The Research and Application of Critical Discourse Analysis

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) reveals the relationship between power and ideology behind language by analyzing discourse. News as an important channel for people to obtain information in their daily life, its objectivity is self-evident, but the ideology contained in it is often ignored by readers. This paper reviews the development and characteristics of critical discourse analysis, and analyzes the critical discourse from four aspects: transitivity, modality, transformation and classification, to explore the ideological and political positions behind the text

A Structural Model of Demand, Cost, and Export Market Selection for Chinese Footwear Producers

In this paper we use micro data on both trade and production for a sample of large Chinese manufacturing firms in the footwear industry from 2002-2006 to estimate an empirical model of export demand, pricing, and market participation by destination market. We use the model to construct indexes of firm-level demand, cost, and export market profitability. The empirical results indicate substantial firm heterogeneity in both the demand and cost dimensions with demand being more dispersed. The firm-specific demand and cost components are very useful in explaining differences in the extensive margin of trade, the length of time a firm exports to a destination, and the number and mix of destinations, as well as the export prices, while cost is more important in explaining the quantity of firm exports on the intensive margin. We use the estimates to analyze the reallocation resulting from removal of the quota on Chinese footwear exports to the EU and find that it led to a rapid restructuring of export supply sources in favor of firms with high demand and low cost indexes.

Protective Factors Against Intergenerational Conflict in Chinese Immigrant Families: A Pilot Study

This pilot study examined some potential protective factors which may mitigate the effects of the acculturation gap on intergenerational conflict in 23 Chinese immigrant families. Adolescents and one of their immigrant parents completed questionnaires assessing their acculturation. Adolescents also completed family conflict and parent attachment measures. Parents provided information on the use of social support and the communication on the cultural differences between American culture and Chinese culture in the family by completing related measures. It was expected that acculturation gap would predict parent-child conflicts in immigrant families, and the relationships between acculturation gap and parent-child conflict would be moderated by parent attachment, family\u27s use of social support networks, and open communication on the cultural differences in the family. The results showed that acculturation gap is associated with high level of parent-child conflict. Unexpectedly, findings indicated that only open communication on the cultural differences in the family moderated the relationship between acculturation gap and intergenerational conflict. Limitation of the study and clinical implication are discussed

Power Control for Full-Duplex Relay-Enhanced Cellular Networks With QoS Guarantees

Full-duplex (FD) has emerged as a new communication paradigm with the potential advantage of enhancing the capacity of the wireless communication systems. In this paper, we consider an FD relay-enhanced cellular network, wherein the residual self-interference, the uplink-downlink interference, as well as the relay-access-link interference are the vital restrictions to network performance. To this end, we investigate power control design for the FD relay-enhanced cellular networks, so as to maximize the system spectral efficiency while fulfilling the quality of service (QoS) requirements of both the uplink and downlink user equipments (UEs). We characterize the properties of the optimal transmit power allocation, and propose a power control algorithm based on signomial programming to coordinate the transmit power of the uplink UE, base station, and relay stations to mitigate the interference. Meanwhile, we also derive the closed-form optimal transmit power allocation for the conventional half-duplex (HD) transmission mode. Moreover, we conduct extensive simulation experiments to study the network-level gain of the FD mode over the HD mode in the relay-enhanced cellular networks. Simulation results demonstrate that FD relaying outperforms HD relaying on improving the spectral and energy efficiency, as well as provisioning QoS guarantees for both the uplink and downlink users

Power Control for Full-Duplex Relay-Enhanced Cellular Networks With QoS Guarantees

Full-duplex (FD) has emerged as a new communication paradigm with the potential advantage of enhancing the capacity of the wireless communication systems. In this paper, we consider an FD relay-enhanced cellular network, wherein the residual self-interference, the uplink-downlink interference, as well as the relay-access-link interference are the vital restrictions to network performance. To this end, we investigate power control design for the FD relay-enhanced cellular networks, so as to maximize the system spectral efficiency while fulfilling the quality of service (QoS) requirements of both the uplink and downlink user equipments (UEs). We characterize the properties of the optimal transmit power allocation, and propose a power control algorithm based on signomial programming to coordinate the transmit power of the uplink UE, base station, and relay stations to mitigate the interference. Meanwhile, we also derive the closed-form optimal transmit power allocation for the conventional half-duplex (HD) transmission mode. Moreover, we conduct extensive simulation experiments to study the network-level gain of the FD mode over the HD mode in the relay-enhanced cellular networks. Simulation results demonstrate that FD relaying outperforms HD relaying on improving the spectral and energy efficiency, as well as provisioning QoS guarantees for both the uplink and downlink users

Flash Flood Simulation Using Geomorphic Unit Hydrograph Method: Case Study Of Headwater Catchment Of Xiapu River Basin, China

The flash flood refers to flood produced by heavy local rainfalls and often occurs in mountainous areas. It is characterized by a quick rise of water level causing a great threat to the lives of those exposed. Many countries and regions face the threat of flash floods. However, some traditional hydrological models can hardly simulate the flash flood process well due to the lack of hydrological data and the insufficient understanding of complicated runoff mechanism in mountainous and hilly areas. According to this condition, a new hydrological model based on the framework of Xinanjiang model, widely used in humid and semi-humid regions in China, is presented to simulate flash flood. The highlight of new model is using the geomorphic unit hydrograph (GUH) method to simulate the overland flow process. This method has clear physical concept and can easily provide unit hydrographs of various time intervals only based on DEM data. This feature makes the method extremely valuable in ungauged catchment. The new presented hydrological model is used in the headwater catchment of Xiapu River basin and the results demonstrate that the computed data generally agrees well with the measured data and it can be treated as a useful tool for flash flood hazard assessment in mountainous catchment

Peptide Self-Assembled Nanostructures for Drug Delivery Applications

Peptide self-assembled nanostructures are very popular in many biomedical applications. Drug delivery is one of the most promising applications among them. The tremendous advantages for peptide self-assembled nanostructures include good biocompatibility, low cost, tunable bioactivity, high drug loading capacities, chemical diversity, specific targeting, and stimuli responsive drug delivery at disease sites. Peptide self-assembled nanostructures such as nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanofibers, and hydrogels have been investigated by many researchers for drug delivery applications. In this review, the underlying mechanisms for the self-assembled nanostructures based on peptides with different types and structures are introduced and discussed. Peptide self-assembled nanostructures associated promising drug delivery applications such as anticancer drug and gene drug delivery are highlighted. Furthermore, peptide self-assembled nanostructures for targeted and stimuli responsive drug delivery applications are also reviewed and discussed

Adsorption Properties of Copper (II) Ion From Aqueous Solution by Starch-Grafted Polyacrylamide and Crosslinked Starch-Grafted Polyacrylamide

Starch-grafted polyacrylamide (SA) and cross-linked starch-grafted polyacrylamide (CSA) had been synthesized via grafting polymerization from corn starch and used as adsorbents for the removal of Cu(II) ion from aqueous solution. The equilibrium, kinetics and thermodynamics of adsorption processes of SA and CSA were investigated and compared. It was found that the adsorption capacity of Cu(II) of SA and CSA could reach the maximum within 60 min when the pH was 6. The adsorption kinetics of CSA and SA for Cu(II) was favorably described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the adsorption isotherm was described well with the Freundlich isotherm model. Thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption was a spontaneous and endothermic process with increased entropy, and the rise of temperature would benefit the adsorption; the enthalpy change(ΔH), the entropy change (ΔS) and free energy change (ΔG) of the adsorption process of Cu(II) on SA and CSA were calculated with adsorption isotherm data and basic thermodynamic relations

Identification and Analysis of Intermediate Size Noncoding RNAs in the Human Fetal Brain

The involvement of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) in the development of the human brain remains largely unknown. Applying a cloning strategy for detection of intermediate size (50–500 nt) ncRNAs (is-ncRNAs) we have identified 82 novel transcripts in human fetal brain tissue. Most of the novel is-ncRNAs are not well conserved in vertebrates, and several transcripts were only found in primates. Northern blot and microarray analysis indicated considerable variation in expression across human fetal brain development stages and fetal tissues for both novel and known is-ncRNAs. Expression of several of the novel is-ncRNAs was conspicuously absent in one or two brain cancer cell lines, and transient overexpression of some transcripts in cancer cells significantly inhibited cell proliferation. Overall, our results suggest that is-ncRNAs play important roles in the development and tumorigenesis of human brain

Sevoflurane ameliorates doxorubicin-induced myocardial injury by affecting the phosphorylation states of proteins in PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway

  Background: The effect of sevoflurane on the doxorubicin-induced myocardial injury was explored by investigating the phosphorylation states of proteins in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mam­malian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. Methods: Myocardial injury rat models were induced by doxorubicin and evenly assigned into five groups according to different treatment: Doxorubicin group (DG, 200-μL saline solution), sevoflurane group (SevG, inhaled with 2.4% sevoflurane for 2 h), LY294002 group (LYG, Akt inhibitor, 0.3 mg/kg in 200-μL Dimethyl Sulfoxide [DMSO]), solvent DMSO control group (SG) and autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) group (MG, 30 mg/kg in 200-μL DMSO). The healthy rats were assigned to a contro1 group (CG, 200-μL saline solution). Myocardial apoptosis was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The concentration of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) was detected by ELISA. The levels of total Akt (t-Akt), phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), phosphorylated-mTOR (p-mTOR) and autophagy marker LC3-II was detected by Western Blot. The experiments were also repeated at the cell level. Results: Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling analysis showed that the ap­optosis rates were high in DG and SG, reached the highest level in LYG, reduced in SevG and MG, and reached the lowest level in CG. The levels of p-Akt p-mTOR were low in groups DG and SG, reached the lowest level in LYG, increased in SevG and MG, and reached the highest level in CG. In contrast, LC3-II expression, apoptosis index and serum cTnI concentration were high in DG and SG, reached the highest level in LYG, reduced in SevG and MG, and reached the lowest level in CG (p < 0.05). Cell experiment showed similar results as with animal experiments. Conclusions: Sevoflurane ameliorates myocardial injury by affecting the phosphorylation states of the proteins in PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and reducing the injury biomarker. (Cardiol J 2017; 24, 4: 409–418