Chinese Teachers’ Perceptions on Implementation of CLT in College Business English Class

This qualitative study investigates teachers’ perceptions and challenges of the implementation of Communicative Language Teaching. The participants were nine Business English teachers at a private college in Chengdu, China. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that the majority of participants have favourable perceptions of CLT. However, participants mentioned teacher-related challenges, student-related challenges, and policy-related challenges that hinder their implementation of CLT in Business English classes. The findings of this study are beneficial to the field of CLT in China, especially in the English for Specific Purpose context. The recommendations for future studies are discussed

Examining the Phenomenon of Juveniles Digital Addiction in Rural China

Digital addiction among China's rural juveniles escalates and hampers the harmony and stability of families and society. This paper investigates digital addiction among rural juveniles in China. Semi-structured interviews selected six relevant respondents in rural Shaanxi Province as samples. The study explores the degree, characteristics, causes, effects, and prevention and control of rural juveniles' digital addiction. The findings reveal the importance of digital literacy education, parent-child cognitive dislocation, and the complexity of rural juveniles' digital addiction. The study has limitations, including its limited research perspective and the need for more typical cases for analysis and discussion. Keywords: Digital addiction; Rural juveniles; Social work; Digital literacy eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2023. The Authors. Published for AMER & cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia DOI

Phenotypic and transcriptional analysis of the osmotic regulator OmpR in Yersinia pestis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The osmotic regulator OmpR in <it>Escherichia coli </it>regulates differentially the expression of major porin proteins OmpF and OmpC. In <it>Yersinia enterocolitica </it>and <it>Y. pseudotuberculosis</it>, OmpR is required for both virulence and survival within macrophages. However, the phenotypic and regulatory roles of OmpR in <it>Y. pestis </it>are not yet fully understood.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Y. pestis </it>OmpR is involved in building resistance against phagocytosis and controls the adaptation to various stressful conditions met in macrophages. The <it>ompR </it>mutation likely did not affect the virulence of <it>Y. pestis </it>strain 201 that was a human-avirulent enzootic strain. The microarray-based comparative transcriptome analysis disclosed a set of 224 genes whose expressions were affected by the <it>ompR </it>mutation, indicating the global regulatory role of OmpR in <it>Y. pestis</it>. Real-time RT-PCR or <it>lacZ </it>fusion reporter assay further validated 16 OmpR-dependent genes, for which OmpR consensus-like sequences were found within their upstream DNA regions. <it>ompC</it>, <it>F</it>, <it>X</it>, and <it>R </it>were up-regulated dramatically with the increase of medium osmolarity, which was mediated by OmpR occupying the target promoter regions in a tandem manner.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>OmpR contributes to the resistance against phagocytosis or survival within macrophages, which is conserved in the pathogenic yersiniae. <it>Y. pestis </it>OmpR regulates <it>ompC</it>, <it>F</it>, <it>X</it>, and <it>R </it>directly through OmpR-promoter DNA association. There is an inducible expressions of the pore-forming proteins OmpF, C, and × at high osmolarity in <it>Y. pestis</it>, in contrast to the reciprocal regulation of them in <it>E. coli</it>. The main difference is that <it>ompF </it>expression is not repressed at high osmolarity in <it>Y. pestis</it>, which is likely due to the absence of a promoter-distal OmpR-binding site for <it>ompF</it>.</p

Regulatory effects of cAMP receptor protein (CRP) on porin genes and its own gene in Yersinia pestis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The cAMP receptor protein (CRP) is a global bacterial regulator that controls many target genes. The CRP-cAMP complex regulates the <it>ompR-envZ </it>operon in <it>E. coli </it>directly, involving both positive and negative regulations of multiple target promoters; further, it controls the production of porins indirectly through its direct action on <it>ompR-envZ</it>. Auto-regulation of CRP has also been established in <it>E. coli</it>. However, the regulation of porin genes and its own gene by CRP remains unclear in <it>Y. pestis</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Y. pestis </it>employs a distinct mechanism indicating that CRP has no regulatory effect on the <it>ompR-envZ </it>operon; however, it stimulates <it>ompC </it>and <it>ompF </it>directly, while repressing <it>ompX</it>. No transcriptional regulatory association between CRP and its own gene can be detected in <it>Y. pestis</it>, which is also in contrast to the fact that CRP acts as both repressor and activator for its own gene in <it>E. coli</it>. It is likely that <it>Y. pestis </it>OmpR and CRP respectively sense different signals (medium osmolarity, and cellular cAMP levels) to regulate porin genes independently.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although the CRP of <it>Y. pestis </it>shows a very high homology to that of <it>E. coli</it>, and the consensus DNA sequence recognized by CRP is shared by the two bacteria, the <it>Y. pestis </it>CRP can recognize the promoters of <it>ompC</it>, <it>F</it>, and <it>X </it>directly rather than that of its own gene, which is different from the relevant regulatory circuit of <it>E. coli</it>. Data presented here indicate a remarkable remodeling of the CRP-mediated regulation of porin genes and of its own one between these two bacteria.</p

