End of an Era? China’s One-Child Policy and its Unintended Consequences

Peter Abrahamson 한국사회복지학회 2016 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.10 No.3

At the end of 2015, China put an end to the one-child policy (OCP), thereby terminating the largest family planning program in human history. For nearly four decades it had shaped relations between generations and between men and women to an extent never before seen. Today, China struggles with the unintended consequences of the OCP. It has resulted in the so-called 4-2-1 family structure, in which the only children had four grandparents and two parents to care for them when they grew up, but where they have to shoulder the care of four grandparents and two parents when they come of age, because both cultural values and legal prescriptions foresee reciprocal care responsibilities between generations. This has led to an enormous care deficit, which triggers conflicts between both genders and generations. A second major unintended consequence has been a skewed gender ratio of only 18 women per 20 men because of the strong preference for boys, which has led to so-called “bare branches:” Chinese men who are not able to find a spouse or have to rely on “mail-order brides.” The paper concludes that the OCP has come to an end, but the unintended consequences prevail

Forty Years of Change in American Medical Education

Stephen Abrahamson 한국의학교육학회 2000 Korean journal of medical education Vol.12 No.2

European Welfare States Beyond Neoliberalism

PETER ABRAHAMSON(피터 에이브라함슨) 서울대학교 사회발전연구소 2010 Journal of Asian Sociology Vol.39 No.1

After the golden age of welfare state development in Europe, the glorious thirty years from 1945 to 1974, perceptions changed and the welfare state was interpreted to be in crisis. One solution to the crisis was a neo-liberal approach emphasizing privatization and retrenchment. And at least rhetorically this perspective gained ground during the 1980s in Northwestern Europe and during the 1990s in the newly emerging market economies of Central and Eastern Europe. However, on the whole, social science literature has been more concerned about trying to explain welfare state resilience to change than identifying retrenchment even if parts of the literature do argue for such a perspective. This seeming contradiction within the scholarly community calls for a more precise definition of all three import concepts: What should be understood by neo-liberal reform or a neo-liberal approach? Which welfare policies are in question? And what parts of Europe are being investigated? Furthermore, the time perspective is crucial. From the perspective of the late 2000s this paper argues first that neo-liberalism in the form of the so-called Washington consensus is no longer promoted by international organizations. Social policies are no longer regarded as a burden on economies, but rather as investment in human capital. Hence, we are now beyond neo-liberalism. Secondly, the widespread welfare reforms in Europe must be distinguished according to welfare regime. Thus, the paper discusses welfare reform within five different trajectories: former state-socialist states, Continental Europe, Atlantic Europe, Southern Europe and Scandinavia. Although the number and demarcations of welfare regimes are contested (for an excellent overview see Powell and Barrientos, 2008) it is a widespread perspective and a good tool to order European welfare states. Hence, I agree with Francis Castles and Herbert Obinger (2008: 321) when they write: “Our main conclusions are that country clustering is, if anything, more pronounced than in the past, that it is, in large part, structurally determined and that the EU now contains a quite distinct post-Communist family of nations.” A superficial overview of spending on social protection in both relative and absolute terms from 1980 (1990 in Eastern Europe) to 2005 reveals no signs of retrenchment in any regime. But such summary indicators may mask a different distributional profile of benefits and an increase in risks and coverage. Therefore, the remainder of the paper discusses in more detail particular welfare reforms within each of the five welfare regimes. It is concluded that problems of welfare state development differ within the different regimes, but a strong commitment to welfare can be identified everywhere. However, within a bifurcated system where the middle class enjoys generous protection, the marginalized are subjected to increased obligations and reduced entitlements.

Chemically driven carbon-nanotube-guided thermopower waves

Choi, Wonjoon,Hong, Seunghyun,Abrahamson, Joel T.,Han, Jae-Hee,Song, Changsik,Nair, Nitish,Baik, Seunghyun,Strano, Michael S. Nature Publishing Group 2010 NATURE MATERIALS Vol.9 No.5

Theoretical calculations predict that by coupling an exothermic chemical reaction with a nanotube or nanowire possessing a high axial thermal conductivity, a self-propagating reactive wave can be driven along its length. Herein, such waves are realized using a 7-nm cyclotrimethylene trinitramine annular shell around a multiwalled carbon nanotube and are amplified by more than 10<SUP>4</SUP> times the bulk value, propagating faster than 2 m s<SUP>−1</SUP>, with an effective thermal conductivity of 1.28±0.2 kW m<SUP>−1</SUP> K<SUP>−1</SUP> at 2,860 K. This wave produces a concomitant electrical pulse of disproportionately high specific power, as large as 7 kW kg<SUP>−1</SUP>, which we identify as a thermopower wave. Thermally excited carriers flow in the direction of the propagating reaction with a specific power that scales inversely with system size. The reaction also evolves an anisotropic pressure wave of high total impulse per mass (300 N s kg<SUP>−1</SUP>). Such waves of high power density may find uses as unique energy sources.

