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As an emerging technology, virtual reality (VR) is now being used in education, particularly with STEM-related learning. However, as with all pedagogical innovation, there is a lack of empirical research on the application of VR in situations where students are using it with their second language (L2) and existing studies generally rely on the use of non-immersive VR tools. This paper is one step in a process of understanding the affordances and constraints of a fully immersive VR system in facilitating language learning for English as a foreign language (EFL) nurses. The results of a small-scale study suggested that learners appreciated the different features of VR, which enhanced the integration of virtuality, reality, and mentality. In addition, mediating factors of this VR learning experience were discussed based on the data set. Informed by the current findings, the paper puts forward suggestions for designing VR-supported language learning, which hopefully sheds some light on the complex nature of the effective use of VR in learning.

This paper presents an empirical study on the integration of an intelligent teaching system, Moso Teach (MT), into an English curriculum in a top-ranked four-year university in China. Data sources include the reports and analysis generated by the learning analytics tools in MT, a survey of students, final exam scores, and the instructor's observation of classroom activities. Findings suggest that an intelligent and adaptive learning platform coupled with well-designed team-based activities can indeed increase students' engagement in learning in a wide variety of activities and contexts, from personalized learning to team collaboration, and including classroom participation and asynchronous postings on a discussion forum. These findings are significant because Chinese universities tend to have large-size classes with few opportunities for interaction. Most importantly, this study reveals the impact of collaborative mobile learning on STEM students in both learning engagement and learning outcomes.

Even though existing studies have shown the positive effects of social network sites (SNSs) on learning behaviors and outcomes, how SNS can cause learners to develop negative perceptions about their learning activities is still understudied. Here we report a one-of-a-kind study that examines the negative impact of privacy concern on students' learning behaviors online while using SNSs. Based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) paradigm, our study focuses on how privacy concern develops knowledge hiding perceptions of the learners, thereby affecting their online collaboration. Further, our study also explores the moderating role of perceived supervisory support between the relationship of privacy concern and knowledge hiding perceptions. Participants in the study were 282 students pursuing their studies in several higher educational institutions in China. Our findings show that two types of privacy concern (abuse of knowledge and unauthorized access to private data) can positively influence students' knowledge hiding perception, which subsequently can negatively affect their participation in online collaborative learning. On the other hand, perceived supervisory support only moderates the relationship between privacy concern about abuse of knowledge and knowledge hiding perceptions. Based on these findings, we draw practice implications for supervisors and students in Universities.

Purpose: We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional study in central and western China to explore the association between inflammatory diet and stomach cancer odds. Patients and Methods: Participants from five hospitals in the central and western regions were collected. All participants completed the questionnaire we provided before the gastroscopy examination, which includes inquiries about risk factors for stomach cancer and food frequency. All participants underwent gastroscopy, and a mucosal biopsy was confirmed pathologically. Pathological findings were classified as chronic gastritis group, precancerous lesions group and stomach cancer group. Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) scores were calculated based on the frequency of food occurrences in the questionnaire, and finally SPSS was used to calculate the correlation between variables. Results: A total of 1162 patients were included in this study, including 668 cases of chronic gastritis, 411 cases of precancerous lesions, and 83 cases of cancer. A single factor analysis was conducted to examine the risk factors of stomach cancer, revealing a significant association between a pro-inflammatory diet and the stomach cancer odds (p value < 0.05). The results of binary classification analysis further confirmed that a pro-inflammatory diet is a risk factor for stomach cancer 【odds ratio (OR) =7.400)】. Moreover, correlation analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between the severity of gastric mucosal diseases and an inflammatory diet (including anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory diets) (rs=0.274, p-value < 0.001). Conclusion: Pro-Inflammatory diet is a risk factor for stomach cancer, and may accelerate the progression of stomach mucosal disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new model for organizing learning resources: Learning Cell. This model is open, evolving, cohesive, social, and context-aware. By introducing a time dimension into the organization of learning resources, Learning Cell supports the dynamic evolution of learning resources while they are being used. In addition, by introducing a semantic gene (knowledge ontology) into the model, Learning Call can flexibly describe the internal structure and external relations of learning resources, allowing the evolution of learning resources to occur in an orderly way. Furthermore, by employing a computational model of a social cognition network, Learning Cell enables not only materialize resource sharing but also the sharing of social cognition networks. Finally, by separately deploying resource structures and resource content in the cloud storage model, Learning Cell achieves context awareness of ubiquitous learning (u-learning) resources. Learning Cell represents a resource aggregation model that is different from the learning object model. It makes up for the defects of existing learning technologies in the following areas: the sharing of process information and social cognition networks, the intelligence of resources, and the evolution of content. Learning Cell provides a theoretical framework of u-learning resource organization.

