CHINESE LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE IN A HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOL

Research shows that heritage language (HL) maintenance benefits both the individual and society, and that HL schools have a great impact on HL development. This study investigates the effectiveness of a HL program in supporting students to maintain their first language. I conducted a mixed methods research in a weekend Chinese HL school in a community in southwestern Ontario, utilizing various methods, such as questionnaires, focus group interviews, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations to explore this issue. The results revealed that many students in the Chinese school held a positive attitude towards maintaining their HL. This school presented a place for students to learn their heritage language and culture. However, limitations such as lack of sufficient certified and qualified language teachers, lack o f appropriate textbooks, teaching material and curriculum guidelines, as well as time and space restrictions impeded the quality o f instruction and success o f the program. More support is required to make the HL program more effectiv

Enhancement of stress tolerance in transgenic tobacco plants constitutively expressing AtIpk2β, an inositol polyphosphate 6-/3-kinase from Arabidopsis thaliana

Inositol phosphates (IPs) and their turnover products have been implicated to play important roles in stress signaling in eukaryotic cells. In higher plants genes encoding inositol polyphosphate kinases have been identified previously, but their physiological functions have not been fully resolved. Here we expressed Arabidopsis inositol polyphosphate 6-/3-kinase (AtIpk2β) in two heterologous systems, i.e. the yeast Saccharomycescerevisiae and in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), and tested the effect on abiotic stress tolerance. Expression of AtIpk2β rescued the salt-, osmotic- and temperature-sensitive growth defects of a yeast mutant strain (arg82Δ) that lacks inositol polyphosphate multikinase activity encoded by the ARG82/IPK2 gene. Transgenic tobacco plants constitutively expressing AtIpk2β under the control of the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter were generated and found to exhibit improved tolerance to diverse abiotic stresses when compared to wild type plants. Expression patterns of various stress responsive genes were enhanced, and the activities of anti-oxidative enzymes were elevated in transgenic plants, suggesting a possible involvement of AtIpk2β in plant stress responses

Novel Insights into Pituitary Tumorigenesis: Genetic and Epigenetic Mechanisms.

Substantial advances have been made recently in the pathobiology of pituitary tumors. Similar to many other endocrine tumors, over the last few years we have recognized the role of germline and somatic mutations in a number of syndromic or nonsyndromic conditions with pituitary tumor predisposition. These include the identification of novel germline variants in patients with familial or simplex pituitary tumors and establishment of novel somatic variants identified through next generation sequencing. Advanced techniques have allowed the exploration of epigenetic mechanisms mediated through DNA methylation, histone modifications and noncoding RNAs, such as microRNA, long noncoding RNAs and circular RNAs. These mechanisms can influence tumor formation, growth, and invasion. While genetic and epigenetic mechanisms often disrupt similar pathways, such as cell cycle regulation, in pituitary tumors there is little overlap between genes altered by germline, somatic, and epigenetic mechanisms. The interplay between these complex mechanisms driving tumorigenesis are best studied in the emerging multiomics studies. Here, we summarize insights from the recent developments in the regulation of pituitary tumorigenesis

Non-Standard Errors

In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: Non-standard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for better reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants

Real estate crowdfunding in China

This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, 2019Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 84-86).As FinTech and online alternative finance has become a disrupter for the world, one of their subcategories, crowdfunding has a considerable potential to change the real estate industry. The study was to examine the real estate crowdfunding (short for RECF) in China and understand the present status of the industry, challenges, opportunities, and trends. The data mainly came from the Chinese crowdfunding websites, industry reports, and the RECF platforms; the methodology included fundamental data analysis, case study and comparison with the RECF in other regions such as US, UK, and Europe. The study started with an introduction of real estate FinTech, crowdfunding, and theoretical framework about RECF as well as the global RECF market to get a better understanding of the RECF in China.Then the research examined the history, and current status about the platform models, players, and characteristics of the RECF in China; the two representative cases (Duocaitou and Kaishiba) were are analyzed in detail to interpret the drivers under their successes and problems in general. The study found out the possible challenges for the RECF industry in China, including the blurred regulatory environment, low diversification in types and locations of properties and immature platforms as well as low desire to expand globally. Finally, the research attempted to seek for potentials and recommendations that will ultimately lead to the successful future development of this industry. The study was subject to the limitations on accessibility to the database and timeliness of data in such a changing industry.However, its findings and suggestions can be useful to players who are supposed to engage in the RECF ecosystem and intend to involve in the RECF in China such as regulators, real estate developers, institutional or retail investors, and RECF startups. Future researches are necessary to understand the effectiveness of risk management systems on the RECF platforms, the ways that the institutional players can involve in the industry, the globalization of the Chinese RECF, and mechanism of RECF ecosystem.by Renjie Tang.S.M. in Real Estate DevelopmentS.M.inRealEstateDevelopment Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estat

Polycrystalline Nd2Fe14B/alpha-Fe nanocomposite flakes with a sub-micro/nanometre thickness prepared by surfactant-assisted high-energy ball milling

A surfactant-assisted high-energy ball milling technique was employed to synthesize Nd2Fe14B/alpha-Fe nanoparticles and nanoflakes from melt-spun nanocrystalline powders. The microstructure evolution in ball milling process was investigated. In the beginning stage (0-4 h) of ball milling, raw powders were crushed into micrometre-sized particles. While flakes were mainly formed by reducing thickness of particles via peeling layer by layer along preferential planes in the late stage (8-16 h). The selected area electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images show that preferential cleavage planes are basal planes. With ball milling proceeding, more and more defects were induced by ball milling. As a result, the coercivity and remanence decreased to 1.6 kOe and 3.2 kGs, respectively. After 16 h ball milling, the exchange decoupling occurred due to severe amorphorization. A weakly-textured nanocomposite magnet was fabricated after 12 h ball milling and the anisotropy in magnetic properties can be further improved by employing settling down process to select particle size and aligning particles in external field. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved