Constructing a traditional Chinese medicine data warehouse application

The explosive growth in the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has resulted in the continued increase in clinical and research data. The lack of standardised terminology, flaws in data quality planning and management of TCM informatics are preventing clinical decision-making, drug discovery and education. This paper argues that the introduction of data warehousing technologies to enhance the effectiveness and durability in TCM is paramount. To showcase the role of data warehousing in the improvement of TCM, this paper presents a practical model for data warehousing with detailed explanation, which is based on the structured electronic records, for TCM clinical researches and medical knowledge discovery.

Democracy, Participation, and Deliberation in China : The discussion about democratic centralism in the official Chinese press, 1978-1981

This study examines the Chinese press discussion about democratic centralism in 1978-1981 in newspapers, political journals and academic journals distributed nationwide. It is thus a study of intellectual trends during the Hua Guofeng period and of methods, strategies, and techniques of public political discussion of the time. In addition, this study presents democratic centralism as a comprehensive theory of democracy and evaluates this theory. It compares the Chinese theory of democratic centralism with Western traditions of democracy, not only with the standard liberal theory but also with traditions of participatory and deliberative democracy, in order to evaluate whether the Chinese theory of democratic centralism forms a legitimate theory of democracy. It shows that the Chinese theory comes close to participatory types of democracy and shares a conception of democracy as communication with the theory of deliberative democracy. Therefore, the Chinese experience provides some empirical evidence of the practicability of these traditions of democracy. Simultaneously, this study uses experiences of participatory democracies outside of China to explain some earlier findings about the Chinese practices. This dissertation also compares Chinese theory with some common Western theories and models of Chinese society as well as with Western understandings of Chinese political processes. It thus aims at opening more dialogue between Chinese and Western political theories and understandings about Chinese polity. This study belongs to scholarly traditions of the history of ideas, political philosophy, comparative politics, and China studies. The main finding of this study is that the Chinese theory of democratic centralism is essentially a theory about democracy, but whether its scrupulous practicing alone would be sufficient for making a country a democracy depends on which established definition of democracy one applies and on what kind of democratic deficits are seen as being acceptable within a truly democratic system. Nevertheless, since the Chinese theory of democratic centralism fits well with some established definitions of democracy and since democratic deficits are a reality in all actual democracies, the Chinese themselves are talking about democracy in terms acceptable to Western political philosophy as well.

Growth and Carcase Characters of Progeny from Caprine Feral Does Mated to Boer or Feral Bucks in Western Queensland

In recent years significant numbers of Australian goats have been harvested from the feral population to supply a strong demand for export of meat. In addition large numbers of feral does have been domesticated to increase breeding herds in western Queensland. Introduction of the Boer breed to Australia as a specialist meat goat may provide a genetic means for improving the productive performance of the Australian feral. The present paper reports growth and carcase attributes of feral and Boer x feral genotypes born in 1998 and birthweight of those born in 1999. Animal production for a consuming world : proceedings of 9th Congress of the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies [AAAP] and 23rd Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of Animal Production [ASAP] and 17th Annual Symposium of the University of Sydney, Dairy Research Foundation, [DRF]. 2-7 July 2000, Sydney, Australia.

Genetic Parameters for Physiological Characters in Merino Rams in Central and North West Queensland

Genetic and phenotypic parameters for respiration rate (RR) and rectal temperature (RT) are presented for weaner and hogget Merino rams, at Longreach and Julia Creek, Queensland. Heritability estimates for RT and RR at both sites and at both ages ranged from moderate to very high. Phenotypic and genetic correlations between these characters are also reported. AAABG 14th Conference; Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. AAABG

Intersex onscreen: An overview of recent fictional characters with intersex variations on television

Throughout history, people with intersex variations have been positioned somewhere between ‘prodigy literature and pornography, mythology and medical discourse’ (Gilbert 2000, 145). Indubitably, contemporary representations have changed in step with societal values, yet it could be argued there is still slippage, and, moreover, very little is seen or heard about intersex at all. Where once there was the awe and horror of the highly visible carnival sideshow or medical treatise, the intersex body is now rendered absent by medical intervention, which is invoked to fix the intersexed in both mind and body. This paper explores the fictional representation of people with intersex variations on screen – television and film in predominantly the genres of drama and comedy – arriving finally at characters originating from program-makers willing to work closely with the intersex community. Such texts disrupt unwarranted categorization and erasure by “owning” discursive practices, defying current medical interference and promoting ethical debates around the will-to-normalise what is considered to be aberrant, deviant and abject.

