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Asian Societies (asian + society)
Selected AbstractsFormation of Lipid Emulsions and Clear Gels by Liquid Crystal EmulsificationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE, Issue 1 2007T. Suzuki Recently developed emulsion technologies for the formation of fine emulsions, lipid emulsions and clear gels by liquid crystal emulsification were reviewed. As a basic information on liquid crystal emulsification, the structures and characteristic behaviours of lyotropic liquid crystals were summarized. Formation of a liquid crystalline phase was often seen in emulsions and biological systems. The significance of liquid crystal formation during emulsification was analysed by comparing the states and stabilities of emulsions prepared by different processes. Then uses of liquid crystals for formation of the characteristic emulsions and gels were also discussed. In liquid crystal emulsification, an oil phase is dispersed directly into the lamellar liquid-crystalline phase composed of surfactant, glycerol and water to prepare a gel-like oil-in-liquid crystal emulsion. This is followed by dilution with the remaining water to produce an emulsion. From the phase behaviour during emulsification and analysis of the local motion of the liquid crystal membrane by fluorometry, it was confirmed that the interaction between surfactant and a polyol molecule such as glycerol promotes hydrogen bonding and enhances the strength of the lamellar liquid crystal membranes, which results in the formation of oil-in-liquid crystal emulsions. The interaction between the liquid crystal and oil was analysed from the changes in molecular motion of the membrane at the oil-liquid crystal interface using the spin label technique of electron spin resonance (ESR). The fluidity of the liquid crystal membrane did not change when oil was added, and therefore oil-in-liquid crystal emulsions of various oils were prepared by the identical process. This lack of dependence of the liquid crystal membrane on oil results in the unique properties of liquid crystal emulsification, which can be used for oils of various polarity and different molecular constituents. When a self-organizing artificial stratum corneum lipid containing pseudo-ceramide was used as a principal component of the oil, a multilamellar emulsion of concentric lamellar structure was formed. The multilamellar emulsion supplements the physiological function of stratum corneum by the identical mechanism as natural intercellular lipids. High-pressure treatment of the lipid emulsion produced a gel-like emulsion crystal, in which the homogeneous nanoemulsion droplets were arranged in a hexagonal array. This review paper was presented at the Conference of the Asian Societies of Cosmetic Scientists 2005 in Bangkok. [source] Report on the 6th Congress of the Asian Society of Paediatric Anaesthesiologists (ASPA) in Pattaya, Thailand, November 10, 2007PEDIATRIC ANESTHESIA, Issue 10 2008Josef Holzki First page of article [source] Programme of the 3rd conference of the Asian Society for Pigment Cell ResearchPIGMENT CELL & MELANOMA RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009Article first published online: 11 MAY 200 No abstract is available for this article. [source] Abstracts of the 2nd conference of the Asian Society for Pigment Cell ResearchPIGMENT CELL & MELANOMA RESEARCH, Issue 3 2007Article first published online: 16 MAY 200 First page of article [source] Changing epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori in AsiaJOURNAL OF DIGESTIVE DISEASES, Issue 4 2008Huck J TAN As in developed societies, the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori has declined rapidly in Asia. This has been shown in both seroprevalence-based and endoscopy-based studies. While the decline in the incidence of gastric cancer has now been observed, a decrease in peptic ulcer disease has not been so clearly evident. This apparent paradox can be explained by an increase in non- H. pylori associated ulcers , such as those related to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or idiopathic ulcers. The increase of gastroesophageal reflux disease in Asia has been widely observed and commented on and its relationship to the decline in H. pylori speculated upon. However there have been few conclusive studies from Asia on this subject. While the improved diagnosis and elimination of H. pylori has contributed to its decline, a more basic change involving large segments of the Asian population must be responsible. An improvement in hygiene and living conditions that results from more affluent Asian societies is thought to be a possible cause. [source] Epidemiology of irritable bowel syndrome in Asia: Something old, something new, something borrowedJOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY, Issue 10 2009Kok-Ann Gwee Abstract In this review we have unearthed epidemiological data that; support the ,old' concept of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as a disorder of civilization, build a ,new' symptom profile of IBS for Asia, and persuade us against the use of ,borrowed' Western diagnostic criteria and illness models by Asian societies. In the 1960s, IBS was described as a disorder of civilization. Early studies from Asia suggested a prevalence of IBS below 5%. Recent studies from Asia suggest a trend for the more affluent city states like Singapore and Tokyo, to have higher prevalence of 8.6% and 9.8%, respectively, while India had the lowest prevalence of 4.2%. Furthermore, there was a trend among the better educated and more affluent strata of society in several urban Chinese populations for a higher prevalence of IBS, as well as a trend for a higher consultation rate. Across Chinese and Indian predominant populations, a majority of patients with IBS criteria report upper abdominal symptoms such as epigastric pain relieved by defecation, bloating and dyspepsia. Bloating and incomplete evacuation appear to be more important determinants of consultation behavior, than psychological factors. The failure of the Rome criteria to recognize the relationship to meals, may have led to a substantial misclassification of IBS as dyspepsia. The relevance of the Western model of psychological disturbance as a determinant of consultation behavior is questionable because of the accessibility and acceptability of medical consultation for gastrointestinal complaints in many Asian communities. [source] Pursuing quality and equity of higher education: A review of policies and practices in east AsiaNEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, Issue S2 2008Samuel S. Peng Although expansion of higher education in East Asia has had a positive impact on Asian societies, it has created a number of challenges relating to accountability. [source] Cultural and Socioeconomic Influences on Divorce During Modernization: Southeast Asia, 1940s to 