Journal articles on the topic 'St. John's University, Shanghai, China'

The Baltic Pearl is a 205-hectare development project underway southwest of St. Petersburg, Russia, originally financed and designed by a consortium of firms from Shanghai, China. This paper analyzes the discourse surrounding the development of one section of the Baltic Pearl, the commercial multiplex Southern Square, particularly the use of the term “European” as used to signal the project's intended cultural orientation and to exert control over the interaction between Russian planners and Chinese developers. In the negotiation over the form of the multiplex, control over architectural style emerges as leverage for preservation of cultural norms and local autonomy. In further analysis, the situation emerges as an example of Sassen's [(2008)Territory, Authority, Rights. From Medieval to Global Assemblages.Princeton: Princeton University Press] shifting assemblages, that is, a reassembling of global influences in a space invoked as national as well as local.

The paper discusses two types of Chinese calendars – a traditional agricultural calendar “nongli” which existed in China since the 9th century and a Westernized “yuefenpai” calendar that emerged in Shanghai in the late 19th century and flourished until the 30-40s of the 20th century. Apart from the lunar and solar calendars and a table of 24 seasons woodblock “nongli” calendar featured a Stove God Zao-wang alone or with a spouse surrounded by a suite, fortune bringing deities and auspicious symbols, Stove God was believed to ascend to heaven and report good and bad deeds of the family members to the Jade Emperor. New standards of “peoples`” art in PRC borrowed the aesthetics of the traditional woodblock popular prints by proclaiming “new nianhua” as a new tool of propaganda and criticizing “yuefenpai”.“Yuefenpai” differed from “nongli” by modern technology of production and acting as an advertisement, yet early pieces of Shanghai calendars either feature auspicious characters and motifs or introduce current political events, such as accession of the Pu Yi emperor on the throne in 1908 (reigned in 1908–1912). These calendars were seen to be a cheap and easily available media suitable for informing population about news and innovations. The paper attempts to revisit previously established interpretations of some “yuefenpai” calendars. The research is based unpublished pieces from the collections of the State Hermitage, the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, academic library of the St.-Petersburg State University, the State Museum of the History of Religion mostly acquired by V.M. Alekseev (1881–1951) during his stays to China.

This article talked about the position of academic researchers of the both neighbour regarding Mongolia’s «Third Neighbor» policy. Mongolia’s foreign policy analysis in south neighbour underway at the Academy of Social Sciences under the State Council of China, Global Times, the central daily newspaper of the CPC in chinese and english languages, School of International Studies, Beijing People’s University, Beijing Foreign Studies University. It should be emphasized that the Institute of Russian and Mongolian Studies of the Academy of Social Sciences, Inner Mongolia, the Department of Mongolian Studies of the Inner Mongolia University, the Inner Mongolian University of Education, and the Institute of Near Neighbour Studies of the Shanghai East China Normal University are concentrated. Regarding Russia, it is mainly focused on the Institute of Oriental Studies, the Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, the Moscow State University, the Diplomatic Academy, MFA, the Russian International Affairs Council, St. Petersburg State University, Irkutsk State University, and Ulan-Udе University, ect.,China’s researchers has a tendency in “advise” and some times “educate” to Mongolia on the importance of developing cooperation with its “real neighbour”. For Example, Mongolia’s geopolitical position shows that it should cooperate smartly with China and Russia.The researchers of Russia wrote that Mongolia’s “Third Neighbour” policy is utopian, and it is observed that the principle is “stuck” in its principles. Recently, the deepening of the geopolitical conflict between the two neighbour and the “third neighbour” is a matter of concern, and the criticism of the neighbouring countries is expected to transation from the level of Track 1 to the level of Track 1.5.Finally, The New paradigms of Mongolia’s foreign policy has priority to vital national interests, openness, peaceful, multi-pillars, multi-dimensional, non-Aligned, independently, priority to democratic values and pragmatism. It should be emphasized that it is not a policy directed against the two neighbors, but only peacetime geopolitics. Монгол Улсын «Гуравдагч хөрш»-ийн бодлого: Хоёр хөршийн судлаачдын дүн шинжилгээ Хураангуй: Монгол Улсын «гуравдагч хөрш»-ийн бодлогын тухайд хоёр хөршийн судлаачид ямар байр суурь, хандлагатай байна гэдэг анхаарал татсан нэн чухаг асуудал мөн. Өмнөд, Умард хөршүүд албан ёсны түвшинд дурдсан асуудалд тааламжгүй эсвэл бүр сөрөг байр суурь албан ёсоор илэрхийлж байгаагүй ч, олон улсын харилцаа, геополитик, стратеги судлаачид олон нийтийн хэвлэл, мэдээллийн хэрэгслүүд үзэл бодол, байр сууриа чөлөөтэй илэрхийлж ирсэн байна.

