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The intersection of modeling and STEM practices offers a promising avenue for creating an integrated STEM curriculum. However, research on designing modeling-based STEM (m-STEM) curricula is limited, particularly concerning how the curriculum affects the learning of students with different spatial abilities. This study developed a four-round modeling cycle using highway route selection as the topic to support the development of modeling practices for learners with diverse spatial abilities. Using a mixed-method research approach, this study collected and analyzed the modeling practices of 24 Taiwanese upper elementary school students with different spatial abilities by modeling practice worksheets. Further analysis of the modeling practices was conducted on students in the top third and bottom third of spatial abilities. Qualitative data, including interviews, classroom observations, and teacher reflections, were also analyzed to identify the curriculum factors influencing learning in students with different spatial abilities. Results revealed that all students increased their modeling practices from level 1 (single factor) to level 3 (relation) as the model complexity increased, indicating the effectiveness of the m-STEM curriculum. Additionally, the curriculum improved the equity of spatial ability in modeling practices. Low-spatial ability students benefited from hands-on practices and digital tools during the modeling selection phase. In contrast, high-spatial ability students benefited from analogies and experimental thinking during the model construction phase. This study highlights the potential for m-STEM curricula to promote learning equity and provides insights into effective and inclusive design practices for STEM educators.

Marine oomycetous species produce, among other fatty acids, omega-6 arachidonic acid (ARA) and omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), with implications for the industrial potential of this group of organisms and the need to find an isolate with high production. This study screened 14 isolates of marine oomycetous species: Halophytophthora avicenniae, H. batemanensis, H. exoprolifera, H. polymorphica and Salispina spinosa cultured from fallen mangrove leaves in Taiwan for 24 saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in their mycelia. This paper is the first to report C18:1n-7 vaccenic acid, C20:1 eicosenoic acid, C24:1 nervonic acid, C20:2n-6 eicosadienoic acid, C22:4n-6 adrenic acid, C20:4n-3 eicosatetraenoic acid and C22:5n-3 docosapentaenoic acid in mycelia of Halophytophthora and Salispina species, and the fatty acid profiles of H. batemanensis and H. exoprolifera. Five fatty acids were dominant in the mycelia of the isolates, i.e. C16:0 palmitic acid, C18:1n-9 oleic acid, C18:2n-6 linoleic acid, C20:4n-6 arachidonic acid and C20:5n-3 eicosapentaenoic acid. For the essential fatty acids, S. spinosa produced the highest level of arachidonic acid (27–31% of total fatty acid (TFA), 141–188 mg l−1 yield) while H. avicenniae IMB212 produced the highest percentage of EPA (15% of TFA) while H. polymorphica IMB227 produced the highest yield (96 mg l−1). Different species and isolates of the same species produced different fatty acid profiles, and further research effort may yield a high production isolate of industrial significance and also important fatty acids from the marine environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Pogonatherum crinitum has long been used as a folk remedy for the treatment of many inflammatory diseases in Taiwan, and till now there is still no report concerning its active principles as well as their pharmacological studies. That prompted us to investigate the bioactive constituents of Pogonatherum crinitum. Two novel chemical entities, luteolin 6-C-β-boivinopyranoside (1) and 6-trans-(2″-O-α-rhamnopyranosyl)ethenyl-5,7,3′,4′-tetrahydroxyflavone (2), along with luteolin (3), kaempferol (4), luteolin 6-C-β-fucopyranoside (5), kaempferol 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranoside (6), luteolin 6-C-β-glucopyranoside (7), rutin (8) and kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside (9) were isolated from this plant, and identified by spectroscopic analysis. The effect of these compounds on the inhibition of NO production in LPS-activated macrophages was further evaluated. All these compounds inhibited NO production in activated RAW 264.7 cells to various degrees without affecting the cellular viability. Among the compounds examined, both compounds 1 and 2 suppressed LPS-induced NO production, with E max values of 99.51±0.23% and 92.41±3.22%, respectively. The most potent compounds, 3 and 4, inhibited NO production with IC50 values of 10.41±0.02μM and 10.61±0.44μM, respectively. These effects were attributed to suppression of mRNA expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS). Our results clearly demonstrated that these naturally occurring iNOS inhibitors may be beneficial to the treatment of inflammatory diseases associated with overproduction of NO, which provides an explanation, at least a part, for the anti-inflammatory property of Pogonatherum crinitum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

