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Moving up
Get PDFThe HKDI is on course to become a pioneer in environmentally conscious design by embedding the concept of sustainability into fashion at the start of the creative process
Global warning
Get PDFItalian fashion legend Romeo Gigli came to Hong Kong this spring to launch his latest collection at JOYCE and he spoke exclusively to SIGNED magazine\u27s Daisy Zhong about how the fashion world is in danger of losing its diversity
Haute plates 美味新境界
Get PDFFrom ancient Rome to modern-day San Sebastián, the presentation and plating of food have been an integral part of the dining experience.
從古羅馬到今日的聖塞巴斯蒂安，菜式的呈現方式及擺盤藝術成為體驗美食不可或缺的一部分
Standard bearer
Get PDFWhen the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers held one of their key meetings at HKDI for the first time in March, they took another step in defining the way designers will entertain us in the future
Fostering effective CFL education through autonomous learning: learners\u27 perspectives
No full textThe study presents an examination of autonomous learning in the context of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) in Hong Kong. This chapter posits that the introduction of innovation in CFL pedagogy development must be supported first by an understanding of learners’ autonomous learning ability. As CFL pedagogy has long been dominated by teacher-centered and textbook-driven approaches, there has been a lack of attention to learners’ perspectives. The chapter takes both an epistemological and practical enquiry into CFL learners’ perceptions, individual goals and self-directed methods in their study. To understand CFL learners’ autonomous learning, the study adopted an interview narrative research method, supplemented with documents review of their learning materials and course work. The chapter begins with a brief review of autonomous learning research and introduces its current development in CFL teaching and learning. From the analysis of interview data, five particular areas of interest were identified: learners’ perceptions of the Chinese language, the Chinese culture of learning, Chinese teachers, learning materials and a community of learning. The chapter ends with practical suggestions to help teachers and learners foster a learning-centered culture and effective CFL education through autonomous learning
Learning or becoming: ideology and national identity in textbooks for international learners of Chinese
No full textTextbooks in foreign-language education are by their nature ideological, representing the dominant culture and values. This study attempts to critically examine the discourse in language textbooks, specifically those used for Chinese as a foreign-language education in Mainland China, in order to reveal the national identity embedded in them. Drawing on a corpus-based analysis, this study found the frequency of referring to “nation” in relation to China far exceeded that of other countries, indicating that aspects of Chinese national identity may be emphasized and foregrounded. Furthermore, content analysis revealed five major aspects of national identity in the textbook, forming part of the social and cultural knowledge that only native speakers could be expected to have. The study finds that current Chinese as a foreign language textbooks contain a large part of the learning content involves topics pertaining to Chinese moral and civic education, which may not be of the interests for international language learners. The study ends by suggesting offering open discourse to enable a higher level of classroom participation of international learners, and to develop an intercultural understanding of cultural content in the curriculum
Grasping with both hands: bilingual academic literacies in two discourse communities
No full textThis study focuses on scholarly publishing practices of bilingual Chinese scholars in an emerging academic field of teaching and learning Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL). With the global popularity of Chinese language education, scholarly publications on the CFL education have proliferated in dual academic discourse communities, which were constructed by Chinese-medium and English-medium journals. Situated in the theoretical framework of academic literacies research and community of practices, the study explores the publishing experiences of three bilingual CFL scholars who participate actively in both Chinese and English academic discourse communities. The study found sociolinguistic, institutional and personal factors that could have influenced bilingual scholars’ linguistic choices as well as their strategies to develop writing and publishing practices. The study is informative in that it has an explicit goal to understand the challenges and strategies for language teachers to build and maintain their bilingual academic literacies. Suggestions will be given to curriculum designers for better improving second language teachers’ academic literacy as a means to empower teaching professionals in research activities
Solasodine inhibits Candida albicans adhesion at sub-MIC level
No full textObjectives: To investigate the in vitro effects of solasodine on the adhesion of Candida albicans to buccal epithelial cells.
Methods: Buccal epithelial cells (BECs) were collected from healthy adults by gently rubbing the cheek mucosa with sterile swabs, and washed twice in phosphate-buffered saline. Equal volumes of BECs (105 cells/mL) and wild type C. albicans SC5314 (107 cells/mL) were incubated at 37oC for 1 h with gentle agitation in the absence or presence of sub-MIC level (60 μM) of solasodine, and filtered through 12 μm pore polycarbonate filters. Unattached cells were washed away, and the BECs were air-dried and Gram’s stained. Attached fungal cells were counted under light microscope in 50 BECs. qRT-PCR was used to evaluate variations in expression of adhesion-related genes in solasodine-treated fungal cells. Total RNA was extracted using SV Total RNA Isolation System and reverse transcribed with Superscript II. Gene expression was determined by Fast SYBR Green Master Mix with gene-specific primers, and reactions were run: 95oC incubation for 20 s, followed by 40 cycles of 95oC incubation for 1 s and 60oC for 20 s. EFB1 was used for reference. All experiments were performed in triplicate in three different occasions. Student’s t test was used, and a P-value of
Results: Solasodine inhibited C. albicans adhesion to BECs by ~52% (P \u3c 0.05). qRT-PCR analysis showed that while the gene expression of BCR1 was not affected, the gene expression of ALS3, ECE1, and HWP1 was reduced. However, expression of ALS1 was promoted.
Conclusions: The collective data of the present study suggest that solasodine suppresses C. albicans adhesion to the BECs via downregulation of the expression of adhesion-related genes ALS3, ECE1, and HWP1. This provides insights for further investigation of this compound with respect to its antifungal effectiveness in clinical intervention studies
