A NEW CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR ENHANCING EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS AMONG HIGHER VOCATIONAL STUDENTS BASE ON GROUP WORK INTERVENTIONS

This paper aims to describe a new conceptual framework for enhancing employability skills based on group work interventions. The research design used is an experiential learning design and was conducted through explanatory research, which combines both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Higher vocational students were used as research subjects, and group dynamics theory was used as the theoretical basis. Data were collected using questionnaire surveys, interviews, group work methods, and experimental research. A new conceptual framework for enhancing employability skills was developed by selecting 40 fresh graduates from Jiangmen Polytechnic to participate in a 2-month employability skills promotion group work activity. The new conceptual framework clarifies the variables and characteristics that affect the improvement of employment skills and reveals the relationships between the variables. The findings present a new conceptual framework for improving the employability skills of higher vocational students based on group work interventions and describe the variables and characteristics within this framework. This research significantly contributes to the field, equipping educators and organizers with the knowledge to create tailored programs for enhancing employability skills among higher vocational students.Ultimately, these efforts aim to empower students with the necessary competencies to thrive in the dynamic job market and embark on successful career paths. Keywords: conceptual framework; employability skills; group work interventio

Cell phone–based health education messaging improves health literacy

Background: The ubiquity of cell phones, which allow for short message service (SMS), provides new and innovative opportunities for disease prevention and health education.Objective: To explore the use of cell phone–based health education SMS to improve the health literacy of community residents in China.Methods: A multi-stage random sampling method was used to select representative study communities and participants ≥ 18 years old. Intervention participants were sent health education SMSs once a week for 1 year and controls were sent conventional, basic health education measures. Health literacy levels of the residents before and after the intervention were evaluated between intervention and control groups.Results: Public health literacy scores increased 1.5 points, from 61.8 to 63.3, after SMS intervention for 1 year (P<0.01); the increase was greater for males than females (2.01 vs. 1.03; P<0.01) and for Shenzhen local residents than non permanent residents (2.56 vs. 1.14; P<0.01). The frequency of high health literacy scores was greater for the intervention than control group (22.03% to 30.93% vs. 22.07% to 20.82%). With health literacy as a cost-effective index, the cost-effectiveness per intervention was 0.54.Conclusion: SMS may be a useful tool for improving health literacy.Keywords: Health literacy, intervention, community residents, cell phone, short message servic

IMPORTANCE OF IDEOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL EDUCATION ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PSYCHOLOGICAL CRISIS COPING ABILITY

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for leveraging ideological and political education to enhance the mental crisis coping ability of university students. The primary objective is to integrate ideological and political education in universities to improve student abilities to cope with psychological crises and innovate intervention methods. The study utilized induction and data analysis techniques to define psychological crises and interventions for university students while examining the role of ideological and political education in psychological crisis intervention. Through reflection on the current state of ideological and political education interventions, this paper proposes constructive and feasible pathways and countermeasures for implementation. The results indicate that ideological and political education positively intervenes in psychological crises faced by university students. Therefore, this paper recommends supporting the application of ideological and political education as an essential pillar of mental health education to provide new perspectives and approaches for intervening in psychological crises among university students. Finally, it is essential to value its theoretical foundations and support its integration into mental health intervention strategies in universities. This research contributes to the development of a novel approach to managing psychological crises among university students, which can ultimately promote their well-being and success. Keywords: ideological education; political education; psychological crisis; coping abilit

Ultra-fast, programmable, and electronics-free soft robots enabled by snapping metacaps

Soft robots have a myriad of potentials because of their intrinsically compliant bodies, enabling safe interactions with humans and adaptability to unpredictable environments. However, most of them have limited actuation speeds, require complex control systems, and lack sensing capabilities. To address these challenges, here we geometrically design a class of metacaps whose rich nonlinear mechanical behaviors can be harnessed to create soft robots with unprecedented functionalities. Specifically, we demonstrate a sensor-less metacap gripper that can grasp objects in 3.75 ms upon physical contact and a pneumatically actuated gripper with tunable actuation behaviors that have little dependence on the rate of input. Both grippers can be readily integrated into a robotic platform for practical applications. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the metacap enables propelling of a swimming robot, exhibiting amplified swimming speed as well as untethered, electronics-free swimming with tunable speeds. Our metacaps provide new strategies to design the next-generation soft robots that require high transient output energy and are capable of autonomous and electronics-free maneuvering.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Bacterium-Enabled Transient Gene Activation by Artificial Transcription Factor for Resolving Gene Regulation in Maize

