Chinese Compound Research Articles

Root merger in Chinese compounds*

Abstract. Working on the computation of roots in Chinese compounds, this paper presents six major differences between the merger of roots in compound formation and the merger of elements in phrase structure formation: the existence of exocentric structures, the freedom of projectivity, the disappearance of subcategorization, the double licensing of formal features, the effect of Lexical Integrity in movement, and such an effect in pronominalization. All of these differences are accounted for by the hypothesis that roots do not have syntactic features. Moreover, this paper studies a case of merger level underspecification in languages that allow nouns and verbs to occur without any inflection: in the absence of a syntactic context, an isolated string of two elements can be ambiguous between the root‐merger that eventually gives rise to a verb and the merger of a verb and its object that gives rise to a VP.

Effects of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction on glucose transporter 4 in target tissues of type 2 diabetic rats

To investigate the molecular mechanism of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction (HLJDD), a traditional Chinese compound herbal medicine, in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by observing its effects on glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) protein expression and translocation in adipose and skeletal muscle tissues of rats with T2DM. T2DM was induced in rats by intravenous injection of a small dose of streptozotocin (STZ, 30 mg/kg) plus high fat and high caloric laboratory chow. Then animals were divided into untreated group, aspirin-treated group and HLJDD-treated group. Normal rats fed with common chow were designated as normal control group. Ten weeks later, the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed in all animals, and the changes of murine body weight, fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting serum insulin (FINS) and the expression of GLUT4 protein in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues before and after insulin treatment were routinely determined. Compared with the untreated group, the result of OGTT of HLJDD-treated group was improved. The levels of the body weight and FBG were decreased, while the GLUT4 protein expression and translocation were elevated obviously. It is suggested by the present results that the therapeutic effects of HLJDD on T2DM might be related to its ability of increasing GLUT4 protein expression and translocation in adipose and skeletal muscle tissues of T2DM rats.

Identification of two herbal compounds with potential cholesterol-lowering activity

Low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) plays a pivotal role in the control of plasma LDL-cholesterol level. This occurs predominantly at the transcriptional level through two gene regulation elements, named SRE: sterol-responsive element and SIRE: sterol-independent responsive element. We have developed a high-throughput screening using LDLR promoter activation-based assay to search for cholesterol-lowering compounds from a Chinese herb-based natural compound library. With this approach, we identified two compounds, named Daphnetoxin and Gniditrin, from Chinese herb Daphne giraldii Nitsche, which could activate LDLR promoter. Characterization of these compounds showed that they increased the level of LDLR mRNA and consequently up-regulate LDLR expression. The structures of these compounds are different from well-known LDLR promoter activating compounds such as GW707. The results suggested that these herbal compounds could represent good candidates for development of new classes of cholesterol-lowering drugs.

An examination of semantic radical combinability effects with lateralized cues in Chinese character recognition

Auclair and Siéroff examined lateralized cuing effects in the identification of centrally presented letter strings and reported no cuing effects for short word stimuli. They argued for a redistribution of attention over the entire word for short familiar words. We explored cuing effects with Chinese phonetic compounds, which can be considered extreme examples of short words, in a character-level semantic judgment task. When the semantic radical position was placed on the left of the characters, strong radical combinability and semantic transparency effects were observed. There was also a significant interaction between cue position (left vs. right) and radical combinability: A left cue facilitated semantic judgment of characters with small radical combinability more than did a right cue. This behavior reflects the information profile of Chinese phonetic compounds. Semantic radicals with small combinability are more informative than those with large combinability in determining the meaning of the whole character; they therefore benefit more from a left than a right cue. A mechanism redistributing attention over the whole of the character was not in evidence at the level of semantic processing.

Clinical observation of Ruyiping in preventing recidivation and metastasis of breast cancer

To observe the effect of Ruyiping, a traditional Chinese compound herbal medicine composed of 5 Chinese herbs for removing toxic materials and dissipating nodules from Runing II, another traditional Chinese compound herbal medicine for treating breast cancer, in preventing recidivation and metastasis in breast cancer patients after operation. Eighty patients with breast cancer after operation were randomly divided into Ruyiping group and Runing II group, and prescribed Ruyiping and Runing II on the basis of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and endocrine therapy respectively for two years. There were two patients with metastasis and three patients lost to follow-up in Ruyiping group and three and two in Runing II group. The recidivation and metastasis rates were 5.41% and 7.89% respectively. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The difference of disease-free survival time between the two groups was also not statistically significant. The effect of Ruyiping in preventing recidivation and metastasis is similar to that of Runing II. Ruyiping is the essential component of Runing II for preventing recidivation and metastasis. The result provides some clinical evidences for the theory that "Yudu Pangcuan" (vestigial poison invasion elsewhere) is the essential pathogenesis of breast cancer's recidivation and metastasis and the utilization of "Sanjie Jiedu" (dispersing accumulation and detoxification) is the therapeutic principle in preventing recidivation and metastasis after operation.