Corporate disclosure in relation to combating corporate bribery: A case study of two Chinese telecommunications companies

This paper investigates the association between global community concerns about bribery activities and anti-bribery disclosure practices by two Chinese telecommunication companies operating internationally, namely China Mobile and ZTE. Based on content analysis of annual reports and global news media articles over a period of 16 years from 1995-2010, the findings suggest that the changes in the level of disclosures by the two major Chinese telecommunications companies were closely associated with the level of international concerns over bribery practices within the Chinese telecommunications industry. This finding indicates that the companies adopt anti-bribery disclosure practices in order to minimise the gap of trust (Social capital) between companies themselves and global stakeholders. In this paper we argue that, for domestic companies in China, culturally constructed social capital, such as guanxi, creates a level of trust between managers and their stakeholders, which obviates the need for managers to disclose anti-bribery performance information. However, for companies operating internationally, as social capital is inadequate to bridge the gap of trust between managers and global stakeholders, managers use disclosures of anti-bribery performance information as a way to minimise such a gap.

Effect of the puroindoline locus and environment on Chinese fresh noodle texture

Grain produced from doubled-haploid (DH) wheat lines, developed from a hard- and a soft-grained wheat cultivar, were bulked according to Pinb (puroindoline b) genotypes for an assessment of Chinese fresh noodle texture by a trained taste panel. Each DH line was designated as 'soft' or 'hard' grained, based on a PCR amplification of the wildtype, soft allele, or the mutant, hard allele. Theoretically, the soft and hard grain bulks represented respective Pinb alleles and an independent assortment of unlinked alleles from the parents, Sunco and Chuanyu 12. Grains from the parents and DH lines were grown at 2 locations in Queensland, Australia, and one in Sichuan, China. The grains were milled and processed for a taste panel evaluation in Chengdu, Sichuan. Results suggest the Pinb alleles had a significant effect on noodle softness and explained 30% of the variation; the 'soft' Pinb allele conferred a softer noodle texture. Location had a significant effect on noodle smoothness; wheat grain grown at Biloela, Queensland, produced a smoother noodle texture than grain grown in Sichuan. The effect of location confirms the importance of environment as a variable for this quality character. This investigation exemplifies the utility of Pinb markers for specifically altering Chinese Fresh Noodle texture.

Sharism and social awareness of the Chinese One Child Generation: Urban youth and digital networks

This thesis is a study of Chinese One Child Generation's digital and social sharing. It examines urban youth grassroots communities, including an urban farmers' community and volunteers in educational camps. These case studies explain the emergence of 'sharism' in reaction to the growing risks in China, such as food safety and environmental degradation emanating from China's rapid economic development, and growing urbanism, globalisation, and consumerism. The new forms of 'sharism' are linked to guanxi (social relations) and connected youth communities, which are made possible by increasing accessibility to digital and networked technologies.

Anticipating Chinese Tourists Arrivals in Australia: A Time Series Analysis

Given the growing importance of the Chinese tourist market to Australia, an understanding of Chinese tourists' arrival patterns is essential to accurate forecasting of future arrivals. Drawing on 25 years of records (1991-2015), this study developed a time-series model of monthly arrivals of Chinese tourists in Australia. The model reflects the exponentially increasing trend and strong seasonality of arrivals. Excellent results from validation of the model's forecasts endorsed this time-series model's potential in the policy prescription and management practice of Australian tourism industries.

Geographic and Phenotypic Variation in Heartwood and Essential-Oil Characters in Natural Populations of Santalum austrocaledonicum in Vanuatu.

