A comparative research on affective education in Taiwan and China: case study in primary schools

The aim of this study was to investigate the nature and development of affective education in the Chinese context, the way it is translated into primary education, and how it is perceived by teachers and pupils in Taiwan and China. In this study, the term 'affective education' refers to all the planned or hidden curriculum provided to enhance pupil's affective development, based on which the empirical research was conducted focusing on teachers and pupils in year 5 and 6 in twelve primary schools in Taiwan and China (six in each country). The study comprised five stages. First, some psychological theories of affect were reviewed in an attempt to explore what the definition and the scope of affective development is, its implications for education, and some models of the place of affect in it; some Chinese literature was reviewed in terms of different approaches to affective education found in a Chinese context. This was followed by the examination of how 'affect is perceived in Confucianism, a key philosophical influence on the culture, and its impact on affective education in Chinese context. After that, the evolution and practice of moral education in both countries which was influenced by Confucian culture was considered, as well as school guidance systems which were introduced from the US, as these were seen to be the most obvious early manifestations of affective education in these two countries. It was then followed by the detailed introduction of the recent ongoing reforms in both countries, as they represent the latest evolution of affective education and the context in which this study is conducted. Finally, the current picture -of how affective education is delivered and perceived in twelve primary schools in both countries was investigated, and the data generated by this investigation was analysed. The main finding was that the significance of affective education is widely recognised by teachers and pupils and a variety of initiatives is conducted to deliver affective education in primary schools in both countries, additionally several difficulties that teachers encountered to deliver affective education were identified. Also great similarities of the current situations of how affective education is perceived and delivered in both countries. Given that only twelve schools were involved in this study, more research is needed to validate and extend the present findings, and to explore the topics that was not possible included in this study

Urban-Rural Disparity of Generics Prescription in Taiwan: The Example of Dihydropyridine Derivatives

The aim of the current study was to investigate the urban-rural disparity of prescribing generics, which were usually cheaper than branded drugs, within the universal health insurance system in Taiwan. Data sources were the cohort datasets of National Health Insurance Research Database with claims data in 2010. The generic prescribing ratios of dihydropyridine (DHP) derivatives (the proportion of DHP prescribed as generics to all prescribed DHP) of medical facilities were examined against the urbanization levels of the clinic location. Among the total 21,606,914 defined daily doses of DHP, 35.7% belonged to generics. The aggregate generic prescribing ratio rose from 6.7% at academic medical centers to 15.3% at regional hospitals, 29.4% at community hospital, and 66.1% at physician clinics. Among physician clinics, the generic prescribing ratio in urban areas was 63.9 ± 41.0% (mean ± standard deviation), lower than that in suburban (69.6 ± 38.7%) and in rural (74.1% ± 35.3%). After adjusting the related factors in the linear regression model, generic prescribing ratios of suburban and rural clinics were significantly higher than those of urban clinics (β=0.043 and 0.077; P=0.024 and 0.008, resp.). The generic prescribing ratio of the most popular antihypertensive agents at a clinic was reversely associated with the urbanization level

Increased ATP generation in the host cell is required for efficient vaccinia virus production

To search for cellular genes up-regulated by vaccinia virus (VV) infection, differential display-reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (ddRT-PCR) assays were used to examine the expression of mRNAs from mock-infected and VV-infected HeLa cells. Two mitochondrial genes for proteins that are part of the electron transport chain that generates ATP, ND4 and CO II, were up-regulated after VV infection. Up-regulation of ND4 level by VV infection was confirmed by Western blotting analysis. Up-regulation of ND4 was reduced by the MAPK inhibitor, apigenin, which has been demonstrated elsewhere to inhibit VV replication. The induction of ND4 expression occurred after viral DNA replication since ara C, an inhibitor of poxviral DNA replication, could block this induction. ATP production was increased in the host cells after VV infection. Moreover, 4.5 μM oligomycin, an inhibitor of ATP production, reduced the ATP level 13 hr after virus infection to that of mock-infected cells and inhibited viral protein expression and virus production, suggesting that increased ATP production is required for efficient VV production. Our results further suggest that induction of ND4 expression is through a Bcl-2 independent pathway

Technology-Enhanced Learning for Graduate Students: Exploring the Correlation of Media Richness and Creativity of Computer-Mediated Communication and Face-to-Face Communication

The objective of the research was to explore and compare the differences in potential creative thinking that media richness had on learners in creativity training through two different types of communication formats; computer-mediated communication, and face-to-face communication. The results indicated that the computer-mediated communication format performed better than the face-to-face in terms of the fluency, flexibility, and originality dimensions of creative thinking. The computer-mediated communication format also had a greater level of media richness perception (i.e., use of multiple cues, language diversity, and personal focus of the medium) than the face-to-face format. In terms of the combined effectiveness of computer-mediated communication, and face-to-face formats, the use of multiple cues, language variety of perception of media richness had direct effects on the fluency of creativity. There was also a positive correlation between the elaboration of creativity and the use of multiple cues, language variety, and personal focus of the medium in the perception of media richness. Furthermore, language variety was correlated with creativity and flexibility. The research findings highlighted the importance of the availability of immediate feedback on media richness, whereas creativity cognition should focus on the breadth and depth of the information, which contributes to enhancing the creativity of individuals or a group of employees