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There are pedagogical challenges for the ideal balance of online community building and interaction among students and instructors for HyFlex learning. One of the challenges focuses on how instructors can effectively select and design an online discussion modality to promote positive, vigorous, and encouraging online asynchronous discussion to engage students. This research study adopted an exploratory mixed method approach designed to investigate student’s satisfaction level and academic performance with different interface design platforms for online discussion in HyFlex delivery modality education courses. Study results indicated that different interface design for online discussion platforms had a significant impact on students’ academic achievement for online discussion assessment although there is no significant impact on students’ overall satisfactory levels toward the courses. Implications from the results suggest a need to design and integrate effective online discussion platform to engage students and promote social learning in HyFlex learning environments.

With the demand and significant prevalence of online learning, investigating the impacts of formative assessment designs on promoting student learning has never been more imperative than ever. The research compared the learning performance and engagement levels for a group of teachers who participated in two training workshops with the integration of two different formative e-assessment designs for their online professional development. Participants' learning of the introduced contents were assessed during the instructional process and their attitudes toward different formative e-assessment design strategies were also investigated. Research results indicated that different formative e-assessment designs made differences not only in students’ learning, engagement levels, and attitudes, but also in instructors’ behaviors in designing formative e-assessment for online synchronous instruction.

Bile of animal(mainly chicken, pig, snake, cow, and bear) has long been used as medicine. As the major active components of bile, bile acids mainly include cholic acid, deoxycholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid, ursodeoxycholic acid, and taurochenodeoxycholic acid. They interact with intestinal microorganisms in enterohepatic circulation, thereby playing an important part in nutrient absorption and allocation, metabolism regulation, and dynamic balance. Bile acids have pharmacological effects such as protecting liver, kidney, heart, brain, and nerves, promoting bile secretion, dissolving gallstones, anti-cancer, relieving cough and dyspnea, dispelling phlegm, treating eye diseases, and regulating intestinal function and blood glucose, which are widely used in clinical practice. This study summarized and analyzed the research on the chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of bile acids from medicinal animals, in a bid to provide scientific basis and reference for the further development and utilization of bile acids.

This study derives a closed-form approximate solution for Bermudan reset executive stock options with cash dividends. The complicated payoff characteristic of this exotic option is caused by its particular stylistic features, including the reset mechanism, cash dividends, early exercises, and increasing volatilities. Using the integral representation method, a closed-form approximate solution was successfully derived. Moreover, this study discusses how specific critical factors affect executive stock option values and arrives at some interesting results by way of a numerical calibration.

Terrestrial mud volcanoes (MVs) represent the surface expression of conduits tapping fluid and gas reservoirs in the deep subsurface. Such plumbing channels provide a direct, effective means to extract deep microbial communities fueled by geologically produced gases and fluids. The drivers accounting for the diversity and composition of these MV microbial communities distributed over a wide geographic range remain elusive. This study characterized microbial communities of 15 terrestrial MVs across a distance of ~10,000 km of the Eurasian continent to test the validity of distance control and physiochemical factors in explaining biogeographic patterns. Our analyses yielded diverse community compositions with a total of 28,928 amplicon sequence variances taxonomically assigned to 73 phyla. Although no cosmopolitan member was found, community variance between geographic locations was higher than within sites, generating a slope of distance–decay relationship exceeding those for marine seeps and MVs, and seawater columns. For comparison, physiochemical parameters explained 12 % of community variance, and specific geochemical parameters were correlated with specific taxa. Overall, the apparent lack of fluid exchange renders terrestrial MVs a patchy habitat with microbiome comprising specific colonists that are highly adapted to the local environmental context and restricted in terms of dispersal capability.