A complete taxonomic catalogue of the Stick and Leaf-insects (Phasmatodea) recorded or described from the mainland China (excluding Taiwan) is presented. 241 valid species are listed, which are currently attributed to 50 genera, 5 families and 7 subfamilies. Genera and species are listed alphabetically. All available type-data is provided based mainly on literary sources for species described by Chinese workers from 1986 to 2006, including documented depository of typespecimens. The catalogue therefore also provides complete lists of the type-material of Phasmatodea housed in the following Chinese institutions: Administration of Baishuijiang Natural Reserve (ABNR), Beijing Forestry University, Beijing (BFU), China Agricultural University, Beijing (CAU), Geological Museum of China, Beijing (GMC), Inca Science Ltd., Chongqing (INCA), Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (IZCAS), Department of Biology, Nankai University, Tianjin (NKU), Northwest Sci-Tech University of Agriculture and Forestry, Shaanxi (NWAU), Institute of Zoology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an (SNU), Institute of Entomology, Sun Yat-sen University (ICRI), Shanghai Institute of Entomology, Academia Sinica, Shanghai (SIES), Tianjin Natural History Museum, Tianjin (TMNH), Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Hangzhou (ZMNH). The known distribution of each species, inmeans of provinces is provided as well. 14 species are shown to have been recorded from China in error, several of these based on misidentifications. The “Phasmatodea-like” fossil taxa described from the Late Jurassic Yixian Formation of North Hebei and West Liaoning are listed in a separate section. Two new generic synonyms are recognized: Arthminotus Bi, 1995 synonymised with Lopaphus Westwood, 1859 (n. syn.) and Dianphasma Chen & He, 1997 synonymised with Parasosibia Redtenbacher, 1908 (n. syn.). The genus Linocerus Gray, 1835 (Type-species: Linocerus gracilis Gray, 1835) was erroneously synonymised with the mediterranean Bacillus St. Fargeau & Audinet-Serville, 1825 and is here re-established in Phasmatidae: Pachymorphinae: Gratidiini (rev. stat.). Relationship to Clonaria Stål, 1875 (= Gratidia Stål, 1875, = Paraclonaria Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1893), Sceptrophasma Brock & Seow-Choen, 2000 and Macellina Uvarov, 1940 is obvious. 21 species are transferred to other genera (new combinations): Asceles dilatatus Chen & He, 2004 and Asceles quadriguttatus Chen & He, 1996 to Pachyscia Redtenbacher, 1908, Arthminotus sinensis Bi, 1995 to Lopaphus Westwood, 1859, Baculum dolichocercatum Bi & Wang, 1998 and Baculum politum Chen & He, 1997 to Medauroidea Zompro, 1999, Dixippus hainanensis Chen & He, 2002, Dixippus huapingensis Bi & Li, 1991, Dixippus nigroantennatus Chen & He, 2002, Dixippus parvus Chen & He, 2002 and Entoria bobaiensis Chen, 1986 to Lonchodes Gray, 1835, Sipyloidea obvius Chen & He, 1995 to Sinophasma Günther, 1940, Paramyronides biconiferus Bi, 1993, Paramyronides leishanensis Bi, 1992, Lonchodes chinensis Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1907, Lonchodes confucius Westwood, 1859 and Phasgania glabra Günther, 1940 to Phraortes Stål, 1875, Gratidia bituberculata Redtenbacher, 1889 and Leptynia xinganensis Chen & He, 1993 to Sceptrophasma Brock & Seow-Choen, 2002, Prosentoria bannaensis Chen & He, 1997 to Paraentoria Chen & He, 1997, and Mantis squeleton Olivier, 1792 to Phanocloidea Zompro, 2002. Acrophylla sichuanensis Chen & He, 2001 remains of unknown generic assignment, but is shown to be not a member of the Australian genus Acrophylla Gray, 1835. Furthermore, as Baculum Saussure, 1861 is a neotropical genus and most Old World species previously attributed to this genus are now listed in Ramulus Saussure, 1861, all Chinese species described in Baculum Saussure are consequently transferred to Ramulus Saussure. Other changes of specific placements are based on published literature and concern to the following three synonymies not recognized by Chinese workers: Abrosoma Redtenbacher, 1906 (= Prosceles Uvarov, 1940), Necroscia Audinet-Serville, 1838 (= Aruanoidea Redtenbacher, 1908), Lopaphus Westwood, 1859 (= Paramyronides Redtenbacher, 1908). Megalophasma Bi, 1995 is transferred from Necrosciinae to Lonchodinae. Four lectotypes are designated and three new specific synonyms revealed. A lectotype is designated for Rhamphophasma modestus Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1893, the type-species of Rhamphophasma Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1893, in order to fix this genus and species. The male paralectotype is shown to be a male of Parapachymorpha nigra Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1893, the type-species of Parapachymorpha Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1893. Clitumnus porrectus Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1907 is synonymised with Bacillus ? artemis Westwood, 1859 and a lectotype designated for the former (n. syn.). A lectotype is designated for Oxyartes lamellatus Kirby, 1904 in order to fix this taxon and confirm the synonymy established by Dohrn, 1910 (= Oxyartes honestus Redtenbacher, 1908, = Oxyartes spinosissimus Carl, 1913). Paracentema stephanus Redtenbacher, 1908 is shown to have been erroneously synonymised with Neohirasea japonica (de Haan, 1842) and here synonymised with Neohirasea maerens (Brunner v. Wattenwyl, 1907) (n. syn.). In order to fix this new synonymy a lectotype is designated for Paracentema stephanus Redtenbacher, 1908. Finally, a biogeographic analysis of the Chinese phasmid fauna is presented. This includes brief background information on the topography and biogeography of China along with maps showing the seven zoogeographical subregions currently recognized as well as the 4 municipalities, 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 2 special administrative regions of China. A summary of the taxonomic compilation of the fauna is provided and its relationships with neighbouring regions, of both the Palaearctic and Oriental realms, are discussed. A study is presented on the distribution of the taxa and species densities of each province / autonomous region. Recent ecological studies are summarized and list of the host plants of 42 different species attached. The pest status of certain species which have become of serious importance for agriculture in China is briefly summarized based on literary sources.

-Lennox Honychurch, Robert L. Paquette ,The lesser Antilles in the age of European expansion. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996. xii + 383 pp., Stanley L. Engerman (eds)-Kevin A. Yelvington, Gert Oostindie, Ethnicity in the Caribbean: Essays in honor of Harry Hoetink. London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1996. xvi + 239 pp.-Aisha Khan, David Dabydeen ,Across the dark waters: Ethnicity and Indian identity in the Caribbean. London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1996. xi + 222 pp., Brinsley Samaroo (eds)-Tracey Skelton, Ralph R. Premdas, Ethnic conflict and development: The case of Guyana. Brookfield VT: Ashgate, 1995. xi + 205 pp.-Rosemarijn Hoefte, Basdeo Mangru, A history of East Indian resistance on the Guyana sugar estates, 1869-1948. Lewiston NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1996. xiv + 370 pp.-Rosemarijn Hoefte, Clem Seecharan, 'Tiger in the stars': The anatomy of Indian achievement in British Guiana 1919-29. London: Macmillan, 1997. xxviii + 401 pp.-Brian Stoddart, Frank Birbalsingh, The rise of Westindian cricket: From colony to nation. St. John's, Antigua: Hansib Publishing (Caribbean), 1996. 274 pp.-Donald R. Hill, Peter van Koningsbruggen, Trinidad Carnival: A quest for national identity. London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1997. ix + 293 pp.-Peter van Koningsbruggen, John Cowley, Carnival, Canboulay and Calypso: Traditions in the making. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. xv + 293 pp.-Olwyn M. Blouet, George Gmelch ,The Parish behind God's back : The changing culture of rural Barbados. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997. xii + 240 pp., Sharon Bohn Gmelch (eds)-George Gmelch, Mary Chamberlain, Narratives of exile and return. London: Macmillan, 1997. xii + 236 pp.-Michèle Baj Strobel, Christiane Bougerol, Une ethnographie des conflits aux Antilles: Jalousie, commérages, sorcellerie. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1997. 161 pp.-Abdollah Dashti, Randy Martin, Socialist ensembles: Theater and state in Cuba and Nicaragua. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. xii + 261 pp.-Winthrop R. Wright, Jay Kinsbruner, Not of pure blood: The free people of color and racial prejudice in nineteenth-century Puerto Rico. Durham NC: Duke University Press, 1996. xiv + 176 pp.-Gage Averill, Deborah Pacini Hernandez, Bachata: A social history of a Dominican popular music. Philadelphia PA: Temple University Press, 1995. xxiii + 267 pp.-Vera M. Kutzinski, Lorna Valerie Williams, The representation of slavery in Cuban fiction. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1994. viii + 220 pp.-Peter Mason, Elmer Kolfin, Van de slavenzweep en de muze: Twee eeuwen verbeelding van slavernij in Suriname. Leiden: Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 1997. 184 pp.-J. Michael Dash, Jean-Pol Madou, Édouard Glissant: De mémoire d'arbes. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996. 114 pp.-Ransford W. Palmer, Jay R. Mandle, Persistent underdevelopment: Change and economic modernization in the West Indies. Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach, 1996. xii + 190 pp.-Ramón Grossfoguel, Juan E. Hernández Cruz, Corrientes migratorias en Puerto Rico/Migratory trends in Puerto Rico. Edición Bilingüe/Bilingual Edition. San Germán: Caribbean Institute and Study Center for Latin America, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, 1994. 195 pp.-Gert Oostindie, René V. Rosalia, Tambú: De legale en kerkelijke repressie van Afro-Curacaose volksuitingen. Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 1997. 338 pp.-John M. Lipski, Armin J. Schwegler, 'Chi ma nkongo': Lengua y rito ancestrales en El Palenque de San Basilio (Colombia). Frankfurt: Vervuert, 1996. 2 vols., xxiv + 823 pp.-Umberto Ansaldo, Geneviève Escure, Creole and dialect continua: Standard acquisition processes in Belize and China (PRC). Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1997. ix + 307 pp.

The Christian colleges founded in China by Protestant missionaries in the early twentieth century constituted a major nexus of cultural exchange between East and West, but also raised complex issues of identity and power both for the missionaries and their students. The tragic killing of eleven student protesters in Shanghai by British troops in May of 1925, an event that came to be known as the May Thirtieth Incident, brought many of these tensions to the surface. Tin's paper examines the impact of this event on three of the Christian colleges—Yenching University in Beijing, St. John's University in Shanghai, and Lingnan University in Canton. The reaction of each school was different, reflecting not only the influence of geography and political factors, but the vision of mission education embraced by their respective leaders. In the end. however, none of the institutions were left untouched by the incident, which triggered a shift in lines of identity and power that favoured Chinese interests. The resulting changes at the colleges can be seen as a harbinger of a coming era in which Western imperial domination would meet a similar fate.

Abstract This article draws upon multi-archival research to rediscover the experiences and research of Judges VK Wellington Koo and Shi Jiuyong at St John’s University in Shanghai and Columbia University in New York City. The former was the first Chinese person to be elected Vice President of the International Court of Justice while the latter became the first Chinese person to helm the Court. It aims to offer crucial insights into the making of these two eminent international judges from China and their perceptions of international law. More importantly, it sheds light on the movement of people—missionaries, law professors and diplomats—and the circulation of their ideas as drivers of the expansion of international law. This article strives to examine these understudied major figures to make the legal history of international dispute settlement more geographically and racially inclusive.

Abstract Background Prior research has highlighted the importance of Physical Activity (PA), Sedentary Time (ST), and Physical Fitness (PF) for health. However, there is limited research on the association between PA, ST, and PF in the context of female college students, particularly in Eastern cultures. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the association between PA, ST, and PF among Eastern female college students to inform policy and practice. Methods The study was conducted from February to May 2022 at East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. A total of 512 Chinese female college students participated in this study through snowball sampling. Participants’ PA and ST were investigated using the International PA Questionnaire, and PF was measured using the Chinese National Student Physical Fitness Test. Independent samples t-test and binary logistic regression were used to compare the differences in PF between Active Participants (AP) and Inactive Participants (IP), as well as between Low Sedentary Participants (LSP) and High Sedentary Participants (HSP). Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare the differences in PF between Active and Low Sedentary Participants (ALSP), Active and High Sedentary Participants (AHSP), Inactive and Low Sedentary Participants (ILSP), and Inactive and High Sedentary Participants (IHSP). Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 28. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results AP showed significantly higher cardiorespiratory fitness (p < 0.05) and overall fitness (p < 0.01) than IP. Compared to IP, AP was less likely to be classified as unfit in terms of cardiorespiratory fitness [Odds Ratio (OR), 0.57; 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 0.38–0.85; p < 0.05]. Compared to IHSP, ALSP (OR, 0.44; 95% CI 0.25–0.76; p < 0.01) and AHSP (OR, 0.54; 95% CI 0.32–0.93; p < 0.05) were less likely to be classified as unfit in terms of cardiorespiratory fitness. Furthermore, compared to IHSP, AHSP (OR, 1.66; 95% CI 1.02–2.70; p < 0.05) and ILSP (OR, 2.09; 95% CI 1.16–3.77; p < 0.05) were more likely to be classified as unfit in terms of their flexibility. Conclusion There was a positive association between PA, cardiorespiratory fitness, and overall fitness. There was also an association between cardiorespiratory fitness, flexibility, and the combination of PA and ST. These findings suggest that both PA and ST can influence different PF items. Therefore, we recommend that public health policy and practice for college female students should consider PF items when selecting different PA and ST intervention strategies.

Corresponding authors: Shu-yu Yang, Xiamen Diabetes Institute, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The First Hospital of Xiamen, Xiamen University, 55 Zhenhai Road, Xiamen 361003, China ( xmyangshuyu@126.com). Jiang He, MD, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal St, Ste 2000, New Orleans, LA 70112 ( jhe@tulane.edu ). Xiao-Ying Li, MD, PhD, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, 197 Rui-Jin 2nd Road, Shanghai 200025 (lixy@sibs.ac.cn). Introduction: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its cardiovascular complications are common public health problems. Hypothesis: Although the benefit of exercise on NAFLD and cardiometabolic risk factors is documented, the effects of intensive and moderate exercise on these outcomes have not been thoroughly investigated.. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial among 220 individuals aged 40-65 years with a waist circumference of ≥90 cm in men and ≥85 cm in women. NAFLD was defined by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Participants were randomly assigned to the intensive exercise group (vigorous exercise at 65-80% maximum oxygen consumption by running on a treadmill 30 min/day and 5 days/week for 6 months, followed by moderate exercise by brisk walking 150 min/week for another 6 months), the moderate exercise group (brisk walking 150 min/week for the entire 12 months), or the usual care control (lifestyle counseling for 12 months). The primary outcome was the change of intra-hepatic triglyceride content as determined by 1 H-MRS. Secondary outcomes were metabolic risk factors. Results: At 12 months, the mean change of intra-hepatic triglyceride content from baseline was -6.10% in the intensive exercise, -5.91% in the moderate exercise, and -2.73% in the control groups (P<0.0001). Compared to the control group,the intensive and moderate exercise groups had significant net reductions of intra-hepatic triglyceride content at 6 months (-4.56%, 95% CL-6.71 to -2.42, p<0.001 for intensive and -3.86%, 95% CL-6.01 to -1.71, p<0.001 for moderate) and 12 months (-3.37%, 95% CL-5.52 to -1.22, p<0.001 for intensive, and -3.19%, 95% CL-5.34 to -1.04, p<0.001 for moderate). The net changes of intra-hepatic triglyceride content were not significantly different between the two exercise groups. Both intensive and moderate exercise reduced waist circumference, body weight, and blood pressure; additionally, intensive exercise reduced body fat mass, visceral fat, and body fat percent. Conclusions: Moderate intensity and vigorous intensity exercise were equally effective in improving NAFLD and blood pressure while vigorous exercise produced greater reductions of body fat.

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): the National Key Research and Development Program of China OnBehalf Renji Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Shanghai Jiaotong University Background The prognostic implications of left ventricular (LV) torsion on the long-term prognosis of patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is not clear. Methods We analyzed Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) images and followed up 420 first STEMI patients from the EARLY Assessment of MYOcardial Tissue Characteristics by CMR in STEMI (EARLY-MYO-CMR) registry (NCT03768453). These patients received timely primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) within 12h and CMR examination within 1 week (median,5 days; range, 2-7 days) after infarction. Besides, CMR images of 40 normal people were enrolled as the control group. LV torsion, torsion rate and other conventional CMR indexes were measured. Ultrasound cardiogram examinations were performed in the acute phase and 1 year post-STEMI to assess LV remodeling (≥ 20% increase in LV end-diastolic volume). Primary end point was composite major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) including cardiovascular death, re-infarction, re-hospitalization for heart failure and stroke. Secondary end points were the formation of LV aneurysm/thrombus in hospital as well as LV remodeling at 1 year post-STEMI. Results During follow-up (median: 52 months, inter-quartile range: 29–78 months), 80 patients developed MACCEs. Compared with normal people, patients with STEMI had more decreased LV torsion (P &lt; 0.001) and torsion rate (P = 0.033). Patients who experienced MACCEs had more impaired LV torsion (P &lt; 0.001) and torsion rate (P &lt; 0.001) than those who didn’t. LV torsion ≤ 0.876 deg/cm in the acute phase of STEMI was an independent predictive factor of MACCE (P = 0.001) and LV remodeling (P = 0.001). Patients with impaired LV torsion were more likely to experience MACCEs (P &lt; 0.001). The impairment of LV torsion was also associated with the higher incidence of LV aneurysm (P &lt; 0.001) and thrombus (P = 0.006). The addition of LV torsion to a risk model comprising LV ejection fraction (LVEF), infarct size (IS), and microvascular obstruction (MVO) led to a net reclassification improvement (continuous NRI 0.499 [95% CI, 0.261–0.737]; P &lt; 0.001). Hypertension (P = 0.047), tobacco use (P = 0.005), worse TIMI flow post-PCI (P &lt; 0.001), more extensive IS (P &lt; 0.001) / MVO size (P = 0.002) were associated with the impairment of LV torsion. Conclusions Compared with normal people, patients with STEMI had more decreased LV torsion and torsion rate. LV torsion ≤ 0.876 deg/cm in the acute phase was an independent predictive factor of MACCE and LV remodeling. The addition of LV torsion to a risk model comprising LVEF, LV-IS and LV-MVO significantly improved risk stratification of patients with STEMI .