Cellular functions are diversified through intricate transcription regulations, and an understanding gene regulation networks is essential to elucidating many developmental processes and environmental responses. Here, we employed the Transcriptional-Activator Like effectors (TALes), which represent a family of transcription factors that are synthesized by members of the γ-proteobacterium genus Xanthomonas and secreted to host cells for activation of targeted host genes. Through delivery by the maize pathogen, Xanthomonas vasicola pv. vasculorum, designer TALes (dTALes), which are synthetic TALes, were used to induce the expression of the maize gene glossy3 (gl3), a MYB transcription factor gene involved in the cuticular wax biosynthesis. RNA-Seq analysis of leaf samples identified 146 gl3 downstream genes. Eight of the nine known genes known to be involved in the cuticular wax biosynthesis were up-regulated by at least one dTALe. A top-down Gaussian graphical model predicted that 68 gl3 downstream genes were directly regulated by GL3. A chemically induced mutant of the gene Zm00001d017418 from the gl3 downstream gene, encoding aldehyde dehydrogenase, exhibited a typical glossy leaf phenotype and reduced epicuticular waxes. The bacterial protein delivery of artificial transcription factors, dTALes, proved to be a straightforward and powerful approach for the revelation of gene regulation in plants

Auto-adjustable Spoiler Control System

Veroptimal Solution would like to present the Auto-adjustable Spoiler Control System (ASCS).  This system is a feedback control system which is able to either automatically or manually change the elevation and angle of attack (AOA) of the car spoiler. Research shows that when the spoiler elevation is low, or stays very close to the surface of the boot lid, the spoiler can more effectively spoil out the undesirable flows and reshape airflow streams around the vehicle.  The major benefit to this would be the reduction of drag and the increase of fuel efficiency. When the spoiler elevation is high, the AOA of the spoiler plays a crucial role because the angle determines how much air should be deflected upwards and this generates downforce at the rear of the vehicle

G-quadruplex structures trigger RNA phase separation

Liquid–liquid phase separation plays an important role in a variety of cellular processes, including the formation of membrane-less organelles, the cytoskeleton, signalling complexes, and many other biological supramolecular assemblies. Studies on the molecular basis of phase separation in cells have focused on protein-driven phase separation. In contrast, there is limited understanding on how RNA specifically contributes to phase separation. Here, we described a phase-separation-like phenomenon that SHORT ROOT (SHR) RNA undergoes in cells. We found that an RNA G-quadruplex (GQ) forms in SHR mRNA and is capable of triggering RNA phase separation under physiological conditions, suggesting that GQs might be responsible for the formation of the SHR phase-separation-like phenomenon in vivo. We also found the extent of GQ-triggered-phase-separation increases on exposure to conditions which promote GQ. Furthermore, GQs with more G-quartets and longer loops are more likely to form phase separation. Our studies provide the first evidence that RNA can adopt structural motifs to trigger and/or maintain the specificity of RNA-driven phase separation

COVID-19 vaccine-related misinformation identification among Chinese residents during a regional outbreak

ObjectivesMisinformation about the COVID vaccines poses a significant challenge to vaccination efforts in many countries. This study examined Chinese citizens’ ability to correctly identify COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in geographic areas with and without a regional outbreak. We also investigated the associations between misinformation identification and information source usage, source trust, perceived information quality, and demographic characteristics.SettingThe online survey was conducted in four cities from June 8th to 15th, 2021 in Guangdong Province, two of which were experiencing a regional surge of COVID-19 delta variant infections, and four cities in Hunan Province, a neighboring province largely unaffected.ParticipantsA total of 4,479 individuals aged 18 and above completed the online questionnaire. Given survey length, those who finished the study under 5 min were excluded, resulting in a final sample of 3,800.Outcome measurementsMisinformation identification, source exposure, source trust, and perceived information quality.ResultsResults showed slightly higher levels of correct misinformation identification in surge vs. non-surge areas. Trust in official information sources was positively associated with correct misinformation identification in full sample analysis, while trust in informal sources was negatively associated with the same outcome. Perceived information quality was positively associated with correct misinformation identification in the full sample.ConclusionInformation providers in China should enhance the quality of the vaccine information they provide, and the Chinese public should balance their usage of different sources of information to acquire vaccine knowledge

Transcriptome Profile in Hippocampus During Acute Inflammatory Response to Surgery: Toward Early Stage of PND

Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PND) are common complications observed in surgical patients, but there are no effective treatments and the detailed mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, transcriptome analysis was performed to investigate the hippocampal changes after surgery and underlying molecular mechanisms of PND. Tibial fracture surgery was performed in 3–4 months old C57BL/6J mice to mimic human orthopedic surgery. We demonstrated that memory consolidation of the hippocampal-dependent trace-fear conditioning task was significantly impaired. By using ELISA, a significant elevated IL-6 was observed both in circulating system and central nervous system and peaked at 6 h post-surgery, but transiently returned to baseline thereafter. Hippocampus were collected at 6 h post-surgery then processed for RNA-Seq. A total of 268 genes were screened differentially expressed between the Surgery and Control group, including 170 up-regulated genes and 98 down-regulated genes. By functional enrichment analysis of differently expressed genes, several KEGG pathways involved in inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction and cholinergic synapse were overrepresented. Quantitative real-time PCR confirmed 15 dysregulated genes of interest. These results provide a comprehensive insight into global gene expression changes during the acute presence of hippocampal inflammation and a better understanding on early stage of PND