Sharing is an alternative form of distribution to commodity exchange and gift giving. Compared to these alternative modes, sharing can foster community, save resources, and create certain synergies. Yet outside of our immediate families, we do little sharing. Even within the family, there is increased privatization. This article addresses impediments to sharing as well as incentives that may encourage more sharing of both tangible and intangible goods. Two recent developments, the Internet and intellectual property rights doctrines, are locked in a battle that will do much to determine the future of sharing. Businesses may lead the way with virtual corporations outsourcing the bulk of their operations. Whether virtual consumers sharing some of their major possessions are a viable counterpart remains an open question.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/25097913.pdf

Why Not Share Rather Than Own

Recently a number of scholars have examined guanxi (connections/social relationships) and its role in the structure of Chinese society as the economic transition progresses. While many China scholars view guanxi as a deep-seated cultural fact of Chinese society, I view guanxi as an institutionally defined system – i.e. a system that depends on the institutional structure of society rather than on culture – that is changing in stride with the institutional changes of the reform era. Some scholars have argued that social networks and the use of these networks to exchange gifts and favours (guanxi xue or guanxi practice) are increasing in imnnrtanre. in China's transition.

The Declining Significance of Guanxi in China's Economic Transition

Objectives. The migration of working-age adults from rural to urban China has altered traditional patterns of living arrangements and intergenerational support among elderly persons who remain in rural regions. This investigation examined how household composition and support exchanges with adult children influenced the psychological well-being of older parents in rural China. Methods. Data derived from a 2001 survey of 1,561 parents aged 60 and older living in rural Anhui Province, China. We used multiple regression in order to estimate the effects of multigenerational living arrangements and intergenerational transfers of financial, instrumental, and emotional support on depression and life satisfaction in older parents. Results. Older parents living in three-generation households or with grandchildren in skipped-generation households had better psychological well-being than those living in single-generation households. Receiving greater remittances from adult children increased well-being and explained why living with grandchildren was beneficial. Stronger emotional cohesion with children also improved well-being. Discussion. These results suggest that traditional family arrangements are beneficial in rural Chinese society as they represent the fulfillment of a cultural ideal. We discuss implications in the context of the corporate Chinese family, characterized by mutual aid and interdependence across generations, and its adaption to social change.

/pdf/intergenerational-transfers-and-living-arrangements-of-older-40gre1uemm.pdf

Intergenerational Transfers and Living Arrangements of Older People in Rural China: Consequences for Psychological Well-Being

Consumption and Identity at Work.

An implicit assumption in advertising content analysis, as well as in studies of advertiser intent, is that what an ad says, or what its creator intends for it to convey, is also what it means to consumers. The presence of global images and foreign appeals in advertising is thus often incorrectly taken as evidence that local culture is becoming globalized, and that consumer values are changing accordingly. Using a reader-response approach to analyze upscale Chinese consumers' understandings of global and local television and print advertising, we find that this is not the case. Instead, we find two dialectic reactions by Chinese consumers. One side is largely driven by the desire for global cosmopolitanism and status goods for the sake of mianzi (prestige face), whereas the other side is motivated by a more nationalistic desire to invoke Chinese values that are seen as local in origin. These opposing advertising meanings and preferences have important implications for understanding how international adver...

Chinese consumer readings of global and local advertising appeals

The horizontal transfer of drug-resistant genes and the formation of biofilm barriers have threatened the therapeutic efficacy of conventional antibiotic drugs. Development of non-antibiotic agents with high delivery efficiency through bacterial biofilms is urgently required. A pyrithione (PT)-loading zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8@PT) is synthesized to destroy biofilms and improve the sensitivity of bacteria to PT. ZIF-8@PT can target and destroy the biofilm as well as the cell membrane, promoting the intracellular delivery of PT and possibly its interaction with SmpB, a protein that could regulate the drug resistance of bacteria. ZIF-8@PT effectively suppresses abdominal infections induced by multiresistant Aeromonas veronii C4 in rodent models without systemic toxicity. ZIF-8@PT promises wide applications in treating infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria through a dual mechanism of action.

Antimicrobial Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks with Dual Mechanisms of Action.

Rural Youth and Youth Culture

Drug delivery systems capable of sequential multistage drug release are urgently needed for antibacterial applications. Herein, we report a molecular switch-integrated, photo-responsive nanoplatform (namely HAVH) based on hollow mesoporous silica nanospheres (HMSN) loaded with Ag NPs, vancomycin (Van), and hemin for bacteria elimination and abscess therapy. Upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, the molecular switch, hemin, can effuse from the mesopores of HMSN, triggering the release of pre-loaded Ag+ and Van, which enables photothermal-modulated drug release and synergistic photothermal-chemo therapy. The HAVH_NIR irreversibly disrupts the bacterial cell membrane, facilitating the penetration of Ag+ and Van. We find that these compounds restrain the transcription and translation of ribosomes and lead to rapid bacterial death. Furthermore, hemin can effectively inhibit excessive inflammatory responses associated with the treatment, promoting accelerated wound healing in a murine abscess model. This work presents a new strategy for antibacterial drug delivery with high controllability and extendibility, which may benefit the development of smart multifunctional nanomedicine for diseases not limited to bacterial infections. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Yunxiang Yan

Papers

Antimicrobial Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks with Dual Mechanisms of Action.

Rural Youth and Youth Culture

A Molecular Switch-Integrated Nanoplatform Enables Photo-Unlocked Antibacterial Drug Delivery for Synergistic Abscess Therapy.

Girl Power: Young Women and The Waning of Patriarchy