ADULT KOREAN INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTEES: A RESOURCE FOR ADOPTION PRACTICE
8 Introduction On January 13, 1903, the first Korean immigrants to the United States arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the S.S. Gaelic. In commemoration, President George W. Bush issued a proclamation declaring January 13, 2003 as the “Centennial of Korean Immigration to the United States.” Throughout the year, programs, ceremonies, and activities honoring Korean immigrants and their descendants have been scheduled to celebrate the contributions of Korean-Americans over the past one-hundred years. There was a time when I would not have identified with the millions of Koreans who risked everything for the hope of a new life in a new land. Like them, I was born in Korea and came to the United States with the hope of a better life. But unlike them, I did not travel with family or knowledge of my blood roots nor did I have to learn a new culture and language all on my own. My arrival to the United States at the age of three was eagerly awaited; I had become an American through adoption.
Ethnoracial awareness in intercountry adoption: US experiences
The phenomenon of intercountry adoption is largely one of transracial as well as transcultural placement. In the US, adoption of an ethnically different child by White parents frequently entails an expectation by child welfare workers that the family demonstrate a culturally diverse social milieu. This expectation, which may be satisfied through the family's identification of a cultural consultant, is not as pervasive in the private adoption venue of intercountry adoption. The purpose of this study was to examine the ethnoracial awareness of families in the US that adopt children from Latin American and Asian countries, in relation to the pre-adoption residency requirement.
An Ultrasensitive Analytical Method Based on Chemiluminescence Sensing Electrochemical Parallel Catalytic Reaction Event
An ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) method on the combination of electrochemical parallel catalytic reaction and chemiluminesence signal sensing was proposed for improving ECL analytical characteristics using vanadate(V) as a representative. Vanadate(V) could be electrochemically reduced to generate vanadate(II) which could be chemically oxidized by potassium periodate to regenerate vanadate(V) and give parallel catalytic wave effect. Then, the reduced product of potassium periodate could react with butyl-rhodamine B to emit a sensitive chemiluminescence signal. The chemiluminescence intensity was correlative with vanadate(V) concentration. The investigation on the electrochemical reaction rate constant (k0) confirmed that the speed of electrochemical reaction was faster than that of the subsequent chemiluminescence reaction. The possibility of the combination of electrochemical parallel catalytic reaction with chemiluminescence signal sensing was proved. The similar ECL behaviors could be observed at zirconia nanowires-Nafion modified electrode. Because of the separation and enrichment effect of the modified electrode on vanadate(V), the selectivity and sensitivity was further improved greatly. Based on these findings, a new concept on the combination of electrochemical parallel catalytic reaction and chemiluminesence signal sensing was proposed and an ultrasensitive ECL method for the determination of vanadate(V) was developed at zirconia nanowires-Nafion modified electrode. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the ECL intensity was linear with the concentration of vanadate(V) in the range of 2.0×10−12 mol/L–2.0×10−10 mol/L. The detection limit was 8.0×10−13 mol/L, which was more than 6 orders of magnitude lower than that observed by electrochemical current transduction for electrochemical parallel catalytic reaction at zirconia nanowires-Nafion modified electrode.