Background Our previous studies demonstrated that the administration of crude Polysaccharide from Panax notoginseng (CPPN) can effectively prolong the lifespan of tumor-bearing mice via boosting the host immune system as well as weak cytotoxicity against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, Neutral Polysaccharide (NPPN) were further purified from crude polysaccharide isolated from panax notoginseng. The effects of NPPN on the immune function and hematopoietic function of mice with low immunity and myelosuppression induced by cyclophosphamide (CTX) were investigated. The effect of NPPN combined with CTX on the tumor inhibition rate of the H22 tumor-bearing mice and the impact of NPPN on the proliferation of H22 liver cancer cells in vitro were investigated. Methods CPPN was obtained by water extraction and alcohol precipitation method, and further purified by DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow ion exchange resin column. NPPN was added to the immunosuppressed with myelosuppression mice induced by CTX. Thymus index, spleen index, lymphocyte proliferation stimulation index by adding of concanavalin A, determination of serum hemolysin, NK cell activity assay, mice carbon clearance experiment, blood count tests were detected. The tumor inhibition rate of the H22 tumor-bearing mice treated with NPPN combined with CTX was recorded. Results NPPN and 4 kinds of acid polysaccharide from Panax notoginseng (APPN) were successfully isolated from the CPPN by DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow ion exchange resin column. NPPN inhibited the growth of H22 cells and significantly increase the tumor inhibition rate of the H22 tumor-bearing mice combined with CTX. The elevation of the cellular and humoral immunity levels as well as a variety of blood count tests indicators of immunosuppressive with myelosuppression mice may contribute to the antitumor activity of NPPN. Conclusion NPPN has a potential antitumor activity for the treatment of liver cancer combined with cyclophosphamide.

Background. Dental fear is associated with the experience of prior dental treatment and avoidance of dental visits. It remains unclear if individuals show an intention of avoidance (IA) towards treatments that they have not received (i.e., non-experienced dental treatment). Methods. We investigated fear/IA of 12 common conditions of dental treatment of 402 adults. If subjects have experienced the condition, fear and IA were assessed based on subjects’ prior experience (i.e., ExpFear/ExpIA). If they have not experienced the condition, fear and IA were assessed based on their anticipation (i.e., NExpFear/NExpIA). Trait dental anxiety was assessed using the Index of Dental Anxiety and Fear (IDAF-4C+). Results. We found that (A) NExpFear and NExpIA were significantly higher than ExpFear and ExpIA, respectively. (B) The IDAF-4C+ scores are positively correlated with NExpFear/NExpIA and negatively correlated with the magnification of fear (i.e., the discrepancy in the fear/IA of non-experienced vs. experienced conditions). (C) The condition ‘extraction of a wisdom tooth’ and ‘root canal treatment’ showed the highest ratings on NExpFear. Conclusions. Individuals may develop a high degree of fear and IA of the treatment they have not received. Trait dental anxiety plays a key role in the magnification of the fear of non-experienced treatment.

Various data systems have been long and pervasively used in schools to collect student data. However, very few educators are able to apply their collected data to improve their teaching. The purpose of this article is to investigate how middle school teachers adapt data mining protocols to enhance their teaching and to improve their students’ learning. Results of the research indicates that most of the middle school teachers use data systems to enter their students’ data under the school requirements and only 20% of the teachers actually retrieve collected data from the system and analyze the data for intervention purpose.

