Ethnic culture and social mobility among second-generation Asian Americans

ABSTRACT

This review engages with Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou’s The Asian American Achievement Paradox to consider how ethnic culture matters for social mobility among the immigrant second generation. It describes the strengths and contributions of the book, connects it to broader debates on culture, poverty, and mobility, and draws on my own research on the second generation in New York City. It highlights three additional cultural mechanisms that underlie the Chinese (or Asian) second-generation advantage: social class heterogeneity in the co-ethnic community, intergenerational support in the immigrant family, and the belief in achievements as redemption for parental sacrifice. While pointing out the similarities and differences between Los Angeles and New York, it also suggests possible applications of these cultural mechanisms in explaining second-generation achievements.     

Fixing the cultural fallacy

ABSTRACT

In this review essay, I place The Asian American Achievement Paradox, by Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou within a broad framework that reaches beyond immigration studies. I consider the book’s main contributions surrounding immigrant hyper-selectivity and stereotype promise in relation to class background, noting how the book makes an important contribution to our understanding of variations in educational achievement within and among ethno-racial groups. I note the relationship between stereotype promise and Robert K. Merton’s classic understanding of ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. Finally, I draw attention to the way in which race and culture have been conflated thus creating new intellectual challenges for those interested in reaching greater levels of precision in analysis.     

不同规格中华绒螯蟹母本子代的生长特性比较

为研究中华绒螯蟹(Eriocheir sinensis)不同规格母本子代的生长发育,本实验在生态池塘中放置网箱养殖中华绒螯蟹,按照母本规格不同设置4个组,组A、B、C和D分别为母本体重(175.7±5.3)g、(150.4±5.8)g、(125.6±5.5)g和(100.2±5.9)g的子代,4组的父本体重无显著差异,每个组4个平行,每个平行雄蟹10只、雌蟹20只。每个网箱放养中华绒螯蟹大眼幼体500只,以水花生(Altemanthena philoxeroides)为隐蔽物,保持生长环境尽量相同且适宜生长。经过158 d的养殖,A、B、C和D组个体的体重从(6.0±0.5)mg分别增长到(7 599.8±954.8)mg、(6 232.7±638.7)mg、(6 112.4±854.6)mg、(5 316.0±745.3)mg,分别增长了1 266.6、1 038.8、1 018.7和886.0倍,且A组特定生长率显著高于D组(P0.05)。蜕壳11次成长为1龄蟹种后综合指标(体重、壳长、壳宽、体高)最好的是A组,A组显著好于B、C、D组(P0.05);次之为B、C组,再者是D组,B与C组差异不显著(P0.05),但均显著好于D组(P0.05)。B组成活率最高,分别比A、D、C组高1.4%、3.6%、4.6%;次之为A组,分别比D、C组高2.2%、3.2%;再者为D组,比C组高1.4%。综合研究表明,在1龄蟹种阶段,大规格母本后代生长性状表现出优于小规格母本后代的趋势。     

A transgenic plant cell‐suspension system for expression of epitopes on chimeric Bamboo mosaic virus particles

We describe a novel strategy to produce vaccine antigens using a plant cell‐suspension culture system in lieu of the conventional bacterial or animal cell‐culture systems. We generated transgenic cell‐suspension cultures from Nicotiana benthamiana leaves carrying wild‐type or chimeric Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV) expression constructs encoding the viral protein 1 (VP1) epitope of foot‐and‐mouth disease virus (FMDV). Antigens accumulated to high levels in BdT38 and BdT19 transgenic cell lines co‐expressing silencing suppressor protein P38 or P19. BaMV chimeric virus particles (CVPs) were subsequently purified from the respective cell lines (1.5 and 2.1 mg CVPs/20 g fresh weight of suspended biomass, respectively), and the resulting CVPs displayed VP1 epitope on the surfaces. Guinea pigs vaccinated with purified CVPs produced humoral antibodies. This study represents an important advance in the large‐scale production of immunopeptide vaccines in a cost‐effective manner using a plant cell‐suspension culture system.     

Non-integrating episomal plasmid-based reprogramming of human amniotic fluid stem cells into induced pluripotent stem cells in chemically defined conditions

Amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSC) represent an attractive potential cell source for fetal and pediatric cell-based therapies. However, upgrading them to pluripotency confers refractoriness toward senescence, higher proliferation rate and unlimited differentiation potential. AFSC were observed to rapidly and efficiently reacquire pluripotency which together with their easy recovery makes them an attractive cell source for reprogramming. The reprogramming process as well as the resulting iPSC epigenome could potentially benefit from the unspecialized nature of AFSC. iPSC derived from AFSC also have potential in disease modeling, such as Down syndrome or β-thalassemia. Previous experiments involving AFSC reprogramming have largely relied on integrative vector transgene delivery and undefined serum-containing, feeder-dependent culture. Here, we describe non-integrative oriP/EBNA-1 episomal plasmid-based reprogramming of AFSC into iPSC and culture in fully chemically defined xeno-free conditions represented by vitronectin coating and E8 medium, a system that we found uniquely suited for this purpose. The derived AF-iPSC lines uniformly expressed a set of pluripotency markers Oct3/4, Nanog, Sox2, SSEA-1, SSEA-4, TRA-1-60, TRA-1-81 in a pattern typical for human primed PSC. Additionally, the cells formed teratomas, and were deemed pluripotent by PluriTest, a global expression microarray-based in-silico pluripotency assay. However, we found that the PluriTest scores were borderline, indicating a unique pluripotent signature in the defined condition. In the light of potential future clinical translation of iPSC technology, non-integrating reprogramming and chemically defined culture are more acceptable.     

Proteomic analysis of Rac1 signaling regulation by guanine nucleotide exchange factors

The small GTPase Rac1 is implicated in various cellular processes that are essential for normal cell function. Deregulation of Rac1 signaling has also been linked to a number of diseases, including cancer. The diversity of Rac1 functioning in cells is mainly attributed to its ability to bind to a multitude of downstream effectors following activation by Guanine nucleotide Exchange Factors (GEFs). Despite the identification of a large number of Rac1 binding partners, factors influencing downstream specificity are poorly defined, thus hindering the detailed understanding of both Rac1's normal and pathological functions. In a recent study, we demonstrated a role for 2 Rac-specific GEFs, Tiam1 and P-Rex1, in mediating Rac1 anti- versus pro-migratory effects, respectively. Importantly, via conducting a quantitative proteomic screen, we identified distinct changes in the Rac1 interactome following activation by either GEF, indicating that these opposing effects are mediated through GEF modulation of the Rac1 interactome. Here, we present the full list of identified Rac1 interactors together with functional annotation of the differentially regulated Rac1 binding partners. In light of this data, we also provide additional insights into known and novel signaling cascades that might account for the GEF-mediated Rac1-driven cellular effects.