The computer science classes in China's institutions of higher education often have large numbers of students. In addition, many institutions offer "blended" classes that include both on-campus and online students. These large blended classrooms have long suffered from a lack of interactivity. Many online classes simply provide recorded instructor lectures to which distance students listen after downloading. This format only reinforces the negative effects of passive nonparticipatory learning. At a major university in Shanghai, researchers and developers actively seek technological interventions that can greatly increase interactivity in blended classes. They have developed a cutting-edge mobile learning system that can deliver live broadcasts of real-time classroom teaching to online students with mobile devices. Their system allows students to customize their means of content-reception, based on when and where the students are tuning into the broadcast. The system also supports short text-messaging and instant polls. Through these features, students can ask questions and make suggestions in real time, and the instructor can respond immediately. This paper describes this system in detail and also reports results from a formal implementation of the system with a blended classroom of 562 students (of whom 90% were online). (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

The Modern Distance Education Project for the Rural Schools (MDEPRS) of China has a wider scope and serves a larger population than any other informational project in the world. It likely will result in a far-reaching informational revolution for basic education in China. Here, we introduce three main innovative models of material delivery, the recent developments of MDEPRS, and the problems associated with this project. We then fully discuss strategies for optimizing this project, such as establishing reasonable goals and directions, restructuring its major components, improving the delivery models and digital contents, sustaining its development, conducting better financial audit and project evaluation, and increasing community participation and financial investment.