// Yong Liu 1,* , Kai-Hong Chen 2,* , Shi-Qun Chen 1,3,* , Li-Ling Chen 1,2,* , Chong-Yang Duan 4,* , Kun Wang 1,5,* , Xiao-Sheng Guo 1 , Hua-Long Li 1 , Wei-Jie Bei 1 , Kai-Yan Lin 1,3 , Ping-Yan Chen 4 , Ying Xian 6 , Ning Tan 1 , Ying-Ling Zhou 1,3 , Qing-Shan Geng 1 and Ji-Yan Chen 1 1 Department of Cardiology, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Coronary Disease Prevention, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China 2 Department of Cardiology, Longyan First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Longyan, Fujian Province, China 3 Department of Cardiology, Guangdong General Hospital Zhuhai Hospital, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China 4 National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Disease, State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China 5 Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China 6 Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, NC, USA * These authors contributed equally to this work. Correspondence to: Ji-Yan Chen, email: // Qing-Shan Geng, email: // Ying-Ling Zhou, email: // Keywords : cystatin C, coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary intervention, contrast-induced acute kidney injury Received : March 03, 2017 Accepted : May 16, 2017 Published : July 06, 2017 Abstract Objective: To investigate the predictive value of post-procedural early (within 24 h) increase in cystatin C for contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) and all-cause mortality following coronary angiography or intervention. Methods: We prospectively investigated 1042 consecutive patients with both baseline and early post-procedural cystatin C measurement undergoing coronary angiography or intervention. CI-AKI was defined as an increase ≥0.3 mg/dL or >50% in serum creatinine from baseline within 48 h post-procedure. Mean follow-up was 2.26 years. Results: Overall, the patients had a CI-AKI incidence was 3.6% (38/1042), mean serum creatinine of 87 µmol/L. Compared with Mehran risk score, post-procedural early absolute increase (AUC: 0.584 vs . 0.706, P = 0.060) and relative increase (AUC: 0.585 vs . 0.706, P = 0.058) in cystatin C had poorer predictive value for CI-AKI. According to multivariate analysis, post-procedural significant early increase (≥0.3 mg/dL or ≥10%) in cystatin C developed in 231 patients (22.2%), was not independent predictor of CI-AKI (adjusted OR: 1.23, 95% CI, 0.56–2.69, P = 0.612), and long-term mortality (adjusted HR: 0.90; P = 0.838). Conclusions: Our data suggested post-procedural early increase (within 24 h) in cystatin C was not effective for predicting CI-AKI or all-cause mortality following coronary angiography or intervention among patients at relative low risk of CI-AKI, the negative finding of poor predictive value should be further evaluated in larger multicenter trials.

Determining the longevity of natural immunity after SARS-CoV-2 infection is critical for understanding immune protection and optimizing vaccine design. Over six months have been passed since the emergence of COVID-19 in China. We evaluated humoral and cellular responses in 418 patients six months after infection. 95.9% and 98.1% of the patients maintained SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG and neutralizing antibodies. All severe patients were positive for IgG and neutralizing antibodies and had significantly higher titers than mild and moderate patients as well as asymptomatic individuals. The patients had a more robust SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell response than CD8+ T cells six months after infection. Unexpectedly, sustained immune activation was observed, which displayed as the evaluated proinflammatory monocytes, non-classical NK cells, CD4+ Treg cells, and activated CD4+ T cells. Our findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2 gives rise to persisting and robust protective immunity, which provides a promising sign for prevention from reinfection and vaccination strategy. Funding: This work was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (81773494 to M.J.M.), the National Major Project for Control and Prevention of Infectious Disease of China (2017ZX10303401-006 to M.J.M.), the Special National Project on Investigation of Basic Resources of China (2019FY101502 to M.J.M.). Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: All patients provided written informed consent. The study was conducted following the Declaration of Helsinki, and the Institutional Review Board of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences approved the study protocol (IRB number: AF/SC-08/02.46).

Black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) nut production stands on the brink of potentially great market expansion that can only be realized with significant genetic and horticultural improvement, such that commercial production becomes feasible. The goal of this study was to incorporate microsatellite/simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to genotype 11 cultivars and selections, and establish a mapping population from a cross of two cultivars, “Football” × “Sparrow.” Morphology of these two cultivars coupled with phylogenetic analysis supports the notion that a cross between them may yield desirable hybrids. Of the 51 SSR markers amplified, 23 were polymorphic and useful for genotyping. A selection mislabeled as “Mintyle” was definitively identified as “Mintle”; therefore, the number of cultivars was reduced to 10. Furthermore, seven of the 23 markers were used to identify 91 intraspecific hybrids (“Football” × “Sparrow”) resulting from open pollination, thereby establishing the first mapping population of black walnut using SSR markers.

The main purpose of this study was to explore learners' beliefs about science reading and scientific epistemic beliefs, and how these beliefs were associating with their understanding of science texts. About 400 10th graders were involved in the development and validation of the Beliefs about Science Reading Inventory (BSRI). To find the effects of reader beliefs and epistemic beliefs, a new group of 65 10th grade students whose reader and epistemic beliefs were assessed by the newly developed BSRI and an existing SEB questionnaire were invited to take part in a science reading task. Students' text understanding in terms of concept gain and text interpretations was collected and analyzed. By the correlation analysis, it was found that when students had stronger beliefs about meaning construction based on personal goals and experiences (i.e. transaction beliefs), they produced more thematic and critical interpretations of the content of the test article. The regression analysis suggested that stude...

