Application of problem based learning steered by constructivism in Ophthalmologic teaching

AIM: To investigate the application of problem based learning(PBL)steered by constructivism. <p>METHODS: The 120 students were appointed as the routine teaching group and the PBL steered by constructivism group separately, who were coming from the department of clinical medicine and clinical pharmacy in grade 94, China Medical University. They were divided into PBL steered by constructivism group(60 students)and the routine teaching group(60 students). The students' feedbacks and teaching effects were compared by the questionnaire after teaching. <p>RESULTS: The feedback of the students in the PBL steered by constructivism group were significant better than that in the routine teaching group, including interest, referring data, self-study, thought process, obtaining and spreading knowledge, computer utilization, studying independently, concerted struggling, appreciating and magnanimous ability, discussion and communication(<i>P</i><0.05).<p>CONCLUSION: Application of problem based learning steered by constructivism interests the students in Ophthalmologic teaching and is helpful in their self-study, which is benefit to elevate the teaching level and train the qualified scientists

Soliton with a Pion Field in the Global Color Symmetry Model

We calculate the property of the global color symmetry model soliton with the pion field being included explicitly. The calculated results indicate that the pion field provides a strong attraction so that the eigen-energy of a quark and the mass of a soliton reduce drastically, in contrast to those with only the sigma field.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure

Magnesium Lithospermate B Protects Cardiomyocytes from Ischemic Injury Via Inhibition of TAB1–p38 Apoptosis Signaling

Danshen has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years to treat cardiovascular diseases. However, its precise cardioprotective components and the underlying mechanism are still unclear. In the present study, we demonstrated that in a rat model of acute myocardial infarction, the treatment with magnesium lithospermate B (MLB), the representative component of phenolic acids in Danshen, significantly reduced the infarct size and the blood lactate dehydrogenase level. In contrast, tanshinone IIA, the representative component of lipophilic tanshinones in Danshen, had no such protective effects. Moreover, in the simulated ischemia cell model, MLB treatment considerably increased the cell viability and reduced the sub-G1 population and the apoptotic nuclei, indicating its anti-apoptotic effect. Further mechanism study revealed that the ischemia-induced p38 phosphorylation was abolished by MLB treatment. Interestingly, MLB specifically inhibited the TGFβ-activated protein kinase 1-binding protein 1 (TAB1) mediated p38 phosphorylation through disrupting the interaction between TAB1 and p38, but it did not affect the mitogen-activated protein kinase 3/6 mediated p38 phosphorylation. In conclusion, the present study identifies MLB as an active component of Danshen in protecting cardiomyocytes from ischemic injury through specific inhibition of TAB1–p38 apoptosis signaling. These results indicate TAB1–p38 interaction as a putative drug target in treating ischemic heart diseases

Particle size-dependent microstructure, hardness and electrochemical corrosion behavior of atmospheric plasma sprayed nicrbsi coatings

Particle size is a critical consideration for many powder coating-related industries since it significantly influences the properties of the produced materials. However, the effect of particle size on the characteristics of plasma sprayed NiCrBSi coatings is not well understood. This work investigates the microstructures, hardness and electrochemical corrosion behavior of plasma sprayed NiCrBSi coatings synthesized using different-sized powders. All coatings mainly consist of Ni, N3B, CrB, Cr7C3 and Cr3C2 phases. The coatings produced by small particles (50–75 μm) exhibit lower porosity (2.0 ± 0.8%). Such coatings show a higher fraction (15.5 vol.%) of the amorphous phase and lower hardness (700 HV0.5) than the counterparts (8.7 vol.% and 760 HV0.5, respectively) produced by large particles (75–100 μm) with higher porosity (3.0 ± 1.6%). Meanwhile, the coatings produced from smaller particles possess a larger number of non-bonded boundaries, leading to the easier penetration of corrosive medium, as well as a higher corrosion current density (0.254 ± 0.062 μA/cm2) and a lower charge transfer resistance (0.37 ± 0.07 MΩ cm2). These distinctions are attributed to particle size-induced different melting degrees and stackings of in-flight particles during deposition

Using Energy Conditions to Distinguish Brane Models and Study Brane Matter

Current universe (assumed here to be normal matter on the brane) is pressureless from observations. In this case the energy condition is $\rho_0\geq0$ and $p_0=0$. By using this condition, brane models can be distinguished. Then, assuming arbitrary component of matter in DGP model, we use four known energy conditions to study the matter on the brane. If there is nonnormal matter or energy (for example dark energy with $w<-1/3$) on the brane, the universe is accelerated.Comment: 5pages, no figures; Accepted by Communications in Theoretical Physic

Potential super-hard Osmium di-nitride with fluorite structure: First-principles calculations

We have performed systematic first-principles calculations on di-carbide, -nitride, -oxide and -boride of platinum and osmium with the fluorite structure. It is found that only PtN$_{2}$, OsN$_{2}$ and OsO$_{2}$ are mechanically stable. In particular OsN$_{2}$ has the highest bulk modulus of 360.7 GPa. Both the band structure and density of states show that the new phase of OsN$_{2}$ is metallic. The high bulk modulus is owing to the strong covalent bonding between Os 5\textit{d} and N 2\textit{p} states and the dense packed fluorite structure.Comment: Phys. Rev. B 74,125118 (2006

State sampling dependence of the Hopfield network inference

The fully connected Hopfield network is inferred based on observed magnetizations and pairwise correlations. We present the system in the glassy phase with low temperature and high memory load. We find that the inference error is very sensitive to the form of state sampling. When a single state is sampled to compute magnetizations and correlations, the inference error is almost indistinguishable irrespective of the sampled state. However, the error can be greatly reduced if the data is collected with state transitions. Our result holds for different disorder samples and accounts for the previously observed large fluctuations of inference error at low temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, further discussions added and relevant references adde