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): the National Key Research and Development Program of China OnBehalf Renji Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Shanghai Jiaotong University Background The impact of concomitant impairments of left and right ventricular (LV and RV) strain on the long-term prognosis of acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is not clear. Methods We analyzed CMR images and followed up 420 first STEMI patients from the EARLY Assessment of MYOcardial Tissue Characteristics by CMR in STEMI (EARLY-MYO-CMR) registry (NCT03768453). These patients received timely primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) within 12h and CMR examination within 1 week (median,5 days; range, 2-7 days) after infarction. Global longitudinal strain (GLS), global radial strain (GRS), and global circumferential strain (GCS) of both ventricles were measured based on CMR cine images. Conventional CMR indexes were also assessed. Primary clinical outcome was composite major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) including cardiovascular death, re-infarction, re-hospitalization for heart failure and stroke. Results During follow-up (median: 52 months, interquartile range: 29–78 months), 80 patients experienced major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) including cardiovascular death, re-infarction, heart failure, and stroke. LV-GCS &gt; -11.20% was an independent predictor of MACCEs (P &lt; 0.001). The impairment of RV strain was found in 177 patients (42.14%), including 37.8% of patients with left anterior descending occlusions, 37.5% with left circumflex occlusions, and 51.5% with right coronary artery occlusions. Although none of the three individual RV strain measurements, the RV-GLS, RV-GRC and RV-GCS, was independently associated with the risk of MACCEs, patients who had RV-GRS ≤ 38.79% in addition to an impaired LV-GCS however were more likely to experience MACCEs than patients with decreased LV-GCS alone (log rank P = 0.010). Moreover, the addition of RV-GRS to LV-GCS improved the predictive power for MACCEs compared to the predictive power of LV-GCS alone (continuous NRI: 0.327; 95% CI: 0.095 - 0.558; P = 0.006). Finally, Tobacco use (P = 0.003), right coronary artery involvement (P = 0.002), and LV-GCS &gt; -11.20% (P = 0.012) were found to be independent risk factors of RV-GRS impairment. Conclusions Impairment of the RV strain is prevalent in infarctions occurring at all cardiac locations. While LV-GCS is an independent predictor of long-term MACCEs, the concomitant impairment of RV-GRS results in a worsened prognosis. Combination assessment of both LV and RV strain indexes could improve risk stratification of STEMI patients.

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): the National Key Research and Development Program of China OnBehalf Renji Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Shanghai Jiaotong University Background：The prognostic value of Peak Early Diastolic Strain Rate (PEDSR) measured by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) is not clear. Methods：420 first-STEMI patients from the EARLY Assessment of MYOcardial Tissue Characteristics by CMR in STEMI (EARLY-MYO-CMR) registry (NCT03768453) and 40 normal people were enrolled and followed up. The patients received timely percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) within 12h and CMR within 1 week (median,5 days; range, 2-7 days) after infarction. LV circumferential, radial, longitudinal PEDSR and other routine CMR parameters were measured. Clinical end point was a composite major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) including cardiovascular death, re-infarction and re-hospitalization for heart failure. Results：During follow-up (median: 52 months, inter-quartile range: 29–78 months), 73 (17.4%) patients experienced a MACE event. Compared with normal people, STEMI patients had lower PEDSR (circumf. PEDSR 0.77 vs. 1.27%/s, P &lt; 0.001). Patients who developed MACEs also had lower PEDSR than patients who didn’t (circumf. PEDSR 0.64 vs. 0.78%/s, P &lt; 0.001). Circumf. PEDSR can significantly predict MACEs with an AUC of 0.659 (95%CI 0.587-0.731, P &lt; 0.001) which is not inferior to LVEF (0.659 vs. 0.651, P = 0.843), LVIS (0.659 vs. 0.661, P = 0.678) and LVMVO (0.659 vs. 0.666, P = 0.600). Circumf. PEDSR ≤ 0.665%/s is the independent predictive factor of MACEs in clinical (HR 2.099 [95%CI 1.273-3.461], P = 0.004) and CMR models (HR 1.795 [95%CI 1.065-3.026], P = 0.028). In Kaplan-Meier curve, patients with impaired PEDSR are more likely to experience MACEs (P &lt; 0.001). When subdivided by LVEF, PEDSR still makes a significant difference to MACEs in patients with LVEF &gt; 50.28% (P = 0.003) but not in reduced LVEF patients (P = 0.204). PEDSR is also incremental to LVEF (Continuous NRI 0.515 [95%CI 0.268-0.763], P &lt; 0.001), LVIS (Continuous NRI 0.576 [95%CI 0.330-0.822], P &lt; 0.001), and LVMVO (Continuous NRI 0.576 [95%CI 0.330-0.822], P &lt; 0.001). Finally, worse TIMI flow post-PCI (HR 3.353 [95%CI 1.603-7.016], P = 0.001) and LVEF (HR 0.920 [95%CI 0.900, 0.940], P &lt; 0.001) are the risk factors for PEDSR impairment. Conclusions：CMR-derived PEDSR can significantly predict MACEs with the discriminative power not inferior to LVEF, LVIS and LVMVO. Circumf. PEDSR ≤ 0.665%/s is an independent predictive factor of MACEs and is incremental in the prognostic risk stratification of STEMI.

