Nurturing active and reflective learners in the new curriculum

Conference Theme: Research into Practice in the Four-year curriculumThe instrumental value of reflective practice in professional development has well been documented in the literature. In the field of engineering education, reflection is not a concept which is commonly built in to the curriculum. The increase in the number of hours of English input in the new curriculum will hopefully provide more opportunities for students to become reflective learners ...postprin

Book Review: English as a Lingua Franca in the International University: The politics of academic English language policy

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The role of English as a lingua franca in social integration: The case of the international students of a university in Taiwan

Globalization and the ease of mobility across nations in the last decade or so have brought some fundamental changes to the structural organization and operation of universities worldwide. To enhance global competitiveness, East Asian universities, in particular, have seen a growth in the intake of international students. A majority of the previous studies on students studying abroad were undertaken in the context of English-speaking countries such as the UK and USA; research investigating students coming from afar to study in countries which are predominantly Chinese-speaking appears to be lacking. Even scanter is the work related to how this group of students navigates through the social way-of-life at the university. This article explores the social integration of the international students of a bilingual university located in northern Taiwan. More specifically, the role English as a lingua franca plays in the integration will be examined based on the narrative accounts of 14 informants. The findings suggest that some institutional and individual obstacles need to be overcome before English can become more widely accepted as the common medium of communication.published_or_final_versio

Effects of CD8+CD28- T suppressor lymphocyte (Ts) on B- and T- lymphocyte function in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Conference Theme: Challenges to specialists in the 21st centurypublished_or_final_versio

Advances in immunomodulating therapy of HBV infection

Patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection have a higher risk of developing liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Interferon-α, lamivudine and adefovir dipivoxil are the three approved treatment for chronic HBV infection and offers the only means of preventing the development of these complications. However, the efficacy of these agents, in terms of loss of Hepatitis B e antigen with or without seroconversion to Hepatitis B e antibody, normalization of serum alanine transaminase levels, loss of serum HBV DNA, and improvement in liver histology can only be achieved in 20-30% of those treated. Long-term treatment with either lamivudine or adefovir dipivoxil can result in the development of drug resistant mutants leading to an increased length of treatment with additional nucleoside analogues. These limitations of the current antiviral therapies underline the need for alternative therapies. Specific and nonspecific immunotherapeutic strategies to restore effective virus-specific T cell responses in those with chronic HBV infection offers an interesting alternative approach. These immunotherapeutic therapies include the adoptive transfer of HBV immunity, pegylated interferon and therapeutic vaccine therapies

Inhibition of synovial fibroblast production of IL-6 by triptolide, an active ingredient of Trypterygyium Wilfordii hook F

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Effects of triptolide, an alcohol extract of a Chinese herb, Thunber God Vine, on peripheral blood T cell proliferation and B cell immunoglobulin production in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

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CD5+ and CD5- plaque-forming cells (PFC) against poly-l-lysine (PLL) treated sheep erythrocytes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): a longitudinal study

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Effects of triptolide, an alcohol extract of a Chinese herb, Thunder God Vine, on peripheral blood mononuclear cell protein synthesis and signal transduction in rheumatoid arthritis(RA)

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Incremental predictive value of vascular assessments combined with the Framingham Risk Score for prediction of coronary events in subjects of low-intermediate risk

Background: In patients with low-intermediate risk, the use of the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) may not allow accurate prediction of the occurrence of coronary events. Objective: To determine whether non-invasive vascular sonographic assessments add value to the FRS for prediction of coronary events. Methods: Brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and the presence of carotid plaque in 70 male subjects (mean (SD) age 62 (9) years) with a low-intermediate FRS who presented with a recent coronary event were evaluated and compared with those in 35 male controls matched for age (mean age 60 (9) years). Results: Patients with a recent coronary event had a significantly higher FRS than controls. They had a significantly lower FMD (3.56 (2.41)% vs 5.18 (2.69)%, p = 0.003) and significantly higher prevalence of carotid plaque (67% vs 40%, p = 0.008), but there was no significant difference in mean maximum IMT between the two groups (1.01 (0.28) vs 0.96 (0.14) mm, p = 0.32). Multivariate analysis revealed that FMD ≤ 4.75% was an independent predictor of an acute coronary event. Of the three vascular markers, FMD ≤ 4.75% and presence of carotid plaque provided the best diagnostic accuracy for a coronary event, with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.70 and 0.64 (p = 0.001 and p = 0.033), respectively, based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Furthermore, incorporating carotid plaque or FMD ≤ 4.75% into the FRS (AUC = 0.72 and AUC = 0.78) provided incremental benefit in risk stratification over FRS alone (AUC = 0.66) (p = 0.008 and p = 0.007, for comparison of difference in two receiver operating characteristic curves). Conclusions: Incorporating a measure of FMD or carotid plaque burden with FRS significantly increases the accuracy of predicting coronary events in subjects of low-intermediate risk and hence should be considered as additional investigations to improve coronary risk assessment.published_or_final_versio