Exploración de las percepciones de los profesores en formación chinos sobre el desarrollo profesional autodirigido: Beneficios y retos revelados

Teaching has long been regarded as a demanding and complicated job, in which teachers play a vital role. To be effective and successful in this profession, they need to constantly engage in professional development programs. However, such programs are mostly externally driven with teachers playing passive roles. Against this pitfall, self-directed professional development (SDPD) has recently captured the attention of educational researchers. Yet, the benefits and challenges of SDPD in pre-service programs are unknown in EFL contexts. To fill this gap, this study used a semi-structured interview with 50 Chinese pre-service teachers regarding their perceptions of this mode of professional development. The findings of thematic analysis obtained by MAXQDA software (v. 2022) revealed that the most frequent benefits of SDPD were being “needs-based” and “self-directed”, which, in turn, produce “flexibility”, “autonomy”, and “professional knowledge development” in teachers. Concerning the challenges in implementing SDPD, “lack of professional interaction/assistance” from external forces and being “labor-intensive” for teachers were posed most frequently by the participants. Despite these complexities, most of the Chinese pre-service teachers (82%) preferred self-directed and self-initiated PD given their potential and effectiveness. The study encourages EFL educators to revisit their perspectives, plans, and strategies regarding professionalism and professional development. FUNDING INFORMATION. This study is a part of a research project on ‘The Training Mode of the Five-Year Bilingual International Talents under the Background of New Liberal Arts Construction’ supported by Nanjing Normal University’s New Liberal Arts Research and Reform Project in 2021.La enseñanza se ha considerado como un trabajo exigente y complicado en que los docentes desempeñan un papel vital. Para ser efectivos y exitosos, los maestros deben participar en programas de desarrollo profesional (DP). Sin embargo, tales programas son principalmente impulsados con roles pasivos. El desarrollo profesional autodirigido (SDPD) ha llamado la atención de los investigadores. Los beneficios y desafíos del SDPD en programas de pre-servicio se desconocen en el contexto chino de EFL. Este estudio adoptó una entrevista semiestructurada con 50 futuros maestros chinos sobre el SDPD. Los hallazgos obtenidos por MAXQDA (Versión 2022) revelaron que los beneficios más frecuentes del SDPD eran ser “basado en necesidades” y “autodirigido”, lo que produce “flexibilidad”, “autonomía” y “desarrollo del conocimiento profesional” en los docentes. Con respecto a los desafíos en implementar SDPD, los participantes plantearon con mayor frecuencia la “falta de interacción/ asistencia profesional” de fuerzas externas y el hecho de que sean “intensivos en labor”. A pesar de estas complejidades, el 82% de los entrevistados preferían el DP autodirigido y autoiniciado debido a su potencial y eficacia. El estudio alienta a los educadores de EFL a revisar sus perspectivas, planes y estrategias con respecto al profesionalismo y el DP

Assessing the time synchronisation of EEG systems

This study compared the synchronisation of a medical grade Electroencephalography (EEG) system, the g.Tec, and a consumer grade EEG system, the Emotiv. Data was collected from both systems using the lab streaming layer (LSL). Both EEG systems recorded an electric signal from the surface of a customised gel phantom. The electric signal was generated using a solar cell which was illuminated by a monitor presenting a sequence of black and white images. Test results show that the g.Tec had a mean delay of 51.22 ms from the stimulus onset and the Emotiv had a mean delay of 162.69 ms from the stimulus onset. The result should be taken into account with future ERP studies which will use either the EEG system and the lab streaming layer. The design of this experiment provides a smart way to evaluate the temporal accuracy of other EEG systems

Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea With Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background The prognostic significance of obstructive sleep apnea ( OSA ) in patients with acute coronary syndrome ( ACS ) in the contemporary era is unclear. We performed a large, prospective cohort study and did a landmark analysis to delineate the association of OSA with subsequent cardiovascular events after ACS onset. Methods and Results Between June 2015 and May 2017, consecutive eligible patients admitted for ACS underwent cardiorespiratory polygraphy during hospitalization. OSA was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index ≥15 events·h-1. The primary end point was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event ( MACCE ), including cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, ischemia-driven revascularization, or hospitalization for unstable angina or heart failure. OSA was present in 403 of 804 (50.1%) patients. During median follow-up of 1 year, cumulative incidence of MACCE was significantly higher in the OSA group than in the non- OSA group (log-rank, P=0.041). Multivariate analysis showed that OSA was nominally associated with incidence of MACCE (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.55; 95% CI, 0.94-2.57; P=0.085). In the landmark analysis, patients with OSA had 3.9 times the risk of incurring a MACCE after 1 year (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.87; 95% CI, 1.20-12.46; P=0.023), but no increased risk was found within 1-year follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.67-2.09; P=0.575). No significant differences were found in the incidence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and ischemia-driven revascularization, except for a higher rate of hospitalization for unstable angina in the OSA group than in the non- OSA group (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.09-4.05; P=0.027). Conclusions There was no independent correlation between OSA and 1-year MACCE after ACS . The increased risk associated with OSA was only observed after 1-year follow-up. Efficacy of OSA treatment as secondary prevention after ACS requires further investigation

Clinical significance of obstructive sleep apnea in patients with acute coronary syndrome in relation to diabetes status.

Objective: The prognostic significance of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) according to diabetes mellitus (DM) status remains unclear. We aimed to elucidate the association of OSA with subsequent cardiovascular events in patients with ACS with or without DM. Research design and methods: In this prospective cohort study, consecutive eligible patients with ACS underwent cardiorespiratory polygraphy between June 2015 and May 2017. OSA was defined as an Apnea Hypopnea Index ≥15 events/hour. The primary end point was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs), including cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, ischemia-driven revascularization, or hospitalization for unstable angina or heart failure. Results: Among 804 patients, 248 (30.8%) had DM and 403 (50.1%) had OSA. OSA was associated with 2.5 times the risk of 1 year MACCE in patients with DM (22.3% vs 7.1% in the non-OSA group; adjusted HR (HR)=2.49, 95% CI 1.16 to 5.35, p=0.019), but not in patients without DM (8.5% vs 7.7% in the non-OSA group, adjusted HR=0.94, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.75, p=0.85). Patients with DM without OSA had a similar 1 year MACCE rate as patients without DM. The increased risk of events was predominately isolated to patients with OSA with baseline glucose or hemoglobin A1c levels above the median. Combined OSA and longer hypoxia duration (time with arterial oxygen saturation22 min) further increased the MACCE rate to 31.0% in patients with DM. Conclusions: OSA was associated with increased risk of 1 year MACCE following ACS in patients with DM, but not in non-DM patients. Further trials exploring the efficacy of OSA treatment in high-risk patients with ACS and DM are warranted

Profiting from Government Stakes in a Command Economy: Evidence from Chinese Asset Sales

We document the market response to an unexpected announcement of proposed sales of government-owned shares in China. In contrast to the "privatization premium" found in earlier work, we find a negative effect of government ownership on returns at the announcement date and a symmetric positive effect in response to the announced cancellation of the government sell-off. We argue that this results from the absence of a Chinese political transition to accompany economic reforms, so that the positive effects on profits of political ties through government ownership outweigh the potential efficiency costs of government shareholdings. Companies with former government officials in management have positive abnormal returns, suggesting that personal ties can substitute for the benefits of government ownership. The "privatization discount" is higher for firms located in Special Economic Zones, where local government discretionary authority is highest. This is consistent with the view that firms in these locations are more dependent on government connections. We also find that companies with relatively high welfare payments to employees, which presumably would fall with privatization, benefit disproportionately from the privatization announcement.

Towards Innovative Research Approaches to Investigating the Role of Emotional Variables in Promoting Language Teachers’ and Learners’ Mental Health

This study is a part of a research project on The Training Mode of the Five -Year Bilingual International Talents under the Background of New Liberal Arts Construction ' supported by Nanjing NormalUniversity's New Liberal Arts Research and Reform Project in 2021.The adequacy of language education largely depends on the favorable and unfavorable emotions that teachers and students experience throughout the education process. Simply said, emotional factors play a key role in improving the quality of language teaching and learning. Furthermore, these emotional factors also promote the well-being of language teachers and learners and place them in a suitable mental condition. In view of the favorable impact of emotional factors on the mental health of language teachers and learners, many educational scholars around the world have studied these factors, their background, and their pedagogical consequences. Nonetheless, the majority of previous studies have employed traditional research methods in assessing these variables and their influences on language teachers' and learners' mental health. Because of the complex and dynamic quality of emotional factors, traditional research approaches often fail to evaluate these factors and their dynamic, non-linear connections with teachers' and learners' mental health and well-being. Accordingly, some novel research approaches are required to measure the dynamicity and complexity of emotional factors in language education settings. To address this call, the current state-of-the-art conceptual article seeks to provide new insights for investigating emotional factors and their potential impact on language teachers' and learners' mental states. This study also intends to offer a comprehensive list of emerging methods that take into account the complex and dynamic nature of emotional variables. Finally, the study outlines the potential implications of this review for educational researchers.Nanjing Normal Universit