF) diet intervention.

Methods: After a wash-out diet for 7 days, 56 young adults (22.89 +/- 1.80 years) received the HC/LF diet for 6 days. Body mass index (BMI) and fasting serum lipid profiles at baseline, after the wash-out diet, and after the HC/LF diet were measured.

Results: APOA5-1131C carriers had higher triglyceride (TG) and TG-rich lipoprotein TG (TRL-TG) levels at baseline and after the HC/LF diet, though this mainly corresponded to the female cohort. APOC3-482T carriers had higher TRL-TG levels following the wash-out and HC/LF diets, but these were not directly attributable to a single gender.

Conclusions: Both polymorphisms may play an important role in the elevated TG and TRL-TG levels induced by the HC/LF diet, especially in females, thus indicating a potential dietary prevention of coronary heart disease in this Chinese cohort.