Constructing Social Entrepreneurship : Social Psychological Perspectives on Hong Kong’s Social Enterprise Policy

This research focused on studying how government constructs the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship in the context of Hong Kong. Social psychological perspectives were applied to develop the theoretical and methodological framework of the research. Seven pieces of government papers and one piece of government speech, in total 28 pages of content, ranging from the year 2007 to the year 2017, were selected as research materials. These official materials were chosen because they explained the government’s social enterprise policy in government’s own language. The main research question “how social entrepreneurship is constructed in Hong Kong?” was divided into three subquestions, respectively, concerning on what repertoires were used by the government to construct roles and positions; on how agency was constructed by the government; and on the effects and consequences that might be brought by the government’s construction of social entrepreneurship. The major findings of the empirical study include: eight subject categories were identified from the government’s construction, and eight repertoires were found being used by the government to construct roles and positions for the subject categories. The study revealed that the goals government constructed for social enterprises were twofold: to become competitive to achieve financial sustainability in the long run, and to provide more low-skilled job opportunities for the socially disadvantaged people. Besides, the study found that the government was positioning itself as the principal of the social enterprise sector, and using the ideology of “helping the socially disadvantaged people to become self-reliant” to justify its policy preference for the Work Integration Social Enterprise. The study further revealed that the success of the social enterprise sector was being attributed to the government’s support and effort, rather than to the effort of the social enterprise operators and the social entrepreneurs. Based on the research findings, two major conclusions were drawn: first, in the context of Hong Kong, the government is using the social enterprise sector as a vehicle to tackle its welfare-reform problems, so the social enterprise sector is treated as a subsystem subjugated to the state’s welfare system; second, the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship in Hong Kong has been constructed by the government as a narrow pursuit, and this construction of social entrepreneurship is being too narrow in scope to accommodate the diversified values of social entrepreneurship

Global dynamics of a stage-structured hantavirus infection model with seasonality

In this paper, we study a time-periodic model, which incorporates seasonality and host stage-structure. This model describes the propagation of Puumala hantavirus within the bank vole population of Clethrionomys glareolus. The basic reproduction number R0 is obtained. By appealing to the theory of monotone dynamical systems and chain transitive sets, we establish a threshold-type result on the global dynamics in terms of R0, that is, the virus-free periodic solution is globally attractive, and the virus dies out if R0 ≤ 1, while there exists a unique positive periodic solution, which is globally attractive, and the virus persists if R0 > 1. Numerical simulations are given to confirm our theoretical results and to show that cleaning environment and controlling the grow of mice population are essential control strategies to reduce hantavirus infection

In Vitro

Chitosan/collagen composite nanofibrous scaffold has been greatly concerned in recent years for its favorable physicochemical properties which mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) both morphologically and chemically. In a previous study, we had successfully fabricated nanofibrous chitosan/collagen composite by electrospinning. In the present study, we further investigate the biocompatibility of such chitosan/collagen composite nanofiber to be used as scaffolds in vascular tissue engineering. The porcine iliac artery endothelial cells (PIECs) were employed for morphogenesis, attachment, proliferation, and phenotypic studies. Four characteristic EC markers, including two types of cell adhesion molecules, one proliferation molecule (PCNA), and one function molecule (p53), were studied by semiquantitative RT-PCR. Results showed that the chitosan/collagen composite nanofibrous scaffold could enhance the attachment, spreading, and proliferation of PIECs and preserve the EC phenotype. Our work provides profound proofs for the applicable potency of scaffolds made from chitosan/collagen composite nanofiber to be used in vascular tissue engineering

Functional analysis of bacterial TAL effectors and the targeted susceptibility genes in plants