Effects of Yiqi Kaimi Recipe on gastrointestinal motility and neuropeptides in rats with colonic slow transit constipation

To observe the effects of Yiqi Kaimi Recipe (YQKMR), a traditional Chinese compound medicine, on gastrointestinal motility and neuropeptides in rats with colonic slow transit constipation. Eighty specific pathogen free rats were included, and there were sixty rats with slow transit constipation (STC) and twenty normal rats. Sixty rats with STC were randomly divided into untreated group, cisapride-treated group and YQKMR-treated group, and twenty normal rats were allocated to normal control group. Percentage of carbon propelling, contraction frequency and amplitude of the muscle segments in vitro, and expressions of nitric oxide synthase-1 (NOS1) and substance P proteins were observed. Compared with the normal control group, the percentage of carbon propelling, and the contraction frequency and amplitude of the muscle segments in the untreated group decreased obviously (P<0.05) The percentage of carbon propelling, and the contraction frequency and amplitude of the muscle segments in the YQKMR-treated group and cisapride-treated group were higher than those in the untreated group (P<0.05). The expression of NOS1 protein in the untreated group was higher than that in the normal control group, YQKMR-treated group and cisapride-treated group. However, there were no significant differences between the YQKMR-treated group and the normal control group (P>0.05). The expression of substance P protein in the untreated group was lower than that in the normal control group, and there was no significant difference between the YQKMR-treated group and the normal control group too (P>0.05). Yiqi Kaimi Recipe could promote colon motility by increasing the contraction frequency and amplitude of the smooth muscle, and this may be due to its effect of regulating the expressions of NOS1 and substance P proteins in the enteric plexus.

Effects of Huoxue Bushen Mixture on skin blood vessel neogenesis and vascular endothelial growth factor expression in hair follicle of C57BL/6 mice

To investigate the possible stimulating mechanism of Huoxue Bushen Mixture (HXBSM), a traditional Chinese compound medicine, on hair growth of mice via measuring the variance of skin blood vessel neogenesis and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in the hair follicle. Hot rosin and paraffin mixture depilation were used to induce C57BL/6 mice hair follicle to enter from telogen into anagen. Ninety C57BL/6 mice were divided into 3 groups randomly: HXBSM group, Yangxue Shengfa Capsule (YXSFC, another traditional Chinese compound medicine) group and untreated group. The mice were fed with corresponding drugs after modeling. The hair growth of the mice was observed every day. Every ten mice out of each group were executed respectively at day 4, 11 and day 17. Skin blood vessel neogenesis was counted through pathological section and VEGF expression in the hair follicle was measured via immunohistochemical method. The number of local blood vessel neogenisis in the HXBSM group observed was larger than that in the untreated group at day 4 (P<0.05); and evidently larger than that in the YXSFC group and the untreated group at day 11 (P<0.05). The expression of VEGF in the hair follicle was distinctively higher than that in the YXSFC group and the untreated group at day 11 and day 17 (P<0.05). HXBSM up-regulates VEGF expression to accelerate blood vessel neogenesis and hair growth.

A double-blind, randomized controlled trial of Chaige Qingre Granule in treating acute upper respiratory tract infection of wind heat syndrome

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of Chaige Qingre Granule, a traditional Chinese compound herbal medicine, in treating acute upper respiratory tract infection of wind heat syndrome. A multi-center, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial was conducted. In the phase II, 60 patients with acute upper respiratory tract infection were randomly divided into the trial group (n=30) and the control group (n=30). In the phase III, 112 patients were randomly divided into the trial group (n=84) and the control group (n=28). The trial group received 6 g Chaige Qingre Granule, and the control group received 6 g Fufang Shuanghua Granule (another traditional Chinese compound herbal medicine). The two groups were all treated for 3 days and four times daily. Clinical symptoms, syndromes, adverse effect, blood, urine and stool test, hepatorenal function and electrocardiogram were examined before and after the treatment. After treatment, the overall obvious response rates of the trial group and the control group were 78.57%, 82.14% (by per-protocol analysis) and 75.86%, 79.31% (by intention-to-treat analysis) respectively, and the overall response rates of the two groups were 96.43%, 100% (by per-protocol analysis) and 93.10%, 96.55% (by intention-to-treat analysis) respectively in phase II. There were no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). In the phase III, the overall obvious response rates of the trial group and the control group were 90.54%, 73.08% (by per-protocol analysis) and 88.16%, 70.37% (by intention-to-treat analysis) respectively, and the overall response rates of the two groups were 94.59%, 96.15% (by per-protocol analysis) and 92.11%, 92.59% (by intention-to-treat analysis) respectively. There were no statistical differences between the two groups (P>0.05) too. No adverse effects were found in the trial. Chaige Qingre Granule is effective and safe in treating acute upper respiratory tract infection of wind heat syndrome.

Conditioned mediums of different rat cerebral microvascular endothelial cells against damage of ischemia and ischemia/reperfusion neurons

Using the method of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay, to observe the activities of rat cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) intervened by Tongluo Jiunao Injection (TLJNI), a traditional Chinese compound drug removing toxin to dredge brain collaterals, and then further study the effects of different kinds of conditioned mediums (CMECs-CM) of cerebral microvascular endothelial cells on ischemia and ischemia/reperfusion cerebral cortex cells, and to probe into the drug pharmacological mechanisms of CMECs in modulating the neurons. Three kinds of CMECs (normal, ischemic and ischemic/reperfusional) were all treated by TLJNI previously, and then the three pairs of CMECs-CM without serum were collected respectively for LDH assay. Rat cerebral cortex neurons were also primarily cultured and then divided into similar three groups (normal, ischemic and ischemic/reperfusional). The neuron responses caused by CMECs-CM at different concentrations were observed by using LDH transudation rate assay. The LDH release values of ischemic and ischemic/reperfusional CMECs with TLJNI treatment were obviously reduced (P<0.01) compared with the same kinds of CMECs untreated. For ischemic neurons, both conditioned medium of ischemic CMECs (Is-CM) and conditioned medium of ischemic CMECs with drug treatment (IsT-CM) in high concentration of 100% increased the LDH transudation rate (P<0.01), while in low concentration of 10%, IsT-CM reduced the transudation rate (P<0.05). For ischemia/reperfusion neurons, all kinds of CMECs-CM reduced the transudation rate respectively (P<0.05 or P<0.01). As far as each group concentration was concerned, 10% or 50% showed relatively stronger effects, and both conditioned medium of normal CMECs (N-CM) group and conditioned medium of ischemic/reperfusional CMECs (Rp-CM) group had statistical significance (P<0.05 or P<0.01). For normal neurons, all kinds of CMECs-CM increased the transudation rate respectively (P<0.05 or P<0.01). As far as each group concentration was concerned, only conditioned medium of normal CMECs (N-CM) had statistical significance (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The study shows that TLJNI is capable of preventing the damage of CMECs from both ischemia and ischemia/reperfusion states. Chinese drug can restrain the brain ischemia and ischemia/reperfusion damage by the media that CMECs modulate the neurons, demonstrating the pharmacological mechanisms of TLJNI. This work also indicates that there exist some active substances against ischemia/reperfusion injury secreted from CMECs-CM with TLJNI treatment.

Effect of Chinese traditional compound, Gan‐fu‐kang, on CCl4‐induced liver fibrosis in rats and its probable molecular mechanisms

To explore the antifibrotic effect of traditional Chinese medicine compound Gan-fu-kang (GFK) on CCl(4)-induced liver fibrosis in rats and its probable mechanisms. The effects of GFK on CCl(4)-induced liver fibrosis were tested in rats. The liver histopathology was examined by light microscope, polaring microscope and electron microscope. The activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were assayed and the content of albumin (ALB) and hydroxyproline in the liver was measured. The expression of transforming growth factor-beta(1) (TGF-beta(1)) and laminin (LN) was determined by immunohistochemistry. Semi-quantitive computation of collagen types I and III and laminin was done. The expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 was assayed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Upon pathological examination, GFK treatment had significantly reversed liver fibrosis. Hepatic extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition was significantly reduced, as evidenced by the reduction of the content of hydroxyproline, collagen types I and III, and laminin. Hepatic function was improved by GFK treatment, as evidenced by the increase of plasma ALB and A/G, and by the decrease of serum ALT and AST. TGF-beta(1) in liver was significantly reduced. A significant expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 mRNA in liver were downregulated after GFK treatment. The traditional Chinese medicine compound recipe GFK has an antifibrotic effect on CCl(4)-induced liver fibrosis in rats, which improves hepatic function and lessens the deposition of collagen in the liver. The probable antifibrotic mechanisms were: inhibiting the expression of TGF-beta(1) and decreasing expressions of MMP-2 and TIMP-1.

Renal diagnosis of chronic hemodialysis patients with urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma in Taiwan

Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is the most common malignancy in dialysis patients of Taiwan. The reason for such a high incidence of TCC is undetermined. The correlation between the underlying renal disease and the development of TCC was investigated. The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical data and outcome of 1537 chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients from 1993 to 2002. The incidence of TCC was computed. The Cox regression method was used to analyze the role of potential risk factors. After a mean dialysis duration of 46.5 months, 26 (1.69%) patients with TCC were diagnosed. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of TCC was 48.2 as compared with the general population and the SIR of TCC seemed higher in women (65.1) and in the age group 50 to 54 years (173.6). Of them, most cases showed no definite etiology. All these cases showed bilateral contracted kidneys. Nonnephrotic proteinuria was found in all cases and trace glucosuria was found in 17 (65%). Painless gross hematuria was the cardinal symptom and distant metastasis was rare. Also, TCC in upper urinary tracts were common and found in 14 (54%) of patients. Age at the time of dialysis, female sex, compound analgesic use, and Chinese herb use had statistical significance as risk factors (P < .05). Chronic HD patients have a high risk of TCC in Taiwan, especially in female and middle-aged patients. The study indicated that chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis (CTIN) is the most likely underlying renal disease in HD patients with TCC, a high percentage of the CTIN related to the usage of Chinese herbs or compound analgesics may contribute to the development of TCC, whereas diabetes or chronic glomerulonephritis play only a minor role.

Product development for Chinese calligraphy using reverse engineering and rapid prototyping

Chinese calligraphy is considered to be one of the most beautiful and meaningful patterns in the world. Calligraphy is an art dating back to the earliest day of Chinese history, and widely practised throughout ancient China even to recent days. Owing to the passage of time, many old carvings of stamp characters have gradually faded. How to preserve these old Chinese cultural artifacts will be some crucial issues for today. Reverse engineering (RE) and rapid prototyping (RP) technology are considered effective tools for product development. This research combines RE, grey prediction theory in pattern processing, geometric modeling for constructing the characters of Chinese calligraphy and RP for model making. First, the written Chinese calligraphy is scanned by a scanner. By using image processing, the contours of the Chinese characters can be detected. The contours for the characters then turn out to be point data which can be easily processed in any computer aided design (CAD) software by using B-Spline curves to fit the points. An example is demonstrated by writing a Chinese compound word ‘the fortune and treasure are coming’ to show the process. Finally, a RP model is fabricated to show various applications for the products in Chinese calligraphy pattern. By this research, the gap between the Chinese calligraphy in handicraft and digital virtual design can be realized. More usefully, with this research the aesthetic aspects in the characters can be preserved.

LC Determination of Clonidine Hydrochloride in Chinese and Western Combine Compound Hypotensor Tablets of Zhenju Jiangya

A new method has been developed to determine clonidine hydrochloride in Zhenju Jiangya Tablets using ion-pair HPLC coupled with neutral column chromatography in this paper. Clonidine hydrochloride is an active component and occurs in very low amounts. The sample was purified by neutral Al2O3 column chromatography instead of liquid–liquid extraction and measured by reversed phase ion-pair chromatography with 1-heptanesulfonate at acidic pH with UV-detection. Result showed that clonidine hydrochloride had good linearity in the range of 1.1–11.0 μg mL−1 (r = 0.9993) and the average recoveries were 96.5–99.3% (RSD 2.1–4.8%).

Analysis of a Chinese Phonetic Compound Database: Implications for Orthographic Processing

The complexity of Chinese orthography has hindered the progress of research in Chinese to the same level of sophistication of that in alphabetic languages such as English. Also, there has been no publicly available resource concerning the decomposition of Chinese characters, which is essential in any attempt to model the cognitive processes of Chinese character recognition. Here we report our construction and analysis of a Chinese lexical database containing the most frequent phonetic compounds decomposed into semantic and phonetic radicals according to Chinese etymology. Each radical was further decomposed into basic stroke patterns according to a Chinese transcription system, Cangjie (Chu, 1979 Laboratory of chu Bong-Foo Retrieved August 25, 2004, from http://www.cbflabs.com/). Other information such as pronunciation and character frequency were also incorporated. We examine the distribution of different types of character, the information skew in phonetic compounds, the relations between subcharacter orthographic units and the pronunciation of the entire character, and the processing implications of these phenomena in terms of universal psycholinguistic principles.

Differential nephrotoxicity of cisplatin and a novel series of traditional Chinese medicine–platinum anticancer agents correlates with their chemical reactivity towards sulfur-containing nucleophiles

A series of novel traditional Chinese medicine-platinum compounds has been found to be active against a number of murine and human cancers both in vitro and in vivo. Their high potency and the lack of cisplatin cross-resistance are believed to be due to the inclusion of the protein phosphatase 2A-inhibiting demethylcantharidin in the novel structures. A simple reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated as a stability-indicating assay for the platinum compounds. Using cisplatin and carboplatin as reference compounds, the stability study agrees well with the literature-reported findings. The novel traditional Chinese medicine-platinum compounds were more stable than cisplatin in water and dextrose, but became unstable in normal saline, a characteristic similar to that of carboplatin. The developed assay was further applied to study the chemical reactivity of the novel platinum compounds towards physiologically important nucleophiles such as glutathione and cysteine. The novel compounds were considerably less reactive to the sulfur-containing nucleophiles than cisplatin. In-vitro cytotoxicity assay was performed in a porcine kidney LLC-PK1 cell line model to investigate the nephrotoxicity potential of the platinum compounds. The lower rate of hydrolysis and the decreased reactivity of the novel traditional Chinese medicine-platinum compounds towards sulfur-containing bionucleophiles appear to have reduced their toxicity when compared with cisplatin, yet the antitumor activities of the novel compounds have not been compromised.

Morphological encoding in the production of compound words in Mandarin Chinese

The present study investigated whether morphological encoding is involved in the production of Chinese disyllabic transparent compound words. The implicit priming task of Meyer (1990) was adopted. The first three experiments (Experiment 1A, 1B, and 2) determined that shared orthography or shared meaning alone did not produce the kind of preparation effect typically observed with the task. A potential morphological priming effect was then assessed in Experiment 3 by contrasting the preparation effect of a character/morpheme prime with that of a pronunciation-matched tonal syllable prime. The effect was slightly larger (by 6 ms but not significantly) for the character/morpheme prime than for the tonal syllable prime. Experiment 4 manipulated the frequencies of the character/morpheme primes while controlling for their pronunciations. There was no frequency effect. The results, taken together, showed that in contrast to the Dutch findings, morphological encoding is at best minimally involved in the production of Chinese disyllabic transparent compound words.

On-line identification of the constituents of Buyang Huanwu decoction in pig serum using combined HPLC–DAD–MS techniques

Buyang Huanwu decoction (BYHWD) is a widely used Chinese traditional compound medicine that has proved effective in treating cerebrovascular illnesses; however, its active substances have remained unknown. In this paper, serum chemistry and combined high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), photodiode-array detection and mass-spectrometry techniques were used to study the constituents of BYHWD from pig serum after oral administration. A total of 45 characteristic HPLC peaks were detected from serum containing drug. The chemical structures of nine of the peaks were tentatively elucidated as 7,3'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavone-7-O-glucuronide (P1), 7-hydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavone-7-O-glucuronide (P2), 7,2',4'-trihydroxy-3'-methoxyisoflavane-7-O-sulphate (P3), 3-hydroxy-9,10-dimethoxypterocarpan-3-O-glucuronide (P4), 7,2'-dihydroxy-3',4'-dimethoxyisoflavane-7-O-glucuronide (P5), 3-hydroxy-9,10-dimethoxypterocarpane-3-O-sulphate (P6), 4(1H)-quinolinone (P7 or P8), 4-hydroxyquinoline (P8 or P7) and oleic acid (P9). All of the identified peaks, with the exception of P9, were metabolites of the constituents of BYHWD in vivo.