No single mainstream approach—neo-liberalism, structural-institutionalism, a flying geese pattern, regional networks, or economic geography—provides adequate explanation of Taiwan's recent economic development. Extending the insights of these important perspectives, this study employs Taiwan's business database to examine external environment, or industry effects, and internal environment, or firm effects, on profitability differentials among firms in Taiwan by using return on assets and the economic performance measures economic value added and market value added. A variance components model is fitted to a new data set, and findings indicate that firm effects dominate performance while industry effects have little impact. The analysis reconciles results with those of previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth and industrialization of Taiwan's textile and IT sectors, mainly comprised of small and medium-sized enterprises, has prompted an array of explanations among academics, including neoliberalism, structural-institutionalism, flying geese patterns, regional networks and economic geography. Drawing on neoliberal, structural-institutional, regional networking and economic geographic views in that strong Taiwanese entrepreneurial culture is important to its textile and IT sector development, this study shares their positive perspectives in influencing the sources of profitability differentials among Taiwan's textile and IT firms in international competitiveness. Researchers investigating the sources of performance differences among firms have focused mainly on the relative importance of industry and firm factors. Specifically, this study employs Taiwan's business database to examine industry and firm effects on profitability differentials in these sectors using return on assets and the economic performance measures of economic value added and market value added. A variance components model is proposed, and findings indicate that firm effects dominate performance while industry effects have little impact. Our discussion reconciles results with those of previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two isolates of heterotrophic, facultatively anaerobic, marine bacteria, designated DM1 and DM2 T , were recovered from a lagoon sediment sample of Dongsha Island, Taiwan. Cells were Gram-reaction-negative rods. Nearly all of the cells were non-motile and non-flagellated during the late exponential to early stationary phase of growth, while a few of the cells exhibited motility with monotrichous flagellation. The two isolates required NaCl for growth and grew optimally at about 30 °C, 2-3 % NaCl and pH 7-8. They grew aerobically and could achieve anaerobic growth by fermenting d-glucose or other carbohydrates with production of acids and the gases, including CO 2 and H 2 . Ubiquinone Q-8 was the only respiratory quinone. Cellular fatty acids were predominated by C 16 : 0 , C 18 : 1 ω7 c and C 16 : 1 ω7 c . The major polar lipid was phosphatidylethanolamine. Strains DM1 and DM2 T had DNA G+C contents of 52.0 and 51.8 mol%, respectively, as determined by HPLC analysis. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences clearly indicated that the two isolates formed a distinct genus-level lineage in the family Aeromonadaceae of the class Gammaproteobacteria and was an outgroup with respect to a stable supragenic clade comprising species of the genera Oceanimonas , Oceanisphaera and Zobellella . The phylogenetic data and those from chemotaxonomic, physiological and morphological characterizations support the establishment of a novel species and genus inside the family Aeromonadaceae , for which the name Dongshaea marina gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DM2 T (=BCRC 81069 T =JCM 32096 T ).

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are fatty acids with more than one double bond in the chemical structure. Arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4 (n-6)) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 22:5 (n-3)) are common PUFAs with beneficial health effects. Marine fish and meat are the main sources of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in human's diet, respectively. In particular, there is a general decline in fish catch, implicating the need for an alternative source of omega-3 fatty acids. Previous studies have examined the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids including ARA and EPA by various microorganisms, including microalgae, fungi, and thraustochytrids. In this study, the production of ARA and EPA by 10 isolates of four estuarine Halophytophthora species (Halophytophthora avicenniae, Halophytophthora polymorphica, Halophytophthora vesicula, and Halophytophthora spinosa var. spinosa) cultured from fallen mangrove leaves in Taiwan was examined. The yield of ARA ranged from 0.004 to 0.052 g/L with the highest yield of ARA obtained from H. spinosa var. spinosa IMB162, but no or a very low level of EPA was produced by IMB162. For EPA production by Halophytophthora spp., the yield ranged from 0 to 0.047 g/L. Percentage of ARA in total fatty acid ranged between 7.16 and 25.02%. One-way ANOVA analysis using Tukey Test (p ≥ 0.05) suggested that there is significant difference in the percentage of EPA in total fatty acid produced by the isolates, which ranged from 0.01 to 18.42%. BODIPY 505/515 fluorescent staining suggests that lipid bodies were evenly distributed in the mycelia of Halophytophthora species.

Aim: Predictors of short- and long-term all-cause mortality of older stroke patients were explored., Methods: Cox regression models were used to estimate the relative risk and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in the database entries of 636 older stroke patients aged 70 years and over., Results: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score on admission, age and coronary heart disease were significantly associated with 28-day death. The hazard ratios for the predictors of long-term mortality were as follows: NIHSS score, 1.1 (95% CI: 1.07-1.1); serum glucose level, 1.08 (95% CI: 1.01-1.2); serum triglyceride level, 0.6 (95% CI: 0.4-0.8); age, 1.04 (95% CI: 1.01-1.08); and coronary heart disease, 2.7 (95% CI: 1.4-5.4)., Conclusions: NIHSS score on admission, age and coronary heart disease are independent predictors of short- and long-term mortality. Higher glucose and lower triglyceride level are significantly associated with the long-term mortality., (© 2013 The Authors. Australasian Journal on Ageing © 2013 ACOTA.)

Marine heterotrophic microalgal species which are potentially rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6n-3) have been found in Taiwan; however, there was a lack of detailed analysis and characterization of these indigenous algae which is needed for the development of commercial applications. Hence, the objective of this study was to screen DHA-rich heterotrophic microalgae species indigenous to Taiwan for commercial purposes. Heterotrophic microalgae from a variety of marine habitats were isolated, cultivated, and then identified according to their 18S rRNA gene sequences and morphological characteristics. A comparison was made of their fatty acid profiles, fatty acid content, and amount of biomass. For the strain with highest DHA yield, the optimal growth conditions were determined in order to establish the best fermentation conditions for scale-up. In this study, 25 heterotrophic microalgal strains were successfully isolated from marine habitats around Taiwan. All of the isolated strains showed a close phylogenic relationship with the Thraustochytriaceae family according to their 18S rRNA gene sequences. GC/MS analysis discerned seven distinctive fatty acid profiles of these strains, with the production of eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3) ranging from 0.02 to 2.61 mg L(-1), and DHA ranging from 0.8 to 18.0 mg L(-1). An Aurantiochytrium strain BL10 with high DHA production was subsequently chosen for further manipulation. Under optimal growth conditions it could produce up to 59.0 g of dry biomass per liter of culture, with dry biomass containing 73% total fatty acid and 29% DHA, revealing BL10 as an excellent source of microbial DHA.