Surface transportation system is developing very fast in China and the number of vehicles is increasing quickly as well. This development creates a lot of problems on traffic safety and the number of accident is also increasing. In this paper, we made deep analysis of different possible causes of safety problems through three aspects: the traffic environment and infrastructure, in-vehicle information system design and the characteristics of drivers. There are many factors in each aspects may contribute to the transportation safety problems. Problems with infrastructure design and traffic design contribute over 50% of the traffic accident. Another important factor is that people has very little traffic safety concept and very weak on understanding the important of right behavior on the road. This paper has pointed the urgent needs to study the human factors in road and transportation system and vehicle HMI design, as there are very few such studies available in literature based on Chinese situation. The paper also proposed the needs to develop proactive educational system that can promote driver's understanding of traffic safety and to take the right action during drive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese classrooms, whether on school grounds or online, have long suffered from a lack of interactivity. Many online classes simply provide recorded instructor lectures, which only reinforces the negative effects of passive nonparticipatory learning. At Shanghai Jiaotong University, researchers and developers actively seek technologic interventions that can greatly increase interactivity in large blended classes. They developed a cutting-edge mobile learning system that can deliver live broadcasts of real-time classroom teaching to students with mobile devices. Their system allows students to customise means of content-reception based on when and where they tune into the broadcast. The system also supports short text messaging and instant polls. Through these venues, students can ask questions and make suggestions in real time, and the instructor can address them immediately. This article describes this system in detail, and also reports results from a formal implementation of the system in a blended English classroom of 1000 students (with about 800 being online). As the data reveal, m-learning activities can much better engage students in the learning process. Students in this class changed from passive learners to truly engaged learners who are behaviourally, intellectually and emotionally involved in their learning tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese classrooms, whether on school grounds or online, have long suffered from a lack of interactivity. Many online classes simply provide recorded lectures to which students listen after downloading. This format only reinforces the negative effects of passive non-participatory learning. At the e-Learning Lab of Shanghai Jiaotong University researchers and developers actively seek technologic interventions that can greatly increase interactivity in blended classes. They developed a cutting-edge mobile learning system that can deliver live broadcast of real-time classroom teaching to online students with mobile devices. Their system allows students to customise means of content-reception, based on when and where the students are tuning in to the broadcast. The system also supports short text messaging and instant polls. Through these venues, students can ask questions and make suggestions in real time, and the instructor can address them immediately. Here we describe this system in detail, and also report results from a test implementation of the system with a blended classroom of 1000 students (250 campus and 750 online). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevated atmospheric CO 2 has been shown to rapidly alter plant physiology and ecosystem productivity, but contemporary ecological responses to increased CO 2 have yet to be studied in a controlled closed ecosystem with humans. To test this concept, at an integrated ground-based Bioregenerative Life Support System (BLSS) named Lunar Palace-1, we tested elevated CO 2 effects on gas exchange characteristics in an experiment involving humans. During the whole experimental process, researchers monitored CO 2 and O 2 concentrations in different plant growth and human occupied cabins on a real time basis. By turning off lighting and air ventilation system, elevated CO 2 effects were measured in plant chamber and overall facility during a 1 h period. The results indicated that elevated CO 2 had variable effects on plant photosynthetic and respiration rates. Photosynthesis in most plants is typically not saturated with respect to carbon dioxide at 400 ppm. Elevated CO 2 has inhibitory effects on plant respiration. Photosynthesis is strengthened and respiration is reduced in a closed artificial ecosystem were demonstrated under high levels of CO 2 . Our findings in this closed ecosystem may serve as key baseline design data for larger, long-term and higher degree of closure BLSS integration experiment planned for the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhodamine B (RhB) is a banned food additive and has been classified as illegal colourant. Therefore, the risk of RhB contamination should be strictly monitored. In this study, a sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method was applied to monitor RhB in 292 various spices such as chilli, pepper and tomato products. The results showed 22.7% of chilli powder samples, 18.5% of pepper powder samples, 11.1% of chilli oil samples and 9.1% of pepper oil samples were contaminated with RhB. Chilli powder contained RhB up to 44,935 μg/kg with an average of 743 μg/kg, pepper powder up to 65.9 μg/kg with an average of 4.1 μg/kg, chilli oil up to 14.6 μg/kg with an average of 1.0 μg/kg and pepper oil up to 1.1 μg/kg with an average of 0.2 μg/kg, respectively. Considering the common consumption of chilli products and pepper products by so many consumers, RhB exposure is significant and should be decreased.

Objective: To investigate the contamination condition of the aluminium in commercial foods in Shaanxi Province, and evaluate aluminium dietary intake level in Shaanxi population and its potential health risks., Methods: 1331 samples in Shaanxi Province were collected from 2013 to 2015. The aluminium contents were detected by National Food Contamination and Harmful Factors in Risk Monitoring Manual, and data of total diet study in Shaanxi Province in 2007, to calculate dietary intake of aluminium in Shaanxi population., Results: Average dietary intake of aluminium was 0. 358 mg/( kg·d), accounted for 125% of PTWI. The dietary intake of aluminium in children aged 2 to7 years old was highest, followed children aged 8 to 12 years old and men aged 13 to 19 years old. Grain products and potato products were the main sources of aluminium exposure compared with others., Conclusion: The dietary intake of aluminium in Shaanxi population is more than the PTWI. The children aged 2 to 7 years old, children aged 8 to12 years old and men aged 13 to 19 years old is high. Grain products and potato products are the main sources of aluminium exposure in Shaanxi population. The effective measureto control the intake of aluminium is to normalize and rationalize the use of additives containing aluminium.