The challenges of developing an understanding of inclusion as a concept for Chinese teachers

This paper discusses the critical issues in China as it moves towards an inclusive education with a focus on the challenges of developing the concept of inclusion for Chinese teachers. Whilst the laws and regulations have entitled children with a 9-year compulsory education, in practice, children with special educational needs find themselves being integrated rather than included in the mainstream schools. The author argues with a small scale research that the failure to address the needs of children is largely due to the understanding of inclusion, which can be developed through teacher education to meet the challenges of the inadequate professional knowledge and expertise of special education teachers

Multi-layer configuration for the cathode electrode of polymer electrolyte fuel cell

This paper conducts a one-dimensional theoretical study on the electrochemical phenomenon in the dual-layer cathode electrode of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) with varying sub-layer thicknesses, and further extends the analysis to a triple-layer configuration. We obtain the explicit solution for a general dual-layer configuration with different layer thicknesses. Distributions of the key quantities such as the local reaction current and electrolyte overpotential are exhibited at different ratios of the ionic conductivities, electrochemical kinetics, and layer thicknesses. Based on the dual-layer approach, we further derive the explicit solutions for a triple-layer electrode. Sub-layer performances are plotted and compared. The results indicate that the layer adjacent to the electrolyte membrane may contribute a major part of the electrode faradic current production. The theoretical analysis presented in this paper can be applied to assist electrode development through complicated multi-layer configuration for cost-effective high performance electrodes. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd

Long noncoding RNAs in prostate cancer: overview and clinical implications.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer mortality among men in the United States. While many prostate cancers are indolent, an important subset of patients experiences disease recurrence after conventional therapy and progresses to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), which is currently incurable. Thus, there is a critical need to identify biomarkers that will distinguish indolent from aggressive disease, as well as novel therapeutic targets for the prevention or treatment of CRPC. In recent years, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as an important class of biological molecules. LncRNAs are polyadenylated RNA species that share many similarities with protein-coding genes despite the fact that they are noncoding (not translated into proteins). They are usually transcribed by RNA polymerase II and exhibit the same epigenetic signatures as protein-coding genes. LncRNAs have also been implicated in the development and progression of variety of cancers, including prostate cancer. While a large number of lncRNAs exhibit tissue- and cancer-specific expression, their utility as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers is just starting to be explored. In this review, we highlight recent findings on the functional role and molecular mechanisms of lncRNAs in the progression of prostate cancer and evaluate their use as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets