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The authors examine antecedents and consequences of ming pai kong (MPK)-brand-name fanaticism, obsessive fandom, and purchases of global name brands-among a large number of Gen-Yers in China. This phenomenon is scrutinized because Confucian virtues discourage selfexpressive, materialistic flaunting behaviors. A survey of 510 respondents finds that consumers' need for uniqueness and peer influence affect brand consciousness, MPK, and willingness to pay a price premium for name-brand merchandise. Results indicate that relationships between brand consciousness and MPK are more evident in males and suggest that MPK may be marked by incongruity between projections of status and self. Managerial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The men-having-sex-with-men (MSM) population has become one of the major risk groups for HIV-1 infection in the Asia Pacific countries. Hong Kong is located in the centre of Asia and the transmission history of HIV-1 subtype B transmission among MSM remained unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the transmission dynamics of HIV-1 subtype B virus in the Hong Kong MSM population. Samples of 125 HIV-1 subtype B infected MSM patients were recruited in this study. Through this study, the subtype B epidemic in the Hong Kong MSM population was identified spreading mainly among local Chinese who caught infection locally. On the other hand, HIV-1 subtype B infected Caucasian MSM caught infection mainly outside Hong Kong. The Bayesian phylogenetic analysis also indicated that 3 separate subtype B epidemics with divergence dates in the 1990s had occurred. The first and latest epidemics were comparatively small-scaled; spreading among the local Chinese MSM while sauna-visiting was found to be the major sex partner sourcing reservoir for the first subtype B epidemic. However, the second epidemic was spread in a large-scale among local Chinese MSM with a number of them having sourced their sex partners through the internet. The epidemic virus was estimated to have a divergence date in 1987 and the infected population in Hong Kong had a logistic growth throughout the past 20 years. Our study elucidated the evolutionary and demographic history of HIV-1 subtype B virus in Hong Kong MSM population. The understanding of transmission and growth model of the subtype B epidemic provides more information on the HIV-1 transmission among MSM population in other Asia Pacific high-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the functional analysis of naturally occurring mutations in the open reading frame of CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) in HIV-infected Chinese patients and healthy controls in Hong Kong. Identification of ten mutants in the CCR5 open reading frame; Delineation of the functional impacts of CCR5 mutants identified in the experiments, addressing their effects on HIV infection and disease progression; Performance of a series of functional studies in homozygous transfectants of the CCR5 mutants.

We studied polymorphism of the HIV coreceptor CC chemokine receptor (CCR) 5 in 1099 Chinese adults residing in Hong Kong, including 785 HIV-negative healthy donors and 314 HIV-positive patients. Ten mutants in the CCR5 open reading frame were identified, 7 of which were nonsynonymous. The frequencies of these alleles did not show a significant difference between HIV patients and healthy controls. G106R, Delta32, R223Q, 299(FS), and S336I were cloned from prevalent mutant genes, and their effects on HIV infection were analyzed by a series of in vitro experiments to determine their transcription levels, expression levels, conformational changes, and HIV coreceptor function. R223Q is the most prevalent CCR5 mutant in ethnic Chinese, with a frequency of 0.046, which does not affect HIV infection in vitro, however. The S336I mutant also does not affect its transcription, expression, or HIV coreceptor function. Similar to 299(FS), the mutant G106R located in the third transmembrane domain results in diminished HIV coreceptor function in vitro through conformation changes in ECL2.