A Comparative Study of New Faculty Socialization in Tertiary Education in Taiwan and the U.S.

In order to have a better understanding of new faculty socialization, the purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of new faculty in the anticipatory socialization and entry stage of their career in the academic workplace. What are the experiences they encounter in the new academic environment? What characteristics do they have as new faculty to facilitate their transitions in the new environment? What difficulties do they typically encounter? How do they determine what is valued and what is not valued within institutional expectations?Although the practice of new faculty socialization may differ by variations across institutional types across the board, experienced faculty members of today have a significant responsibility to prepare and support new faculty members in academies. The various pressures and demands on the professoriate in academies may encourage us to reconsideration of the nature of faculty work and the question of how to prepare new faculty members for integrating the academy. The paper begins with an overview of the faculty career and the socialization process, particularly for new faculty and early faculty members (junior faculty) in higher education. Next, I discuss variations of socialization and strategies for new faculty and junior faculty in the academic workplace. Then I illustrate the research method used for this study, and finally comparing Taiwan and the U.S. in terms of socialization for new faculty and early faculty members

A Novel Three-Point Modulation Technique for Fractional-N Frequency Synthesizer Applications

This paper presents a novel three-point modulation technique for fractional-N frequency synthesizer applications. Convention modulated fractional-N frequency synthesizers suffer from quantization noise, which degrades not only the phase noise performance but also the modulation quality. To solve this problem, this work proposes a three-point modulation technique, which not only cancels the quantization noise, but also markedly boosts the channel switching speed. Measurements reveal that the implemented 2.4 GHz fractional-N frequency synthesizer using three-point modulation can achieve a 2.5 Mbps GFSK data rate with an FSK error rate of only 1.4 %. The phase noise is approximately -98 dBc/Hz at a frequency offset of 100 kHz. The channel switching time is only 1.1 μs with a frequency step of 80 MHz. Comparing with conventional two-point modulation, the proposed three-point modulation greatly improves the FSK error rate, phase noise and channel switching time by about 10 %, 30 dB and 126 μs, respectively

The efficacy of stereotactic body radiation therapy on huge hepatocellular carcinoma unsuitable for other local modalities

BACKGROUND AND AIM: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of Cyberknife stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and its effect on survival in patients with unresectable huge hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) unsuitable of other standard treatment option. METHODS: Between 2009 and 2011, 22 patients with unresectable huge HCC (≧10 cm) were treated with SBRT. dose ranged from 26 Gy to 40 Gy in five fractions. Overall survival (OS) and disease-progression free survival (DPFS) were determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Tumor response and toxicities were also assessed. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 11.5 month (range 2–46 months). The objective response rate was achieved in 86.3% (complete response (CR): 22.7% and partial response (PR): 63.6%). The 1-yr. local control rate was 55.56%. The 1-year OS was 50% and median survival was 11 months (range 2–46 months). In univariate analysis, Child-Pugh stage (p = 0.0056) and SBRT dose (p = 0.0017) were significant factors for survival. However, in multivariate analysis, SBRT dose (p = 0.0072) was the most significant factor, while Child-Pugh stage of borderline significance. (p = 0.0514). Acute toxicities were mild and well tolerated. CONCLUSION: This study showed that SBRT can be delivered safely to huge HCC and achieved a substantial tumor regression and survival. The results suggest this technique should be considered a salvage treatment. However, local and regional recurrence remain the major cause of failure. Further studies of combination of SBRT and other treatment modalities may be reasonable

Effects of mycophenolate mofetil on cutaneous lupus erythematosus in (NZB × NZW) F1 mice

AbstractBackgroundFew studies have evaluated the effects and precise molecular mechanism of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in the treatment of human cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE). Our findings shed light on the therapeutic effects of MMF in a UVB-induced NZB × NZW (NZBW) F1 CLE mouse model.MethodsContinuous MMF treatment (60 mg/kg/day) was administered up to Day 50 from the beginning of UVB induction (Day 0; 20 weeks old), as the pathologic features of CLE are present after 50 days. The therapeutic effects of MMF treatment in NZBW lupus mice were examined by comparing histopathological changes, lupus band test (deposition of immune complexes at the dermal–epidermal junction) and colocalization of autoantibodies with a dermal autoantigen Dsg3, and by evaluating the associations of local matrix metalloprotease activities.ResultsMMF improved survival in the NZBW lupus mice from 35.7% to 81.8%. The proteinuria, blood urea nitrogen, and interleukin 6 levels were significantly reduced after MMF treatment. The dermal lymphocytic infiltration, deposition of immune complexes at the dermal–epidermal junction, colocalized autoantibodies with Dsg3, and epidermal matrix metalloprotease activity were also attenuated in MMF-treated NZBW F1 mice.ConclusionThe results confirmed that MMF could substantially attenuate skin damage due to CLE in the NZBW F1 mouse model

Particles in phrasal verbs — a cognitive linguistic approach to meaning construction in the EFL context