솔껍질깍지벌레 성충의 우화습성

박승찬,Lawrence P. Abrahamson 한국응용곤충학회 1991 한국응용곤충학회지 Vol.30 No.1

솔껍질깍지벌레 성충의 탈피(우화 : eclosin) 및 우화후의 탈출 (emergence)습성이 실내조건에서 조사되었다. 수컷성충의 탈피는 일종 특정한 시간에 국한되지 않으며 갓 탈히한 성충은 실온에서 정지성충(pre-emergence adult)으로 0.5~2.5일 경화후 고치로부터 탈출하였다. 대부분의 수컷성충은 일조후 1시간 이내에 탈출하였으며 이러한 탈출현상은 광도가 높은 경우 더욱 빨리 진행되었다. 암텃성충은 우화후 곧 탈피장소에서 이동하며 대부분 일조후 3시간이내에 우화하였다. 수컷이 우화후 고치속에 일정기간 정치하여 있는 것은 갓 우화한 성충의 생리적 성숙을 돕고 또한 번식활동을 일중 특정한 시간에 하기 위한 것으로 풀이된다. Adult eclosion and emergence behavior of the black pine base scale, Matsucoccus thunbergianae Miller and Park, was studied in a laboratory. Adult eclosion in males did not appear to be limited to a specific time of the day. Newly molted male adults, at room temperatures, usually remained in the cocoons as pre-emergence adults for 0.5-20. days before emerging, most males emerged within one hour after the onset of photophase, and emergence was faster at higher light intensity. Most females molted into adults within three hours after the onset of photophase, and they were active immediately after molting. Quiescence in males appears to help the scales concentrate their sexual activity within a particular period of the day as well as to protect newly molted adults until sexual and locomotive maturity.

일주기와 관련된 솔껍질깍지벌레 암컷성충의 성훼로몬 체내생산 및 발산

박승찬,Lawrence P. Abrahamson 한국응용곤충학회 1991 한국응용곤충학회지 Vol.30 No.1

솔껍질깍지벌레 암컷성충의 일주기와 관련된 성훼로몬의 체내생산과 발산 습성을 밝히기 위하여 우화후 시간별로 성훼로몬의 보유량 및 발산량을 조사하였다. 체내 생산량 및 발산량은 공히 매일 오전 8시부터 오후 2시사이에 가장 많았으며 오후 4시 이후는 현저히 줄어드는 양상을 나타내었고 또한 우화후 3일이 경과하면 점점 감소하였다. 본 곤충의 생식활동에 있어 성훼로몬의 발산과 암수성충활동의 일주기가 일치하는 것의 의미가 검토되었다. The daily rhythm of sex pheromone production and release by females of the black pine base scale, Matsucoccus thunbergianae Miller and Park, was demonstrated by studying the amounts of pheromone possessed and released by females, periodically after emergence. Cycles of both pheromone production and release had daily peaks between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., and has marked decreases after 4 p.m. It appeared that the amounts of pheromone gradually decreased three days after the emergence. Significance in synchronization of the daily rhythm of female pheromone release and activities of males and females with reference to reproductive success in this species is discussed.

Nanotube deposition in a continuous arc reactor for varying arc gap and substrate temperature

Hamdan M. Yusoff,Rahul Shastry,Thomas Querrioux,John Abrahamson 한국물리학회 2006 Current Applied Physics Vol.6 No.3

A new continuous method for producing mounted carbon nanotubes (CNT) has been developed using the arc discharge method, in which a woven carbon substrate is used as a carbon source. In the process, carbon nanotubes grow on the fibres of the carbon substrate during the arc discharge. The method used differs from the conventional arc discharge method in that it deposits on the anode using low current (less than 20 A), with inter-electrode gaps of more than 5 mm and is run at atmospheric pressure, so that the substrate can be continuously fed and recovered. The aim of this work was to study the effect of the physical parameters of the arc on substrate surface temperature and on the CNT growth there. The effects of arc gap and buffer gas flow through the anodic substrate were investigated. An optical pyrometric technique was used to determine the substrate surface temperature. It was found that carbon nanotube growth was favoured over the temperature range 3600–3700 ± 50 K and not favoured at higher temperatures of 3800–4000 ± 50 K. This indicates that CNT growth is unlikely to be due to vaporization/condensation of small molecular carbon species.

A Compositional Window of Kinetic Stability for Amphiphilic Polymers and Colloidal Nanorods

Jeng, Esther S.,Shih, Chih-Jen,Barone, Paul W.,Jones, Naomi,Baik, Joon Hyun,Abrahamson, Joel T.,Strano, Michael S. American Chemical Society 2011 JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C - Vol.115 No.15

<P>Amphiphilic polymers are often used to disperse nanoparticles in aqueous solution. Polymer adsorption theory predicts that there exists a narrow compositional range of hydrophobic groups on the polymer chain that allows for kinetic stabilization. Too few groups limit polymer adsorption, while too many allow aggregation of polymer-coated nanoparticles for lack of entropic repulsion. We experimentally validate and mathematically describe the existence of this compositional range, and the resulting stability “window” for the first time using a phenoxy-dextran polymer to disperse single-walled carbon nanotubes. The results should provide a theoretical basis for the design of nanoparticle dispersants.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/jpccck/2011/jpccck.2011.115.issue-15/jp109032h/production/images/medium/jp-2010-09032h_0001.gif'></P>