Enhancing the Performance of Chinese High Education Institutions through Collaborative Governance: A Dynamic Performance Management Approach

With the development of the knowledge economy, knowledge generation and application has been a powerful engine for economic development and global competition. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are under great pressure to improve their performance in teaching, research and the third mission, to respond to the changing social needs actively. This doctoral thesis is aimed at proposing a framework to enhance the performance of Chinese HEIs through collaborative governance using a dynamic performance management approach. Based on a literature review of performance management in Chinese HEIs, a conceptual framework is proposed to enhance the performance of teaching, research and the third mission in Chinese HEIs by 1) identifying the end results of the collaborative governance; 2) finding respective performance drivers for achieving end results and 3) building-up, preserving, and deploying a proper endowment of strategic resources. Especially, the performance drivers can be gauged to examine the performance of collaborative governance. A comparative case study of a consulting project and a joint lab was conducted to demonstrate the power of the conceptual framework to foster collaborative governance between HEIs and external organizations to enhance HEIs’ performance, specifically in the Chinese context. Firstly, it provides a framework to map and model the structure and process of collaborative governance. This framework allows us to make explicit expected end results, performance drivers and related strategic resources. Secondly, by the means of the causal loop diagrams depicting the underlying processes and mechanisms of the conceptual framework, this can engage HEIs and external organizations in a learning process to foster understanding, consensus and commitments. Finally, the conceptual framework can facilitate the implementation or improvement of collaborative governance practices by cascading overall organizational goals among different actors and analyzing alternative policies with the “learning device”. The case study shows that collaborative governance can enhance Chinese HEIs’ performance by (1) providing additional resources to support the research activities, such as funding, field research opportunities, data and application scenarios; (2) improving the efficiency of service delivery and relevance of research with field knowledge and external stakeholders’ active participation; (3) contributing to the improvement of teaching through new cases, new knowledge and learning-by-doing opportunities in projects. Furthermore, the active interaction with external stakeholders builds mutual understanding, trust, shared norms and good relationships, which in turn create critical strategic resources to enhance future collaborations. This thesis is a trial to enhance Chinese HEIs’ performance through collaborative governance. Future research can also introduce the objective view and the subjective view of dynamic performance management to further examine the processes and activities, and the responsibility of different decision-makers in the collaborating process. Besides, the development of simulation models can help strengthening the substantive validity of the conceptual framework and the case studies. Finally, it would be worthy to investigate the impact of the proposed framework in non-Chinese HEIs.With the development of the knowledge economy, knowledge generation and application has been a powerful engine for economic development and global competition. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are under great pressure to improve their performance in teaching, research and the third mission, to respond to the changing social needs actively. This doctoral thesis is aimed at proposing a framework to enhance the performance of Chinese HEIs through collaborative governance using a dynamic performance management approach. Based on a literature review of performance management in Chinese HEIs, a conceptual framework is proposed to enhance the performance of teaching, research and the third mission in Chinese HEIs by 1) identifying the end results of the collaborative governance; 2) finding respective performance drivers for achieving end results and 3) building-up, preserving, and deploying a proper endowment of strategic resources. Especially, the performance drivers can be gauged to examine the performance of collaborative governance. A comparative case study of a consulting project and a joint lab was conducted to demonstrate the power of the conceptual framework to foster collaborative governance between HEIs and external organizations to enhance HEIs’ performance, specifically in the Chinese context. Firstly, it provides a framework to map and model the structure and process of collaborative governance. This framework allows us to make explicit expected end results, performance drivers and related strategic resources. Secondly, by the means of the causal loop diagrams depicting the underlying processes and mechanisms of the conceptual framework, this can engage HEIs and external organizations in a learning process to foster understanding, consensus and commitments. Finally, the conceptual framework can facilitate the implementation or improvement of collaborative governance practices by cascading overall organizational goals among different actors and analyzing alternative policies with the “learning device”. The case study shows that collaborative governance can enhance Chinese HEIs’ performance by (1) providing additional resources to support the research activities, such as funding, field research opportunities, data and application scenarios; (2) improving the efficiency of service delivery and relevance of research with field knowledge and external stakeholders’ active participation; (3) contributing to the improvement of teaching through new cases, new knowledge and learning-by-doing opportunities in projects. Furthermore, the active interaction with external stakeholders builds mutual understanding, trust, shared norms and good relationships, which in turn create critical strategic resources to enhance future collaborations. This thesis is a trial to enhance Chinese HEIs’ performance through collaborative governance. Future research can also introduce the objective view and the subjective view of dynamic performance management to further examine the processes and activities, and the responsibility of different decision-makers in the collaborating process. Besides, the development of simulation models can help strengthening the substantive validity of the conceptual framework and the case studies. Finally, it would be worthy to investigate the impact of the proposed framework in non-Chinese HEIs

Two-stage flux balance analysis of metabolic networks for drug target identification