Phenotypic variation in heartwood and essential-oil characters of Santalum austrocaledonicum was assessed across eleven populations on seven islands of Vanuatu Trees differed significantly in their percentage heartwood cross-sectional area and this varied independently of stem diameter The concentrations of the four major essential-oil constituents (alpha-santalol, beta-santalol. (Z)-beta-curcumen-12-ol, and cis-nuciferol) of alcohol-extracted heartwood exhibited at least tenfold and continuous tree-to-tree variation Commercially important components alpha- and beta-santalol found in individual trees ranged from 0 8-47% and 0-24 1%, respectively, across all populations, and significant (P < 0 05) differences for each were found between Individual populations. The Erromango population was unique in that the mean concentrations of its monocyclic ((Z)-beta-curcumen-12-ol and cis-nuciferol) sesquiterpenes exceeded those of Its bi- and tricyclic (alpha- and beta-santalol) sesquiterpenes Heartwood colour varied between trees and spanned 65 colour categories, but no identifiable relationships were found between heartwood colour and alpha- and beta-santalol, although a weak relationship was evident between colour saturation and total oil concentration These results indicate that the heartwood colour is not a reliable predictive trait for oil quality The results of this study highlight the knowledge gaps in fundamental understanding of heartwood biology in Santalum genus The intraspecific variation in heartwood cross-sectional area. oil concentration. and oil quality traits is of considerable importance to the domestication of sandalwood and present opportunities for the development of highly superior S austrocaledonicum cultivars that conform to the industry's International Standards used for S album.

Albert and Elsa Einstein at the Shanghai home of Chinese painter and calligrapher Wang Yiting; with Shanghai University President Yu Youren, former Beijing University professor Zhang Junmai, the Einstein's Japanese hosts Mr. and Mrs. Inagaki, and Einstein's colleague Mr. Pfister and his wife (and daughter?) Portraits Groups

Dedication: Freundlichste Erinnerung an Herrn Prof. Einstein und seine Frau Gemahlin. I-Jing Wang, Shanghai, China

Early detection of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chinese and Indian adult population

Objectives of this study were to determine secular trends of diabetes prevalence in China and develop simple risk assessment algorithms for screening individuals with high-risk for diabetes or with undiagnosed diabetes in Chinese and Indian adults. Two consecutive population based surveys in Chinese and a prospective study in Mauritian Indians were involved in this study. The Chinese surveys were conducted in randomly selected populations aged 20-74 years in 2001-2002 (n=14 592) and 35-74 years in 2006 (n=4416). A two-step screening strategy using fasting capillary plasma glucose (FCG) as first-line screening test followed by standard 2-hour 75g oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) was applied to 12 436 individuals in 2001, while OGTTs were administrated to all participants together with FCG in 2006 and to 2156 subjects in 2002. In Mauritius, two consecutive population based surveys were conducted in Mauritian Indians aged 20-65 years in 1987 and 1992; 3094 Indians (1141 men), who were not diagnosed as diabetes at baseline, were reexamined with OGTTs in 1992 and/or 1998. Diabetes and pre-diabetes was defined following 2006 World Health Organization/ International Diabetes Federation Criteria. Age-standardized, as well as age- and sex-specific, prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in adult Chinese was significantly increased from 12.2% and 15.4% in 2001 to 16.0% and 21.2% in 2006, respectively. A simple Chinese diabetes risk score was developed based on the data of Chinese survey 2001-2002 and validated in the population of survey 2006. The risk scores based on β coefficients derived from the final Logistic regression model ranged from 3 – 32. When the score was applied to the population of survey 2006, the area under operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the score for screening undiagnosed diabetes was 0.67 (95% CI, 0.65-0.70), which was lower than the AUC of FCG (0.76 [0.74-0.79]), but similar to that of HbA1c (0.68 [0.65-0.71]). At a cut-off point of 14, the sensitivity and specificity of the risk score in screening undiagnosed diabetes was 0.84 (0.81-0.88) and 0.40 (0.38-0.41). In Mauritian Indian, body mass index (BMI), waist girth, family history of diabetes (FH), and glucose was confirmed to be independent risk predictors for developing diabetes. Predicted probabilities for developing diabetes derived from a simple Cox regression model fitted with sex, FH, BMI and waist girth ranged from 0.05 to 0.64 in men and 0.03 to 0.49 in women. To predict the onset of diabetes, the AUC of the predicted probabilities was 0.62 (95% CI, 0.56-0.68) in men and 0.64(0.59-0.69) in women. At a cut-off point of 0.12, the sensitivity and specificity was 0.72(0.71-0.74) and 0.47(0.45-0.49) in men; and 0.77(0.75-0.78) and 0.50(0.48-0.52) in women, respectively. In conclusion, there was a rapid increase in prevalence of diabetes in Chinese adults from 2001 to 2006. The simple risk assessment algorithms based on age, obesity and family history of diabetes showed a moderate discrimination of diabetes from non-diabetes, which may be used as first line screening tool for diabetes and pre-diabetes, and for health promotion purpose in Chinese and Indians.