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Introduction Lillian Ng was born in Singapore and lived in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom before migrating to Australia with her daughter and Ah Mah Yin Jie (“Ah Mahs are a special group of people who took a vow to remain unmarried … [so they] could stick together as a group and make a living together” (Yu 118)). Ng studied classical Chinese at home, then went to an English school and later on studied Medicine. Her first book, Silver Sister (1994), was short-listed for the inaugural Angus & Robertson/Bookworld Prize in 1993 and won the Human Rights Award in 1995. Ng defines herself as a “Chinese living in Australia” (Yu 115). Food, flesh and meat are recurrent topics in Lillian Ng´s second novel Swallowing Clouds, published in 1997. These topics are related to desire and can be used as a synecdoche (a metaphor that describes part/whole relations) of the human body: food is needed to survive and pleasure can be obtained from other people´s bodies. This paper focuses on one type of meat and animal, pork and the pig, and on the relation between the two main characters, Syn and Zhu Zhiyee. Syn, the main character in the novel, is a Shanghainese student studying English in Sydney who becomes stranded after the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 1989. As she stops receiving money from her mother and fears repression if she goes back to China, she begins to work in a Chinese butcher shop, owned by Zhu Zhiyee, which brings her English lessons to a standstill. Syn and Zhu Zhiyee soon begin a two-year love affair, despite the fact that Zhu Zhiyee is married to KarLeng and has three daughters. The novel is structured as a prologue and four days, each of which has a different setting and temporal location. The prologue introduces the story of an adulterous woman who was punished to be drowned in a pig´s basket in the HuanPu River in the summer of 1918. As learnt later on, Syn is the reincarnation of this woman, whose purpose in life is to take revenge on men by taking their money. The four days, from the 4th to the 7th of June 1994, mark the duration of a trip to Beijing and Shanghai that Syn takes as member of an Australian expedition in order to visit her mother with the security of an Australian passport. During these four days, the reader learns about different Chinese landmarks, such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Ming Tomb and the Summer Palace, as well as some cultural events, such as a Chinese opera and eating typical foods like Peking duck. However, the bulk of the plot of the book deals with the sexual relationship, erotic games and fantasies of Syn and Zhu Zhiyee in the period between 1989 and 1992, as well as Syn´s final revenge in January 1993. Pigs The fact that Zhu Zhiyee is a butcher allows Lillian Ng to include references to pigs and pork throughout the novel. Some of them refer to the everyday work of a butcher shop, as the following examples illustrate: “Come in and help me with the carcass,” he [Zhu Zhiyee] pointed to a small suckling pig hung on a peg. Syn hesitated, not knowing how to handle the situation. “Take the whole pig with the peg,” he commanded (11).Under dazzling fluorescent tubes and bright spotlights, trays of red meat, pork chops and lamb cutlets sparkled like jewels … The trays edged with red cellophane frills and green underlay breathed vitality and colour into the slabs of pork ribs and fillets (15).Buckets of pig´s blood with a skim of froth took their place on the floor; gelled ones, like sliced cubes of large agate, sat in tin trays labelled in Chinese. More discreetly hidden were the gonads and penises of goats, bulls and pigs. (16)These examples are representative of Syn and Zhu Zhiyee´s relationship. The first quotation deals with their interaction: most of the time Zhu Zhiyee orders Syn how to act, either in the shop or in bed. The second extract describes the meat’s “vitality” and this is the quality of Syn's skin that mesmerised Zhu when he met her: “he was excited, electrified by the sight of her unblemished, translucent skin, unlined, smooth as silk. The glow of the warmth of human skin” (13). Moreover, the lights seem to completely illuminate the pieces of meat and this is the way Zhu Zhiyee leers at Syn´s body, as it can be read in the following extract: “he turned again to fix his gaze on Syn, which pierced and penetrated her head, her brain, eyes, permeated her whole body, seeped into her secret places and crevices” (14). The third excerpt introduces the sexual organs of some of the animals, which are sold to some customers for a high price. Meat is also sexualised by Zhu Zhiyee´s actions, such as his pinching the bottoms of chickens and comparing them with “sacrificial virgins”: “chickens, shamelessly stripped and trussed, hung by their necks, naked in their pimply white skin, seemed like sacrificial virgins. Syn often caught Zhu pinching their fleshy bottoms, while wrapping and serving them to the housewives” (15-16). Zhu also makes comments relating food with sex while he is having lunch next to Syn, which could be considered sexual harassment. All these extracts exemplify the relationship between Syn and Zhu Zhiyee: the orders, the looks and the implicit sexuality in the quotidian activities in the butcher´s shop. There are also a range of other expressions that include similes with the word `pig´ in Ng´s novel. One of the most recurrent is comparing the left arm and hand of Zhu Zhiyee´s mother with a “pig´s trotter”. Zhu Zhiyee´s mother is known as ZhuMa and Syn is very fond of her, as ZhuMa accepts her and likes her more than her own daughter-in-law. The comparison of ZhuMa´s arm and hand with a trotter may be explained by the fact that ZhuMa´s arm is swollen but also by the loving representation of pigs in Chinese culture. As Seung-Og Kim explains in his article “Burials, Pigs, and Political Prestige in Neolithic China”: In both Melanesia and Asia, pigs are viewed as a symbolic representation of human beings (Allen 1976: 42; Healey 1985; Rappaport 1967: 58; Roscoe 1989: 223-26). Piglets are treated as pets and receive a great deal of loving attention, and they in turn express affection for their human “parents.” They also share some physiological features with human beings, being omnivorous and highly reproductive (though humans do not usually have multiple litters) and similar internal anatomy (Roscoe 1989: 225). In short, pigs not only have a symbiotic relationship with humans biologically but also are of great importance symbolically (121). Consequently, pigs are held in high esteem, taken care of and loved. Therefore, comparing a part of a human´s body, such as an arm or a hand, for example, to a part of a pig´s body such as a pig´s trotter is not negative, but has positive connotations. Some descriptions of ZhuMa´s arm and hand can be read in the following excerpts: “As ZhuMa handed her the plate of cookies Syn saw her left arm, swollen like a pig´s trotter” (97); “Syn was horrified, and yet somewhat intrigued by this woman without a breast, with a pig´s trotter arm and a tummy like a chessboard” (99), “mimicking the act of writing with her pig-trotter hand” (99), and ZhuMa was praising the excellence of the opera, the singing, acting, the costumes, and the elaborate props, waving excitedly with her pig trotter arm and pointing with her stubby fingers while she talked. (170) Moreover, the expression “pig´s trotters” is also used as an example of the erotic fetishism with bound feet, as it can be seen in the following passage, which will be discussed below: I [Zhu Zhiyee] adore feet which are slender… they seem so soft, like pig´s trotters, so cute and loving, they play tricks on your mind. Imagine feeling them in bed under your blankets—soft cottonwool lumps, plump and cuddly, makes you want to stroke them like your lover´s hands … this was how the bound feet appealed to men, the erotic sensation when balanced on shoulders, clutched in palms, strung to the seat of a garden swing … no matter how ugly a woman is, her tiny elegant feet would win her many admirers (224).Besides writing about pigs and pork as part of the daily work of the butcher shop and using the expression “pig´s trotter”, “pig” is also linked to money in two sentences in the book. On the one hand, it is used to calculate a price and draw attention to the large amount it represents: “The blouse was very expensive—three hundred dollars, the total takings from selling a pig. Two pigs if he purchased two blouses” (197). On the other, it works as an adjective in the expression “piggy-bank”, the money box in the form of a pig, an animal that represents abundance and happiness in the Chinese culture: “She borrowed money from her neighbours, who emptied pieces of silver from their piggy-banks, their life savings”(54). Finally, the most frequent porcine expression in Ng´s Swallowing Clouds makes reference to being drowned in a pig´s basket, which represents 19 of the 33 references to pigs or pork that appear in the novel. The first three references appear in the prologue (ix, x, xii), where the reader learns the story of the last woman who was killed by drowning in a pig´s basket as a punishment for her adultery. After this, two references recount a soothsayer´s explanation to Syn about her nightmares and the fact that she is the reincarnation of that lady (67, 155); three references are made by Syn when she explains this story to Zhu Zhiyee and to her companion on the trip to Beijing and Shanghai (28, 154, 248); one refers to a feeling Syn has during sexual intercourse with Zhu Zhiyee (94); and one when the pig basket is compared to a cricket box, a wicker or wooden box used to carry or keep crickets in a house and listen to them singing (73). Furthermore, Syn reflects on the fact of drowning (65, 114, 115, 171, 172, 173, 197, 296) and compares her previous death with that of Concubine Pearl, the favourite of Emperor Guanxu, who was killed by order of his aunt, the Empress Dowager Cixi (76-77). The punishment of drowning in a pig´s basket can thus be understood as retribution for a transgression: a woman having an extra-marital relationship, going against the establishment and the boundaries of the authorised. Both the woman who is drowned in a pig´s basket in 1918 and Syn have extra-marital affairs and break society’s rules. However, the consequences are different: the concubine dies and Syn, her reincarnation, takes revenge. Desire, Transgression and Eroticism Xavier Pons writes about desire, repression, freedom and transgression in his book Messengers of Eros: Representations of Sex in Australian Writing (2009). In this text, he explains that desire can be understood as a positive or as a negative feeling. On the one hand, by experiencing desire, a person feels alive and has joy de vivre, and if that person is desired in return, then, the feelings of being accepted and happiness are also involved (13). On the other hand, desire is often repressed, as it may be considered evil, anarchic, an enemy of reason and an alienation from consciousness (14). According to Pons: Sometimes repression, in the form of censorship, comes from the outside—from society at large, or from particular social groups—because of desire´s subversive nature, because it is a force which, given a free rein, would threaten the higher purpose which a given society assigns to other (and usually ideological) forces … Repression may also come from the inside, via the internalization of censorship … desire is sometimes feared by the individual as a force alien to his/her true self which would leave him/her vulnerable to rejection or domination, and would result in loss of freedom (14).Consequently, when talking about sexual desire, the two main concepts to be dealt with are freedom and transgression. As Pons makes clear, “the desiring subject can be taken advantage of, manipulated like a puppet [as h]is or her freedom is in this sense limited by the experience of desire” (15). While some practices may be considered abusive, such as bondage or sado-masochism, they may be deliberately and freely chosen by the partners involved. In this case, these practices represent “an encounter between equals: dominance is no more than make-believe, and a certain amount of freedom (as much as is compatible with giving oneself up to one´s fantasies) is maintained throughout” (24). Consequently, the perception of freedom changes with each person and situation. What is transgressive depends on the norms in every culture and, as these evolve, so do the forms of transgression (Pons 43). Examples of transgressions can be: firstly, the separation of sex from love, adultery or female and male homosexuality, which happen with the free will of the partners; or, secondly, paedophilia, incest or bestiality, which imply abuse. Going against society’s norms involves taking risks, such as being discovered and exiled from society or feeling isolated as a result of a feeling of difference. As the norms change according to culture, time and person, an individual may transgress the rules and feel liberated, but later on do the same thing and feel alienated. As Pons declares, “transgressing the rules does not always lead to liberation or happiness—transgression can turn into a trap and turn out to be simply another kind of alienation” (46). In Swallowing Clouds, Zhu Zhiyee transgresses the social norms of his time by having an affair with Syn: firstly, because it is extra-marital, he and his wife, KarLeng, are Catholic and fidelity is one of the promises made when getting married; and, secondly, because he is Syn´s boss and his comments and ways of flirting with her could be considered sexual harassment. For two years, the affair is an escape from Zhu Zhiyee´s daily worries and stress and a liberation and fulfillment of his sexual desires. However, he introduces Syn to his mother and his sisters, who accept her and like her more than his wife. He feels trapped, though, when KarLeng guesses and threatens him with divorce. He cannot accept this as it would mean loss of face in their neighbourhood and society, and so he decides to abandon Syn. Syn´s transgression becomes a trap for her as Zhu, his mother and his sisters have become her only connection with the outside world in Australia and this alienates her from both the country she lives in and the people she knows. However, Syn´s transgression also turns into a trap for Zhu Zhiyee because she will not sign the documents to give him the house back and every month she sends proof of their affair to KarLeng in order to cause disruption in their