Opportunities for Non-Degree Executive Education in Taiwan

Few organizations today have remained untouched by globalization. Whether they are in direct competition with multinational businesses or simply experiencing the pressure of operating within a large competitive universe, virtually all firms now operate in a global economy. As a result of this global competition, U.S. and foreign executives alike have been confronted with the need to broaden their conceptualization and understanding of the impacts of these trends. In response to these needs, both universities and independent training organizations have developed innovative programs for executive training and education. Observers predict that demand for this type of education will grow substantially during the next decade, both within the United States and abroad. In anticipation of this demand and in response to the requirements of the global economy, educational institutions of many forms have begun to focus on international opportunities, both in terms of new markets and also in terms of subject material

CRISPR/Cas9-Facilitated Chromosome Engineering to Model Human Chromosomal Alterations

Rodents, particularly the mouse, have been used extensively for genetic modeling and analysis of human chromosomal alterations based on the syntenic conservations between the human and rodent genomes. In this article, we will discuss the emergence of CRISPR/Cas9-facilitated chromosome engineering techniques, which may open up a new avenue to study human diseases associated with chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down syndrome and cancer

Co-Loading of Inorganic Nanoparticles and Natural Oil in the Electrospun Janus Nanofibers for a Synergetic Antibacterial Effect

Side-by-side electrospinning is a powerful but challenging technology that can be used to prepare Janus nanofibers for various applications. In this work, cellulose acetate (CA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) were used as polymer carriers for silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and lavender oil (LO), respectively, processing these into two-compartment Janus fibers. A bespoke spinneret was used to facilitate the process and prevent the separation of the working fluids. The process of side-by-side electrospinning was recorded with a digital camera, and the morphology and internal structure of the products were characterized by electron microscopy. Clear two-compartment fibers are seen. X-ray diffraction patterns demonstrate silver nanoparticles have been successfully loaded on the CA side, and infrared spectroscopy indicates LO is dispersed on the PCL side. Wetting ability and antibacterial properties of the fibers suggested that PCL-LO//CA-Ag NPs formulation had strong antibacterial activity, performing better than fibers containing only one active component. The PCL-LO//CA-Ag NPs had a 20.08 ± 0.63 mm inhibition zone for E. coli and 19.75 ± 0.96 mm for S. aureus. All the fibers had water contact angels all around 120°, and hence, have suitable hydrophobicity to prevent water ingress into a wound site. Overall, the materials prepared in this work have considerable promise for wound healing applications

Quantum Chebyshev Transform: Mapping, Embedding, Learning and Sampling Distributions

We develop a paradigm for building quantum models in the orthonormal space of Chebyshev polynomials. We show how to encode data into quantum states with amplitudes being Chebyshev polynomials with degree growing exponentially in the system size. Similar to the quantum Fourier transform which maps computational basis space into the phase (Fourier) basis, we describe the quantum circuit for the mapping between computational and Chebyshev spaces. We propose an embedding circuit for generating the orthonormal Chebyshev basis of exponential capacity, represented by a continuously-parameterized shallow isometry. This enables automatic quantum model differentiation, and opens a route to solving stochastic differential equations. We apply the developed paradigm to generative modeling from physically- and financially-motivated distributions, and use the quantum Chebyshev transform for efficient sampling of these distributions in extended computational basis.Comment: 6 pages (+ references), 3 figure

Fish community in Pengkalan Gawi - Pulau Dula section of Kenyir Lake, Terengganu, Malaysia

A study of species diversity offish population was carried out at Pengkalan Gawi- Pulau Dula section of Kenyir Lake, Terengganu. Fish sampling at three (3) stations was conducted monthly from February 2008 to January 2009 using gill nets. A total of 274 fishes from 13 species were collected in this study. The most abundant fish species collected were Barbodes schwanenfeldii (Lampam Sungai) (35.77 %), followed by Notopterus sp. (Belida) (27.37 %) and Hampala macrolepidota (Sebarau) (16.06 %). The other species identified in this study were Hemibagrus nemurus (Baung) (8.03%), Channa micropeltes (Toman) (4.4%), Pristolepis faciatus (Patong) (3.65%), Cyclocheilichthys apogon (Temperas) (1.46%), Osteochilus hasselti (Terbol) (1.09%), Osteochilus vitatus (Rong) (0.73%), Chela anomalura (Lalang) (0.36%), Labiobarbus lineatus (Kawan) (0.36%), Channa striatus (Haruan) (0.36%) and Probarbus jullieni (Temoleh) (0.36%). The Shannon-Weaver index showing the fish diversity index was 1.71, Pielou's Evenness index was 0.66 and Margalef's Species Richness index was 4.92 respectively. Most of the species found in this study were similarly reported in other studies in Kenyir Lake. It is hoped that the results of this study will be useful in contributing towards the management of the lake in a sustainable manner for future generations

Electrospun pH-sensitive core-shell polymer nanocomposites fabricated using a tri-axial process

