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This study attempts to: (a) investigate whether positive and negative emotions mediate the pathways linking self-efficacy for learning programming with effort and persistence in undergraduates' learning Scratch programming combining with a programmable hardware platform (i.e., Arduino), and (b) assess the effect of academic major (i.e., information technology-related majors vs non-information technology-related majors) on self-efficacy for learning programming and emotions. With the use of responses collected from a sample of 156 undergraduate students, the research model is empirically validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that undergraduates' effort and persistence while learning programming were significantly predicted by positive emotions, but not by negative emotions. Self-efficacy for learning programming significantly and positively influenced positive emotions and negatively influenced negative emotions. Finally, variations in predicting positive emotions were found between different academic majors: students in information technology-related majors experienced less negative emotional experiences than those in non-information technology-related majors.

Social media or social networking sites have been used to support online learning with good interactive features. If an existing system can retain current users and attract new users, it can provide greater benefits and influence in the field of online learning. However, most previous studies focus on learner participation intention, and rarely note their switching intention. Therefore, this study attempts to analyze and discuss the learner switching intention from the perspective of Push-Pull-Mooring Model. A research framework was proposed for examining the switching intention of learners in social network-based learning platforms. A total of 371 valid samples were used to examine the research framework using the partial least squares approach. The results show that switching intention is significantly affected by the push effects (social interaction and service quality), mooring effects (switching costs and prior switching experience) and pull effects (attractiveness of new services and social effect). To retain and attract users, platform providers can raise switching costs through improving service quality and system capabilities and educators can develop appropriate approaches to enhance social interaction and social effects.

The study investigated whether providing instruction on the stroke sequence would facilitate the learning of writing Chi-nese characters in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and typically developing (TD) children. Thechildren wrote six characters, three with stroke sequence instruction and three without. Each character was repeated 40times. Trajectory, speed, on-paper time, in-air time, and number of changes in velocity direction per stroke (NCV) weremeasured with Wacom Intuos 5 digitizing writing tablet. The results showed a significant group effect, time (practice)effect and instruction effect but no interaction effects. Both groups of children showed a similar trend of improvementover practice with decreasing trajectory, increasing speed, decreasing on-paper time and in-air time. With stroke sequenceinstruction, both groups of children learned at a similar rate on most of the writing parameters. Instruction on strokesequences helped the character writing of both the DCD children and the TD children.

Periodontitis, characterized by inflammation and loss of periodontal tissue, is a significant health complication for individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). Buildup of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) in DM poses an increased risk of periodontitis via inflammaging. Ganoderma immunomodulatory protein (GMI) shows promise in suppressing inflammaging by mitigating oxidative stress and inflammation via Nrf2 modulation. However, its specific protective effects are not fully understood. Thus, this study aimed to investigate GMI's anti-inflammaging properties and its underlying mechanism in diabetic-associated periodontitis (DP). We first simulated DP by culturing human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) with AGEs and lipopolysaccharides from P. gingivalis (LPS). We then evaluated the impact of GMI on cell proliferation, migration and wound healing. Additionally, we assessed GMI's effects on the components of inflammaging such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, cellular senescence expression, IL-6 and IL-8 secretions, and NF-κB phosphorylation. Next, we explored whether GMI's anti-inflammaging effects are mediated through the Nrf2 pathway by evaluating Nrf2 and HO-1, followed by the assessment of IL-6 and IL-8 post-Nrf2 knockdown. Our findings revealed that GMI treatment suppressed ROS production, cell senescence, IL-6 and IL-8 and NF-κB phosphorylation. Furthermore, GMI upregulated Nrf2/HO-1 expression and its protective effects were reversed when Nrf2 was knocked down. In conclusion, GMI exerts its anti-inflammaging effect via the modulation of the Nrf2/NF-κB signaling axis in DP in vitro, highlighting its potential as an effective adjunct treatment for diabetes-related periodontitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to examine whether knowledge of the prescribed stroke sequence matters for learning ofhandwriting of a new Chinese character. Twenty five junior primary school children participated in the study and wereasked to write 6 new characters; with 3 characters with stroke sequence instructions and 3 characters without instructionson a Wacom Intuos 5 digitizing writing tablet. Each character was repeated 40 times. Trajectory, speed, onpaper time,inair time, and number of changes in velocity direction per stroke (NCV) were measured. The results showed a significanttime effect (practice). The effect of stroke sequence instructions was also significant. With stroke instruction, childrenpresented faster speed, shorter on-paper time, shorter in-air time and shorter trajectory. But there was no effect of strokeinstruction on NCV. Further the results showed that some measures did not reach plateau even after 40 times of writing. Weinterpret the results as indicating that the knowledge of the stroke sequences is important for the learning of handwritingof Chinese characters. The results also imply that with continuing practice, stroke instruction may continue to improvehandwriting.