Reproductive Technologies and the Future of Motherhood in Chen Qiufan’s Science Fiction “In This Moment, We Are Happy”

Jingjing Cai 숙명여자대학교 아시아여성연구원 2021 Asian Women Vol.37 No.4

This paper discusses the notion of motherhood, which traditionally has been culturally and legally established on genetic kinship claims. Today, however, reproductive technologies have already expanded the scope of motherhood to include a range of possibilities. By examining an award-winning Chinese science fiction novella “In This Moment, We Are Happy” (2018), I argue that sci-fi narratives are particularly well equipped to clarify the global controversy over the ethical, moral, and gender implications of real and imaginary breakthroughs in human reproductive technologies. “In this Moment” tells five different yet interwoven stories: a Chinese female entrepreneur who hires a surrogate to bear her child, an Indian surrogate mother who carries a baby for her client, a Japanese male performance artist who conceives and delivers a child as an art project, a German lesbian couple who are the first to produce a child where they are both the genetic parents, and a secret organization with technology that completely excludes individual humans from participation in reproduction. Through a textual analysis of the five stories, I first outline the new reproductive technologies that the author thought could emerge in a linear, progressive fashion, and then discuss how the emergence of these technologies might lead to a corresponding shift of reproductive roles and a subsequent redefinition of motherhood. Next, I demonstrate how the author adopts the innovative form of a documentary script to simulate the responses of readers, and by extension the publics they represent, to the emergence of unconventional reproductive roles. Lastly, I argue that the author adopted a pro-feminist stance in his narration, which, I believe, is appropriate and powerful in that, for better or worse, women are likely to be most affected by the emergence of alternative reproductive roles and the subsequent redefinition of motherhood.

Effect of a Bacterial Laccase on the Quality and Micro-Structure of Whole Wheat Bread

Wang Jingjing,Bai Han,Zhang Ran,Ding Guoao,Cai Xuran,Wang Wei,Zhu Guilan,Zhou Peng,Zhang Yan 한국미생물·생명공학회 2023 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.33 No.12

The gluten protein content in whole-wheat flour is low, which affects the elasticity and viscosity of the dough. Enzymatic modification of the protein may result in a network that mimics gluten, which plays an important role in the processing of whole-wheat foods. In this study, the effects of Halomonas alkaliantartica laccase (LacHa) on the quality parameters of whole-wheat bread were investigated. The optimum dosage of LacHa was 4 U/100 g of whole-wheat flour. At this dosage, whole-wheat bread exhibited the best specific volume and optimum texture parameters. Laccase also extended the storage duration of whole-wheat bread. We analyzed the micro-structure of the dough to determine its gluten-free protein extractable rate and free sulfhydryl group content, and verify that LacHa mediates cross-linking of gluten-free proteins. The results demonstrated that the cross-linking of gluten-free protein by LacHa improves the texture of whole-wheat bread. As a flour improver, LacHa has great developmental and application potential in baked-food production.

Energy-efficient Relay MAC with Dynamic Power Control in Wireless Body Area Networks

( Xuelian Cai ),( Jingjing Yuan ),( Xiaoming Yuan ),( Wu Zhu ),( Jiandong Li ),( Changle Li ),( Sana Ullah ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2013 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.7 No.7

Wireless body area network (WBAN) is an emerging short-range wireless communication network with sensor nodes located on, in or around the human body for healthcare, entertainment and ubiquitous computing. In WBANs, energy is severely constrained which is the prime consideration in the medium access control (MAC) protocol design. In this paper, we propose a novel MAC protocol named Energy-efficient Relay MAC with dynamic Power Control (ERPC-MAC) to save energy consumption. Without relying on the additional devices, ERPC-MAC employs relaying nodes to provide relay service for nodes which consume energy fast. Accordingly the superframe adjustment is performed and then the network topology can be smoothly switched from single-hop to multi-hop. Moreover, for further energy saving and reliability improvement, the dynamic power control is introduced to adjust the power level whenever a node transmits its packets to the coordinator or the relaying node. To the best of the authors` knowledge, this is the first effort to integrate relay, topology adjustment and power control to improve the network performance in a WBAN. Comprehensive simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance. The results show that the ERPC-MAC is more superior to the existing standard and significantly prolongs the network lifetime.

Characteristics of long-range transported PM2.5 at a coastal city using the single particle aerosol mass spectrometry

Qiuliang Cai,Lei Tong,Jingjing Zhang,Jie Zheng,Mengmeng He,Jiamei Lin,Xiaoqiu Chen,Hang Xiao 대한환경공학회 2019 Environmental Engineering Research Vol.24 No.4

Air pollution has attracted ever-increasing attention because of its substantial influence on air quality and human health. To better understand the characteristics of long-range transported pollution, the single particle chemical composition and size were investigated by the single particle aerosol mass spectrometry in Fuzhou, China from 17th to 22nd January, 2016. The results showed that the haze was mainly caused by the transport of cold air mass under higher wind speed (10 m·s<SUP>-1</SUP>) from the Yangtze River Delta region to Fuzhou. The number concentration elevated from 1,000 to 4,500 #·h<SUP>-1</SUP>, and the composition of mobile source and secondary aerosol increased from 24.3% to 30.9% and from 16.0% to 22.5%, respectively. Then, the haze was eliminated by the clean air mass from the sea as indicated by a sharp decrease of particle number concentration from 4,500 to 1,000 #·h<SUP>-1</SUP>. The composition of secondary aerosol and mobile sources decreased from 29.3% to 23.5% and from 30.9% to 23.1%, respectively. The particles with the size ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 ㎛ were mainly in the accumulation mode. The stationary source, mobile source, and secondary aerosol contributed to over 70% of the potential sources. These results will help to understand the physical and chemical characteristics of long- range transported pollutants.

A modified elastic contact stiffness model considering the deformation of bulk substrate

Ling Li,Jingjing Wang,Xiyong Pei,Wei Chu,Anjiang Cai 대한기계학회 2020 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.34 No.2

Establishing an accurate and effective stiffness model of the elastic contact surface is the basis for further modeling and analysis of machine tool dynamics. In this paper, a new elastic contact stiffness model is proposed that considers the bulk substrate deformation and modifies the Greenwood and Williamson microcontact model (GW model) of rough surfaces. Based on the Hertz contact theory and fixed-point iteration method, a single asperity contact model is created to analyze the effects of bulk substrate deformation and coating materials. To make the contact stiffness model more accurate and effective, two aspects are improved: One is to introduce the triangular distribution function to make the asperity heights distribution more consistent with the actual machined surface, and the other is to correct the defects in the micro-contact process. Comparing the finite element simulation results with the modal test data, the correctness of the proposed contact stiffness model is verified. The simulation results reveal the influence of distribution function, surface roughness and coating material on the contact characteristics of the joint surface.

Contact Stiffness Determination of High-Speed Double- Locking Toolholder-Spindle Joint based on a Macro- Micro Scale Hybrid Method

Yongsheng Zhao,Jingjing Xu,Ligang Cai,Weimin Shi,Zhifeng Liu,Qiang Cheng 한국정밀공학회 2016 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol.17 No.6

The stiffness of toolholder-spindle joint at high speeds plays an important role in the cutting efficiency and the machining accuracy. A double-locking toolholder (BTF type) is designed to improve the stiffness of joint. This paper presents a macro-micro scale hybrid method to determine the stiffness of double-locking toolholder-spindle joint at high speeds. In this method the finite element method and the three-dimensional fractal method are combined. It is assumed flat in macro-scale for the contact surfaces of joint. The finite element method is introduced to obtain the pressure distribution with the influence of centrifugal force at high speeds. In micro-scale, the contact surfaces are fractal featured and the three-dimensional fractal method is used to compute the stiffness based on the pressure. Experiments with BTF40-type toolholder are conducted to verify the efficiency of the proposed model in zero-speed case. The relationship between the stiffness and the technological parameters of the system can be derived based on the presented model. The upper limit of speed, the optimized range of each technological parameter are determined for obtaining the higher stiffness of joint. The results can provide theoretical basis for improving the cutting efficiency and the machining accuracy of high-speed machine tool.

Efficient Expression of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Analogue with Human Serum Albumin Fusion Protein in Pichia pastoris Using the Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate Dehydrogenase Promoter

Kai Qian,XiaoHai Gong,Bo Guan,SuPing Wu,JingJing Zhang,Jing Qian,YanFei Cai,Yun Chen,ZuoYing Duan,Xin Ma,HuaZhong Li,Jian Jin 한국생물공학회 2015 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.20 No.4

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) was a potential therapeutic drug for type II diabetes, mainly because of the stimulatory effect on insulin secretion under condition of high blood glucose. We used PCR to obtain a recombination gene, GGH, in which two GLP-1 (GLP-1A2G) mutants were connected in series and then fused to the N terminal of human serum albumin. The fusion gene was inserted into pGAPZaA plasmid with Saccharomyces cerevisiae α- factor secretion signal sequence, and was expressed by the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAP) promoter. The engineered strain was constructed by integrating the recombinant plasmid pGAPZαA/GGH into the genome of Pichia pastoris GS115. Genome PCR and western blot showed that the recombinant P. pastoris successfully expressed the fusion protein GGH. The yield of GGH reached 78 mg/L after 72 h fermentation in a flask, using glucose as the optimal carbon source. Fed-batch fermentation was investigated in a 5 L bioreactor, and the expression level of GGH reached 246 mg/L in 52 h. The fusion protein GGH was purified in four steps, and the final purity was 96.1%. The in vitro bioactivity of GGH was the same as that expressed in P. pastoris by the AOX1 promoter. This study described an efficient way to express GGH fusion protein in P. pastoris using GAP promoter, fermentation was easier to control without carbon source change and fermentation time was 20 h less than AOX1 promotercontrolled GGH fermentation.

Selection and optimization of nutritional risk screening tools for esophageal cancer patients in China

Wen Dong,Xiguang Liu,Shunfang Zhu,Di Lu,Kaican Cai,Ruijun Cai,Qing Li,Jingjing Zeng,Mei Li 한국영양학회 2020 Nutrition Research and Practice Vol.14 No.1

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Malnutrition has multiple impacts on surgical success, postoperative complications, duration of hospital stay, and costs, particularly for cancer patients. There are various nutrition risk screening tools available for clinical use. Herein, we aim to determine the most appropriate nutritional risk screening system for esophageal cancer (EC) patients in China. SUBJECTS/METHODS: In total, 138 EC patients were enrolled in this study and evaluated by experienced nurses using three different nutritional screening tools, the Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 tool (NRS2002), the Patient-generated Subjective Globe Assessment (PG-SGA), and the Nutrition Risk Index (NRI).We compared sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and Youden index generated by each of the three screening tools. Finally, cut-off points for all three tools were re-defined to optimize and validate the best nutritional risk screening tool for assessing EC patients. RESULTS: Our data suggested that all three screening tools were 100% sensitive for EC patients, while the specificities were 44.4%, 2.96%, and 59.26% for NRS 2002, PG-SGA, and NRI, respectively. NRI had a higher positive likelihood ratio as well as a higher area under the receiver operating characteristic curve compared to those of NRS 2002 and PG-SGA; although, all three tools had null negative likelihood ratios. After adjusting the cut-off points, the specificity and accuracy for all tools were significantly improved, however, the NRI remained the most appropriate nutritional risk screening system for EC patients. CONCLUSIONS: The NRI is the most suitable (highest sensitivity and accuracy) nutritional risk screening tool for EC patients. The performance of the NRI can be significantly improved if the cut-off point is modified according to the results obtained using MedCalc software.