A modified tri-axial electrospinning process was developed for the generation of a new type of pH-sensitive polymer/lipid nanocomposite. The systems produced are able to promote both dissolution and permeation of a model poorly water-soluble drug. First, we show that it is possible to run a tri-axial procress with only one of the three fluids being electrospinnable. Using an electrospinnable middle fluid of Eudragit S100 (ES100) with pure ethanol as the outer solvent and an unspinnable lecithin-diclofenac sodium (PL-DS) core solution, nanofibers with linear morphology and clear core/shell structures can be fabricated continuously and smoothly. X-ray diffraction proved that these nanofibers are structural nanocomposites with the drug present in an amorphous state. In vitro dissolution tests demonstrated that the formulations could preclude release in acidic conditions, and that the drug was released from the fibers in two successive steps at neutral pH. The first step is the dissolution of the shell ES100 and the conversion of the core PL-DS into sub-micron sized particles. This frees some DS into solution, and later the remaining DS is gradually released from the PL-DS particles through diffusion. Ex vivo permeation results showed that the composite nanofibers give a more than two-fold uplift in the amount of DS passing through the colonic membrane as compared to pure DS; 74% of the transmitted drug was in the form of PL-DS particles. The new tri-axial electrospinning process developed in this work provides a platform to fabricate structural nanomaterials, and the core-shell polymer-PL nanocomposites we have produced have significant potential applications for oral colon-targeted drug delivery. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: A modified tri-axial electrospinning is demonstrated to create a new type of core-shell pH-sensitive polymer/lipid nanocomposites, in which an electrospinnable middle fluid is exploited to support the un-spinnable outer and inner fluids. The structural nanocomposites are able to provide a colon-targeted sustained release and an enhanced permeation performance of diclofenac sodium. The developed tri-axial process can provide a platform for fabricating new structural nanomaterials with high quality. The strategy of a combined usage of polymeric excipients and phosphilipid in a core-shell format should provide new possibilities of developing novel drug delivery systems for efficacious oral administration of poorly-water soluble drugs

Arts Infusion Initiative, 2010-15: Evaluation Report

For youth involved in the criminal justice system, a better future depends on improving their social and emotional learning skills -- skills like conflict resolution, career readiness and preparation for the future. An assessment by the Urban Institute shows how the Arts Infusion Initiative helped achieve just that for young people detained in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC), and for high-risk youth in the Lawndale, Little Village, Back of the Yards and South Shore communities. From 2010 to 2015, this catalytic approach to restoring the peace for Chicago's youth supported 14 nonprofits providing teens with rigorous arts instruction, infused with social and emotional learning goals. Funded by The Chicago Community Trust, the $2.5 million Initiative built collaborations with the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Public Schools, and Northwestern and Loyola Universities. The Urban Institute's mixed-method evaluation (2.9MB), commissioned by the National Guild for Community Arts Education with funding from the Trust, concluded that "the fields of education, juvenile justice and family and youth services can benefit tremendously from the emergent approaches embodied in the Arts Infusion Initiative." Among the successes their research revealed:Participants showed substantial improvements in social and emotional learning skills, as measured by conflict resolution, future orientation, critical response and career readiness. Improvements ranged from 27% in conflict resolution and career readiness, to 29% for critical response and 36% for future orientation.The initiative helped foster collaboration between program directors, public schools, community policing and the detention center. Examples include the Trust and the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program working together to open a high-tech digital music lab at JTDC. Chicago Public Schools' plan for a new Digital Arts Career Academy for at-risk and court-involved high school youth is a direct result of the positive effects Arts Infusion had on youth, and of the relationship forged between CPS and the Trust.The program exposed at-risk youth to new skills and technologies that opened their minds to a positive future. Arts Infusion grants enabled many participating programs to purchase -- often for the first time -- modern, professional-grade equipment to which many youth had never been exposed. Better Boys Foundation used its funding to purchase enough modern film lab equipment to serve a full 17-student class -- previous classes had only one camera to share among all students

Exploring wettability difference-driven wetting by utilizing electrospun chimeric Janus microfiber comprising cellulose acetate and polyvinylpyrrolidone

In exploring the difference in the wettability of fibers with various structures, three inner constructions of fibers, namely, uniaxial, Janus and chimeric Janus, have been fabricated by electrospinning. In electrospun fibers, polyvinyl pyrrolidone and cellulose acetate were used as a polymer matrix and ketoprofen was used as a model drug. Morphologies and inner structures were respectively investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Physical states and compatibilities of materials were detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Water contact angle (WCA) tests were conducted to determine the difference between wettability and wetting time among assorted fiber membranes. Results showed that the wettability gradient could drive water movement and wetting, which resulted in the rapid decrease of the WCA, to prepare Janus and chimeric Janus fiber membranes compared with uniaxial fiber membranes. Otherwise, in vitro drug release experiments were carried out and four fitting models were applied in matching release profiles. The results showed that electrospun fiber membranes belonged to sustained-release systems and such membranes were influenced by drug diffusion and backbone corrosion effects. In this study, whether electrospun multilayer Janus fibers could affect wettability and drug release was investigated

Medicated Janus fibers fabricated using a Teflon-coated side-by-side spinneret.

A family of medicated Janus fibers that provides highly tunable biphasic drug release was fabricated using a side-by-side electrospinning process employing a Teflon-coated parallel spinneret. The coated spinneret facilitated the formation of a Janus Taylor cone and in turn high quality integrated Janus structures, which could not be reliably obtained without the Teflon coating. The fibers prepared had one side consisting of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) K60 and ketoprofen, and the other of ethyl cellulose (EC) and ketoprofen. To modulate and tune drug release, PVP K10 was doped into the EC side in some cases. The fibers were linear and had flat morphologies with an indent in the center. They provide biphasic drug release, with the PVP K60 side dissolving very rapidly to deliver a loading dose of the active ingredient, and the EC side resulting in sustained release of the remaining ketoprofen. The addition of PVP K10 to the EC side was able to accelerate the second stage of release; variation in the dopant amount permitted the release rate and extent this phase to be precisely tuned. These results offer the potential to rationally design systems with highly controllable drug release profiles, which can complement natural biological rhythms and deliver maximum therapeutic effects