Influencing Factors of Fine Arts Student Satisfaction of Educational Internship in Sichuan, China

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to exploring the influencing factors of student satisfaction, including student expectation, service quality, supervisor support, task clarity and perceived value among the group of fine arts students in Sichuan province, China who had attended educational internship. Research design, data and methodology: This study adopted quantitative research method. The researchers firstly obtained data by distributing online questionnaires to the target students. Secondly, Item Objective Congruence (IOC) and pilot test were carried out. Afterwards, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model (SEM) were used to analyze the data and to test the significant relationships among variables. Results: Service quality had a significant impact on student satisfaction. Furthermore, supervisor support, task clarity and perceived value significantly impacted student satisfaction on educational internship. Nevertheless, there was no causal relationship between student expectation and student satisfaction. Conclusions: For colleges and internship organizers, it was recommended to improve the service quality and the standard of internship programs. For students majoring in fine arts who participate in educational internship, they should realize the importance of internship program and actively communicate with the supervisor to get the valued feedback for the best in internship experience

Isoflavone Content of Soybean Cultivars from Maturity Group 0 to VI Grown in Northern and Southern China

Soybean isoflavone content has long been considered to be a desirable trait to target in selection programs for their contribution to human health and plant defense systems. The objective of this study was to determine isoflavone concentrations of various soybean cultivars from maturity groups 0 to VI grown in various environments and to analyze their relationship to other important seed characters. Forty soybean cultivars were grown in replicated trials at Wuhan and Beijing of China in 2009/2010 and their individual and total isoflavone concentrations were determined by HPLC. Their yield and quality traits were also concurrently analyzed. The isoflavone components had abundant genetic variation in soybean seed, with a range of coefficient variation from 45.01% to 69.61%. Moreover, individual and total isoflavone concentrations were significantly affected by cultivar, maturity group, site and year. Total isoflavone concentration ranged from 551.15 to 7584.07 μg g(−1), and averaged 2972.64 μg g(−1) across environments and cultivars. There was a similar trend regarding the isoflavone contents, in which a lower isoflavone concentration was generally presented in early rather than late maturing soybean cultivars. In spite of significant cultivar × year × site interactions, cultivars with consistently high or low isoflavone concentrations across environments were identified, indicating that a genetic factor plays the most important role for isoflavone accumulation. The total isoflavone concentration had significant positive correlations with plant height, effective branches, pods per plant, seeds per plant, linoleic acid and linolenic acid, while significant negative correlations with oleic acid and oil content, indicating that isoflavone concentration can be predicted as being associated with other desirable seed characteristics

Increasing yield potential through manipulating of an ARE1 ortholog related to nitrogen use efficiency in wheat by CRISPR/Cas9.

peer reviewedWheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a staple food crop consumed by more than 30% of world population. Nitrogen (N) fertilizer has been applied broadly in agriculture practice to improve wheat yield to meet the growing demands for food production. However, undue N fertilizer application and the low N use efficiency (NUE) of modern wheat varieties are aggravating environmental pollution and ecological deterioration. Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, the rice (Oryza sativa) abnormal cytokinin response1 repressor1 (are1) mutant exhibits increased NUE, delayed senescence and consequently, increased grain yield. However, the function of ARE1 ortholog in wheat remains unknown. Here, we isolated and characterized three TaARE1 homoeologs from the elite Chinese winter wheat cultivar ZhengMai 7698. We then used CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted mutagenesis to generate a series of transgene-free mutant lines either with partial or triple-null taare1 alleles. All transgene-free mutant lines showed enhanced tolerance to N starvation, and showed delayed senescence and increased grain yield in field conditions. In particular, the AABBdd and aabbDD mutant lines exhibited delayed senescence and significantly increased grain yield without growth defects compared to the wild-type control. Together, our results underscore the potential to manipulate ARE1 orthologs through gene editing for breeding of high-yield wheat as well as other cereal crops with improved NUE

Pain in Huntington’s disease and its potential mechanisms

Pain is common and frequent in many neurodegenerative diseases, although it has not received much attention. In Huntington’s disease (HD), pain is often ignored and under-researched because attention is more focused on motor and cognitive decline than psychiatric symptoms. In HD progression, pain symptoms are complex and involved in multiple etiologies, particularly mental issues such as apathy, anxiety and irritability. Because of psychiatric issues, HD patients rarely complain of pain, although their bodies show severe pain symptoms, ultimately resulting in insufficient awareness and lack of research. In HD, few studies have focused on pain and pain-related features. A detailed and systemic pain history is crucial to assess and explore pain pathophysiology in HD. This review provides an overview concentrating on pain-related factors in HD, including neuropathology, frequency, features, affecting factors and mechanisms. More attention and studies are still needed in this interesting field in the future