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Efficient identification of drug targets is one of major challenges for drug discovery and drug development. Traditional approaches to drug target identification include literature search-based target prioritization and <it>in vitro</it> binding assays which are both time-consuming and labor intensive. Computational integration of different knowledge sources is a more effective alternative. Wealth of omics data generated from genomic, proteomic and metabolomic techniques changes the way researchers view drug targets and provides unprecedent opportunities for drug target identification.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this paper, we develop a method based on flux balance analysis (FBA) of metabolic networks to identify potential drug targets. This method consists of two linear programming (LP) models, which first finds the steady optimal fluxes of reactions and the mass flows of metabolites in the pathologic state and then determines the fluxes and mass flows in the medication state with the minimal side effect caused by the medication. Drug targets are identified by comparing the fluxes of reactions in both states and examining the change of reaction fluxes. We give an illustrative example to show that the drug target identification problem can be solved effectively by our method, then apply it to a hyperuricemia-related purine metabolic pathway. Known drug targets for hyperuricemia are correctly identified by our two-stage FBA method, and the side effects of these targets are also taken into account. A number of other promising drug targets are found to be both effective and safe.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our method is an efficient procedure for drug target identification through flux balance analysis of large-scale metabolic networks. It can generate testable predictions, provide insights into drug action mechanisms and guide experimental design of drug discovery.</p

Editorial: Microorganisms and their derivatives for cancer therapy

[Execerpt] Cancer remains an unsolved and challenging problem. In 1890, Dr. William Bradley Coley attempted to use a mixture of dead microbes to treat cancers (Dobosz and Dzieciatkowski, 2019; Liu et al., 2022), establishing the foundation of bacteria-mediated cancer therapy. Given the recent advances in the study of the human microbiome that revealed its crucial role in tumorigenesis, development, therapy, and prognostic evaluation, additional research efforts on cancer microbial therapies have been conducted (Kurtz et al., 2019; Feng et al., 2022), with new findings supporting the potential role of bacteriolytic therapy in cancer. Our Special Research Topic aimed at exploring the trends and recent advances on the use of microorganisms and their derivatives for cancer therapy, on new anticancer agents, new genetic engineering techniques, and synthetic or new identified bacteria, which could be used for cancer monotherapy or adjuvant therapy, as well as understanding the mechanisms underlying their anticancer effects. [...]We appreciate the editorial staff and the contributors who made the Special Research Topic possible. We acknowledge the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 81971726, 32101218) and the State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes (No. KF2111).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Determination of Observation Weight to Calibrate Freeway Traffic Fundamental Diagram Using Weighted Least Square Method (WLSM)

Due to unbalanced speed-density observations, the one-regime traffic fundamental diagram and speed-density relationship models using least square method (LSM) cannot reflect actual conditions under congested/jam traffic. In that case, it is inevitable to adopt the weighted least square method (WLSM). This paper used freeway Georgia State Route 400 observation data and proposed 5 weight determination methods except the LSM to analyse 5 wellknown one-regime speed-density models to determine the best calibrating models. The results indicated that different one-regime speed-density models have different best calibrating models, for Greenberg, it was possible to find a specific weight using LSM, which is similar for Underwood and Northwestern Models, but different for that one known as 3PL model. An interesting case is the Newell\u27s Model which fits well with two distinct calibration weights. This paper can make contribution to calibrating a more precise traffic fundamental diagram

Low-Temperature Synthesis of Anatase TiO2 Nanoparticles with Tunable Surface Charges for Enhancing Photocatalytic Activity

In this work, the positively or negatively charged anatase TiO[subscript 2] nanoparticles were synthesized via a low temperature precipitation-peptization process (LTPPP) in the presence of poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) and poly(sodium4- styrenesulfonate) (PSS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) confirmed the anatase crystalline phase. The charges of the prepared TiO[subscript 2], PEI-TiO[subscript 2] and PSS-TiO[subscript 2] nanoparticles were investigated by zeta potentials. The results showed that the zeta potentials of PEI-TiO[subscript 2] nanoparticles can be tuned from +39.47 mV to +95.46 mV, and that of PSS-TiO[subscript 2] nanoparticles can be adjusted from −56.63 mV to −119.32 mV. In comparison with TiO[subscript 2], PSS-TiO[subscript 2] exhibited dramatic adsorption and degradation of dye molecules, while the PEI modified TiO[subscript 2] nanoparticles showed lower photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic performances of these charged nanoparticles were elucidated by the results of UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, which indicated that the PSS-TiO[subscript 2] nanoparticles showed a lower recombination rate of electron-hole pairs than TiO[subscript 2] and PEI-TiO[subscript 2].National Natural Science Foundation (China) (21176005

Primary culture of human blood-retinal barrier cells and preliminary study of APOBEC3 expression

