The impact of centralized offices of international programs on the internationalization of curriculum in the United States land grant institutions.

The internationalization of curriculum has become an important part of internationalizing higher education institutions in the United States. This realization of importance reflected in the increasing number of centralized offices of international programs (OIP) charged with institutional responsibilities to provide leadership in the process of internationalizing their institutions. The purpose of the study is to determine the degree of impact of centralized OIPs on the internationalization of curriculum in the Land Grant institutions. The study looked into three major OIP components, input (human input and economic input), process (programs and activities), and output (number of internationalized courses, majors, minors, etc.). The methodology used was a mail survey of all the centralized OIP executives and follow-up interviews of selected OIP executives, representing different OIP sizes and capacities. Descriptive statistics was used including central tendencies and correlation. The results showed that OIPs\u27 impact on the internationalization of curriculum was great. The major input variables that exerted such influence on process and output included OIP executive\u27s authority, the number of OIP staff, OIP financial capacity and commitment as well as the institutional support. The major OIP process variables that exerted significant impact on output included international linkages, student exchange activities, international seminars, program coordination, etc. In conclusion, OIP human input and OIP economic input are the most crucial factors in the degree of success of the internationalization of curriculum

Parallel Contour Path Planning for Complicated Cavity Part Fabrication using Voronoi-based Distance Map

To generate parallel contour path for direct production of complicated cavity component, a novel path planning based on Voronoi-based distance map is presented in this paper. Firstly, the grid representation of polygonal slice is produced by hierarchical rasterization using graphics hardware acceleration and divided into Voronoi cells of contour by an exact EDT (Euclidean distance transformation). Then, each VCI (Voronoi cell of inner contour) is further subdivided into CLRI (closed loop region of inner contour) and OLRI (open loop region of inner contour). Closed paths for each CLRI and the block merging VCO (Voronoi cell of outer contour) and all OLRIs are generated by local and global isoline extraction, respectively. The final path ordered in circumferential and radial directions is obtained by sorting and connecting all individual paths. In comparison with conventional methods such as pair-wise intersection and Voronoi diagram, the proposed algorithm is numerically robust, can avoid null path and self-intersection because of the application of distance map and discrete Voronoi diagram. It is especially used for FGM (Functionally Graded Material) design and fabrication.Mechanical Engineerin

Adaptive Slicing for Multi-Axis Hybrid Plasma Deposition and Milling

Hybrid Plasma Deposition and Milling (HPDM), a five-axis manufacturing system integrated material additive and subtractive processes, can be used to create overhang metallic components directly without the usage of sacrificial support structure. Different from conventional slicing methods, a new slicing algorithm with changeable direction and thickness is proposed in this paper. Minimal overhang length is selected as the objective function to optimize the build direction. The thickness is adjusted to meet allowable overhang length and allowable cups height. The input mesh is first decomposed into non-uniform thickness segment meshes and then each segment is cut into uniform thickness slices. The output slices consist of split slices between two adjacent segment meshes and inner slices for each segment mesh. Examples and analyses confirm the feasibility and effectiveness.Mechanical Engineerin

Aeromonas veronii, a potential pathogen of enteritis in snakehead fish Ophiocephalus argus

Enteritis is known as a major disease in snakehead fish Ophiocephalus argus aquaculture and has resulted in large economic losses. Yet only scarce information is available on Aeromonas veronii as a causal agent for enteritis in O. argus. In this study, a virulent strain, temporarily named HY2, was isolated from diseased snakehead fish suffering from enteritis, and was identified as A. veronii through molecular and phenotypic methods. In addition, the HY2 isolate showed an LD50 value of 2.8×105 CFU mL-1, and was highly sensitive to aminoglycosides, macrolides, polypeptides, quinolones, sulfonamides and tetracyclines antibiotics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of A. veronii as a potential pathogen of enteritis in snakehead fish

Research on Microstructure and Properties of Medium Carbon Steel Parts Manufactured by HDMR Technology

