Improving engagement of non-background beginning learners of Chinese through music in an Australian secondary school

This research is about improving the engagement of beginning non-background students in learning Chinese as a foreign language through developing musical pedagogy in Australian schools. In a two-cycle action research, an appropriate musical pedagogy was developed with the teaching goal of singing Chinese songs and a series of musical strategies to teach Chinese language. It was developed in the following steps. First, music was explored to be incorporated in teaching Chinese in listening, speaking, reading, writing, linguistics, and intercultural understanding. Then, the engagement framework from Sawyer, Munns and Cole (2013), which developed the concept of big “E”ngagement (students’ enduring relationship with the learning community), was adapted to examine the improvement of students’ engagement with learning. Rich evidence was collected from a class of Year Seven students, showing that the developed musical pedagogy was effective in improving their engagement in learning Chinese. Finally, the effectiveness and uniqueness of the music pedagogy in teaching language was identified and justified by reference to theories including Student Engagement Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Constructivist Theory. This research provided suggestions for the types of Chinese songs beginning learners should learn, a series of effective music teaching strategies and the direction for their implementation in teaching Chinese as a foreign language

Commune/Sangkat Fund and Local Development: Case of Cambodia

The article is aimed to illustrate the commune/sangkat fund which was allocated to the local administration of Cambodia in term of local development as well as to clarify the characteristic of commune/sangkat’s general situation, statistics and fund allocation. In particular, the result of the commune/sangkat fund allocation implementation will be able to show how the fund was used in the effective way. However, the weaknesses and challenges of commune/sangkat fund project implementation is also revealed when the ministry of interior and ministry of economy and finance have done its annually monitoring and evaluation. Accordingly, the article will be provided the recommendation to relevant persons or institutions which its projects and research correlate with the commune/sangkat fund project and local development. Keywords: Commune/Sangkat, Fund, Allocation, Local Development

Cyber Security: Basics in Fighting Computer Attacks and Crimes

It is clear that computers and information systems are central in daily business operations in both public and private sectors. E-commerce and eGovernance have gained international attention as substitutes for the human riddled snail pace management systems. However, computers and ICTs do not only replace the human inefficiencies but also assume human attacks and sicknesses known as cyber attacks and computer crimes. They range from hacker’s activities to malwares. This paper explored the occurrences and efforts in mitigating them through thorough literature review and desk research. Keywords: Cyber Security, Computer Crimes, Data Breache

Eucommia ulmoides extract attenuates angiotensin II-induced cardiac microvascular endothelial cell dysfunction by inactivating p53

Angiotensin II (AngII) causes endothelial dysfunction. Eucommia ulmoides extract (EUE) is documented to manipulate AngII, but its impact on cardiac microvascular endothelial cell (CMVEC) function remains unknown. This study determines the effects of EUE on AngII-treated CMVECs. CMVECs were treated with different concentrations of AngII or EUE alone and/or the p53 protein activator, WR-1065, before AngII treatment, followed by examinations of the apoptotic, migratory, proliferative, and angiogenic capacities and nitric oxide (NO), p53, von Willebrand factor (vWF), endothelin (ET)-1, endothelial NO synthase (eNOS), manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels. AngII induced CMVEC dysfunction in a concentration-dependent manner. EUE enhanced the proliferative, migratory, and angiogenic capacities and NO, MnSOD, and eNOS levels but repressed apoptosis and vWF and ET-1 levels in AngII-induced dysfunctional CMVECs. Moreover, AngII increased p53 mRNA levels, p-p53 levels in the nucleus, and p53 protein levels in the cytoplasm and diminishes HIF-1α and VEGF levels in CMVECs; however, these effects were counteracted by EUE treatment. Moreover, WR-1065 abrogated the mitigating effects of EUE on AngII-induced CMVEC dysfunction by activating p53 and decreasing HIF-1α and VEGF expression. In conclusion, EUE attenuates AngII-induced CMVEC dysfunction by upregulating HIF-1α and VEGF levels via p53 inactivation