Teachers' Beliefs About the Nature and Malleability of Intelligence

This study examines teachers’ beliefs in the nature and malleability of intelligence, how these beliefs may vary in different academic domains, and whether those beliefs have any significant relationships with teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, epistemological beliefs, and proposed interventions for struggling students. Findings showed that teachers exhibited a more fixed view of the nature of intelligence when survey items were framed in terms of math, not language arts or domain-general items. There was also evidence suggesting that teachers’ beliefs in the fixed entity nature of intelligence are significantly correlated with holding a traditional unidimensional conception of intelligence. However, little evidence was found indicating a relationship between teachers’ various beliefs and their proposed strategies for struggling students. The results have implications for research on lay conceptions of intelligence, and for teacher education curricula

Repression of autophagy in diabetic cardiomyopathy via RhoA/ROCK2 signaling pathways

375-380Activated RhoA and ROCK is associated with many cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as congestive heart failure (CHF), atherosclerosis and hypertension. However, the role of RhoA/ROCK2 signaling pathway in initiating diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) has not been fully elucidated. Here, we studied the role of RhoA/ROCK2 signaling pathway in induction of DCM through autophagy suppression in diabetic rat animal models. Broadly, we investigated the potential role and mechanism of diabetes induced myocardial dysfunction in rats. DCM was induced by injections of streptozocin (STZ) in experimental Wistar rats. The experimental rats were randomized to be treated with fasudil and lentivirus carrying the RhoA cDNA. Haemodynamic changes, assessment of cardiac weight index, histopathological examinations, cardiomyocyte autophagy and expression of RhoA and ROCK2 mRNAs were compared between groups. The expression of RhoA and ROCK mRNAs was found significantly increased in cardiac tissues compared with control group. The RhoA overexpression significantly decreased the values of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), ±dp/dtmax and repressed autophagy. RhoA/ROCK2 signaling pathway repressed autophagy in diabetic cardiomyopathy indicating that it may serve as a potential therapeutic target for DCM treatment

Bangladesh Railway EPC Track Engineering Investigation and Summary

Bangladesh’s railway infrastructure is outdated and inadequate, and the lack of transportation capacity seriously hinders the country’s economic development. In the track engineering practice of EPC projects such as the second line project of a railway Meter-Gauge addition project and the new Board-Gauge railway project in Bangladesh, according to the operation characteristics and maintenance status of the existing cable of the Bangladesh railway, the design and construction characteristics of the railway track, and the procurement of track materials, combined with the characteristics of the EPC project management in the country, suggestions on the general contracting and construction of track engineering were put forward. He also analyzed and summarized the risk factors in the design and construction of Bangladesh railway track engineering, and made some useful thoughts and explorations on how to do a good job in the general contracting of track engineering of EPC projects according to local conditions

Building Intelligent Communication Systems for Handicapped Aphasiacs

This paper presents an intelligent system allowing handicapped aphasiacs to perform basic communication tasks. It has the following three key features: (1) A 6-sensor data glove measures the finger gestures of a patient in terms of the bending degrees of his fingers. (2) A finger language recognition subsystem recognizes language components from the finger gestures. It employs multiple regression analysis to automatically extract proper finger features so that the recognition model can be fast and correctly constructed by a radial basis function neural network. (3) A coordinate-indexed virtual keyboard allows the users to directly access the letters on the keyboard at a practical speed. The system serves as a viable tool for natural and affordable communication for handicapped aphasiacs through continuous finger language input

Exploring Foreign Language Anxiety in the Chinese EFL Classroom: A Case Study

This study aimed to examine the factors affecting foreign language anxiety (FLA) in Chinese tertiary EFL classrooms. This study adopted a descriptive case study design involving 490 EFL students from one public university in China. Data were collected via a self-reported questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The findings reported a moderate level of FLA among the students. Internal and external factors affected the student’s FLA, including performance anxiety, perceived lack of proficiency, low motivation, relationship challenges, and learning environment-related challenges. These findings implied universities should enhance the physical and pedagogical learning environment to sustain quality EFL teaching and learning

The relationship between IGF1 and the expression spectrum of miRNA in the placenta of preeclampsia patients

Objectives: Pre-eclampsia (PE) affects many women worldwide and remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal and maternal settings. Abnormal expression of placental microRNAs (miRNAs) may be associated with PE. Material and methods: This study was conducted to the relationship between IGF1 and the expression spectrum of miRNA in the placenta of preeclampsia patient. The expression of miRNA in placental tissue was compared between pre-eclampsia (n = 6) and normal pregnant women (n = 5) miRNA targets were studied by computer simulation and functional assays. The role of miRNA was verified in trophoblast cell lines by apoptosis assay and invasion assay. Results: There was a significant increase in miRNAs in the placenta of women with pre-eclampsia compared with patients with normal pregnancy. Luciferase assay confirmed direct regulation of miRNA. Conclusions: The expression of IGF1 and miRNA was significantly increased in the placenta of patients with pre-eclampsia