The perception of referencing and plagiarism amongst students coming from Confucian heritage cultures

This paper attempts to explore the perception of referencing and plagiarism amongst students coming from Confucian cultural heritage. The focus of this paper concentrates on these students' learning approaches and styles and associated problems. This paper evaluates research conducted among all such students who are studying in Australia. The paper identifies both positive and negative perceptions and highlights several misperceptions on students from Confucian cultural heritage that are commonly held by Western academics. Finally, the paper presents an overview of strategies that might be adopted by Western academics in order to make these students' experiences in Australian universities more enjoyable and successful

Vicarious liabilities an education agent can attract to educational institutions

This paper explores the principal-agent relationship between educational institutions and their recruitment agents or consultants. Within the traditional contractual framework, an agent can enter binding contracts on behalf of the principal. These hosts or principals are vicariously responsible for agents’ promises where ostensible or implied authority applies. This highlights the need for educational institutions to tighten their agency contracts, train agents regularly and monitors authority delegation process. To protect students’ interest, Australia government has been scrutinizing educational institutions and codified fundamental requirements. Managing agents is also a critical compliance and risk management tool in a more litigious international marketplace

What extend of Australian immigation policy affects international students' study destination choice?

This paper explores Mainland Chinese students’ decision-making styles on their tertiary education studying in Australian and seeks to explain why and how students choose destination country and what extend of Australian immigration policy affects their decision-making process. The research comprised two stages of quantitative and qualitative studies.The findings found that Australia has become popular with Chinese students, and is preferred to both the United States and United Kingdom. The most important factor motivating Chinese students to study in Australia is future migration opportunities after graduation and Australian skilled migration policy has a great impact on students’ choice of destination and program selection. By understanding the underlying factors attracting Chinese students to Australia, education providers can focus on their recruitment activities and enhance their marketing strategies

Issues concerning the training and accreditation of Chinese language teachers in Australia

This paper presents an overview of issues in the teaching and learning Chinese language in Australia. It also reviews Chinese language teachers’ `training and professional development and the accreditation system in Australia. In a global economic slow-down, China has emerged as a major driving force in the world arena. Chinese language skills have been sought after worldwide, thus providing a rare opportunity to for Chinese learners and teachers.This exploratory study is based on case study of four Chinese language teachers. It does not aim to be comprehensive, but rather foregrounds areas in which current research and development for research in Chinese as an international language. The result indicates that there is urgency for qualified and high quality training and development program for such teachers

Many Chinese cultures, many learning styles

This paper examines some features of Chinese culture of mainland Chinese culture, Hong Kong Chinese culture, Singaporean Chinese culture and Malaysian Chinese culture with a particular focus on educational aspects and issues. Since the 1950s, Chinese culture is fragmented to a variety of cultural derivatives. From the literatures on learning approaches to suggest that different approaches result from different social and educational experiences. Although a similar culture is shared by Chinese from mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore but each has different sociological settings. This paper examines the social and educational backgrounds in which these Chinese culture background students and focuses on the learning style preference of mainland Chinese students in Australian universities

Data from: ICE1 demethylation drives range expansion of a plant invader through cold-tolerance divergence

Data from: ICE1 demethylation drives range expansion of a plant invader through cold-tolerance divergenc

Current Perspectives on Viable but Non-Culturable Foodborne Pathogenic Bacteria: A Review

Foodborne diseases caused by foodborne pathogens pose risks to food safety. Effective detection and efficient inactivation of pathogenic bacteria has always been a research hotspot in the field of food safety. Complicating these goals, bacteria can be induced to adopt a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state under adverse external environmental stresses. When in the VBNC state, pathogens cannot form visible colonies during traditional culture but remain metabolically active and toxic. The resulting false negative results in growth-related assays can jeopardize food safety. This review summarizes the latest research on VBNC foodborne pathogens, including induction conditions, detection methods, mechanism of VBNC formation, and possible control strategies. It is hoped that this review can provide ideas and methods for future research on VBNC foodborne pathogenic bacteria

Role of intestinal microecology in the regulation of energy metabolism by dietary polyphenols and their metabolites.

Background: Polyphenols are a class of plant secondary metabolites with a variety of physiological functions. Polyphenols and their intestinal metabolites could greatly affect host energy metabolism via multiple mechanisms. Objective: The objective of this review was to elaborate the role of intestinal microecology in the regulatory effects of dietary polyphenols and their metabolites on energy metabolism. Methods: In this review, we illustrated the potential mechanisms of energy metabolism regulated by the crosstalk between polyphenols and intestinal microecology including intestinal microbiota, intestinal epithelial cells, and mucosal immune system. Results: Polyphenols can selectively regulate the growth of susceptible microorganisms (eg. reducing the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroides, promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria and inhibiting pathogenic bacteria) as well as alter bacterial enzyme activity. Moreover, polyphenols can influence the absorption and secretion of intestinal epithelial cells, and alter the intestinal mucosal immune system. Conclusion: The intestinal microecology play a crucial role for the regulation of energy metabolism by dietary polyphenols

Natural bioactive peptides to beat exercise-induced fatigue: A review

Exercise-induced fatigue is charactered by the feeling of tiredness and a decrease in muscle performance resulting from intense and prolonged exercise. With the development of modern society, exercise-induced fatigue has become a widespread problem besetting people's daily life. Over the years, increasing attention has been paid to the study of anti-fatigue peptides. Several animal models have been developed to mimic exercise-induced fatigue, which could be employed to measure the activities of anti-fatigue peptides isolated from a wide range of sources. A number of natural bioactive peptides were identified with ability to prevent and alleviate exercise-induced fatigue via various complex biological reactions, with possible molecular mechanisms being also explored extensively. In this review, we summarize the major research findings on anti-fatigue peptides, including the isolation and preparation of anti-fatigue peptides, the widely adopted methods for evaluation of anti-fatigue activities, and possible anti-fatigue mechanisms. Current evidence strongly supports that anti-fatigue peptides may relieve exercise-induced fatigue via multiple mechanisms, including participation and regulation of energy metabolism; inhibition of inflammatory responses; reduction of reactive oxygen species content; and regulation of neurotransmitters, etc. In conclusion, the review provides key research perspectives to inform further research on anti-fatigue peptides for the food industry

Application of curcumin-mediated antibacterial photodynamic technology for preservation of fresh Tremella Fuciformis

Tremella Fuciformis is an edible fungus with high water content and nutritional values. However, fresh T. Fuciformis can quickly lose its quality by physical damage, water loss and microbial degradation during storage. Herein, we evaluated the effects of curcumin-mediated photodynamic technology (PDT) using light-emitting diode (LED) light to preserve fresh T. Fuciformis. Changes in bacterial counts and community, physicochemical properties, and sensory attributes of curcumin-mediated PDT-treated fresh T. Fuciformis were assessed. The results indicated that treatment with 30 μmol/L curcumin and 30 min of LED light exposure could reduce bacterial counts by ~1.99 ± 0.06 log (CFU/g) in fresh T. Fuciformis upon 5 days storage. The bacterial microbiota in T. Fuciformis during storage was also altered upon PDT treatment. PDT treatment also retained the color, water content, hardness, tactility, and appearance of fresh T. Fuciformis. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that curcumin-mediated PDT could be a viable and promising non-thermal technology for preserving the quality of fresh T. Fuciformis