As advanced technology increasingly infiltrated into classroom, the flipped classroom has come to light in secondary educational settings. The flipped classroom is a new instructional approach that intends to flip the traditional teacher-centered classroom into student centered. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of the flipped classroom instructional pedagogy in a ninth grade health education class.

A major QTL for downy mildew resistance was detected on chromosome 18 (Rpv27) in Vitis aestivalis-derived ‘Norton’ based on a high-resolution linkage map with SNP and SSR markers as well as 2 years of field and laboratory phenotyping data. Grapevine downy mildew caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola is one of the most widespread and destructive diseases, particularly in humid viticultural areas where it damages green tissues and defoliates vines. Traditional Vitis vinifera wine grape cultivars are susceptible to downy mildew whereas several North American and a few Asian cultivars possess various levels of resistance to this disease. To identify genetic determinants of downy mildew resistance in V. aestivalis-derived ‘Norton,’ a mapping population with 182 genotypes was developed from a cross between ‘Norton’ and V. vinifera ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ from which a consensus map was constructed via 411 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Using genotyping-by-sequencing, 3825 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were also generated. Of these, 1665 SNP and 407 SSR markers were clustered into 19 linkage groups in 159 genotypes, spanning a genetic distance of 2203.5 cM. Disease progression in response to P. viticola was studied in this population for 2 years under both laboratory and field conditions, and strong correlations were observed among data sets (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.57–0.79). A quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis indicated a resistance locus on chromosome 18, here named Rpv27, explaining 33.8% of the total phenotypic variation. Flanking markers closely linked with the trait can be further used for marker-assisted selection in the development of new cultivars with resistance to downy mildew.

Botrytis bunch rot, caused by Botrytis cinerea, is one of the most destructive diseases of grapes (Vitis vinifera L.). A phenotyping assay was designed under laboratory conditions to analyze grape-B. cinerea interactions. A conidial suspension of concentration 1 × 105 conidia/ml was prepared and used to inoculate berries from two different grape varieties: V. aestivalis-derived ‘Norton’, a North American hybrid, and V. vinifera ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’, a European grape. The differences in the infection reaction between these two cultivars were visible 10 days after inoculation. Berries from Norton had a low average disease incidence (7.5 %) and disease severity (3.7 %). In contrast, berries from Cabernet Sauvignon were completely susceptible, exhibiting an average disease incidence and severity greater than 90 %. This phenotyping assay can be further applied to evaluate disease progression in a mapping population, developed by crossing V. aestivalis-derived ‘Norton’ and V. vinifera ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’.

Grape bunch rot, caused by the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea, is one of the most destructive diseases in grapevines worldwide. At this point, control of Botrytis bunch rot is achieved through a combination of canopy management and fungicide usage. The identification of resistant germplasm could result in improved disease management. The Vitis aestivalis-derived ?Norton? is one of the very few commercial red grape cultivars that can be grown under elevated B. cinerea pressure where highly susceptible V. vinifera is difficult to grow. Tests on the F1 progeny from a cross between V. aestivalis-derived ?Norton? and V. vinifera ?Cabernet Sauvignon? may elucidate the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms of berry disease resistance and berry quality. To this end, we have developed a population of 92 F1 genotypes from this cross that has yielded fruit for the past three years. Also, a linkage map employing simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers clustered in 19 chromosomes has been under construction. By using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technology as part of the VitisGen (www.vitisgen. org) project, we aim to improve marker-density and identify the tightly linked markers associated with Botrytis bunch rot resistance. The overall goals of this study are to use genetic markers to rapidly implement favorable alleles and accelerate breeding cycles for new improved cultivar releases that warrant decreased pesticide use in the vineyard, resulting in greater environmental and economic sustainability.