household. This exposure could be compared with the humiliation suffered by the concubine when she was paraded in a pig´s basket before she was drowned in the HuangPu River. Furthermore, the reader does not know whether KarLeng finally divorces Zhu Zhiyee, which would be his drowning and loss of face and dishonour in front of society, but can imagine the humiliation, shame and disgrace KarLeng makes him feel every month. Pons also depicts eroticism as a form of transgression. In fact, erotic relations are a power game, and seduction can be a very effective weapon. As such, women can use seduction to obtain power and threaten the patriarchal order, which imposes on them patterns of behaviour, language and codes to follow. However, men also use seduction to get their own benefits, especially in political and social contexts. “Power has often been described as the ultimate aphrodisiac” (Pons 32) and this can be seen in many of the sexual games between Syn and Zhu Zhiyee in Swallowing Clouds, where Zhu Zhiyee is the active partner and Syn becomes little more than an object that gives pleasure. A clear reference to erotic fetishism is embedded in the above-mentioned quote on bound feet, which are compared to pig´s trotters. In fact, bound feet were so important in China in the millennia between the Song Dynasty (960-1276) and the early 20th century that “it was impossible to find a husband” (Holman) without them: “As women’s bound feet and shoes became the essence of feminine beauty, a fanatical aesthetic and sexual mystique developed around them. The bound foot was understood to be the most intimate and erotic part of the female anatomy, and wives, consorts and prostitutes were chosen solely on the size and shape of their feet” (Holman). Bound feet are associated in Ng’s novel with pig´s trotters and are described as “cute and loving … soft cottonwool lumps, plump and cuddly, [that] makes you want to stroke them like your lover´s hands” (224). This approach towards bound feet and, by extension, towards pig´s trotters, can be related to the fond feelings Melanesian and Asian cultures have towards piglets, which “are treated as pets and receive a great deal of loving attention” (Kim 121). Consequently, the bound feet can be considered a synecdoche for the fond feelings piglets inspire. Food and Sex The fact that Zhu Zhiyee is a butcher and works with different types of meat, including pork, that he chops it, sells it and gives cooking advice, is not gratuitous in the novel. He is used to being in close proximity to meat and death and seeing Syn’s pale skin through which he can trace her veins excites him. Her flesh is alive and represents, therefore, the opposite of meat. He wants to seduce her, which is human hunting, and he wants to study her, to enjoy her body, which can be compared to animals looking at their prey and deciding where to start eating from. Zhu´s desire for Syn seems destructive and dangerous. In the novel, bodies have a price: dead animals are paid for and eaten and their role is the satiation of human hunger. But humans, who are also animals, have a price as well: flesh is paid for, in the form of prostitution or being a mistress, and its aim is satiation of human sex. Generally speaking, sex in the novel is compared to food either in a direct or an indirect way, and making love is constantly compared to cooking, the preparation of food and eating (as in Pons 303). Many passages in Swallowing Clouds have cannibalistic connotations, all of these being used as metaphors for Zhu Zhiyee’s desire for Syn. As mentioned before, desire can be positive (as it makes a person feel alive) or negative (as a form of internal or social censorship). For Zhu Zhiyee, desire is positive and similar to a drug he is addicted to. For example, when Zhu and Syn make delivery rounds in an old Mazda van, he plays the recordings he made the previous night when they were having sex and tries to guess when each moan happened. Sex and Literature Pons explains that “to write about sex … is to address a host of issues—social, psychological and literary—which together pretty much define a culture” (6). Lillian Ng´s Swallowing Clouds addresses a series of issues. The first of these could be termed ‘the social’: Syn´s situation after the Tiananmen Massacre; her adulterous relationship with her boss and being treated and considered his mistress; the rapes in Inner Mongolia; different reasons for having an abortion; various forms of abuse, even by a mother of her mentally handicapped daughter; the loss of face; betrayal; and revenge. The second issue is the ‘psychological’, with the power relations and strategies used between different characters, psychological abuse, physical abuse, humiliation, and dependency. The third is the ‘literary’, as when the constant use of metaphors with Chinese cultural references becomes farcical, as Tseen Khoo notes in her article “Selling Sexotica” (2000: 164). Khoo explains that, “in the push for Swallowing Clouds to be many types of novels at once: [that is, erotica, touristic narrative and popular], it fails to be any one particularly successfully” (171). Swallowing Clouds is disturbing, full of stereotypes, and with repeated metaphors, and does not have a clear readership and, as Khoo states: “The explicit and implicit strategies behind the novel embody the enduring perceptions of what exotic, multicultural writing involves—sensationalism, voyeuristic pleasures, and a seemingly deliberate lack of rooted-ness in the Australian socioscape (172). Furthermore, Swallowing Clouds has also been defined as “oriental grunge, mostly because of the progression throughout the narrative from one gritty, exoticised sexual encounter to another” (Khoo 169-70).Other novels which have been described as “grunge” are Edward Berridge´s Lives of the Saints (1995), Justine Ettler´s The River Ophelia (1995), Linda Jaivin´s Eat Me (1995), Andrew McGahan´s Praise (1992) and 1988 (1995), Claire Mendes´ Drift Street (1995) or Christos Tsiolkas´ Loaded (1995) (Michael C). The word “grunge” has clear connotations with “dirtiness”—a further use of pig, but one that is not common in the novel. The vocabulary used during the sexual intercourse and games between Syn and Zhu Zhiyee is, however, coarse, and “the association of sex with coarseness is extremely common” (Pons 344). Pons states that “writing about sex is an attempt to overcome [the barriers of being ashamed of some human bodily functions], regarded as unnecessarily constrictive, and this is what makes it by nature transgressive, controversial” (344-45). Ng´s use of vocabulary in this novel is definitely controversial, indeed, so much so that it has been defined as banal or even farcical (Khoo 169-70).ConclusionThis paper has analysed the use of the words and expressions: “pig”, “pork” and “drowning in a pig’s basket” in Lillian Ng´s Swallowing Clouds. Moreover, the punishment of drowning in a pig’s basket has served as a means to study the topics of desire, transgression and eroticism, in relation to an analysis of the characters of Syn and Zhu Zhiyee, and their relationship. This discussion of various terminology relating to “pig” has also led to the study of the relationship between food and sex, and sex and literature, in this novel. 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