Dual-Emission Fluorescence Probe Based on CdTe Quantum Dots and Rhodamine B for Visual Detection of Mercury and Its Logic Gate Behavior

It is urgent that a convenient and sensitive technique of detecting Hg2+ be developed because of its toxicity. Conventional fluorescence analysis works with a single fluorescence probe, and it often suffers from signal fluctuations which are influenced by external factors. In this research, a novel dual-emission probe assembled through utilizing CdTe quantum dots (QDs) and rhodamine B was designed to detect Hg2+ visually. Only the emission of CdTe QDs was quenched after adding Hg2+ in the dual-emission probe, which caused an intensity ratio change of the two different emission wavelengths and hence facilitated the visual detection of Hg2+. Compared to single emission QDs-based probe, a better linear relationship was shown between the variation of fluorescence intensity and the concentration of Hg2+, and the limit of detection (LOD) was found to be11.4 nM in the range of 0–2.6 μM. Interestingly, the intensity of the probe containing Hg2+ could be recovered in presence of glutathione (GSH) due to the stronger binding affinity of Hg2+ towards GSH than that towards CdTe QDs. Based on this phenomenon, an IMPLICATION logic gate using Hg2+/GSH as inputs and the fluorescence signal of QDs as an output was constructed

Catalytic Effect of Green Human Resource Practices on Sustainable Development Goals: Can Individual Values Moderate an Empirical Validation in a Developing Economy?

Utilizing the framework of the theory of planned behavior, a new model has been extracted and validated empirically to explore the role of green human resource management (GHRM) practices in the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) among textile manufacturing firms. Therefore, this research study is the first attempt to empirically investigate the impact of green skills and employee green attitudes that may proffer a better explanation of the nature of the relationship between GHRM and the SDGs, proposing an inclusive re`search model on the effect of GHRM on the SDGs in the hi-tech manufacturing industry. Questionnaires were distributed to 465 textile firms; however, of those returned, only 197 surveys completed in all respects were used for further empirical investigation. PLS-SEM was used to analyze the data to assess the validity and reliability of the instrument. The outcomes of the study affirmed the theoretical model according to which GHRM has a positive association with employee green attitudes, employee skills, decent work, and sustainable consumption and production behavior. Employee green attitudes and decent work had a positive effect on sustainable consumption and production behavior. It is also beneficial to identify significant moderators to explain the processes and circumstances through which the attitudes of employees are transformed into the desired behaviors. Therefore, individual green values were taken as moderators in the study to assess how they impacted the relationship between GHRM and employee green attitudes, as well as that between employee green attitudes and sustainable consumption and production behavior. The results also revealed that an employee’s green attitude acted as a partial mediator between GHRM and decent work. Moreover, employee green attitudes and employee skills fully mediated between GHRM and sustainable consumption and production behavior

Catalytic Effect of Green Human Resource Practices on Sustainable Development Goals: Can Individual Values Moderate an Empirical Validation in a Developing Economy?

Utilizing the framework of the theory of planned behavior, a new model has been extracted and validated empirically to explore the role of green human resource management (GHRM) practices in the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) among textile manufacturing firms. Therefore, this research study is the first attempt to empirically investigate the impact of green skills and employee green attitudes that may proffer a better explanation of the nature of the relationship between GHRM and the SDGs, proposing an inclusive re`search model on the effect of GHRM on the SDGs in the hi-tech manufacturing industry. Questionnaires were distributed to 465 textile firms; however, of those returned, only 197 surveys completed in all respects were used for further empirical investigation. PLS-SEM was used to analyze the data to assess the validity and reliability of the instrument. The outcomes of the study affirmed the theoretical model according to which GHRM has a positive association with employee green attitudes, employee skills, decent work, and sustainable consumption and production behavior. Employee green attitudes and decent work had a positive effect on sustainable consumption and production behavior. It is also beneficial to identify significant moderators to explain the processes and circumstances through which the attitudes of employees are transformed into the desired behaviors. Therefore, individual green values were taken as moderators in the study to assess how they impacted the relationship between GHRM and employee green attitudes, as well as that between employee green attitudes and sustainable consumption and production behavior. The results also revealed that an employee&rsquo;s green attitude acted as a partial mediator between GHRM and decent work. Moreover, employee green attitudes and employee skills fully mediated between GHRM and sustainable consumption and production behavior

Environment-Friendly and Two-Component Method for Fabrication of Highly Hydrophobic Wood Using Poly(methylhydrogen)siloxane

Practical application of wood remains a great challenge because of its highly hydrophilic property. In this work, highly hydrophobic wood was produced using an environment-friendly and two-component package method. Poly(methylhydrogen)siloxane (PMHS) and inhibitor played the key role in the hydrophobicity of wood and the assembly process. The two-component package mechanism was discussed in detail. As a result, the water contact angles of the modified wood surface for the radial and cross sections were 139.5&deg; and 152.9&deg;, respectively, which provided the resultant wood high hydrophobicity and dimensional stability. The two-component package method afforded the wood good anti-fouling property and UV-resistance. In addition, the two-component package method could also be applied in functionalization of filter paper for oil/water separation