To explore the association between intake of pickled vegetables and colorectal cancer (CRC),including the interactions between pickled vegetables and other dietary habits.A 1:1 matched case-control study was undertaken,involving 400 patients with newly histopathologically diagnosed CRC and 400 healthy residents matched by age and gender. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire. Conditional logistic regression models were established to identify risk factors of CRC and interactions between these factors. Additive interactions were analyzed using relative excess risk of interaction (Excessive intake of pickled vegetables (more than 3 times per week) increased the risk of CRC [odds ratio (Excessive intake of pickled vegetables may be a risk factor of CRC. Cured meats and pickled vegetables might have a synergistic effect on CRC. However,tea and bean products might be antagonistic to the risk imposed by pickled vegetables on CRC.

A hybrid battery power module composed of lead acid and LiFePO4 batteries for BLDC motor drive is proposed in this study. The lead acid batteries are used as the basic power source and directly connected to the motor drive without any power conversion losses. In addition, to enhance the instant power supply capability to the motor drive, the LiFePO4 batteries are integrated into the proposed hybrid battery power module. A two-phase interleaved dc converter is adopted to control the power flow among the LiFePO4 batteries, lead acid batteries and the motor drive. The common power requirement from the motor drive is designed to be totally provided by the lead acid batteries. Once the power demand became higher than the common level, the additional part would be instantly provided by the LiFePO4 batteries through the interleaved dc converter. The life of the lead acid batteries can therefore be enhanced by the high charging/discharging capability of the integrated LiFePO4 batteries. A prototype with 500W rated power is constructed. Corresponding experiments are carried out to verify the validity and performance of the proposed hybrid battery power module.

The first microsatellite-based linkage map for Vitis aestivalis was constructed using 183 progeny from the crosses of V. aestivalis-derived “Norton” and V. vinifera “Cabernet Sauvignon”. A total of 1157 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were tested, 859 were amplified via PCR and 413 were polymorphic for at least one parent. The map for Norton consisted of 376 markers and covered 1496.6 centimorgan (cM) on 19 chromosomes. The consensus map consisted of 411 markers on 19 linkage groups with a total distance of 1678.6 cM. Although isozyme and SSR marker analyses in 1993 and 2009 provided preliminary evidence that Norton and Cynthiana grapes are genetically identical, only five banding patterns and four microsatellite loci were reported. This study characterized the relationship between these two cultivars using 185 microsatellites spanning 19 linkage groups for a genome-wide analysis. Four accessions of Norton and three accessions of Cynthiana were used; capillary electrophoresis results revealed Norton and Cynthiana to be identical at all selected loci.

The Vitis aestivalis -derived ‘Norton’ is one of the very few commercial red grape varieties that can be grown in regions with high disease pressure and cold temperatures in winter and spring where V. vinifera is difficult to grow. This study began with the objectives of generating interspecific hybrids of Norton and V. vinifera (Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Merlot) in order to combine the disease resistance and cold hardiness characters of V. aestivalis with the excellent wine quality of V. vinifera . Norton grapes were also crossed with the Vitis interspecific hybrid ‘Vignoles’ for the same reason. The true hybrids obtained from all of the crosses were identified using microsatellite markers. A high percentage of hybrids (70–92%) were obtained in all crosses except Norton × Merlot (17%). Results demonstrate the reliability of SSR markers for Norton-based interspecific hybrid identification.

Paper cutting, as an ancient and unique Chinese characteristics of the folk traditional culture elements, comes from people's daily life, which reflects people's the most simple pursuit and yearning for a better life , is an embodiment of a traditional concept of creation in life. As the time goes on, the full integration of folk paper-cut with local culture and a variety of unique styles embodies the concept of creation and the origin of cultural spirit is a great help to the modern design. With the exploration of paper-cut culture, this paper researches the modern product design, inspirates from its creation technique and art, in order to inherit the ancient folk culture, at the same time, gives some help to the product design in the new era.

We discuss the valuation of investment project in a firm applying a real option method with abandonment and reset investment proportion. We take the depreciation value of the facilities and the research and development (R & D) fee into consideration. Our contribution is to derive a pricing model of two-stage optimal decisions allowing abandonment and reset investment proposition. Different from the net present value (NPV) or discount cash flow (DCF), the real option method can efficiently catch the uncertainty in the market, and it can help managers to make the optimal policy for the project. We can improve our method for a multi-stage decision model or a continuous decision model in the further researches.