PURPOSE. To develop methods for primary culture of human blood-retinal barrier (BRB) cells and to explore the expression of APOBEC3 (apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like 3) family gene, novel host-defense factors to HIV-1. METHODS. Cellular components of human BRB (human retinal capillary endothelial cells [HRCECs], human retinal capillary pericytes, and human retinal pigment epithelial cells) were isolated separately and subjected to primary culture according to procedures modified in our laboratory. Immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescence were used to identify specific markers of the primary cells and to analyze their purity by flow cytometry. RNA of the three different cells was isolated, and primers were designed to probe expression of the APOBEC3 gene by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and real-time PCR. For further confirmation, APOBEC3F and APOBEC3G proteins were detected in the cultured cells and fresh retina tissue through Western blot analysis. In the end, HRCECs were treated with IFN-␥, and change of APOBEC3G expression was displayed. RESULTS. Pure BRB cells (Ͼ95% purity) were primary cultured according to procedures modified in our laboratory. Qualitative test of RT-PCR and semiquantitative examination of realtime PCR demonstrated the presence of APOBEC3B, -3C, -3F, and -3G genes and the absence of APOBEC3A and -3D genes in all cellular components of the BRB. Finding of the APOBEC3G and APOBEC3F proteins expressed in the three primary cultured cells and different layers of retinal tissue by Western blot analysis further confirmed the PCR results. Moreover, IFN-␥ could upregulate the expression of APOBEC3G in HRCECs. CONCLUSIONS. Major cellular components of human BRB could be primary cultured in vitro according to procedures optimized in our laboratory. Different expression of APOBEC3 in human blood-retinal barrier gives a clue to further research in intrinsic antiviral immunity in HIV-1-related retinopathy. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2009;50:4436 -4443

Observation of room-temperature ferroelectricity in elemental Te nanowires

Ferroelectrics are essential in low-dimensional memory devices for multi-bit storage and high-density integration. A polar structure is a necessary premise for ferroelectricity, mainly existing in compounds. However, it is usually rare in elemental materials, causing a lack of spontaneous electric polarization. Here, we report an unexpected room-temperature ferroelectricity in few-chain Te nanowires. Out-of-plane ferroelectric loops and domain reversal are observed by piezoresponse force microscopy. Through density functional theory, we attribute the ferroelectricity to the ion-displacement created by the interlayer interaction between lone pair electrons. Ferroelectric polarization can induce a strong field effect on the transport along the Te chain, supporting a self-gated field-effect transistor. It enables a nonvolatile memory with high in-plane mobility, zero supply voltage, multilevel resistive states, and a high on/off ratio. Our work provides new opportunities for elemental ferroelectrics with polar structures and paves a way towards applications such as low-power dissipation electronics and computing-in-memory devices

Comparison of the clinical efficacy and toxicity of nebulized polymyxin monotherapy and combined intravenous and nebulized polymyxin for the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria: a retrospective cohort study

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy and toxicity of nebulized polymyxin monotherapy and combined intravenous and nebulized polymyxin for the treatment of VAP caused by CR-GNB. Additionally, among patients treated with nebulized polymyxin monotherapy, we compared the clinical efficacy and toxicity of polymyxin B and polymyxin E.Methods: This study was a single-center, retrospective study. Included patients received aerosolized polymyxin for at least 72 h with or without intravenous polymyxin for the management of CR-GNB VAP. The primary endpoint was clinical cure at the end of polymyxin therapy. Secondary endpoints included AKI incidence, time of bacteria-negative conversion, duration of MV after inclusion, length of stay in ICU, and all-cause ICU mortality.Results: 39 patients treated with nebulized polymyxin monotherapy were assigned to the NL-polymyxin group. 39 patients treated with nebulized polymyxin combined with intravenous use of polymyxin were assigned to the IV-NL-polymyxin group. Among the NL-polymyxin group, 19 patients were treated with polymyxin B and 20 with polymyxin E. The clinical baseline characteristics before admission to the ICU and before nebulization of polymyxin were similar between the two groups. No differences were found between the two study groups in terms of microorganism distribution, VAP cure rate, time of bacteria-negative conversion, duration of MV after inclusion, length of stay in ICU and all-cause ICU mortality. Similarly, survival analysis did not differ between the two groups (χ2 = 3.539, p = 0.06). AKI incidence was higher in the IV-NL-polymyxin group. When comparing the clinical efficacy and toxicity to polymyxin B and polymyxin E, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of VAP cure rate, time of bacteria-negative conversion, duration of MV after inclusion, length of stay in ICU, SOFA score, CPIS, AKI incidence and all-cause ICU mortality.Conclusion: Our study found that nebulized polymyxin monotherapy was non-inferior to combination therapy with intravenous polymyxin in treating CR-GNB-VAP. Furthermore, we observed no differences in clinical efficacy or related toxic side effects between polymyxin B and polymyxin E during nebulized polymyxin therapy as monotherapy. However, future prospective studies with larger sample sizes are required to confirm these findings