This study aimed to investigate the way in which Mandarin Chinese-speaking English learners construct meanings on three opposite sets of particles, consisting of ‘in’-‘out’, ‘on’-‘off’, and ‘up’-‘down’ within thirty ‘selected’ phrasal verbs via three cognitive linguistic approaches, i.e. image schemas, categorisation, and frame semantics in order to shed light on the context of Cognitive Linguistics and EFL. Forty-eight participants were recruited from universities in the UK and Taiwan for this study and all of them share the same L1, i.e. Mandarin Chinese. The present study utilized a qualitative-based methodology, comprising a questionnaire, a pre-test, a set of worksheets as teaching and learning materials used in a series of training sessions with the three cognitive linguistic approaches, a post-test, and an interview. A questionnaire was used to explore EFL learners’ leaning difficulty and learning strategies when it comes to the acquisition of phrasal verbs. A comparison of the results emerging from the pre-test and post-test and an analysis of the set of worksheets were employed to measure and evaluate the effects of cognitive linguistic approaches on three training groups (the Image schemas Training Group, the Categorisation Training Group, and the Frame Semantics Training Group) and also to identify the similar and unique meaning construction on particles in phrasal verbs between English and Mandarin Chinese. In addition, an interview with the participants from the three training groups was conducted to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of the use of cognitive linguistic approaches in the acquisition of particles in phrasal verbs. Results demonstrated that none of the cognitive linguistic approaches was better than the others adopted in this study. The thesis discusses some aspects of the findings: (1) the similar and unique patterns of meaning construction on particles in phrasal verbs between native English users and Mandarin Chinese-speaking EFL learners, (2) the benefits of adopting cognitive linguistic approaches; (3) the types of difficulty that have remained after receiving the training sessions. This study makes several contributions to the practical application of cognitive linguistics and EFL pedagogical design. Despite some limitations, the study suggests that raising awareness of similar and unique meaning construction on particles in phrasal verbs between two languages via cognitive linguistic approaches can play a key role in assisting L2 learners to understand phrasal verbs

Fucosyltransferase 1 and 2 play pivotal roles in breast cancer cells.

FUT1 and FUT2 encode alpha 1, 2-fucosyltransferases which catalyze the addition of alpha 1, 2-linked fucose to glycans. Glycan products of FUT1 and FUT2, such as Globo H and Lewis Y, are highly expressed on malignant tissues, including breast cancer. Herein, we investigated the roles of FUT1 and FUT2 in breast cancer. Silencing of FUT1 or FUT2 by shRNAs inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and tumorigenicity in mice. This was associated with diminished properties of cancer stem cell (CSC), including mammosphere formation and CSC marker both in vitro and in xenografts. Silencing of FUT2, but not FUT1, significantly changed the cuboidal morphology to dense clusters of small and round cells with reduced adhesion to polystyrene and extracellular matrix, including laminin, fibronectin and collagen. Silencing of FUT1 or FUT2 suppressed cell migration in wound healing assay, whereas FUT1 and FUT2 overexpression increased cell migration and invasion in vitro and metastasis of breast cancer in vivo. A decrease in mesenchymal like markers such as fibronectin, vimentin, and twist, along with increased epithelial like marker, E-cadherin, was observed upon FUT1/2 knockdown, while the opposite was noted by overexpression of FUT1 or FUT2. As expected, FUT1 or FUT2 knockdown reduced Globo H, whereas FUT1 or FUT2 overexpression showed contrary effects. Exogenous addition of Globo H-ceramide reversed the suppression of cell migration by FUT1 knockdown but not the inhibition of cell adhesion by FUT2 silencing, suggesting that at least part of the effects of FUT1/2 knockdown were mediated by Globo H. Our results imply that FUT1 and FUT2 play important roles in regulating growth, adhesion, migration and CSC properties of breast cancer, and may serve as therapeutic targets for breast cancer

A Comparative Study on Need-Based Aid Policy in Higher Education between the State of Indiana and Taiwan

The question of how the government can best support access to postsecondary education has become a critical issue for education policymakers around the globe, as the practice of cost sharing for funding postsecondary education has been more widely adopted. In this context, this study explores the approaches to implementing current need-based financial aid policies in higher education in Indiana and Taiwan using G.Z.F. Bereday’s (1964) comparative method as the framework. Using a comparative cross-national perspective, the authors explored cost sharing, Rawls’ theory of social justice, and the economic principles of horizontal and vertical equity. This review revealed that need-based aid programs in both Indiana and Taiwan were founded on the principle of vertical equity, which aims to equalize educational opportunity for low-income students and minorities. However, the increased popularity of cost sharing and its consequent heavy burden on students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds have made it necessary to reexamine the financial aid systems intended to hold open the door of opportunity for these students. These findings have implications for examining financial aid policy within a global context, as well as asserting the value of cross-national comparisons in postsecondary education. Governments and postsecondary institutions should examine the effects of financial aid systems on college attendance and completion from a longitudinal perspective to allow for a better understanding of the impact of policy changes and to prevent further erosion educational opportunities for students who aspire to a college education

The Relationships among Senior High School Teacher Perceptions on Professional Learning Community, Self-efficacy, School Type, and Gender

Teacher’s professional learning community (TPLC) and self-efficacy(SE) are considered to enhance student learning in various dimensions. Teacher perceived PLC and SE might be influenced by school contexts and teachers’ demographic factors. This study investigated the relationships between teacher’s professional learning community (PLC), self-efficacy (SE), school type, and gender in Taiwan context. The findings are expected to provide valuable information in this field and to enhance understanding of PLC and self-efficacy in different cultural contexts. Descriptive statistics, t-test, product-moment correlation, and multiple regression analysis were applied to analyze the data. The findings indicated that a significant difference was found between public school teachers and private school teachers in two PLC dimensions, core element and human and social resources, and in one SE dimesnion, classroom management. Another significant differences were found between male teachers and female teachers in three SE dimensions, teaching strategy, classroom management, and student involvement. However, no significant differences was found between both in PLC dimesnions. Moreover, perceived PLC and SE were positive correlated. Perceived PLC could predict perceived SE. These results suggested that PLC appears to play a role in teachers’ reported levels of SE and provided initial evidence that the variation between schools in PLC may be explained by the SE. Keywords: Gender, school type, self-efficacy, professional learning community, senior high school teacher