1960sPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 2 2003Charles Hirschman The conventional model of a rising divorce rate during the process of modernization is a staple element of the sociological theory of the family. This generalization is challenged, however, by traditional high-divorce societies, primarily in Islamic Southeast Asia, which have experienced a decline in divorce with modernization. In this study, based on micro-level survey data, the authors explore the social roots of marital disruption in Indonesia and Malaysia and in another Southeast Asian society, Thailand, which has not been identified as a high-divorce society. Comparable survey data from the 1970s (from the World Fertility Survey) allow for an in-depth analysis of traditional patterns of divorce before the rapid modernization of recent decades. Two major findings emerge from the multivariate analysis. First, there is a common pattern across all three societies of higher levels of divorce among "traditional" women,those who live in rural areas, marry at young ages, and have lower levels of education. Second, the authors find significant sociocultural (ethnic, regional, religious) differentials in divorce within each country that cannot be explained by demographic and socioeconomic composition. They present an interpretation of how moderately high levels of divorce were accommodated in traditional Southeast Asian societies. [source] Place, memory and identity: Imagining ,New Asia'ASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 3 2005T.C. Chang Abstract:,The rapid transformation of Asian societies and landscapes, especially since the mid-1990s, has engendered much conjecture of the ,Asian renaissance' and the rise of a ,New Asia'. This Special Edition of Asia Pacific Viewpoint explores the intersecting themes of ,urban place', ,social memory' and ,cultural identity' in the articulation of and contestation towards New Asia. Specifically, the six articles here offer various interpretations of New Asia , as tourism marketing tool, political vision and social identity , and the politics involved in urban, tourism and cultural development. From colonial hotels in key South-East Asian cities to the historic waterfront of Singapore; from festivals and rituals in Hong Kong, Hoi An (Vietnam) and Penang (Malaysia) to the clash of cultural values in Manggarai (Indonesia), ,selective remembering' and ,ideological forgetting' are central to the construction of New Asian identities. Ultimately, this Special Edition hopes to provoke continuing discussions on the rhetoric of New Asia and its imaginative and contested geographies, sociologies and histories. [source] ,Asian values' as reverse Orientalism: SingaporeASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 2 2000Michael Hill It is possible to demonstrate, using Singapore as a key example, the way in which the attribution of a set of ,Asian values' represented a Western project which is best labelled ,reverse Orientalism'. This process entailed the attribution of a set of cultural values to East and Southeast Asian societies by Western social scientists in order to contrast the recent dynamic progress of Asian development with the stagnation and social disorganisation of contemporary Western economies and societies. The contrast provided legitimation for some of the nation-building policies of political leaders in such countries as Singapore and was incorporated in attempts to identify and institutionalise core values. [source] Chinese values in Singapore: Traditional and modernASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2003Weining C. Chang A series of three studies was conducted to test the internal structure of the Chinese value hierarchy (CVH) in Singapore. Study 1 identified the empirically best,fit model with six factors: Prudence, Industry, Civic,Harmony, Moral Development, Social Power and Moderation. Relative magnitudes and interfactor correlations suggested that these factors could be further grouped into two superordinate clusters: (i) The Modern factor, with significantly higher magnitude, consisted of Prudence, Industry, Civic,Harmony and Moral Development; and (ii) the Tradition factor, with lower magnitude, consisted of Social Power and Moderation. Study 2 surveyed university students with differential preference for language usages: English or Chinese. Both language groups were equally high on the Modern factor, but the Chinese,language,preferred group showed a significantly higher endorsement for the Tradition factor, Chinese Worldview (CWV) and Chinese Health Beliefs (CHB). Further convergent validation for the Modern and the Tradition factors was provided by investigating their correlations with traditional Chinese beliefs and practices for the two language groups separately. Study 3 tested generation differences in CVH. University participants (Self) were compared with their parents (Parents) and friends (Friends). There were no differences between Self and Friends on both the Modern and Tradition factors, CWV and individual differences of modernity. Parents and Self did not differ on individual differences of modernity. Parents, however, were higher on the Modern factor, the Tradition factor and CWV. Results were discussed to support the concept of ,multiple modernity' (Tu, 1900) in Asian societies, and the ,revised convergence hypothesis' proposed by Yang (1988). [source] Cultural and Socioeconomic Influences on Divorce During Modernization: Southeast Asia, 1940s to 1960sPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 2 2003Charles Hirschman The conventional model of a rising divorce rate during the process of modernization is a staple element of the sociological theory of the family. This generalization is challenged, however, by traditional high-divorce societies, primarily in Islamic Southeast Asia, which have experienced a decline in divorce with modernization. In this study, based on micro-level survey data, the authors explore the social roots of marital disruption in Indonesia and Malaysia and in another Southeast Asian society, Thailand, which has not been identified as a high-divorce society. Comparable survey data from the 1970s (from the World Fertility Survey) allow for an in-depth analysis of traditional patterns of divorce before the rapid modernization of recent decades. Two major findings emerge from the multivariate analysis. First, there is a common pattern across all three societies of higher levels of divorce among "traditional" women,those who live in rural areas, marry at young ages, and have lower levels of education. Second, the authors find significant sociocultural (ethnic, regional, religious) differentials in divorce within each country that cannot be explained by demographic and socioeconomic composition. They present an interpretation of how moderately high levels of divorce were accommodated in traditional Southeast Asian societies. [source] | |||||||||||||