Serum uric acid and metabolic risk factors in three ethnic groups: Asian Indians and Creoles in Mauritius and Chinese in Qingdao, China

In humans with a loss of uricase the final oxidation product of purine catabolism is uric acid (UA). The prevalence of hyperuricemia has been increasing around the world accompanied by a rapid increase in obesity and diabetes. Since hyperuricemia was first described as being associated with hyperglycemia and hypertension by Kylin in 1923, there has been a growing interest in the association between elevated UA and other metabolic abnormalities of hyperglycemia, abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. The direction of causality between hyperuricemia and metabolic disorders, however, is unceartain. The association of UA with metabolic abnormalities still needs to be delineated in population samples. Our overall aims were to study the prevalence of hyperuricemia and the metabolic factors clustering with hyperuricemia, to explore the dynamical changes in blood UA levels with the deterioration in glucose metabolism and to estimate the predictive capability of UA in the development of diabetes. Four population-based surveys for diabetes and other non-communicable diseases were conducted in 1987, 1992, and 1998 in Mauritius, and in 2001-2002 in Qingdao, China. The Qingdao study comprised 1 288 Chinese men and 2 344 women between 20-74, and the Mauritius study consisted of 3 784 Mauritian Indian and Mauritian Creole men and 4 442 women between 25-74. In Mauritius, re-exams were made in 1992 and/or 1998 for 1 941 men (1 409 Indians and 532 Creoles) and 2 318 non pregnant women (1 645 Indians and 673 Creoles), free of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and gout at baseline examinations in 1987 or 1992, using the same study protocol. The questionnaire was designed to collect demographic details, physical examinations and standard 75g oral glucose tolerance tests were performed in all cohorts. Fasting blood UA and lipid profiles were also determined. The age-standardized prevalence in Chinese living in Qingdao was 25.3% for hyperuricemia (defined as fasting serum UA > 420 μmol/l in men and > 360 μmol/l in women) and 0.36% for gout in adults between 20-74. Hyperuricemia was more prevalent in men than in women. One standard deviation increase in UA concentration was associated with the clustering of metabolic risk factors for both men and women in three ethnic groups. Waist circumference, body mass index, and serum triglycerides appeared to be independently associated with hyperuricemia in both sexes and in all ethnic groups except in Chinese women, in whom triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total cholesterol were associated with hyperuricemia. Serum UA increased with increasing fasting plasma glucose levels up to a value of 7.0 mmol/l, but significantly decreased thereafter in mainland Chinese. An inverse relationship occurred between 2-h plasma glucose and serum UA when 2-h plasma glucose higher than 8.0 mmol/l. In the prospective study in Mauritius, 337 (17.4%) men and 379 (16.4%) women developed diabetes during the follow-up. Elevated UA levels at baseline increased 1.14-fold in risk of incident diabetes in Indian men and 1.37-fold in Creole men, but no significant risk was observed in women. In conclusion, the prevalence of hyperuricemia was high in Chinese in Qingdao, blood UA was associated with the clustering of metabolic risk factors in Mauritian Indian, Mauritian Creole, and Chinese living in Qingdao, and a high baseline UA level independently predicted the development of diabetes in Mauritian men. The clinical use of UA as a marker of hyperglycemia and other metabolic disorders needs to be further studied. Keywords: Uric acid, Hyperuricemia, Risk factors, Type 2 Diabetes, Incidence, Mauritius, Chinese

Albert and Elsa Einstein at the Shanghai home of Chinese painter and calligrapher Wang Yiting; with Shanghai University President Yu Youren, former Beijing University professor Zhang Junmai, the Einstein's Japanese hosts Mr. and Mrs. Inagaki, and Einstein's colleague Mr. Pfister and his wife (and daughter?) Portraits Groups

Dedication: Freundlichste Erinnerung an Herrn Prof. Einstein und seine Frau Gemahlin. I-Jing Wang, Shanghai, China