Mobilising Morality: Moral Education Reform within China’s 21st Century ‘New Era’

The purpose of this study is to enhance our understanding of Chinese moral education reforms under the scope of Xi Jinping’s ‘New Era’ national reforms. It does this through examining the relationship between the prescribed expectations and lived realisations of moral education reform within the compulsory moral education class (deyu) in Mainland Chinese primary schools. This research adopts a constructivist and grounded theory epistemological perspective. Theoretically, it draws upon cross-cultural theories of moral education, socio-political philosophy, cultural hegemony, and moral philosophy. The research methodology utilises a mixed methods approach to critically analyse the current state of moral education and its socio-political implications. Methodologies used include autoethnography, critical discourse analysis, semi-structured qualitative interviews, and quantitative surveys. It was originally assumed that there would be a prominent disparity between the prescribed expectations and lived realisations of moral education reform due to vague official policies that included few details regarding implementation or assessment measures. This research found this to be true, but also found that the functional role of moral education reforms extends far beyond the classroom. The effect of this was that moral education not only passively facilitates social change, but actively produces social change. This thesis suggests that moral education is a driving force in an ideological policy feedback loop that reproduces cultural hegemony and ruling Party legitimacy. By highlighting the integral role of moral education within ongoing socio-political transformations in contemporary Chinese society, this thesis argues that moral education is a driving force for Chinese 21st century ‘New Era’ development.United States Department of State Fulbright Program, University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, and University of Cambridge St John's Colleg

Geochemistry and origin of explosive alkaline volcanism in the early Rukwa Rift, southwestern Tanzania

Leigh Lawrence studied the nature and origin of early rift magmatism in the Western Branch of the East African Rift. He discovered and modelled an entirely new mechanism of explosive volcanism and provided new insights into the geodynamic evolution of continental rift segments in sub-equatorial Eastern Africa

Retinol improves development of heat-stressed oocytes during maturation

Addition of retinol may improve development of maturing oocytes stressed by culture. Objective was to evaluate retinol for improving development of heat-stressed oocytes. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COC) were matured for 24 h at 38.5 or 41.0°C (first 12 h) in 0 or 5 μM all trans-retinol. Ability of putative zygotes (268-297/treatment) to cleave and develop to blastocyst was assessed on days 3 and 8 after fertilization, respectively. Fixed effects in statistical model included temperature, retinol, and the interaction. Data were tested to ensure normality. Culture of COC at 4l.0°C did not affect lysis (1.6 and 2.1% for 38.5 and 41.0°C; SEM=0.8) or cleavage after fertilization (75.4 and 72.2% for 38.5 and 41.0°C; SEM=3.8). Within cleaved embryos however, culture of COC at 41.0°C increased 2-cell (10.6 versus 6.2% for 41.0 and 38.5°C; SEM= 1.3; P\u3c 0.04) but decreased 8-16 cell (41.4 versus 51.1% for 41.0 and 38.5°C, SEM=4.7; P\u3c 0.05) embryos and development to blastocyst (20.0 vs 27.5% for 41.0 and 38.5°C, SEM= 2.2; P\u3c0.007). Blastocysts derived from heat-stressed COC had fewer nuclei (85.3 versus 94.0 for 41.0 and 38.5°C; SEM=6.7; P \u3c 0.005; Hoechst staining). Addition of retinol during maturation did not improve development of COC regardless of culture temperature. In three replicates, effects of 41.0°C for reducing development of COC to blastocyst were minimal. When these replicates were deleted from analysis, a significant temperature x retinol interaction was observed (n= 4 reps; 189-197 COC/treatment) for development to blastocyst (P\u3c0.01) and number of nuclei (P\u3c0.004). Addition of retinol to COC compromised by heat stress during maturation prevented heat-induced reductions in development to blastocyst (24.6 versus 14.7% for 38.5 and 41.0°C; and 23.2 and 22.0% for 38.5 and 41.0°C cultured in presence of 5 μM retinol; SEM = 2.4). Also, culture of COC at 38.5°C in 5 μM retinol increased number of nuclei in blastocysts (102.6 versus 98.7 for 38.5 C and 41.0° C; and 120.5 versus 95.1 for 38.5 and 41.0°C cultured in 5 μM retinol; SEM= 5.0). Retinol may protect oocytes that are heat-stressed during maturation from the deleterious effects of elevated temperature

The effect of chronic propranolol hydrochloride therapy on circulating free fatty acids and glucose during moderate, long-term exercise in post-myocardial infarct subjects.

Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1978 .L455. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, page: . Thesis (M.H.K.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1978

Conducting cross-cultural qualitative interviews with mainland Chinese participants during COVID: Lessons from the field

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a significant impact on researchers as the normal and expected difficulties of research are exacerbated as education and our way of life has drastically changed. This research note is a reflective narrative of the author’s experience transitioning from face-to-face to online interviews in light of social distancing and global travel restrictions. Through a descriptive analysis, this article details the numerous ethical, logistical, practical, and cultural issues the author confronted in preparation for qualitative cross-cultural online interview research through personal reflections, current events, and existing literature. The aim of this article is to highlight personal experience to better inform future research and encourage flexibility and reflexivity in research. It is hoped that this article can be of use to further develop cross-cultural qualitative methodology and expand upon the emerging field of literature surrounding videoconferencing qualitative research. </jats:p

Joint evolution of a Lorentz-covariant massless scalar field and its point-charge source in one space dimension

In this paper we prove that the static solution of the Cauchy problem for a massless real scalar field that is sourced by a point charge in $1+1$ dimensions is asymptotically stable under perturbation by compactly-supported incoming radiation. This behavior is due to the process of back-reaction. Taking the approach of Kiessling, we rigorously derive the expression for the force on the particle from the principle of total energy-momentum conservation. We provide a simple, closed form for the self-force resulting from back-reaction, and show that it is restorative, i.e. proportional to negative velocity, and causes the charge to return to rest after the radiation passes through. We establish these results by studying the joint evolution problem for the particle-scalar field system, and proving its global well-posedness and the claimed asymptotic behavior.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

An investigation of the influence of silver doping on the intergranular 'weak-link' properties of the superconducting system Y1Ba2Cu307-x.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.High-temperature superconducting materials have found considerable technological application and still have a largely unrealised potential. The key to unlocking this potential depends on a better understanding of their properties; in particular, the maximum 'critical current density' which these materials, in the form of wires, tapes, thin-films and bulk monolithic forms, are able to support for high-current applications. The 'critical current density' in a polycrystalline high-temperature oxide superconductor system is determined by a percolation process of the super current through a three dimensional grain-boundary network. Grain-boundaries in these systems behave as Josephson junction 'weak-links' and they severely limit the critical current density in the presence of even moderate self or applied magnetic fields. In the present work, isothermal quasi-static magnetisation measurements on the polycrystalline YIBa2Cu307-x system are presented and analysed. An effective granular penetration depth in conjunction with a critical state model, which includes an approximate treatment for the percolation process, is used to obtain many of the salient physical parameters of the grain-boundary Josephson junctions and of the three-dimensional grain boundary junction network. Determination of the temperature and magnetic field dependence of several of these parameters, in particular a magnetic field-independent critical current which depends on the micro structure of the grain-boundary junction network, allows for testing and verification of models of the weak-link and network behaviour. This treatment has been carried out specifically on various silver doped polycrystalline Y1Ba2Cu30 7-x specimens in order to determine and quantify the effects of silver doping. An improvement in the critical current density with silver doping is explained in terms of silver scavenging and ridding grain-boundaries of impurities, and a proximity effect where trace amounts of silver residing in the grain-boundaries decreases the normal resistance of the grain-boundary Josephson junction. The insight gained from silver doping experimentation led to a macroscopic investigation into the joining of large single-domain YIBa2Cu307-x specimens for large-scale applications

Use of Placebo in Supplementation Studies-Vitamin D Research Illustrates an Ethical Quandary.

History has shown that without explicit and enforced guidelines, even well-intentioned researchers can fail to adequately examine the ethical pros and cons of study design choices. One area in which consensus does not yet exist is the use of placebo groups in vitamin supplementation studies. As a prime example, we focus on vitamin D research. We aim to provide an overview of the ethical issues in placebo-controlled studies and guide future discussion about the ethical use of placebo groups. Research in the field of vitamin D shows variation in how placebo groups are used. We outline four types of control groups in use: active-control, placebo-control with restrictions on supplementation, placebo-control without supplementation restrictions, and placebo-control with rescue repletion therapy. The first two types highlight discrete ethical issues: active-control trials limit the ability to detect a difference; placebo-control trials that restrict supplementation potentially place subjects at risk of undue harm. The final two, placebo-control without supplementation restrictions or with rescue repletion therapy, offer potential solutions to these ethical challenges. Building on this, guidelines should be established and enforced on the use of placebo in supplementation studies. Furthermore, the field of vitamin D research has the potential to set an example worthy of emulation