Anticancer effect of Jinlongshe granules on in situ-transplanted human MKN-45 gastric cancer in nude mice and xenografted sarcoma 180 in Kunming mice and its mechanism

To study the antitumor effect of Chinese compound jinlongshe (JLS) granules on sarcoma 180 and MKN-45 human gastric cancer cell lines in vivo and its mechanism. After establishment of S180 sarcoma (S180) and MKN-45 gastric cancer model of nude mice, the tumor-bearing mice were divided into 5 groups at random. Three experimental groups were respectively given the aqueous extract of JLS granules at doses of 120 g, 60 g and 20 g/(kg per 6/wk, i.g.) for 3 wk in S180 and 6 wk in nude mice model. Positive control was given cyclophosphamide (Cy) at a dose of 50 mg/(kg per 3/wk, i.g.) for 3 wk in S180 models and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) 20 mg/(kg per 3/wk, i.g.) for 3 wk in nude mice model. Negative control was given normal saline (NS) at a dose of 0.18 g/(kg per 6/wk, i.g.) respectively. After 3 wk in mice bearing S180 tumor and 6 wk in nude mice model, the experimental animals were sacrificed and the masses of tumor were weighed, and the rates of tumor inhibition of each treated group were calculated respectively. To determine the antitumor mechanisms, the morphological changes, cell cycle and apoptosis were observed in MKN-45 nude mice model. Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining FCM assay was used to further determine the live cells, apoptotic cells, necrotic cells and debris. The inhibitory rates of JLS granules at the doses of 20 g/kg, 60 g/kg and 120 g/kg were 50.31%, 55.94% and 68.13% (P < 0.01) in nude mice models and 40.90%, 50.32% and 58.46% (P < 0.01) in S180 model. The inhibitory rate of Cy was 85.22% in S180 models and the inhibitory rate of 5-FU was 53.43% in nude mice model (P < 0.01). Nuclear chromatin and margination were observed under a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The G0/G1 phase was arrested, typical apoptotic peak appeared, the apoptotic rate was 22.81%-38.54% in three JLS granule-treated groups. Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining FCM assay showed that the apoptotic cells were 4.36%, 3.08% and 7.08% in three dosages, most cells were localized in the low right quadrant. Jinlongshe granules possess anti-tumor effects on experimental tumor models in vivo, and apoptosis induction is one of its anti-tumor mechanisms.

‘Your Petitioners are in Mortal Terror’: The Violent World of Chinese Mineworkers in South Africa, 1904–1910*

Sixty-three thousand Chinese indentured labourers helped resuscitate South Africa's ailing gold mining industry in the aftermath of the South African War of 1899–1902. This short-lived experiment – the first men arrived in 1904 and by 1910 all surviving labourers had been repatriated to China – has attracted the attention of various historians who have focused on the labour shortage that led to the employment of Chinese workers and the political consequences of importation for both Britain and South Africa. However, very little is known about the lives of the Chinese men who actually worked in the Witwatersrand gold mines. Much like African migrant labourers, Chinese mineworkers had to contend with oppressive labour practices, restrictive living conditions and various manifestations of violence. Africans and Chinese were routinely assaulted by white supervisors, and labour protests were often brutally suppressed by state police and mine security forces; but much of the violence took place within the labouring populations themselves. While African miners were ‘notorious’ for engaging in group confrontations known as ‘faction fights’, murder and suicide were the predominant forms of violence in the Chinese compounds. Powerful syndicates, directed by the Chinese police force, controlled gambling operations on all the mines that employed Chinese labourers. These syndicates mercilessly pursued debt defaulters, many of who were murdered or committed suicide to escape persecution. Vendettas were common and the violence spilled over into the surrounding countryside when deserters from the mines raided nearby farms and shops. Scholars have noted the ways in which management practices, economic fluctuations and changing political conditions generated violence on the South African gold mines. This article argues that migrant cultures also shaped the nature of mine violence.

Reading strategy of Hong Kong school-aged children: The development of word-level and character-level processing

This study investigated the development of the mental representation of Chinese disyllabic words. Unlike alphabetical languages, Chinese is a logographic system where character is the basic unit of meaning. Most Chinese words are composed of two characters. Theoretically, Chinese compound word can be read either as a whole unit or as the component character. Subjects were asked to read aloud a list of two-character words, controlled for word and component character frequencies across grades. The correct percentage was analyzed using three two-way analyses of variance. Results indicated that children are able to make use of both levels of reading as early as Grade 1. Lower graders tended to use both the component character level reading processes more, while higher graders tended to read words as whole units more.