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Plant PathologyFrank WhiteThe genus Xanthomonas consists of bacterial species causing economically important plant diseases in major crops. In a wide variety of Xanthamonas species, the transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors (proteins) are synthesized and secreted into host cells, whereby they enter the plant nucleus. TAL effectors bind specific host gene promoters, inducing the expression of the targeted genes, which in some cases leads to either resistance or an enhanced state of disease susceptibility. The TAL effectors in individual Xanthomanas species and their targets in host plants have been characterized in relatively few cases. The premier example is the induction of any one member of a clade of sugar transporter genes in rice by TAL effectors of the bacterial blight pathogen X. oryzae pv. oryzae, where induction of the susceptibility (S) genes was shown to be required for the disease process. TAL effector genes are present in a wide variety of Xanthomonas species other than X. oryzae pv. oryzae. My dissertation focuses on the characterization of the TAL effectors in the citrus bacterial canker (CBC) and soybean bacterial pustule pathosystems. In CBC, CsLOB1 was identified as the S gene targeted by multiple major TAL effectors from CBC causal strains. Furthermore, another two members in family of citrus LBD family, although not identified as targets in the field, can serve as S genes in CBC. Initial analysis of bacterial pustule disease of soybean indicates that the TAL effector TAL2 of X. axonopodis pv. glycines is a virulence effector and associated with the expression of two candidate S genes, which encode a member of the ZF-HD transcription factors and a member of aluminum activated malate transporter family. These studies will enhance our understanding of plant-bacterial interactions and evolution of disease susceptibility, and also inform development of durable disease resistant crop varieties

The Construction of a Clinical Decision Support System Based on Knowledge Base

Part 7: e-Health, the New Frontier of Service Science InnovationInternational audienceBased on a review of domestic and foreign research, application status, classification, composition, and the main problem of a clinical decision support system, this paper proposed a CDSS mode based on a knowledge base. On KB-CDSS mode, this paper discussed the architecture, principle, process, construction of the knowledge base, system design, and application value, then introduced the application WanFang Data Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment Knowledge Base

Research on Design and Development of Elder-Friendly Furniture in Chinese Residential Situation

Purpose: In order to actively respond to the social pressure brought by the aging of the population in China, torespond to the smooth operation of the national “multi-level elderly care service systembased on home, supported by community and supplemented by institutions”, to help the elderly with declining physical andmental functions to adapt to current living environment, to extend their time of independent and safe life. Methodology: Based on characteristics of China’s aging situation and the current market of elderly-friendlyfurniture in China, the article started from the characteristics, behavioral habits and demands of the elderly, Conclusion: Proposed design ideas and development strategies of elderly-friendly furniture in residential situation, including elderly-friendly design methods for basic furniture such as sitting and lying furniture, storageand operation furniture, as well as emotional, applicable and standardized development strategies. It is suggestedthat the furniture categories should be refined when the market is mature, so as to activate the elderly-friendlyfurniture market and promote it step by step, and guide the steady development of the furniture industr

Clinical efficacy of a combination of propofol and etomidate in pediatric anesthesia, and its effect on vital indices in patients

Purpose: To study the clinical effectiveness of a combination of propofol and etomidate as pediatric anesthesia, and its influence on some vital factors in the patients.Methods: A total of 104 children who underwent appendectomy, hepatobiliary surgery and excision of bone tumor in Xuzhou Children's Hospital, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China from June 2018 to June 2020, were selected for this retrospective study. The patients were divided into groups A, B and C. In group A, 40 patients received the combination of propofol and etomidate, 32 patients received propofol only, while group C comprised 32 patients who received etomidate only. Vital indices such as anesthesia induction time, wake-up time after surgery, anesthetic effect, and adverse reactions were determined.Results: In group A, the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were improved; anesthesia induction time and wake-up time after surgery were shorter, and anesthetic effect was more obvious in children with grades I and II. However, there was no grade III anesthetic effect, although there was a lower incidence of adverse reactions in this group.Conclusion: The use of a combination of propofol and etomidate results in higher clinical efficacy of pediatric anesthesia than either propofol or etomidate alone. Furthermore, the combination produces better quality of vital indices in the patients