Targeting Inhibition of Accumulation and Function of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells by Artemisinin via PI3K/AKT, mTOR, and MAPK Pathways Enhances Anti-PD-L1 Immunotherapy in Melanoma and Liver Tumors

Despite the remarkable success and efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy such as anti-PD-L1 antibody in treating cancers, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) that lead to the formation of the protumor immunosuppressive microenvironment are one of the major contributors to ICB resistance. Therefore, inhibition of MDSC accumulation and function is critical for further enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of anti-PD-L1 antibody in a majority of cancer patients. Artemisinin (ART), the most effective antimalarial drug with tumoricidal and immunoregulatory activities, is a potential option for cancer treatment. Although ART is reported to reduce MDSC levels in 4T1 breast tumor model and improve the therapeutic efficacy of anti-PD-L1 antibody in T cell lymphoma-bearing mice, how ART influences MDSC accumulation, function, and molecular pathways as well as MDSC-mediated anti-PD-L1 resistance in melanoma or liver tumors remains unknown. Here, we reported that ART blocks the accumulation and function of MDSCs by polarizing M2-like tumor-promoting phenotype towards M1-like antitumor one. This switch is regulated via PI3K/AKT, mTOR, and MAPK signaling pathways. Targeting MDSCs by ART could significantly reduce tumor growth in various mouse models. More importantly, the ART therapy remarkably enhanced the efficacy of anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy in tumor-bearing mice through promoting antitumor T cell infiltration and proliferation. These findings indicate that ART controls the functional polarization of MDSCs and targeting MDSCs by ART provides a novel therapeutic strategy to enhance anti-PD-L1 cancer immunotherapy

The Acute Liver Injury in Mice Caused by Nano-Anatase TiO2

Although it is known that nano-TiO2or other nanoparticles can induce liver toxicities, the mechanisms and the molecular pathogenesis are still unclear. In this study, nano-anatase TiO2(5 nm) was injected into the abdominal cavity of ICR mice for consecutive 14 days, and the inflammatory responses of liver of mice was investigated. The results showed the obvious titanium accumulation in liver DNA, histopathological changes and hepatocytes apoptosis of mice liver, and the liver function damaged by higher doses nano-anatase TiO2. The real-time quantitative RT-PCR and ELISA analyses showed that nano-anatase TiO2can significantly alter the mRNA and protein expressions of several inflammatory cytokines, including nucleic factor-κB, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, cross-reaction protein, interleukin-4, and interleukin-10. Our results also implied that the inflammatory responses and liver injury may be involved in nano-anatase TiO2-induced liver toxicity

Optimization of fermentation conditions for protease production from Bacillus subtilis

In the paper, the fermentation conditions and fermentation medium of bacillus subtilis protease production were optimized to improve the outcome of the protease produced from bacillus subtilis to provide premium raw materials for the subsequent preparation of chitin from crab shell. The optimal fermentation conditions are temperature at 39°C, pH value of 7.5, fermentation time of 60h, inoculum size of 5%, filling volume of 80/250mL, and rotational speed at 180r/min; the optimal medium component ratio is 1.25% for starch mass concentration, 1% for yeast paste mass concentration, and 0.3% for sodium dihydrogen phosphate mass concentration. The activity of protease produced from bacillus subtilis GC021 is 174.87U/mL under the optimal fermentation conditions and at the optimal medium component ratio

Post-earthquake housing recovery with traditional construction: A preliminary review

Post-disaster reconstruction requires not only an immediate response but also long-term consideration of the recovery of local livelihoods, sustainability of technology transfer, and respect for sociocultural norms. A top-down approach for post-disaster reconstruction, usually relying on external resources and standardized prototypes, might strongly hinder the recovery process. To enhance community resilience, the use of traditional knowledge in post-disaster reconstruction is highlighted in the Sendai Framework. This study specifically focuses on traditional construction. A systematic literature review is conducted on post-earthquake housing recovery with traditional construction, and a hierarchical analysis framework helps categorize the review results at strategic, managerial, and operational levels. Drawn from the review, a classification of traditional construction systems is proposed, corresponding to their varied seismic performance. The results indicate the possibility of strengthening traditional construction with seismic engineering and its successful implementation into reconstruction. Specifically, it includes timber-reinforced masonry, wattle and daub, timber frame construction, reinforced rammed earth, and reinforced adobe. However, we also find that the sustainable practice of traditional construction remains problematic, and the replication of participatory reconstruction is difficult. This preliminary review serves to bridge the discipline of vernacular architecture and disaster management and establish a solid common ground for further argumentation