A new study on manufacturing medium carbon steel parts by HDMR (Hybrid Deposition and Micro Rolling) technology was carried out, and the microstructures and mechanical properties obtained by HDMR process and freeform arc deposition process respectively were tested and compared in this paper. The experiment results show that: compared with the freeform arc deposition process, the grain size number obtained by HDMR process increased from 3.0 to 9.0；the tensile strength and yield strength were increased by 37.1%, 68.6%，in contrast to the investment casting, increased by 65.4% and 107.7%; compared with the forging, the tensile strength and yield strength were increased by 12.9% and 31.4% respectively. Finally, a medium carbon 45 steel aeronautical part difficult to overlay was manufactured successfully by HDMR technology, thus a new efficient way for additive manufacturing of hard-shaping metal parts at high-quality with low-cost was provided.Mechanical Engineerin

Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Infiltration in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Tumor and MAGE-A4 and NY-ESO-1 Expression

Cancer/testis antigens melanoma‑associated antigen 4 (MAGE‑A4) and New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma‑1 (NY‑ESO‑1) are of clinical interest as biomarkers and present valuable targets for immunotherapy; however, they are poor prognostic markers in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In addition, myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are recognized as a key element in tumor escape and progression. The aim of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of MAGE‑A4 and NY‑ESO‑1, and their association with MDSCs in NSCLC samples. The expression levels of MAGE‑A4 and NY‑ESO‑1, and the infiltration of MDSCs (CD33+), were analyzed by immunohistochemistry of 67 tissue samples from patients with NSCLC. Overall, 58.33% of the NSCLC squamous cell carcinoma tissues and 94.7% of adenocarcinoma tissues were positive for MAGE‑A4. NY‑ESO‑1 expression was observed in 52.78% of the squamous cell carcinoma tissues and 80% of the adenocarcinoma tissues. In primary adenocarcinoma tumor tissues, MAGE‑A4 and NY‑ESO‑1 demonstrated a higher intensity of expression compared with the squamous cell carcinoma tissues. A total of 33 (91.7%) squamous cell carcinoma and 19 (95.0%) adenocarcinoma specimens were positive for CD33. The expression of MAGE‑A4 and NY‑ESO‑1 antigens and infiltration of MDSCs was associated with poor prognosis of patients with NSCLC. Further studies investigating the association between these findings and underlying molecular mechanisms are required

Types and distribution of mucous cells of the abalone Haliotis diversicolor

The types and distribution of mucous cells of Haliotis diversicolorwere observed and analyzed using the alcian blue and periodic acid schiffs (AB-PAS) reaction and histological procedures. According to the color of the mucous cells, they were divided into four types: Type I, pure red; type II, pure blue; type III, purple reddish; type IV, blue purple. Most of the mucous cells in the mantle were type II, with cup- or stick-like shape. Gill axis and gill filament epithelia were rich in mucous cells and most of them were type II and III, with circle-, cup- and stick-like shapes. There were a few mucous cells in the pedal epithelia, mainly type II, whereas, the pedal gland had a great density of mucous cells, which were large or small and mainly type II and IV. There were many mucous cells in the epithelia around the mouth, most of which were medium-sized cup-shaped type II. In the esophagus, the number of mucous cells decreased gradually from the anterior to posterior, whereas in the distal intestine mucous cells, there were more than in the proximal one and they were more cup–shaped and circle–shaped, mainly type II.Keywords: Haliotis diversicolor; mucous cells, types, distributio

Bacillus cereus, a potential pathogen of snakehead fish Ophiocephalus argus

Bacillus cereus is an emerging pathogen that has caused high mortalities in aquaculture animals. Yet the pathogenicity of B. cereus in snakehead fish Ophiocephalus argus is still unclear. In this study, a virulent strain (CA4) was isolated from diseased snakehead fish suffering from a typical symptom of hepatic hemorrhage with blood vessel congestion and macrophage infiltration, and was identified molecularly and phenotypically as B. cereus. It was β-hemolytic, showed an LD50 value of 2.57×106 CFU mL-1 for snakehead fish, and developed multiple resistances to cotrimoxazole, doxycycline, florfenicol, neomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline in aquaculture use. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of snakehead fish- pathogenic B. cereus. The findings of this study provide new insights into the potential threat of pathogenic B. cereus to snakehead fish